The Wisconsin men’s hockey team got a warm welcome from a friend when it flew back in from Houghton, Mich. last weekend. Senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion was at the airport to greet his teammates after they swept a road series at Michigan Tech.

“I was talking to guys all weekend and cheering them on and whatnot. To see them get two 5-2 wins up there was awesome,” he said.

Geoffrion, the Badgers’ leading goal scorer with 21 on the season, didn’t make the trip to the Upper Peninsula because of a concussion he suffered against St. Cloud State on Feb. 20. The UW center took an open ice hit to the head from the Huskies’ Aaron Marvin and wasn’t able to return to practice until this past Monday.

It was Geoffrion’s second concussion of the season, as he missed the second game of Wisconsin’s season-opening series against Colorado College to the same kind of injury.

Although Geoffrion won’t get to practice in full contact drills until today, he was just happy to be back out on the ice.

“It’s terrible not being [with the team]… having hockey in your life every single day and then for a whole week you’ve got to stay away from it all and not be… really a part of the team,” he said. “So when I got back yesterday, I was flying around like an idiot with my head cut off, I was just so happy to be back out there.”

Geoffrion’s return Monday coincided with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association handing a three-game suspension to Marvin for the hit. Marvin will miss the Huskies’ final regular season series, as well as the first game of the WCHA playoffs.

Marvin was the subject of controversy earlier in the season as well, after receiving a checking from behind penalty for hitting North Dakota’s Chay Genoway into the end boards. Genoway has been out since the Nov. 13 game.

UW head coach Mike Eaves called the suspension “appropriate,” and said that in his talk with WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod, it was noted the suspension was the stiffest penalty given in McLeod’s tenure.

Geoffrion, for his part, holds no ill will against Marvin.

“I know him, I played with him at the festivals growing up, he’s a good kid,” Geoffrion said of Marvin. “I know he didn’t mean to hit me on purpose; it’s just hockey. Like coach usually refers to, it’s a physical game and it just happened to hit my head.”

The Badgers carried on without Geoffrion, winning the game against SCSU 7-4 and sweeping MTU. Senior forward Andy Bohmbach took Geoffrion’s place, centering the line with Craig Smith and Jordy Murray.

Bohmbach scored three goals on the weekend, while Smith notched a couple of assists and Murray scored on Friday.

Eaves attributed the Badgers not skipping a beat to both team depth — one of his favorite themes this year — and Bohmbach’s versatility.

“What makes [Bohmbach] versatile is his skill set and the way he thinks,” Eaves said. “He understands the game, so you can put him in different situations and he’s going to adapt and do what’s needed in that situation because of the way he thinks.”

“I try to be the smartest hockey player I can be,” Bohmbach said. “I think if you know — and you watch film and you watch other people in practice play their positions, I think you should get a good understanding how they play it, and hopefully you can play the same way they have.”

And while Bohmbach helped fill Geoffrion’s shoes on offense, it was a team effort to replace the team’s most vocal captain in terms of leadership.

“I think one of the biggest things was everybody kind of stepped up and was a little bit vocal,” Smith said. “I think the energy on the bench was a big issue from last weekend to this weekend and I thought we elevated that.”

Bohmbach added that the team gained confidence in scoring 10 goals against MTU without Geoffrion, and knows it can handle itself if he goes down again, or the team suffers another injury.

Pending his performance in contact drills today — as well as another examination by his doctor — the Brentwood, Tenn. native could be cleared to play this weekend at Minnesota. Geoffrion’s WCHA-leading goal total would be a clear boost against a Golden Gopher team that’s been hot as of late, going 3-1 in its last four games, including a sweep of No. 15 Colorado College.

Asked if he would take it easy against Minnesota in order to avoid re-injury heading into the playoffs, Geoffrion flashed a grin as he answered.

“No, not at all — this is hockey, man.”