As the first half of the UW men’s hockey season winds down this weekend, the Badgers can’t help but feel a little frustrated about their standing in the WCHA. The puck just hasn’t gone their way these first couple of months.
After promising splits at North Dakota and at home against defending national champion Boston College early in the year, it appeared the Badgers could seriously contend for a top spot in the conference. Unfortunately, things haven’t exactly unfolded the way UW would have liked. Exciting play and hard-fought games have ended in a number of disappointing ties and losses. Failure to capitalize against the struggling teams and the inability to dominate at the Kohl Center has left the Badgers with a 4-3-1 conference record (6-7-1 overall).
“I’m disappointed because there are some games that we had chances to win or that we should have put behind us that we haven’t,” UW head coach Jeff Sauer said.
Not that 4-3-1 is necessarily a terrible conference record, but the road ahead doesn’t get any easier as the month of January rolls around. After this weekend’s series against the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota, the Badgers’ next 10 conference games are against opponents with an equal or better record. That stretch includes six consecutive games against the top three teams in the country, Minnesota, St. Cloud State and Denver, who have a combined record of 34-3-4. Despite the intimidating second half of the season, Sauer remains optimistic.
“One of the saving things is that we still have games in hand on the teams above us,” Sauer said. “So we’ve got games that we can make up on those teams.”
Staying Healthy: If the Badgers hope to turn things around this weekend and the rest of the season, staying healthy is going to be vital.
Minor injuries to seniors Kent Davyduke and Andy Wheeler have dampened the team’s chances the past two weekends, but both are expected to be 100 percent come Friday night. No other injuries were reported from last weekend’s series, so UW looks to be at full strength when the Sioux arrive in town.
Score First: Scoring first and holding a third-period lead has been the Badgers’ keys to winning so far this year.
Each of the Badgers’ six wins this season has come when they have scored first. The only game in which they have lost when scoring first was opening night against Wayne State.
UW is 0-6-1 when the opponent has been the first to put one in the net, so getting on the board first will be essential. Also, each of the six wins has come when the Badgers have led after two periods.
The Badgers have yet to come from behind in the third period to win a game.
