There are just two weeks of regular season play left, and the Wisconsin men’s hockey team will spend both of them on the road.
The Badgers head up to Houghton, Mich. this weekend to face WCHA basement-dweller Michigan Tech, having swept the Huskies at the Kohl Center back in early December. UW took the games handily, winning 8-2 and 6-0.
It will be a little tougher this time around, as Wisconsin senior tri-captain and leading goal-scorer Blake Geoffrion will not make the trip, due to injury. Geoffrion suffered a concussion after an open ice hit last Saturday against St. Cloud State and, as of Wednesday, couldn’t exercise without symptoms.
“We found out today that Blake’s not going to join us on this trip, so any thoughts that we had that this was going to be a cakewalk — which we never thought at all — [are] certainly out the window,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said.
Although the Badgers will miss Geoffrion’s WCHA-leading 21 goals, they have plenty of other offensive options. Senior winger Michael Davies is tied for the league lead in points with 40 and junior defenseman Brendan Smith is the nation’s top scoring defenseman with 39 points.
Filling in for Geoffrion Friday will be senior forward Andy Bohmbach. Eaves said he didn’t want to break up the chemistry he’s seen from his line of Davies, Derek Stepan and Ben Street. Street spent much of the year centering a line, but as of late has played on the wing. Bohmbach typically plays on the wings, but after experimenting in practice, he’ll be tabbed to center Jordy Murray and Craig Smith.
“Bomber has showed his versatility over his years here,” Eaves said. “He’s smart, has good hands, he understands. I think that right now, this is the best fit for us going into this game.”
The Badgers (19-9-4, 14-7-3 WCHA) should still be expected to beat the Huskies, who are a conference-worst 4-20 in WCHA play and 5-24-1 overall. Michigan Tech hasn’t won since a Feb. 5 upset of Minnesota-Duluth.
Even if UW manages to sweep MTU, it will still need some help in the race for the MacNaughton Cup. UW sits in third place with 31 points, five points behind leading Denver, who plays at Minnesota State. The Pioneers need just four points in their last four games to clinch the title.
With regular season title hopes and a chance for UW to clinch home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs on the line, the Badgers will be doing a bit of scoreboard watching after their game.
“Unfortunately, it’s not all up to us; we have to have Denver lose. We’ll probably be checking those scores as soon as we get off the ice,” Murray said.
“Obviously you check the scores every night and see how the other teams did, but it’s still about us and how we’re playing coming into this playoff stretch here,” junior tri-captain Ryan McDonagh said. “If all works out, that’s great, but we’re still just trying to play our best hockey right now.”
While the Badgers have been clicking offensively, Wisconsin gave up nine goals in last weekend’s series against St. Cloud State. While many of them were lucky or soft goals, the performance of goaltender Scott Gudmandson — who looked prime to take the No. 1 netminder spot — has made the position an open competition between him and Brett Bennett.
Bennett was shaky in his last few performances and hasn’t looked as strong since returning from a December shoulder injury. Regardless of who is in goal — Eaves hadn’t named his Friday starter as of Wednesday — the team will give both goaltenders full support.
“We’re not worried in the least,” Murray said. “They’re both great goaltenders; Guddy maybe had a bit of an off weekend, but he made some big saves for us, too. We know he can stand on his head if we need him to, especially in these big games.”
Following this trip to Houghton, UW will finish the regular season on the road with a series at Minnesota next weekend. Aside from a probable home series in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the Badgers will spend the rest of the season — regular and post — away from the Kohl Center.
McDonagh said that this last stretch of road games heading into the playoffs is good preparation for the team.
“I think it’s a great deal, especially since we’ve been at home for a good two weekends in a row here now,” he said. “Road trips are always fun; it’s just us out there against everyone else, so it’s a lot like playoffs and the NCAA tournament. So I think it’s a great ordeal for us.”
