Badgers close out regular season with whimper
By Jake Leonard, Associate Sports Editor
The dazzling run that brought the Wisconsin men?s ice hockey team into the top-four in national polling came to an end Saturday night, as the Ice Badgers wound up their regular season with a wholly unimpressive showing.
After Friday night?s tie against the Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth locked the Badgers into third-place in the WCHA, head coach Mike Eaves elected to use the season?s finale as an opportunity to give some of his regulars a break, resting Hobey Baker Memorial Award hopeful Bernd Brückler and giving his third and fourth lines increased playing time.
The result was a loose brand of hockey that the normally tight Badgers had avoided most of the season.
?It was a different type of a game ? it was a different type of a night for us,? said Eaves after the loss. ?I don?t think we could have walked a straight line if we wanted to. I hadn?t seen us pass like that, and miss passes in a long time.?
?Nobody could move up in the standings or down in the standings,? he added. ?It was just a sloppy game.?
The Badgers aren?t looking too far into the loss, though, and seem eager to move past it.
?We have had very few really bad nights,? Eaves said. ?And tonight was a bad one for us. I hope we cleansed ourselves and can refocus and get playing now.?
Senior captain Rene Bourque agreed with his coach that the most important thing to take away from the game would be a rekindled sense of focus.
?Everyone in our locker room knows we can beat them if we play our game,? Bourque said.
Injuries
Saturday night started off on an odd note for the Badgers. First-line center Andrew Joudrey hurt himself before even making it to the ice, apparently coming up with a leg-injury during Wisconsin?s pre-game routine.
Eaves didn?t know the extent of the injury or whether it would keep Joudrey out for any extended amount of time after the game.
Joudrey was replaced in the starting lineup by John Funk.
Left-winger Nick Licari, one of the few Badgers who appeared to be playing to form during Saturday?s loss, also came out of the series with an injury. Late in the third period, Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Ryan Swanson caused some controversy when he slashed the back of Licari?s leg.
Licari had to be helped off the ice.
Eaves said after the game that he didn?t see the play, but that the coaches would review the tape to get an idea of what happened.
Statistical racing
Going into Saturday night?s game, there were several interesting statistical races going on in Badger camp.
Freshman Robbie ?Hollywood? Earl, sophomore Ryan MacMurchy and senior Rene Bourque had all tallied 14 goals this season to share the Badger lead in that category. Earl seemed to have the best chances of the three to come away with the lead, but couldn?t quite put one away, as the three wound up the season tied. Bourque won the team?s regular season scoring title with 33 points.
The Badgers also had a tight race going into the finale for the season lead in penalty minutes. Andy Wozniewski entered the game with 90 penalty minutes, Ryan MacMurchy entered with 81 and Ryan Suter entered as a dark horse to take the crown with 71.
Wozniewski stayed out of the box, while MacMurchy looked to be making a move with two early penalties. Suter made a late move with a ten-minute major in the third period, giving him 16 minutes in penalties on the game.
The final rankings were MacMurchy in third with 85 minutes, Suter in second with 87 minutes and Wozniewski holding on to first with 90 minutes.
