There are two ways to look at Wisconsin’s 2009-10 season. Neither view is more “right” or “wrong” than the other.
It’s just easy to divide the year into what the men’s hockey team did and what it didn’t do.
On one hand, the lasting memory will be the 5-0 loss in the championship, a 1-0 game that got away in the third period. Wisconsin seemed destined to win its seventh title, as the stars had aligned with a strong senior class and so many parallels to the 2006 title team.
Looking further back, not only did the Badgers miss out on the NCAA title, the only trophy they took was for winning the Badger Hockey Showdown in early January. UW wasn’t able to win the MacNaughton Cup, awarded to the WCHA regular season champion, finishing second in the standings to Denver. The Badgers also missed out on the Broadmoor Trophy, finishing third in the WCHA tournament, which was won by North Dakota.
In the end, Wisconsin missed out on all three major trophies it set out to win. But to focus on what the Badgers did not accomplish severely undermines what they did accomplish.
Wisconsin got its first-ever Hobey Baker Award this year after senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion won it Friday night. In the years since it was first awarded in 1981, Wisconsin had four national titles and zero Hobey winners — until Geoffrion’s win.
Geoffrion, a native of Brentwood, Tenn., was third in the nation with 28 goals, which was more than he had previously in his entire career at UW (27 over three seasons). He also led the nation with 15 power play goals.
Joining him as a top-10 finalist for the Hobey was junior defenseman Brendan Smith, marking the first time Wisconsin had two Hobey finalists in the same year. Both also were first-team All-Americans.
Smith was voted WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and led the nation in scoring by a defenseman. Smith finally had a season without injury problems and responded by filling the departed Jamie McBain’s skates as a top offensive option on the blue line, scoring 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points.
It was a season of career highs for many other Badgers as well. UW’s seven-man senior class was a big reason the Badgers advanced as far as they did, and six seniors matched or surpassed their previous single-season highs for goals, assists or total points.
Of the seniors, Geoffrion was joined in incredible stat improvement by his roommate, Michael Davies, who had never topped 13 goals or 24 total points in a season entering his senior year. He became a point-producing machine on the power play as a senior, scoring 20 goals and notching 32 assists for 52 points.
Center Aaron Bendickson quietly had his best season, becoming one of the Badgers’ best all-around players. Bendickson put up 12-10-22, while also being one of UW’s best forwards on the penalty kill — partly evidenced by his two shorthanded goals, but moreso by the hustle and speed he brought to the ice.
The young guys on the team were no slouches themselves. Freshman defensemen Justin Schultz and John Ramage stepped in from day one and were effective, with Schultz being named to the WCHA rookie team. Freshman winger Craig Smith had eight goals and 25 assists, showing flashes of future greatness.
Sophomore Derek Stepan almost doubled his point total from his freshman year, with 12-42-54 to lead UW in points on the season. Stepan’s 42 assists were tied for most in the nation, while he was second in total points. He was joined by classmate Jake Gardiner and Ramage on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships as well.
And while many pointed to goaltending as the Badgers’ weakness, juniors Scott Gudmandson and Brett Bennett were adequate, especially given the offense and defense in front of them. At times, Gudmandson looked like he had the potential to develop into a quality No. 1 goaltender, something that seems to bode well for UW next season.
As a team, the Badgers spent the better part of the season ranked in the top five in the polls.
UW also finished third in scoring offense (3.98 goals per game), second in scoring margin (1.40) and ninth in power play percentage (20.7 percent). Most impressively, the Badgers never lost consecutive games all season, the only team in the nation to do so.
Wisconsin was 8-0-2 following a loss.
The Badgers were sterling at home, posting a 15-3-3 record in Madison. Highlights included taking three of four points from then-No. 1 Denver at the Kohl Center and all seven seniors registering at least one point on Senior Night. UW was 9-6-1 on the road and took three out of four points at North Dakota to close out 2009, thanks in large part to Gudmandson stepping up in a big way.
But the obvious highlight of the season now is Wisconsin’s 3-2 come-from-behind win over Michigan in the Camp Randall Hockey Classic. In front of 55,031 fans, Smith scored twice in the last 5:32 to give the Badgers an emotional win in a big-time atmosphere.
It’s true that UW didn’t come away with a lot of hardware this season. But making the Frozen Four is no small accomplishment, and there’s pride to be taken in playing in a national title game. UW also got its first Hobey Baker award, had four 50-point scorers in a prolific offense, had arguably the best defensive corps in the nation and won an on-campus outdoor game.
With all the successes the team found throughout the season, boiling it down to one lost title game might be a mistake.