Trying to put a forgettable weekend against Denver behind them, the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team will try to pick up four points in a must-win road series against Minnesota State.
As they prepare for the Mavericks, they have one little thing staring them in the face: history.
The Badgers are just 4-8-2 all-time in Mankato’s Alltel Center, including a 3-1 loss and 1-1 tie a year ago. The arena seats just over 4,800 fans, but as UW head coach Mike Eaves explains, things can get crazy.
“It’s a tough place to play,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said. “That crowd, it reminds me of the junior hockey league. You know, they get rowdy. They sing that European song, and they get into it.”
Badger goaltender Shane Connelly, who was in net for both of UW’s games at the Alltel Center last season, says the Mavericks feed off the crowd.
“I think they just come out with a ton of energy,” Connelly said. “They get their crowd going. I just think they’re really confident at home. It’s a loud place, not that big. But they take pride in their home ice.”
Wisconsin’s struggles in Mankato over the years defy what the team has done on the road this season — the Badgers (16-13-3, 13-9-2 WCHA) are winners of five straight contests away from the Kohl Center, while dropping four of the last five games played on their home ice.
“We are a team that does play pretty well on the road, and hopefully that will be a trend that continues here as we go into this weekend,” Eaves said.”
“We’re thriving in other teams’ environments,” Connelly said. “I think we’re putting a little too much pressure on ourselves at home. I’m not sure if there’s a total reason, but I think we’re just a little bit more relaxed and focused on our jobs going into away games.”
Connelly and Wisconsin will have to indeed be focused against Minnesota State (13-15-4, 9-13-2 WCHA), which sits eighth in the conference standings. The Mavericks roster doesn’t necessarily have a star player — defenseman Kurt Davis and forward Mick Berge lead the team in scoring with 29 and 26 points, respectively. Instead, MSU employs a balanced cast backed up by senior goaltender Mike Zacharias, whose save percentage and goals against average have both dropped off from last year’s pace.
A year ago, however, a similar MSU squad gave UW fits, taking five points in four games from the Badgers.
“I think they outworked us for three out of the four games,” Connelly said. “They’re nothing special in terms of talent-wise. They have players who can score, but they’re more by committee. They seem to work extremely hard, and they take pride in that.”
While last weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Denver Pioneers was a rough one for the Badgers, it was especially tough for Connelly. Following a 4-3 overtime loss Friday — in which DU scored the tying goal with 14.4 seconds to play in regulation — Connelly allowed three goals in the first period of Saturday’s contest and was pulled after the first intermission.
Both he and his teammates, however, have put the tough weekend behind them.
“I definitely think it’s past us,” Connelly said. “We have a short-term memory, learned from it and just looking forward to starting on Friday.”
Before the series with Denver, Wisconsin seemed to be in control of its own destiny. The Badgers — currently fourth in the conference standings — could have drawn closer to securing home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs and certainly bolstered their NCAA tournament hopes.
So does the team still feel like they control their own fate as they head into the final two series?
“It’s a little bit more precarious now whether we do or not,” Eaves said. “Not as definitively, that’s for sure.”
“We know there’s four wins on the table,” Connelly said. “We’re still in position for home ice right now. We know that there’s teams coming up on us, but we have a chance to get eight points. … If we can get two wins on the road here, it would be very successful.”
