Heading into this season, the expectations for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team were not very high.

The Badgers were again expected to be a competitive team in the WCHA, but, overall, this season was supposed to be mostly a rebuilding year.

After losing to Boston College in the national championship, Wisconsin also lost many of its best players, including 2010 All-Americans Brendan Smith and Blake Geoffrion.

Entering this week with a 19-10-3 record, the Badgers have largely exceeded expectations. This weekend’s home series against a talented Minnesota team will have a huge impact on where Wisconsin finishes this year.

The Badgers won 12 of their last 13 games heading into last weekend’s pivotal away series against a surging Nebraska-Omaha squad, which Wisconsin ultimately lost, 4-1 and 4-3.

However, UW head coach Mike Eaves did not seem very disappointed during his Monday press conference.

“We played hard enough to win. … We gave up only 10 scoring chances on Saturday and 14 on Friday,” Eaves said. “We did some good things.”

The loss also acted as an opportunity for UW’s younger players to be exposed to an intense playoff-like atmosphere away from the Kohl Center.

“Some of our younger kids didn’t play at the level we have seen,” Eaves said. “This experience will prepare us for the end of the year.”

Young Talent

Young, talented players, such as forwards Mark Zengerle and Craig Smith, have emerged to propel the Badgers to an impressive season thus far.

After a slight lull in point scoring, Zengerle has increased his point production as of late and Eaves has taken notice.

“The nice thing we’ve seen from Mark is that his work ethic has continued to be up there,” Eaves said. “He understands that if he wants to be an elite player in this league, he is going to have to work hard.”

The Badgers’ youth becomes even more apparent when each class is measured by point production.

UW’s sophomore class is the highest-scoring class in the nation with 35 goals and 99 points. Wisconsin’s freshmen share eighth in the nation with 76 points. UW’s juniors rank 17th in the nation with 62 points, and the Badger seniors are tied for 42nd in the country with 47 points.

However, those senior statistics do not fully describe the effect senior leadership has had on the team. Senior goalie Scott Gudmundson has been dominant at times over the course of the season and is one of the most indispensable players on the team.

Big series on a big stage

This weekend’s series against Minnesota will clearly be a litmus test for whatever success the Badgers might have in the postseason. After all, the opponent is the rival Gophers, and the venue is the Kohl Center, ranked as the most intimidating college hockey rink by a recent poll in The Wall Street Journal.

“It’ll be a fun building this weekend for two nights in a row,” Eaves said.