At the conclusion of last year, the Wisconsin hockey team’s early-season schedule looked a bit daunting.
With North Dakota one weekend and Boston College the next, the Badgers were destined to clash with not only the national champion but also the next best thing, the runner-up. How a year can change things.
After splitting with UND last weekend, UW (2-2 overall, 1-1 WCHA) will get its chance to further Boston College’s downward spiral. BC (2-3-1, 0-2 Hockey East) comes to the Kohl Center to defend its national championship lacking three essential components.
“Hopefully we can exploit their weaknesses: youth, defense and goaltending,” said UW’s head coach Jeff Sauer. “They lost three Dany Heatley-type players. [BC’s] a completely different team than what they had last year.”
The Eagles lost three underclassmen in the month of August to NHL squads.
Major depleting movements have taken away from the arsenal that led to the national crown just one year ago. With the losses of senior defenseman Brooks Orpik, junior forward Krys Kolanos and sophomore forward Chuck Kobasew, BC has struggled, dropping their first two contests in the conference year.
Just one year ago BC, even with their now-absent players, couldn’t hold off Wisconsin last October in Boston, 3-2. Since the contest, Boston College has undergone a transition at the goalie position, switching to junior Tim Kelleher (3.18 GAA, .855 save percentage).
Kelleher has had an up and down year, allowing seven goals against UMass-Lowell only to bounce back and give up one goal against Notre Dame.
Wisconsin has their own set of newcomers between the pipes. With junior Scott Kabotoff (3.52 GAA, .885 Pct.) and true freshman Bernd Bruckler (2.52 GAA, .924 Pct.) splitting the time in the crease and each one leading UW to a win, the duo has done surprisingly well.
The Eagles offense will provide a formidable test for the Badger goalies. Unlike BC’s other positions, the scoring lines have been able to weather the storm from the departing underclassmen, having five players scoring at least three goals apiece and 21 goals total.
“They do have guys that can score,” said Sauer. “I don’t worry about [Bruckler and Kabotoff stopping the BC offense]. Our goaltending will be fine.” Junior winger Brad Winchester shares the same confidence in the pair, sayng, “Both Scott and Bernd have played really well. They’re giving us great goaltending.”
The Wisconsin offense has their own weapon in Winchester (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points). Freshman forward Alex Leavitt has jumped out to a scorching first year start, netting two goals and handing out three assists. Senior forwards Matt Doman, Kent Davyduke and Andy Wheeler have teamed up to provide not only leadership but also a combined six goals and five assists.
The split with North Dakota brought to the forefront the resilient qualities of the team and should undoubtedly give confidence to the cardinal red, not only against BC but also for the rest of the season.
“We went to UND and we should have won two games,” said Sauer. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. The important thing is that this team has showed a lot of discipline and maturity.”
Winchester agrees with the importance of the UND series and its role in the upcoming series against BC, a team that knocked UW out of the NCAA tournament two years ago.
“I think we grew a lot as a team last weekend,” said Winchester. “Ever since [the NCAA game against BC] we’ve had a bitter taste in our mouth. We’re looking forward to [the weekend] definitely.”
