[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]In WCHA play, the Wisconsin men's hockey team rarely travels any farther than Colorado. Once a year, however, the Badgers are forced to travel more than 3,000 miles to face off against perennial conference bottom feeder Alaska Anchorage, a lengthy trudge across the Western provinces of Canada is a road trip players and coaches are, surprisingly, looking forward to.

"Everybody on the team is excited for the road trip and getting out of town for a while. Three straight weekends is a long time, so we'll get a little change up, especially after hard losses like we had," senior defenseman Jeff Likens said. "We can start fresh, and this road trip will definitely help us do that."

The Badgers have played their last three series at home, and after being swept by Boston College this past weekend, their overall record stands at an unimpressive 3-3-2.

After fielding questions all week about their chances to repeat as national champions, the Badgers will take the upcoming road trip as an opportunity to get away from distractions and become closer as a team.

"It's exactly what we need right now. We need to get out of town. And it's early in the season and we can; it's basically a five-day trip for us," head coach Mike Eaves said. "We're going to spend a lot of time in airports and planes and saddle up next to guys and talk to them and get to know them better. And so I think it's a great opportunity for us to come closer as a team. I'm actually looking forward to it."

With injured forwards Ross Carlson and Jack Skille out of the lineup, Wisconsin has struggled to put the puck in the net, topping two goals only once in their last six games. Against Boston College, the UW offense seemed out of synch and lacked the big playmaker that has defined the Badgers for the last few years with Robbie Earl and Joe Pavelski.

Despite the unfavorable result, Eaves believes his team has rebounded successfully and is headed in the right direction.

"We talked about that Friday night game. We were disappointed in the way we played," Eaves said. "And on Saturday, we saw them play. We saw them play the way they're capable, with their effort and creating scoring chances. That was closer to the team that we thought we had, … so I think that we have a better pulse on our team after this past weekend."

Despite the daunting trek, the Seawolves are a perfect match-up for the struggling Badgers. Alaska Anchorage (2-2-2, 0-2-0 WCHA) is fresh off a two-game sweep at the hands of Michigan Tech, being outscored 14-3 last weekend. The Seawolves have given up an average of four goals per game, and their struggling defense should allow the Badger offense to get rolling.

Wisconsin's power play, which has been a work in progress this season, should also be effective, considering the Seawolves' struggles on the penalty kill.

"One of things we got to do is come out firing like we always do we," Likens said. "We got to play our game and can't worry about how good or bad they are. We got to worry about how good we can play and focus on our details."

After all the hype that surrounded last weekend's National Championship rematch, the Badgers will take this weekend as an opportunity to focus on hockey and get back to their winning ways.

"After you lose two games in a row, it's definitely an added pick-up as a team. The biggest thing for us is we are back in our league play and these are two wins we must have," senior captain Andrew Joudrey said. "We need to get back on the wining track, and there is no time like the present, so we know we need to make sure we're ready to go this weekend and right the ship."