As difficult as it is to fathom the depths that the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team has reached, it is even more fantastic to think it is favored in tonight’s series opener against Alaska-Anchorage.
Wisconsin (8-17-3 overall, 2-13-3 WCHA) is currently in the midst of a five-game winless streak, the second longest of the season, in which six total goals have been recorded. As poorly and erratically as UW has been skating, the Seawolves, defying natural laws, have managed to one-up the Badgers in nearly every statistical category.
UAA (1-18-7, 0-16-6) opened the season undefeated, registering a 4-2 victory over instate rival Alaska-Fairbanks Oct. 11. The Seawolves’ current winless streak, dwarfing the poverty of UW, began Oct. 12 and currently stands at a boisterous 26 games. Alaska-Anchorage, currently on a six-game losing slide, has not tied a hockey contest since Jan. 11’s against — who else? — Wisconsin.
“We’re both trying to fight for the same thing — getting [our] team on a roll,” head coach Mike Eaves said.
With the majority of the roster made up of underclassmen (16 of the 27 roster spots are youngsters), UAA has lacked leadership the entire year. The top three scoring positions are held by freshmen, none of whom have tallied more than eight goals.
“They have a bunch of young guys, and they will absolutely come at you,” said Eaves. “Sometimes, even a young pup will bite your leg.”
And sometimes is close to never for the UAA offense, which has been more lethargic than the Badgers, scoring two or fewer goals on 22 occasions (UW has 20 such games). With only 16 goals and a 0-8-2 mark on the road, the Seawolves lack a serious scoring punch. Defenseman Matt Shasby, who tabbed UW as a “classless bunch” one year ago, leads the upperclassman assault with 10 points.
Wisconsin, not wanting to take over the position of last place in the division, will look toward the leadership core of seniors Brad Winchester and Brian Fahey and junior Dan Boeser. The three captains lead the Badgers in career scoring against the Seawolves.
Junior Rene Bourque, who scored twice in the prior meeting against UAA, sophomore Alex Leavitt and freshman Ryan MacMurchy lead the Badgers in scoring on their home ice. Wisconsin also depends upon a pair of freshmen in MacMurchy and Tom Gilbert. MacMurchy has been surprisingly consistent in the Kohl Center, registering four of his seven goals and six of his nine assists on the home front. Meanwhile, defenseman Gilbert has been a commodity on both ends of the ice, showing a knack for hitting the open player with a pass and claiming 10 scores.
“If you take a look at their goaltending and our goal scoring, it’s going to be a battle,” Eaves said. “We need [our freshmen] to contribute, and they’ve shown that this year.”
In the net tonight for Wisconsin will be sophomore Bernd Bruckler (2.70 goals a game, .911 save percentage). Bruckler has proved to be more reliable than the senior Scott Kabotoff in the past few games and with a strong showing tonight, Bruckler will most likely pick up the work for Saturday’s contest, his first back-to-back games of the season.
“It’ll be hard fought, and neither team will back down,” Leavitt said.
