With only six weeks remaining in regular season play, the UW men’s hockey team finds itself amidst a dogfight of WCHA teams as the conference playoffs loom on the horizon.
A 5-4 win last Saturday at Minnesota State moved the Badgers (8-7-1) into fifth place in the WCHA and tightened the race for home-ice advantage in the postseason tournament. Consecutive home series against St. Cloud State and Alaska-Anchorage in the next two weeks will prove extremely important in deciding the fate of this roller-coaster-like season exhibited by the Badgers.
The first half of the 2001-02 season displayed the entire spectrum of college hockey in a three-month span. The fans of Madison saw exhilarating victories over national powerhouses and disappointing defeats to inexperienced programs. They were treated to bone-crushing, high-scoring affairs at the Kohl Center and inconsistent, discouraging performances on the road. The UW fans witnessed the most remarkable of comebacks in recent history and the retirement announcement of a coaching legend.
When the Badgers first took the ice back in October, most critics and experts had low expectations, and the scouting report on this team was nothing to be too worried about.
Early-season splits with North Dakota and Boston College directed attention to the city of Madison, as the gritty Badgers displayed a sense of hope. However, disappointing losses to Wayne State, Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan Tech balanced the aura of excitement and Wisconsin returned to a .500 hockey team.
An ugly showing at the College Hockey Showcase in November was forgotten with a thrilling home sweep of North Dakota, but a two week break snapped the momentum and UW spiraled into a four game winless streak to start the new year.
An emotional trouncing of Minnesota in the wake of UW Head Coach Jeff Sauer’s retirement announcement once again displayed the ability of this team to compete with top-ranked teams, and a road split just last weekend is hopefully a sign of good things to come.
As one would expect, “consistency” would not be a word to describe the play of the Badgers in the first half of the season — “promising” is more appropriate. The fact of the matter is that when this team wants to play, it can play. It has the talent, the desire and the leadership.
UW captain Andy Wheeler, along with a core of experienced seniors such as Matt Doman, Kent Davyduke and Matt Hussey, has carried this young team throughout the first half of the season and their positive presence has undoubtedly rubbed off on the younger players.
Hussey and junior Brad Winchester led the team in points with 25 a piece and are followed by Davyduke (21) and freshman sensation Alex Leavitt (15).
Junior goalie Scott Kabotoff has spent most of the time in net with a .921 save percentage and early season performances earned him WCHA defensive player of the week honors back in November. Freshman Bernd Bruckler has seen limited action in the crease, but his .925 save percentage in certainly respectable.
In a season characterized by all these ups and downs, the Badgers appear to be where most people expected — in the middle of the pack. A test of will, heart and ability lies in store for the Badgers these next six weeks.
The fate of UW hockey lies in the answer to one simple question to which only it can answer. What side of the spectrum is this team going to play on?
