The first obstacle that the UW men’s hockey team must hurdle en route to the conference playoffs awaits them tonight at the Kohl Center when the St. Cloud State Huskies pay a visit to Madison.
This weekend’s series marks the only time that these two teams will meet this season, which doesn’t really upset many of the Badgers. St. Cloud State brings a 20-4-1 overall record, the WCHA’s top goal scoring team and a tandem of goalies as good as any in the country.
Trailing Denver by only a single point, St. Cloud State sits alone in second place in the WCHA.
Huskies’ junior Mark Hartigan leads the conference in scoring with 49 points, followed by teammates Nate DiCasmirro and Ryan Malone with 38 and 33 points, respectively. St. Cloud State has managed to net at least four goals in 18 of its 24 games this season, crushing its opposition with a +72 goal differential that also tops in the league.
The enhanced play of the Huskies’ forwards forced a certain emphasis on the Badgers’ practice agenda this past week.
“This week was a little bit different,” UW head coach Jeff Sauer said. “We had to design what we were going to do defensively to shut down their forwards because they’re the strength of their team.”
Unfortunately for the Badgers, beating St. Cloud State doesn’t get any easier on the other end of the ice.
In crease for the Huskies is senior goaltender Dean Weasler, who has stifled opponents so far this season with a .936 save percentage and a 14-2-1 overall record. Backup Jake Moreland shares time in the net and has been equally as dominant, with a .929 save percentage and a 6-2-0 record.
If the Badgers hope to put up big numbers this weekend, they must find a way to penetrate the stingy defense of St. Cloud State.
The Badgers (10-12-2, 8-7-1), coming off a road split at Minnesota State, must play flawlessly if they hope to come away with some points this weekend.
Leading the way of late have been seniors Kent Davyduke and Matt Hussy. Davyduke enters tonight’s contest with a five-game point streak (1-7=8), as Hussy owns a four-game streak, tallying three goals and three assists.
Junior Brad Winchester has also been one of UW’s most consistent forwards, scoring two goals in last Saturday’s victory over MSU. Facing off against a team as good as St. Cloud State will require much more productivity on the offensive end, however.
“We need some more people to pick up the slack,” commented Sauer. “We still have to get more people on the scoreboard.”
Junior Scott Kabatoff will get the start in net tonight, but inconsistent play the past two Saturday nights leaves the issue for tomorrow night in doubt.
UW sits alone in fifth place in the WCHA, just one point ahead of surprising Alaska-Anchorage and four points behind third place Minnesota and Colorado College. Currently there are five teams in the conference within six points of each other, separating third place from seventh. In light of their increasingly difficult schedule, a solid finish would likely place the Badgers a respectable fourth or fifth in the toughest conference in college hockey.
As for this weekend’s series and the remaining schedule, Sauer remains confident.
“We’re playing well right now,” stated Sauer. “If we continue to improve at the right time, we’ll be playing our best hockey by the end of the year. But all of that starts with St. Cloud State.”
