[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]For the first time under head coach Mike Eaves, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team will play in the WCHA Final Five Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. No. 11 UW (23-12-4) faces No. 13 North Dakota (20-13-5) at 7:37 p.m. in the lone game of the night, with the winner earning a date with Denver, the top seed in the conference playoffs.

“Without question, I think that everybody has been focused on that,” Eaves said of advancing to the Final Five. “That’s been one of their mini-goals, is to get to that point, because they’ve heard such terrific things … everybody talks about how great the Final Five [is], now we’re there and everybody’s excited.”

A win over Alaska-Anchorage this past Sunday night gave Wisconsin the series win and sent the Badgers to the Final Five for the first time since 2002. Freshman forward Joe Pavelski had a WCHA playoff debut to remember, tallying four goals and six points in the three-game series, and will be looking to carry that momentum into St. Paul.

“Like a lot of guys, it’s just confidence … so right there, you’re going to have just that little extra step in your game right there,” Pavelski said. “Just stay focused, stay level-headed and get back to the basics. That’s what got you there in the first place. It seems like when you get out of a groove, it’s kind of because you’re not doing the basics. You’re trying to do too much and you’re just not working hard.”

Oddly enough, with the win against Anchorage, Wisconsin dropped in the PairWise rankings, a formula that attempts to simulate the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s technique for choosing teams. The system takes wins against teams with RPIs of at least .500, and the Badgers’ series win knocked the Seawolves below that barrier.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a weird system,” Pavelski said. “I don’t really look too much into that. If you keep winning, that can’t hurt you, I wouldn’t think. We wanted to be at the WCHA Final Five. That’s one of our goals. We didn’t want to lose a game and stay where we’re at or whatever … weird system.”

Now, Wisconsin will look to make history — no team playing in the Thursday game has ever won the Final Five. The Badgers have won two Broadmoor Trophies (1994-95, 97-98) since the league adopted its current playoff format during the 1992-93 season.

“Well, [winning the Final Five is] one of those things … we talk about intermediate goals,” Eaves said. “It’s one of those intermediate goals on the way to the big goal, and that’s to get to the Big Dance and win it. So it’s a stop along the way, and if we can get that stop done, that would be terrific.”

Eaves’ squad enters Thursday’s matchup with plenty to play for. After dropping in both the U.S. College Hockey Online poll and the PairWise rankings, Wisconsin finds itself still looking to lock down a spot in the field of 16 for the NCAA tournament.

“We’re still sitting on the bubble for NCAAs,” defenseman Tom Gilbert said. “We’re just going to take Thursday, a game at a time, and try to get some momentum, try to do well in WCHA Final Five.”

Wisconsin also enters the final phase of the conference playoffs as an underdog of sorts, having won just three of its last 12 games. For Pavelski, whose Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL won the Clark Cup a year ago after barely making the playoffs, the role is a welcome one.

“It’s kind of fun being the underdog,” Pavelski said. “Last year in Waterloo, we were the underdogs coming in against Tri-City. I think this year’s kind of the same thing.”

For the season, Wisconsin is 2-1-1 against North Dakota. The Badgers swept the Sioux in the two teams’ first meeting in Madison, but struggled in Grand Forks in late February with a loss and a tie. North Dakota also has not lost a game since Feb. 19, posting a 4-0-2 record since.

“We know it’s going to be physical,” said Gilbert, who scored the lone Badger goal in the last matchup, a 1-1 tie. “It’s going to be a fast game. It’s probably going to come down to a goal, and we’re just going to work hard. We’ve had the experience of playing them, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”

While North Dakota ranked eighth in the conference in offense this season, the Sioux exploded in their first-round playoff series sweep of Minnesota-Duluth. In two games, the Sioux outscored the Bulldogs 14 to three.

After a short week of practice, Wisconsin faces the possibility of playing six games in eight days if they defeat North Dakota. Should that scenario play out, Wisconsin would meet a Denver team that has beaten them twice and tied them once.

“We’ve just got to be ready when the puck drops and just be ready to go,” Pavelski said.