[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Mike Eaves has a simple rule for his players: no facial hair during the season. Not until the playoffs, at least.

But when Eaves had lunch with his captains last Monday, he said assistant captains Jake Dowell and Jeff Likens looked like they'd been out in the woods for a week and a half.

Eaves asked his players about the fuzz on their faces, pointing out that facial hair isn't allowed during the regular season.

Likens responded that the playoffs — for him and Dowell — have already started. After considering the proposal, Eaves allowed the two seniors to take it to the team. Their answer, Eaves recalls, was, "It's 'go' time."

Senior weekend has arrived. Wisconsin takes the ice Friday and Saturday night against No. 4 St. Cloud State for the final home series of the season. There's just one problem: The seniors aren't ready to say goodbye.

With a sweep of Alaska-Anchorage last weekend, Dowell, Likens and the other five seniors gave themselves a chance for a Kohl Center encore come WCHA playoff time. The Badgers (13-15-2, 10-11-1) leaped into sixth place in the WCHA, and sit just two points out of the fifth spot and a home ice berth for the opening round.

It might be hard to believe, but a sweep of the Huskies (18-5-5, 12-5-5) would pull the Badgers within four points of St. Cloud State — currently the second-place team in the conference.

"All those are capable spots for us to be in at the end of the year," Dowell said. "All we can control is our game, and we need to get points when we can, as many as we can. If we do that, and some other teams have some tough weekends, maybe have an off-night, we gain a couple of points on them."

It won't be easy against a balanced St. Cloud squad, however. The Huskies rank third in the conference in scoring (96 goals in 28 total games, 71 in 22 conference games), and boast three of the WCHA's top five scorers in league play — including two freshmen.

Andreas Nodl ranks second with 27 points, backed by his conference-leading 17 assists. Fellow rookie Ryan Lasch and junior Andrew Gordon each have 26 points to round out the top five.

"They got some offensive power," UW senior forward Ross Carlson said. "They've got a couple of really fast players on the wings and in center, so we just have to throw our weight around and see what we come out with."

By comparison, UW senior forward Andrew Joudrey — who leads the Badgers with 16 conference points — isn't even among the top 20 in WCHA scoring.

But a couple of senior goaltenders playing in this series will have something to say about the offense. Wisconsin's Brian Elliott and St. Cloud's Bobby Goepfert come in with impressive numbers among WCHA net minders.

Goepfert leads the conference with a .930 save percentage. Elliott's is a comparable .920; Goepfert also holds the slight edge in goals against average, 2.09 to 2.18.

But it has been Elliott's Badgers who have given up just 63 goals this year, top in the conference.

"It starts right there — I mean, they both are top-end goaltenders," Eaves said. "I remember the series that we had with them last year about this time; it was one heck of a series. Both games were very close. It's going to be that kind of series again this weekend, so it should be some excellent college hockey."

All-American defenseman Kyle Klubertanz missed the last four games with a right ankle infection, and forward Matthew Ford was scratched from last Saturday's game with an upper-body injury. But Eaves said everybody should be healthy for the showdowns with St. Cloud State.

"I'm glad to have [Klubertanz] back," said Likens, a fellow blue liner. "He's a big part of this team, and everybody's looking forward to having him back."

With a sweep of Alaska-Anchorage last weekend, the Badgers moved up a few spots in the USCHO.com PairWise Rankings to a tie for 21st, which keeps their slim hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs alive. Of course, a strong showing against the Huskies will likely bring an even more dramatic rise in that poll.

"It's a huge weekend; right now it's do or die, basically," freshman forward Michael Davies said. "We have to take at least three or four points. It's a huge opportunity for us to go in and beat St. Cloud State, especially for the PairWise rankings."

And just to do his part, Eaves agreed to break his rule in response to his seniors' attitude toward this crucial series. Likens and Dowell announced after practice Monday their new rule: Everybody must do their best to grow a beard.

"If that's a symbolism of where their mindset is at, then that's something that the coach is going to have to bend the rule on," Eaves said. "It's their mentality, they really want to get [wins] so they can come back and play some more."

"We don't want to get out of here, we love this place. We want to play forever here," Likens added. "You just can't do that, but one more weekend would be unbelievable for us as seniors, and for everybody to get that home-ice advantage."