So far this season, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team has been on-again, off-again, both in how the Badgers have fared with their 3-3-1 record but also in their schedule, which has already given them three bye weeks in only the first eight weeks of the season. But even having three of the last five weekends off, including this weekend, pales in comparison to the wait junior goaltender Joel Rumpel endured between games.

Rumpel started in net in the season’s second game against Northern Michigan. That was Oct. 12. Then, three days later, Rumpel sprained his ankle in practice, and was expected to miss only a few weeks. But with the scheduled front-loaded with byes, which have been every other week since the two games at Boston College and Boston University Oct. 18 and 19, respectively, Rumpel’s return to action was put on hold.

Finally, after missing 34 days between starts, spanning just two series because of all the byes, Rumpel made his return in between the pipes Saturday in the Badgers’ 3-2 win over Miami (Ohio).

“I don’t get nervous very often, but I was a little nervous,” he said of how he felt prior to his start against the Redhawks. “It’s always tough when you haven’t played in so long and you’re playing against such a good team. With the close loss on Friday night, it’s like, ‘The boys really need a win tonight,’ and you’re in there for your first game. But you kind of feed off that nervousness and as soon as you make that first save in the game, you just have that confidence back and it’s just like riding a bike, like you never really left.”

Having missed so much time in between starts, it was hard for volunteer goaltender coach Jeff Sanger, who was a goaltender at Colorado College, and the rest of the coaching staff to know how well Rumpel would perform.

“I didn’t really know what to expect to be quite honest. He’s one of those goalies that is a little unorthodox and so in practice it’s tough to somewhat gauge where he was with his injury. Percentage-wise, I knew, but game-shape-wise, it was a little different,” Sanger said.

But although Sanger might have been a touch wary, Rumpel left no room for doubt as he stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn his second win of the season, a performance that earned him the Big Ten’s First Star of the week award.

Rumpel found his way into the net Saturday, but only after a tough decision was made by head coach Mike Eaves, as fellow junior netminder Landon Peterson gave up only one goal in a 1-0 loss Friday night. Ultimately, Eaves decided that with another bye looming this week, he couldn’t afford to wait any longer to work Rumpel back into what has been a two-man rotation over the three years Rumpel and Peterson have been in Madison.

“I think it was pretty remarkable, the fact that he hadn’t played in almost five weeks and we were able to drop him in the deep end, so to speak, by putting him in high-tempo, intense surroundings. But the decision to do that was based a lot about his personality. He’s kind of laid back. I read that he was a little nervous, but he didn’t look like it. He looked like he was sharp right from the get-go,” Eaves said.

Now, with Rumpel finally back from the sidelines, the battle for the starting position between Rumpel and Peterson can resume again. Over the first two seasons and change, the two goaltenders have split time, but Rumpel has come out ahead in the first two seasons, playing in 57 games during his career to Peterson’s 33.

But as Eaves said at practice Tuesday, the past has no implications going forward and either goaltender can win the starting job for the playoffs with their work during the season.

And such a back-and-forth battle between Rumpel and Peterson only makes both better, as neither has the opportunity to be complacent with the starting job on the line every game.

“Somehow, I think they keep each other honest. And they push each other every day,” Eaves said. “When we have these small little games that we play, they know who’s winning. Every day practice becomes a battle.”

“Obviously both of us want to play, so when we’re on the ice we’re battling hard against each other and pushing each other to make that one more save than the other guy. But it makes us both better and that’s good for both of us,” Rumpel said.

After being a mere on-looker for over a month, Rumpel is back in the thick of things, which is certainly good news for everyone involved.

“I’ve never really missed a game for an injury before, so that was miserable being at home and not being able to travel with the team to Boston and then having to watch them in the Kohl Center from in the stands,” he said. “It’s not a very fun feeling, so it’s nice to put that all behind me and kind of get back after things.”