Mark Zengerle is all business all the time on the ice, but when the Wisconsin senior unlaces his skates and makes way for solid ground, he’s quite possibly the most interesting man in the world. The Badger Herald recently sat down for an interview with Zengerle after a recent practice to find out just what exactly makes the prolific scorer such a hit off the ice.

The Badger Herald: Would you consider yourself the team jokester, and how do you feel you stack up against the competition on the team?

Zengerle: Sometimes, maybe more away from the rink, but when I get here I kind of turn into a different gear, more of the serious, real competitive side. But yeah, until it gets around game day, game week.

BH: Who would you say your top competitors are for team jokester?

MZ: Probably Sean Little is the number one. He makes everyone laugh … the staff, us. But we got a lot of pretty funny guys actually. Everyone is a little funny in their own way. Keegan Meuer has been cracking me up lately. Twenty-seven, Frank [Simonelli], he’s got no personality, no humor at all.

BH: So you’re from Rochester, New York, is there anything Rochester is famous for — for those who don’t know about Rochester?

MZ: Yeah, actually it’s called the Garbage Plate. It’s more of a snack that people have around two in the morning. But it’s one of the things, if you go there, you got to try it. What it is, it’s either two cheeseburgers or two hot dogs, with macaroni salad and little potatoes and then it’s like hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, just the works all over it. Actually, one of my buddies that I played hockey with out of town would come into town and would always want one of those.

BH: What age did you start playing?

MZ: I think I started skating when I was three or four years old. It’s pretty standard for a lot of guys. Probably hockey around five or six.

BH: Did you have a favorite player growing up?

MZ: It was either [Pat] LaFontaine, but I always liked Gretzky. He’s the best in the world, so he was always the best guy to watch. It was usually just the [Buffalo] Sabres. And then when you get older, it’s kind of hard to have a favorite player just because that’s what you try to do. But I still love the Sabres.

BH: Did you play anything else growing up or just hockey?

MZ: No, I played all sorts of sports. I went to a prep school, so you had to play three sports, so I played hockey obviously, I played soccer, I played tennis, I played lacrosse when I was little, too. A lot of soccer though, that was probably my main other one.

BH: So if you had to play another sport which one would it be?

MZ: Probably soccer. I kind of played the same way [in] soccer that I do hockey.

BH: Do you have a favorite place to hang out on campus with the guys?

MZ: We’re always here [at the Kohl Center]. As far as hanging out together, every now and then we go to the movie theater and watch a movie. We’re here a lot, working out and video and all that shenanigans. We’re always here. When I’m not here, I’m usually resting, just watching TV or watching the hockey game or something like that.

BH: Who are the guys that you room with and what’s that situation like with all of you?

MZ: Tyler Barnes, Frank Simonelli and Michael Mersch. We were put together freshman year in the Regent apartments and things went well. We live at the Palisades now and that’s where we lived our sophomore, junior and now senior years. We get along really well. We get into our bickers and arguments and our fights, but other than that we get along really well. It’s a good foursome.

BH: So if you were stuck on an island with those guys and you could only save one, who would you pick?

MZ: Not Mersch. It’s a coin toss with Frank and Barney. I would probably go with Barney over him actually. He plays Call of Duty a lot and he’s got all of those little tactics, so I’d go with him. But Frank’s a close second. Mersch is a far, no chance.

BH: Is there a guy who does the cooking and cleaning around the apartment or do you guys all share that?

MZ: Mersch is the clean freak. We also call him the locksmith because he can’t go anywhere without locking all the doors. Barney’s the messy guy, but he’s gotten a lot better. And Frank’s actually a really good cook, but he doesn’t really do it too much — only in the summer. But he’s kind of selfish too. He never cooks for me. I’m just the jack-of-all-trades type guy.

BH: Are there any pranks that you guys like to pull on your teammates, or are you involved in any of that stuff?

MZ: Yeah, we messed with the freshmen on the road this past weekend. We got a spare key when they were still down eating lunch and we went in there, and — I’ll leave that part out. But we went in there and ripped all of their bed sheets off and threw Nature Valley Granola bars all over and hid the remote control and messed with their bathroom a little bit.

BH: What would you consider your spirit animal?

MZ: Maybe a koala bear or something like that. They’re nice and fuzzy and cuddly. I’d probably go with one of those.