Recruiting: Statistical Updates

I've updated the recruiting stat sheets that can be found here. Here is a look at some committed recruits that are having big starts to the 2009/2010 hockey season as well as some predictions. In the next stat update we'll look at some un-committed recruits who are having big seasons.


Mark Zengerle:

Shocker, Mark Zengerle is leading the BCHL in scoring. Zengerle continues to impress and exceed expectations. His 62 points in 29 games is absolutely absurd. Salmon Arm is currently in fourth place in the Interior Conference of the BCHL so Zengerle who recently signed a letter of intent for Wisconsin is going to have to continue to carry the team to propel them into the playoffs.

Predictions: BCHL MVP



Matt Paape:

Matt Paape, who is only a senior in high school, is having little trouble adjusting to life in the USHL. The Appleton natives 8 points in his first 16 USHL games are good enough for third on the team in scoring. Sioux City has a new head coach and General Manager in Luke Strand and I expect as the season wears on that the team will improve and with that, Paape's point totals will continue to go up.




Tyler Barnes:

A lot was made about Barnes being pushed back a year due to the fact that projected departures (Mitchell and Geoffrion), ended up staying. Barnes has handled it in stride and is having an absolute monster year so far in the USHL. Barnes is currently tied for 10th in the USHL in scoring but has played 3 less games than the players he is tied with. I expect Barnes point totals to continue to grow. He should finish the season in the top 10 in scoring and with a good push could end up in the top 5.

There were fights last friday night?

Dear Mr. Hottmann,

Over the past five years, I’ve only seen one actual “fight” during a Badger Men’s Hockey game. This occurred last season when gopher Patricia White collared Badger Ben Grotting from behind, and was subsequently beat down for his cowardly act by Mr. Grotting. THAT was a fight; nothing last Friday against UAA remotely resembled this.

As an adult who claims involvement w/ youth hockey, I’d expect that you’d know more about hockey, and what a fight is and what a fight ISN’T. Nothing last weekend against UAA remotely resembled a fight, but extra curricular activities after the whistle that is a somewhat regular occurrence during WCHA games due to the official’s poor handling of most games. There was shoving, a lot of “hugging,” some smack was talked and a few players might have traded a few “blows” w/ their gloves on. This is hardly fighting, no gloves were dropped, no actual fists connected w/ any faces. Had there been any actual fighting, game disqualifications would have been accessed, players would have been ejected and suspended for an additional game by the NCAA and possibly further depending upon the severity of the transgression.

There are rules to punish players for fighting in NCAA hockey, and these rules would have been exercised if any actual fighting occurred. In the opening example, Ben Grotting was ejected and suspended for the Badgers’ next game.

I’m somewhat confused on your involvement in, but lack of knowledge of, the game of hockey. Fighting is part of the game, and has been for a long time.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of fighting, but I feel it has its place, and actually wish that the NCAA would allow it. I abhor when two NHL players just decide to “drop the gloves” for the sake of fighting and getting the crowd excited. I like fighting as a self policing part of the game when the opponent pulls some shit and needs to pay for it. In the WCHA, the on ice officials are so horrible that it would help clean up the game; they lose control sometimes before the puck even drops. If the opponent is taking cheap shots at your goalie, and a few shifts later one of those punks is getting the crap beat of him, the cheap shots would stop. Fighting should never be a regular occurrence in hockey, but can keep the game “clean” when the officials aren’t doing their job.

In addition, I’m disappointed that the WSJ would allow this stupidity to be posted in their paper. Not only did Madison papers decide the wise decision was to re-assign their best hockey beat writer at TCT and leave us w/ the senior and barely passable Andy Baggot, but they paint the college hockey game in a misleading light. The picture chosen to include w/ this opinion is a prime example of misleading. I don’t remember Ross Carlson ever receiving a 5 minute major for fighting, a game disqualification and additional game suspension for fighting in his career. Come to blows at the Kohl Center? Come on WSJ.

Lastly, Mr. Hottmann, if you can’t enjoy the game of hockey for what it is, and what it has been for many, many decades, I suggest you find another sport to enjoy. There is no reason for a sport to change because a minority of fans don’t like some aspect of it, especially when you don’t include the proper facts about what is currently occurring in NCAA Hockey. Fighting is outlawed in College Hockey, has been for a long time. Instead of jerseys, would you like the players to come out in dresses instead?

Sincerely,

A non-disillusioned Badger Hockey Fan

It's Friday, I'm in Love

You can never get enough
Enough of this stuff
It's Friday, I'm in love

Both the Men and Women are in St. Cloud this weekend.

BADGER MEN @ St. Cloud: FRI/SAT 7 PM

UW: 6-3-1 overall, 4-3-1 WCHA (last weekend swept UAA 5-1. 6-2)
SCSU: 4-4-2 overall, 3-2-1 WCHA (last weekend split @ UND 2-4, 3-2)

Gameday Links
TV:
- Live - both nights - Charter Extra Channel 87
- Tape delay - none
Radio: Friday WIBA 1310, Saturday WTSO 1070
Audio webstream: insideBADGERSPORTS ($9.95/mo), KVSU (free)
Video webstream: b2live ($7/game)
Live stats: stcloudstate
Live blog: Capobianco*, Worgull (BN)*

* I don't have the direct blog links, but they should be linked on the front page of their respective sites at game time.

Weekly Shooutout Winner
This week, DEREK STEPAN won the shootout.

Here are the previous winners and how they did that weekend:
Wk 5: Jake Gardiner (0-0-0, +4, 3 SOG)
Wk 4: Blake Geoffrion (2-1-3, 10 SOG, +1)
Wk 3: Justin Schultz (0-0-0, E, 1 SOG, looked solid on D to me)
Wk 2: Mike Davies (0-2-0, 6 SOG, and sounds like he played really well)
Wk 1: Podge Turnbull (0-0-0, 5 SOG, and despite being held off the scoresheet I thought he looked really good)

Badger Lines
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - C Smith
Lee - Street - Grotting
Murray - Stepan - Davies
Mitchell - Bendickson - P Johnson

McDonagh - Gardiner
Smith - Ramage
Goloubef - Schultz

Bennett
Gudmandson

The forward lines appear to be the same as last weekend, with Turbull/Dolan/Thurber/Meuer as the scratches.

The defensive pairings also remain the same. Brett Bennett gets the nod in goal on Friday, and as usual we'll have to wait until Saturday to hear who will play Sat night. I expect Gudmandson, but what the heck do I know?

I don't know who the 2 extra skaters are that made the trip. Anyone know? (I have an email out to Cerniglia and am hoping that Capobianco will post it on twitter.)

Husky lines
Baggot and Allenspach have different forward lines listed. *shrug*
per Baggot:
Eddy - Roe - Lasch
Mosey - LeBlanc - Volpei
Festler - Oslund - Novak
Hanowski - Christian - Ammerman

per Allenspach:
Eddy - Marvin - Lasch
Mosey - Roe - Volpei
Festler - LeBlanc - Novak
Hanowski - Oslund - Christian

Gaudet - Raboin
Zabkowicz - Hepp
Lauridsen - Johnson

Lee
Dunn

Mike Lee gets the start in goal tonight, and Dan Dunn is expected to start tomorrow.

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
stcloudstate: preview, game notes (I don't see anything yet)
Baggot (WSJ): Badgers at St. Cloud State
Holt (Badger Herald): Badgers, Street looking for success vs. St. Cloud
Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): High-octane Badger offense takes act to the road to face St. Cloud
Allenspach (sctimes): Friday bugaboo haunts Huskies
Allenspach (sctimes blog): Lasch climbs ladder and Lee starts another series

Other Articles/Links
Baggot (WSJ blog): Five good minutes with Jordy Murray
Baggot (WSJ): McDonagh learning to channel forceful personality
uwbadgers: Eaves' weekly presser
Worgull (BN): Veteran freshman (premium)
Bleach (BN): Just wanting a chance (premium)
Henson (Badger Herald): Fighting for ice time only improves Badgers
Allenspach (sctimes): Mosey makes most of skills
stcloudstate: Bob Motzko interview
stcloudstate: Dann Dunn player profile

The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA, Milewski's What I Think, Tuesday Morning Quarterback (Extra)
INCH: Friday Four-cast (national notebook), First Shift (national notebook), WCHA: review gets it right
Goon's World: Weekend Match-ups (Sioux7)

HatchetJoe says . . .
"Eetchie waah ugala nakamee" . . . Potawatomi for "Get them [f'n] dogs off the ice"

BADGER WOMEN @ St. Cloud: Fri/Sat 2 PM

UW: 7-4-1 overall, 5-3-0 WCHA (last weekend 2-2 tie (lost SO) and 6-2 win v. Wayne State)
St. Cloud: 4-9-0 overall, 3-6-0 WCHA (last weekend split w/ Bemidji 0-1, 5-2)

Bring 2 canned food items to the game on Friday and get in free!

Gameday Links
TV: none
Radio: none
Audio webstream: KVSC (free)
Video webstream: b2live ($7)
Live stats: stcloudstate
Live blog: Boscacci*

* I don't have the direct blog link, but it should be linked on the front page at game time.

Weekly Shootout Winner
Stephanie McKeough

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
stcloudstate: preview, game notes (I don't see anything yet)
Erickson (Badger Herald): Badgers hope to find consistent success at National Hockey Center

Other Articles/Links
Erickson (Badger Herald): DeKeyser brings familiar feel in place of Johnson
Jakiel (uwbadgers blog): On the road again

Wisconsin Recruiting: Seven Early Signers

Yesterday I had an update that Wisconsin would be signing at least 5 players in the early signing period. Tonight, Andy Baggot informs us that the official count is seven.

Forwards

Tyler Barnes-Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)-Burnsville, MN (3)
Jefferson Dahl-Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)-Eau Claire, WI (2.5)
Sean Little-Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)-Fond du Lac, WI (1.5)
Michael Mersch-USA NTDP (U18)-Park Ridge, IL (4)
Mark Zengerle-Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)-Rochester, NY (4.5)

Defense

Chase Drake-Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)-Mosinee, WI (2.5)
Frankie Simonelli-USA NTDP (U18)-Bensenville, IL (4)

Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic Update

Back in July, when Barry Alvarez announced that Culver's would be sponsoring the Camp Randall Hockey "Classic", he made note of the fact that UW had sold 20,000 tickets to the event. (See our blog entry and Baggot's blog entry)

Alvarez, Mike Eaves and Co. seemed cautiously optimistic that the event might still hit the world record by selling out the event. I know that I was skeptical, although I wanted to see how things were later in the fall, when youth hockey schedules were out and when "UW has a chance to pimp this event non-stop during the football season."

Turns out, there's hope for a sellout yet. I just checked the ticket website on UWBadgers.com, and they are claiming that the entire lower bowl has sold out, except for the south end zone seats (sections Y1-3, YZ and Z1-3). I tried a quick search for four tickets in YZ, and it put me all the way back in row 38. The upper deck seats aren't going on sale until the lower bowl sells out.

I don't have much of a handle on what capacity would be at Camp Randall if they don't sell any upper deck tickets, but this is certainly very promising to see.

Wisconsin Recruiting: Early Signing Period

With a rather large senior class this season, and the prospects that numerous underclassmen may bolt to the NHL, a lot has been made about what UW is going to do with the early signing period that began November 11th.

First of all, I'd just like to point out that the early signing period is stupid. Let me rephrase, signing periods are stupid. And more to the point, the NCAA is stupid.

Regardless of that, these are the players that can be confirmed so far that Wisconsin will be signing during the early signing period.


Chase Drake-Defenseman, Sioux City (USHL)

Drake is a slick, smooth skating defenseman from Mosinee who has spent the past year and a half playing for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. Drakes skating ability should be a big asset in his favor in making the transition from junior hockey to the WCHA. He still has things to work on in his own end of the ice but should be a solid player for Wisconsin.

Rating= 2.5 stars


Jefferson Dahl-Forward, Youngstown (USHL)

Dahl is a smaller forward but he's a pest that you always want on your team. He's very talented with the puck and has the ability to create plays for his teammates. The Eau Claire native can be looked upon as a leader, a good guy in the community, and could evolve in my opinion to be an outstanding college hockey player when it's all said and done.

Rating= 2.5 stars


Sean Little-Forward, Green Bay (USHL)

Little, like his older brother (Wisconsin defenseman Ryan Little) is an all out, balls to the walls physical player. Little has been known to be a bit of a scrapper so far in his USHL career. His offensive statistics have been more underwhelming than what was expected of him, but every team needs a forward who's not afraid to make a big hit similar to a player like Ben Grotting.

Rating= 1.5 stars


Tyler Barnes-Forward, Waterloo (USHL)

It seems like Barnes committed forever and a day ago (October, 07). A lot was made about Barnes being pushed back a year due to the fact that projected departures (Mitchell and Geoffrion), ended up staying. Barnes has handled it in stride and is having an absolute monster year so far in the USHL. Should be able to step in and immediately contribute next season.

Rating= 3 stars


Mark Zengerle-Forward, Salmon Arm (BCHL)

The highlight of this class is hands down Salmon Arm forward Mark Zengerle. Once again, (and no shock to anyone) Zengerle is leading the British Columbia Hockey League in scoring. Zengerle is an absolute stud in the offensive zone. The 5'11 right hander has upped his scoring output this season from a league best 1.7 points per game last season, to a league best 2.2 this season. Zengerle has taken it upon himself to evolve as a player this season.

Rating= 4.5 stars


Keep in mind, these are only players that have been confirmed by either myself, or other sources (Dplaya confirmed Little, Baggot confirmed Barnes and Zengerle, WEAU in Eau Claire confirmed Dahl, and I'm obviously confirming Drake) at this time.

Wisconsin, by being a Big Ten member (yes it still applies to hockey), must be able to show a recruit on a letter of intent EXACTLY how much money is available to them instead of just promising it to them like every other school in the nation without Big Ten ties. Therefore, UW is handcuffed a bit in the fact that some players who have committed for next season are going to have to wait until the spring to sign.

For example, a player like Frankie Simonelli, who is committed to UW for next season may have to wait until the spring to sign because maybe he was promised the scholarship money that Ryan McDonagh is receiving. McDonagh, being a junior (even though everyone and thier mother knows he'll be in a Rangers uniform next season), is still looked at by the Big 10 as a player coming back until he officially leaves. Keep in mind that was just an example, I have no idea what Simonelli was promised.

What I'm trying to say, is that you shouldn't be shocked or concerned if committed players like Simonelli, Michael Mersch, etc etc don't end up signing in the early signing period. Those players are big scholarship players and UW, by following Big 10 rules, might have to wait until things are official in the spring. Hence my reason that signing periods are stupid.

When It's all said and done, I expect the official UW freshman class of 2010-2011 to look like this (Star rating in parenthesis) :

Forwards

Tyler Barnes-Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)-Burnsville, MN (3)
Jefferson Dahl-Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)-Eau Claire, WI (2.5)
Gavin Hartzog-Fargo Force (USHL)-Milwaukee, WI (2)
Tyler Lapic-Omaha Lancers (USHL)-New Prague, MN (3)
Sean Little-Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)-Fond du Lac, WI (1.5)
Michael Mersch-USA NTDP (U18)-Park Ridge, IL (4)
Matt Paape-Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)-Appleton, WI (4)
Mark Zengerle-Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)-Rochester, NY (4.5)

Defense

Chase Drake-Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)-Mosinee, WI (2.5)
Frankie Simonelli-USA NTDP (U18)-Bensenville, IL (4)

UAA Swept to Russia

5-1 Last Night

6-2 Tonight

Great play by almost every Badger this weekend!

Freshman Craig Smith and Justin Schultz both scored their first goals as Badgers this weekend, congrats!

It's Friday, I'm in Love

Saturday, wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday, never hesitate . . .

Both the Badger Men and Badger Women are at home again this weekend, with the Men hosting the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves and the Women hosting the Wayne State Warriors. (The opening game of the women's series was actually last night. The game is officially a 2-2 tie, but Wayne state won in the shootout.)

BADGER MEN v Alaska-Anchorage: FRI/SAT 7 PM (Kohl Center)

I think everyone is upset about last Saturday so practice has been high tempo, battling as hard as we can. -- Brendan Smith

Right now we just need to find a way to score goals and finish. Each guy has taken his own notes, bearing down when chances come, and that has been the main focus. -- Derek Stepan

I think are best times are still to come from the guys. We need to find a way to get some dirty goals, some gritty goals. The pretty ones will come because that’s who you are. We just need to work hard and continue to get chances, because it will come around. -- Mike Eaves [Badger Herald]

UW: 4-3-1 overall, 2-3-1 WCHA (last weekend split v. minnesota 4-2, 2-5)
UAA: 4-6-0 overall, 2-4-0 WCHA (last weekend split v. Denver 2-3, 7-3)

Featured on this week's tickets are senior forwards Ben Grotting and Michael Davies.

Ya know, I never used to be a huge Ben Grotting fan. It's not that he's ever been in my doghouse, but rather that I never had strong feelings one way or the other about him. Perhaps I should listen to Hatchet Joe a bit more (selectively, of course), but Grotting's starting to grow on me. He's solid defensively, and I like the physicality of his game and the energy that he brings to the ice. Brett Kurtz (It's Kurtzy Time!) and Dennis Snedden used to talk about their 4th-line roles on the 1990 team as "raising havoc" and creating "controlled chaos", and Jeff Sauer said "They're not pretty, but they go out and make things happen . . . I use them in a situation where I want to make something happen." Well, Grotting's not pretty, but I think he's got the havoc/chaos thing down, and I like it.

Coming into this season, Grotting was 9-17-26 in 106 GP. He's played in all 8 games this season and has recorded 1 goal.

Mike Davies sometimes drives me nuts because of his inconsistency. But he's got offensive skills, and I like the way he responded when he got back in the lineup after being held out to start the season. Coming into this season, Davies was the 2nd returning career goal-scorer and top returning points-scorer (24-27-71 in 114 GP). Among current players, last season he was 3rd in goals (10 G in 24 GP). In 6 games this season, Davies is 1-3-4.


Gameday Links
TV:
- Live - Friday FSN WI; Saturday WISC Ch 3 (Madison), Charter Extra Channel 87, Time Warner Sports
- Tape delay - both nights on The Wisconsin Channel (10 PM game day and 6 PM next day)
Radio: WIBA 1310 (Madison)
Audio webstream: insideBADGERSPORTS ($9.95/mo), WSUM (free) - no confirmation, but I'd expect they'll be broadcasting
Video webstream: The Wisconsin Channel's live stream (tape-delay 10 PM game day and 6 PM next day), insideBADGERSPORTS (live Saturday only, $9.95/mo)
Live stats: CBSSports gametracker - Friday, Saturday
Live blog: Worgull (BN)*

* I don't have the direct blog link, but it should be linked on the BN front page at game time.

Weekly Shooutout Winner
This week, JAKE GARDINER won the shootout over Justin Schultz and Mike Davies.

Here are the previous winners and how they did that weekend:
Wk 4: Blake Geoffrion (2-1-3, 10 SOG, +1)
Wk 3: Justin Schultz (0-0-0, E, 1 SOG, looked solid on D to me)
Wk 2: Mike Davies (0-2-0, 6 SOG, and sounds like he played really well)
Wk 1: Podge Turnbull (0-0-0, 5 SOG, and despite being held off the scoresheet I thought he looked really good)

Badger Lines
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - C Smith
Lee - Street - Grotting
Murray - Stepan - Davies
Mitchell - Bendickson - P Johnson

McDonagh - Gardiner
Smith - Ramage
Goloubef - Schultz

Bennett
Gudmandson

Mike Eaves has scrambled his forward lines - well, the 2nd and 4th lines, anyway. Grotting has been moved up to the 2nd line. And after being scratched last Saturday, John Mitchell has found his way back into the lineup. Sean Dolan and Podge Turbull have been knocked back out of the lineup, and (to our continued dismay) Matt Thurber continues to be scratched.

The defensive pairings remain the same. Brett Bennett gets the nod in goal on Friday, and as usual we'll have to wait until Saturday to hear who will play Sat night. Personally, I like the Bennett-Gudmandson rotation, and so I'd like to see that again this weekend.

What's a seawolf?
Spencer - Naslund - Selby
Lunden - Leinweber - Haddad
Grant - Gellert - Clark
Bruijsten - Parkinson - Crowell

Baldwin - Backstrom
Darwitz - Vidmar
Hunt - Tuton

Christianson

Wisconsinite Sean Wiles, this week's WCHA co-offensive POTW, is out for the series with a shoulder injury. Sophomore Kane LaFranchise has made the trip but has to sit out tonight's game after receiving a game DQ for clipping last Saturday v. Denver. (I didn't see it, but WCH reports that the hit was clean and that the WCHA admitted that they screwed up. Interesting.)

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
goseawolves: preview, game notes
Baggot (WSJ): UW men's hockey vs. Alaska-Anchorage
Baggot (WSJ blog): Eaves will look at another lineup
Henson (Badger Herald): Seawolves sail into Kohl Center
Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Badgers continue WCHA Schedule against Seawolves
Durrell (Seawolves Examiner): UAA at Wisconsin preview

Other Articles/Links
Baggot (WSJ blog): Eaves sends mixed signals about his goalies
Baggot (WSJ blog): Measuring the power of UW's shots on goal
Baggot (WSJ blog): Five good minutes with Ben Street
uwbadgers: Eaves' weekly presser
Holt (Badger Herald): Easy Street: captain back from ACL tear
Woody (ADN): Scoring goals breed confidence for UAA

The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA
INCH: Friday Four-cast (national notebook), Role Reversal for gophers (WCHA notebook)
Goon's World: Weekend Match-ups (Sioux 7)


BADGER WOMEN v. Wayne State: Thurs 7 PM / Fri 2 PM (Kohl Center)

UW: 6-4-0 overall, 5-3-0 WCHA (last weekend split w/ Robert Morris 1-3, 3-2 OT)
Wayne State: 3-5-2 overall, 0-2-0 CHA (last weekend lost to Mercyhurst 1-3, 2-7)

By the way, last night was Snuggie Night at the Kohl Center. . . . REALLY? . . . Umm, yeah, I got nothin' . . .

Gameday Links
TV: none
Radio: none
Audio webstream: WSUM (free) - no confirmation, but I'd expect they'll be broadcasting
Video webstream: bigtennetwork ($2.99/game)
Live stats: CBSSports gametracker - Thursday, Friday
Live blog: none (away games only)

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
wsuathletics: hmm, the last news on this site is from 10/3 . . .
Hager (Badger Herald): Women's Hockey to face Wayne State at Kohl Center

Other Articles/Links
Hager (Badger Herald): Badgers' Giles brings winning touch to program

Thursday Results
recaps: uwbadgers, WSJ, Hager (Badger Herald), Erickson (Badger Herald)
box: uwbadgers, collegehockeystats

Badgers 4 Wangicided gophers 2

Nice prediction Chuck!

Tough choice for the goofs, stay w/ Four Soft Goals Wangas, or bring in Pattersieve tomorrow night?

Recruit Jordan Schmaltz Moves To The USHL

Jordan Schmaltz, a defenseman from Verona, WI who is committed to attend Wisconsin in the fall of 2012 has taken the next step in his development. Thanks to a tip from the USCHO poster Milzie, we've learned that Schmaltz has been added to the roster of the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL.

According to the online box score, Schmaltz dressed last night for the Musketeers wearing #15 in a home loss, 4-2 to Indiana. Schmaltz did not record any statistics in last nights contest.

Wisconsin forward recruit Matt Paape and defense recruit Chase Drake also play for the Musketeers. Eau Claire native Luke Strand is the head coach and General Manager.

Sioux City will be back in action Saturday night when they host future Badger Tyler Lapic and the Omaha Lancers.

Hey Patricia White, Grotting Is Looking For You

Minnesota Still Sucks

Great big gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts. How about a nice, cool drink, varmints? Scum! Slime! Menace to the hockey industry! You're a disgrace. You're varmints. You're one of the lowest members of the food chain and you'll probably be replaced by the rat.

Well, I have been pushed. It's about time somebody teaches these varmints a little lesson about morality and about what it's like to be a decent, upstanding member of a society! Come to Carl, varmint. I guess we're playing for keeps now. I guess the kidding around is pretty much over. I guess it's just a matter of pumping about five thousand gallons of water down there to teach you a little bit of a lesson. Is that it? I think it is!

Friday Prediction: Wisconsin 4, Minnesota 2

Cha-Cha-Cha-CHIA!!!!

It's Friday, I'm in Love

Monday, you can hold your head
Tuesday, Wednesday stay in bed
Or Thursday - watch the walls instead
It's Friday, I'm in love

Both the Badger Men and Badger women are at home again this weekend, with the Men hosting minnesota and the Women hosting Robert Morris. Go RED!

BADGER MEN v minnesota: FRI/SAT 7 PM (Kohl Center)

I think we’re both kind of in the same spot right now, if you look at our records and where we’re at, coming off the weekends we had. We were struggling similar to them, and we both finally put together a solid two-win weekend. So I think it’s going to be a real intense series for everyone. -- Ryan McDonagh [Badger Herald]

[W]e’re going to be really tough to beat if we can roll out four lines consistently throughout the year. . . . We can really beat up on teams if we can go one, two, three, four lines and they’re only playing three. -- Andy Bohmbach [Badger Herald]

UW: 3-2-1 overall, 1-2-1 WCHA (last weekend swept UNH 4-1, 6-1)
minn: 2-3-1 overall, 2-3-1WCHA (last weekend swept UAA 5-1, 4-1)

By the way, tomorrow is a somewhat dubious day in history, as it's the birthday of minnesota's rouser. My favorite reactions to the rouser after it's debut [music.umn.edu]:

It hasn't enough spirit. It sounds like a kindergarten song. -- univ of minnesota student

The chorus is great if it weren't for the words. -- univ of minnesota student

It has no distinction of language. It is commonplace and not worthy of Minnesota. We shouldn't have given the prize until a really good song was submitted. -- univ of minnesota president Cyrus Northrop

Well, I won't aruge with Northrup's take on the song, but we might differ on what might be "worthy of Minnesota", and I submit that perhaps it's a good fit. Thankfully, WT Purdy had the good sense to remove his entry from the contest and instead offer it to Wisconsin. ON, WISCONSIN!

Moving along, featured on this week's tickets are senior forward Ben Street and sophomore forward Derek Stepan.

Street, of course, is serving as one of the Badgers' tri-captains this year, along with Blake Geoffrion and Ryan McDonagh. Coming off of a medical redshirt for last season, Street entered this season as the Badgers' most experienced player, having played in 128 games. His junior year, he led the team in goals (13, tied w/ Davies) and was 2nd in total points (30, tied w/ Geoffrion), and he entered this season leading current Badgers in career goals (34, tied w/ Davies) and 3rd in total points (63, behind Davies and Geoffrion. In 6 games this season, Street is 1-1-2, +1, and 54% in the face-off circle.

As a freshman last season, St. Stepan showed us he's a pretty good playmaker, finishing 2nd on the team in points (33, behind McBain) based on his 24 assists (2nd only to McBain's 27). This season, he's shown us he can score, too, as he's leading the team in goals (3, tied w/ Geoffrion & Murray). I think most would agree that St. Stepan stepped up his game in the 2nd-half of last season and has continued to further step up his game this season. And I gotta tell ya, he sure is an exciting player to watch on the ice. In 6 games this season, Stepan is 3-2-5, +3, and 54% in the face-off circle. (No update yet on when St. Stepan's Day will officially be celebrated.)


Gameday Links
TV:
- Live - Friday TVW Ch 14 (Madison); Saturday WISC Ch 3 (Madison), Charter Extra Ch 87; both nights FSN North (not FSN WI) / FCS Central
- Tape delay - both nights WPT (11 PM) and next day on The Wisconsin Channel (6 PM)
Radio: WIBA 1310 (Madison)
Audio webstream: insideBADGERSPORTS ($9.95/mo), WSUM (free) - no confirmation, but I'd expect they'll be broadcasting
Video webstream: only if you're not in Wisconsin - insideBADGERSPORTS ($9.95/mo)
Live stats: CBSSports gametracker - Friday, Saturday
Live blog: Worgull (BN)*

* I don't have the direct blog link, but it should be linked on the BN front page at game time.

Weekly Shooutout Winner
This week, BLAKE GEOFFRION beat out Cody Goloubef to win the shootout.

Here are the previous winners and how they did that weekend:
Wk 3: Justin Schultz (0-0-0, E, 1 SOG, looked solid on D to me)
Wk 2: Mike Davies (0-2-0, 6 SOG, and sounds like he played really well)
Wk 1: Podge Turnbull (0-0-0, 5 SOG, and despite being held off the scoresheet I thought he looked really good)

Badger Lines
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - C Smith
Mitchell - Street - Lee
Murray - Stepan - Davies
Bendickson - Dolan - Grotting

McDonagh - Gardiner
Goloubef - Schultz
Smith - Ramage

Bennett
Gudmandson

As you know, C Smith is returning to the lineup and has taken P Johnson's spot on the top line. Derek Lee, who made his Badger debut last weekend, keeps his spot in the lineup, as does Sean Dolan, who replaced Podge Turnbull last Saturday. (Boy, that's a tough one. I thought Podge has looked good all year, but Dolan did a nice job on Saturday, and I'm happy with both players.)

The defensive pairings remain the same. Brett Bennett gets the nod in goal on Friday, and as usual we'll have to wait until Saturday to hear who will play Sat night.

Listen, Alex, unless you want me to lead, you're going to have
to put your hand on my waist. Photo courtesy of Neil Ament,
caption courtesy of EoDS before he was ours.

gopher lines
Hoeffel - Schroeder - Sacchetti
Lucia - Carman - Matson
Hansen - Budish - White
Birkholz - Larson - Flynn

Fairchild - Fischer
Lofquist - Ness
Wehrs - Helgeson

Kangas
Patterson

Kangas gets the nod tonight, and I'd expect we'll see him tomorrow as well. To learn more about Kangas, you can read Gandalf's most recent article about him, as well as the biography that Gandalf wrote last season. Quite informative.

Senior forward Jay Barriball suffered a season-ending knee injury during practice this week. Freshman defenseman Nick Leddy had his jaw broken during last Friday's game v. UAA and is out for 6 weeks.

And to refresh your memory, you may want to glance at Gandalf's preseason look at the goofs.


I know Kangas is my grandson, but it still makes me vomit
in my mouth to watch these guys. Photo courtesy of
Neil Ament, caption courtesy of anonymouse.
Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
gophersports: preview, game notes
Baggot (WSJ): UW men's hockey vs. Minnesota
Baggot (WSJ blog): Stats don't change Eaves' plan
Holt (Badger Herald): Men's hockey team to host rival Minnesota
Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Border Battle, raucus Kohl Center await Badgers

A couple of fun items from Baggot's preview: Per Baggot, Mike Hoeffel is the only gopher in the lineup to have scored 10 or more goals in a season (12 last year, but I'm not sure he's the only player, b/c didn't Jordan Schroeder score 13 goals last year?), and the gophers have more SH goals (2) than PP goals (1) this season. (By my count, the Badgers have 5 players in the lineup who have scored 10 or more goals in a season - Street, Geoffrion, Davies, Bohmbach, Mitchell - and have scored 6 PP goals. The Badgers are still waiting for their first SH goal of the season.)

Other Articles/Links
Wodon (CHN): Team of the Week: Wisconsin
uwbadgers: Smith, Ramage earn WCHA laurels
Baggot (WSJ): UW's hockey team focuses on finding the right pairings on defense
Baggot (WSJ blog): Five good minutes with Craig Smith
Baggot (WSJ blog): Eaves sends a not-so-subtle message
Augustoviz (Star Trib): Gophers' Hoeffel works for bigger role
Holt (Badger Herald): Outstanding depth gives men's hockey big advantage
Holt (Badger Herald): Penalties kill, help men's hockey team
Henson (Badger Herald): Border battle key for season
Bleach (BN): Loading a loose cannon (premium content)

The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA
INCH: Friday Four-Cast (national notebook)
Goon's World: Weekend Match-ups (Sioux 7)


BADGER WOMEN v. Robert Morris: Fri/Sat 2 PM (Kohl Center)

UW: 5-3-0 overall, 5-3-0 WCHA (last weekend swept the previously undefeated minnesota, 4-2, 5-2)
RMU: 3-5-0 overall, 0-0-0 CHA (last weekend swept Maine, 3-1, 1-0 (OT))

Gameday Links
TV: none
Radio: none
Audio webstream: WSUM (free) - no confirmation, but I'd expect they'll be broadcasting
Video webstream: bigtennetwork ($2.99/game)
Live stats: CBSSports gametracker - Friday, Saturday
Live blog: none (away games only)

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
rmucolonials: preview, game notes
Hager (Badger Herald): Badgers to host Robert Morris
Savidge (Daily Cardinal): Streaking Badgers look to keep rolling


Other Articles/Links
Augustine (wisconsinwomenshockey): highlight video from last weekend
Gilbert (wcha): The small things lead to big things
WSJ: Ruegsegger named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week
uwbadgers: Ruegsegger claims first WCHA weekly honor
Jakiel (uwbadgers blog): Get out your brooms, Badger fans

Pat Johnson Out Of The Lineup

Mike Eaves finally gets it. It's time to pull the plug on the Pat Johnson experiment on the first line. Johnson, the only player to play in all 6 games who has not recorded a point has been demoted from the first line to the 5th line, and thus likely out of the lineup for this weekends series with rival Minnesota.

After a brutal performance out of his 5'9 winger last weekend, Eaves had to make the change.

"A little message to Patrick, quite honestly,'' Eaves said. "There's a message there to everybody that you have to perform game in and game out. We have a deep team and if (quality play) is not going to happen, we have the ability to do stuff like this.''

Johnson's play has fallen off significantly since he rode Kyle Turris's coat tails to a 21 point freshman season. Last year in 35 games, the tiny forward from Madison recorded a whopping 4 points.

Current Lines courtesy of Andy Baggot:

Andy Bohmbach-Blake Geoffrion-Craig Smith
Jordy Murray-Derek Stepan-Mike Davies
John Mitchell-Ben Street-Derek Lee
Aaron Bendickson-Sean Dolan-Ben Grotting

Who taught them how to read?

Honestly, who reads at a hockey game?

Kangas wins Oscar

AP – St. Paul

Despite the early season struggles for the golden gophers’ men’s hockey team, one of their players accomplished something never done before by a WCHA goaltender. Earlier in 2009, Alex Kangas was a winner at the academy awards, winning the award for best kangaroo in a short film for his work in several short films created during the second half of the gophers NCAA missing 2008/09 season.

In all, four films were created about Kangas during the first four months of 2009, which might explain his woes as a goaltender.

The first film was Collapse, named for the Jared Diamond book by the same name; this film chronicled Kangas’ epic collapse during the second half of the 2008/09 season. The film was narrated by James Earl Jones. At the holiday break, Kangas was the best statistical goaltending in the WCHA (even picked as a mid-season 1st teamer by the legendary 60 Minutes, No Alibis, No Regrets blog) and by the end of the season he wasn’t even in the top 5, finishing 8th in GAA and 9th in save percentage.

When author Jared Diamond was reached for comment about the film he wondered, “Who the hell is Alex Kangas?” After reviewing the historical information of Kangas’ epic collapse in net Diamond added, “When the Mayan Civilization collapsed many centuries ago it was epic, at least until I saw some tape of Kangas’ play at the end of last season. His teammates would have been better off putting a stuffed kangaroo in the damn net.”

The second film was Swept a film about the weekend of February 7th when the Wisconsin Badgers traveled to the Twin Cities and took the broom to Kangas and his teammates. His sordidly poor play could not be overcome by his team’s offense and legitimately killed any chance his team had at winning the MacNaughton Cup. Soft goals were the storyline of the weekend.

Unlike the other films, this film followed dual storylines. The jubilation of the Badgers fans celebrating a big road sweep by their team, countered with the utter dejection of gopher fans, including an in depth look at several gopher fans that live in their parents basements while trolling opposing team’s blogs and leaving anonymous comments.

Middle Finger was a short film, only minutes long, where Kangas encountered some Badger fans following the events of the movie Swept in a parking lot. It was his tribute to North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol.

One of the characters in the film is based on hockey blogger Chuck Schwartz, who lived through the middle finger experience. Schwartz didn’t beat around the bush, “I’m happy that Kangas is successful at something, because it certainly isn’t goaltending.”

Finally, in Pardon Me, I’m Not Helen Briggs, Kangas searches his soul as he comes to grips with the legacy of pathetic goaltending at the university of minnesota. The short film was partly a comparison of his career to that of former golden gopher Helen Briggs (who occasionally went by Kellen) who was in net during the biggest upset in College Hockey history against Holy Cross on March 24, 2006, as lowly Holy Cross knocked off the #1 seeded gophers.

The film followed Kangas through campus and the lonely streets of the Twin Cities as he came to terms not only w/ his own failures, but of those of coach Rob Stauber and all past minnesota goaltenders. Following the private screening attending by FSN minnesota all-stars Doug Woog, Kevin Gorg and Frank “the Rug” Mazzdorko, Gorg commented, “wow he is almost as bad at goaltending as we are at providing a quality broadcast.”

At the Academy Awards themselves, the award was one of the first on the docket. The award presentation was given by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk; Kangas was the only nominee for the award. Before Kangas was asked to the stage to accept his award, the Teleprompter of the United States of America (TOTUS) had a short message of congratulation spoken by President Barack Obama.

“Ahh…On behalf of the people of the United States, I’d like to congratulate Alex Kangas on his success in these short films. From personal experience, I know how difficult it is to rise above when the deck is stacked against you. It takes great courage to overcome the obstacles presented by society. Ahh…umm….ahhh…our staff here at the White House will work diligently to bring universal health care to all kangaroos and to pass cap and trade so that kangaroos around the world have the chance to succeed and not see their dreams destroyed due to global climate change. Good night America. I’m Barack Obama?”

Kangas made his way to the stage accompanied by his head coach Don Lucia and several teammates. While Kangas accepted the award, Lucia spoke on his behalf. “Alex would like to thank all of his fans, who only support the team when things are going good and quickly turn on us when they don’t. As his coach and mentor, Alex has taught me many things. I’ve learned that there is still hope for my son Tony, who like Alex is a talentless hockey player. I now have hope that he can rise above and seek his other dreams, since they certainly won’t be on the ice. Thank…” As Lucia was attempting to finish his speech Kanye West took the stage and added, “I know plenty of kangaroos who were just as deserving of this award…”

This news was taken to the streets of the gophers’ biggest rival, the Wisconsin Badgers, in the epicenter of Badger Hockey: Madison, WI. Hockey fans met the news w/ laughs and jeers, while a homeless person with a bird on his shoulder only pandered us for spare change to buy crack. One fan, legendary Door County Badger (who has serious issues w/ his Door County Bias), was willing to provide a quote for this article. “You know what they say, you can’t spell sex with a kangaroo without Kangas. And that is the TRUTH.”

Throughout the time in Madison, an old man wearing a Tomahawk Hockey sweatshirt kept yelling “Ford Field Sucks.”

It would only be fitting that this story end sadly, and to accomplish that task we traveled to the San Diego Zoo. There we talked with Kangas’ former zoo keeper. With his head in his hands, he was weeping uncontrollably. “He's a kangaroo damnit! He doesn't need this!”

Oddly, Alex could not be reached for comment as part of this article, but his spokesman, FSN studio commentator Anthony LaPanties, said that Kangas looks forward to another productive season, of making short films.

Sweep Anyone?

Friday:

Wisconsin 4, UNH 1- BOX, Recap

Saturday:

Wisconsin 6, UNH1- BOX, Recap








Photo by RedHeat15

A few Friday afternoon odds & ends

• Earlier this week, Jake Dowell played for the Blackhawks in their 3-1 win over the Wild. You might recall that in the 1st he dropped the gloves with Shane Hnidy. Here's the video:

• Apparently Mercyhurst might be considering an attempt to join the CCHA. I don't know how much credibility there is to this rumor -- it was relayed by Paula Weston in her weekly CCHA column last week, and I get the feeling that a number of the kids over on the USCHO fan forum don't think too highly of her. (Thanks to Goon for pointing out the story.)

• Props to Capo for spotting this article about Rene Bourque's hot start with the Flames.
  

• Thanks to Boscacci for pointing out this Angie Keseley article.
  

The end of the Badger Hockey Showdown and College Hockey Showcase?

Today, Andy Baggot tells us that this may be the last year for the Badger Hockey Showdown and the College Hockey Showcase.

Yeah, yeah, I know the Badger Hockey Showdown has been on a decline since it moved from Milwaukee. Attendance is lousy, and it's hard to get good quality opponents, especially since there are a ton of holiday tournaments these days. And I've been pretty outspoken (perhaps not here, but in person to those who would listen) in lamenting the weak opponents of the Showdown in recent years. But I really like being able to go to a holiday tournament and see 4 games, and I'd have a hard time making a holiday tourney road trip. So I'm pretty bummed about this.

Baggot tells us that the nature of the PWR formula and the .500 criteria are driving forces behind the scheduling changes, but I gotta tell ya, this logic makes absolutely no sense in regards to the Badger Hockey Showdown. (In all fairness to Baggot, he's repeating what the UW staff has told him.) The opponents win percentage was recently (sometime in the past couple years, not sure exactly when) given less weight in the PWR, and ya gotta have a .500 record to make the NCAA tourney. So the coaching staff has talked about needing to schedule cupcakes (my word, not theirs, of course) to ensure that .500 record. But the Badgers are more likely to play cupcakes in their own holiday tourney (which has recently featured cupcakes, not that it has guaranteed wins, however) than if they go to someone else's holiday tourney where they might have to play the host team, which is usually a top team (or at least better than many of the invitees).

And then Eaves says that rather than a holiday tournament, they'd like to "get a quality team in here at Christmas time where we can play two games and (Badgers fans) can see the same team back-to-back, that will be fine." So, no cupcake? Or is "quality team" a code phrase for cupcake?

And I don't understand how nixing the College Hockey Showcase makes any sense. Baggot tells us that it has to do with getting Ohio State in the mix. So they're going to nix a perfectly good showcase to add 1 team into the rotation? Sounds stupid to me.

And if the UW wants to schedule softer teams, well then sure, OSU will probably be easier to beat than UM or MSU. But that doesn't change that we'll still have to play both UM and MSU some years, and once again there goes the logic of scheduling non-conference cupcakes to try to get a .500 record.

I might be an idiot, but something about all this logic just doesn't seem logical to me . . .

It's Friday, I'm in Love

I don't care if Mondays black
Tuesday, Wednesday - heart attack
Thursday, never looking back
It's Friday, I'm in love

Both the Badger Men and the Badger Women are at home this weekend, the Men with a non-conference Fri/Sat series v. UNH and the women with a Fri/Sun afternoon series v. conference rival minnesota.

By the way, Freakfest is Saturday, and the UW has issued a travel advisory.


BADGER MEN v New Hampshire: FRI 7 PM / SAT 7 PM (Kohl Center)


Featured on this week's tickets are senior winger Andy Bohmbach and junior defenseman Brendan Smith. Bohmbach (BOHMBER!) has looked pretty good this season so far, and ya know we love him. And Smith, after a rough opening weekend, was quite good this past weekend at Mankato.

UW: 1-2-1 overall, 1-2-1 WCHA
UNH: 2-2-1 overall, 2-0-0 HE (last weekend 4-2 win over Northeastern and 5-2 win over Maine)

Gameday Links
TV:
- Live - Friday TVW Ch 14 (Madison), Saturday WISC Ch 3 (Madison), both nights Charter Extra Channel 87 and Time Warner Cable
- Tape delay - The Wisconsin Channel (11 PM game day and 6 PM the following day)
Radio: WIBA 1310 (Madison)
Audio webstream: insideBADGERSPORTS ($9.95/mo) , unhwildcats (free, I think)
Video webstream: The Wisconsin Channel's live stream (tape-delay 11 PM game day and 6 PM next day)
Live stats: CBSSports gametracker - Friday, Saturday
Live blog: Worgull (BN)*

* I don't have the direct blog link, but it should be linked on the BN front page at game time.

Weekly Shooutout Winner
This week, one of my new favorite defensemen won the shootout. Yep, you got it, it's JUSTIN SCHULTZ!

Here are the previous winners and how they did that weekend:
Wk 2: Mike Davies (0-2-0, 6 SOG, and sounds like he played really well)
Wk 1: Podge Turnbull (0-0-0, 5 SOG, and despite being held off the scoresheet I thought he looked really good)

Badger Lines
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - P Johnson
Murray - Stepan - Davies
Mitchell - Street - Lee
Turnbull - Bendickson - Grotting

McDonagh - Gardiner
Goloubef - Schultz
Smith - Ramage

Bennett
Gudmandson

C Smith is out with a 2 game suspension, and Michael Davies moves up to take his spot on the 2nd line. Derek Lee has been cleared to play and takes Grotting's spot from last week on the 3rd line, with Grotting moving down to the 4th line.

The defensive pairings remain the same. Bennett gets the start in goal tonight, and I'd imagine we'll see Gudmandson tomorrow.

Wildcat Lines
Speelman - LeBlanc - Butler
DeSimone - Block - Sislo
Thompson - Borisenok - Moses
McCarey - Burke - Henrion

Campanale - Kessel
Krates - Kipp
Beck - Hardowa

Foster

Doesn't look like we'll get to see Scott Pavelski this weekend; too bad.


Series Previews
uwbadgers: series preview, game notes
unhwildcats: series preview, game notes
Baggot (WSJ): UW Men's Hockey vs. New Hampshire
Baggot (WSJ blog): It's been a while since New Hampshire came to town
Holt (Badger Herald): Halloween, UNH don't scare UW
Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Badgers look to get season going against Wildcats
Graff (THN): UNH to battle skilled Badger team


Other Articles/Links
Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Behind Geoffrion, power play threatening
Holt (Badger Herald): Badger goalie took road less traveled to Madison
Baggot (WSJ): All quiet on the Eastern front?
Breiner (Daily Cardinal): Time for hockey to return to glory
Edwards (CHN): Burke returns to UNH
Howe (INCH): Red hot Kessel returns to hometown this weekend


The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA
INCH: Friday Four-cast (national notebook)
Goon's World: Weekend Match-ups (Sioux 7)


BADGER WOMEN v. minnesota: Fri 2 PM / Sun 2 PM (Kohl Center)

Just a reminder, Friday is Kid's Day at the Kohl!

Gameday Links
TV: none
Radio: none
Audio webstream: WSUM (free) - no confirmation, but I'd expect they'll be broadcasting, gophersports ($4.95/mo)
Video webstream: bigtennetwork ($2.99/game)
Live stats: CBSSports gametracker - Friday, Sunday
Live blog: none (away games only)

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
gophersports: preview, game notes
Baggot (WSJ): Slow start hasn't spooked UW women's skaters *
Savidge (Daily Cardinal): Badgers look to right ship against rival minnesota

* The WSJ has the series incorrectly listed as Fri/Sat series in the text box, although they have it correctly listed as a Fri/Sun series in the actual article. The Women's team will be at the football game on Sat and will be introduced between quarters (not sure which).

Boscacci reports that Becca Ruegsegger is starting in net.

Other Articles/Links
Jakiel (uwbadgers blog): Border Battle Weekend
uwbadgers: Join Women's Hockey and Women's Basketball at Saturday's Badger Bash

Around the WCHA: The refs suck

Last week’s results:

Denver swept minnesota: 3-0, 3-0
UW split @ Mankato: 6-0, 2-3
St Cloud took 3 pts from Duluth: 3-3, 4-2
North Dakota split w/ UAA: 5-0, 1-2
CC swept Tech: 4-1, 8-5

The gophers have scored three goals this season (sorry to the whiny commentor, 1 or 3, they still suck) and Jordan Schroeder has been non-existent. CC takes the early lead in the WCHA standings.

WCHA Top Performers from last weekend:

G Marc Cheverie (DU): Shut out the gophers both nights.
F Bill Sweat (CC): One goal and six assists on the weekend as Tech forget to play defense.
F Rhett Rakshani (DU): Three goals to lead the Pioneers on the weekend.
D Brendan Smith (UW): A pair of goals and assists, I think he got the message following his benching.

This week’s schedule:

New Hampshire @ UW – 3 pts for the Badgers
UAA @ minnesota – Split
Mankato @ Denver – DU sweeps
Clarkson @ Duluth – I don’t know much about Clarkson, Duluth wins/ties.
St Cloud @ Tech – Tech salvaged a point at home

Expansion Corner:

Bemidji tied and shut out (3-3, 5-0) against N. Michigan. They travel to Alabama to play CHA foe Huntsville this weekend.

Nebraska Omaha had the weekend off and now open CCHA play hosting Bowling Green. They have a really easy schedule to start the season, which isn’t hard in the CCHA.

WCHA Women:

UW split w/ Ohio State: 3-4, 5-3
minnesota swept St Cloud: 4-0, 7-0
Northeastern swept Bemidji: 2-1, 3-2
Duluth Foreign Legion swept North Dakota: 4-1, 3-1

Standings so far.

This weekend…

minnesota @ UW
North Dakota @ St Cloud
DFL @ Mercyhurst
Wayne State @ Bemidji
Mankato @ Ohio State

You wouldn’t think 6 games into the season that the Badger Women are at a must win place, but they are. The lady gophers haven’t lost yet, and have already swept the DFL in a series. UW needs points (a sweep would be best) to stay in the chase for the WCHA regular season, because falling anymore behind the gophers will likely be too much to make up. I know that sounds weird, but last season minnesota won the WCHA w/ a 23-2-3 record, and I don’t expect much change this season as they are beating people down. The Badger Women need to hit their stride ASAP to stay in the race.

Hey, lookie, it's Todd Milewski . . .

While I wasn't paying attention, Todd Milewski has apparently started doing USCHO's "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" feature with Jim Connelly. Excellent!

Here are the installments from Oct 20 and Oct 27.

(You need to have USCHO Extra to access the items. Extra costs $15/year and has the nice bonus of no advertisements. Ooh, and additional stats pages which come in handy for things like Tom Gorowsky Week, Andy Bohmbach Week, etc . . . )

A clarification of Smith's suspension

Andy Baggot has kindly clarified who had handed down the additional game suspension for Craig Smith. Looks like the UW was proactive in handing down the punishment themselves, and Baggot indicates that if the UW hadn't given the additional punishment, the WCHA would likely have done so.

A few Wednesday evening links

• It doesn't matter who handed down the extra game suspension to Craig Smith; it's appropriate. But I think it's interesting, as pointed out by reader Todd, that Baggot indicates the WCHA handed down the additional punishment whereas the WCHA says that the UW handed it down. The UW press release concurs with the WCHA release, but I'm sure there's a lot of politics going on here. Especially given what DPlaya heard about the WCHA looking for a longer suspension.

  But Eaves said he was notified by the WCHA that Smith has had another game added to that punishment. Eaves didn't disagree with the action because Smith didn't appear to slow down when he crosschecked Mankato left winger Geoff Irwin into the boards in the third period of a 3-2 loss. [Baggot's Tuesday blog post]
  
  Meanwhile, UW coach Mike Eaves was notified by the office of WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod that freshman right winger Craig Smith would have to miss both games against New Hampshire for the major penalty he was assessed Oct. 24 at Minnesota State-Mankato. [Baggot's Wednesday WSJ article]
  
  The University of Wisconsin Athletic Department has decided to have Smith sit out an extra game to reinforce the learning experience for the local area product. [UW press release]
  
  "The WCHA fully concurs with the additional one-game suspension handed down today by the University of Wisconsin," said WCHA Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod. "We appreciate the University's initiative on this matter and their pro-active approach in creating a learning experience out of a difficult circumstance." [WCHA press release]
  
  10/28-1:30 PM Edit-From what I'm being told it sounds like the WCHA may have been looking for a 4-6 game suspension, so the Badgers and Craig Smith are lucky that he will instead serve a 2-game penalty. [DPlaya, HIW]

• Uwbadgers has a mid-week release regarding the Badger Women's upcoming home series v. minnesota, and it includes a video with Jasmine Giles and Brooke Ammerman.

• INCH's First Shift entry for this week is somewhat WCHA-centric, and it's hard to silently pass by this mention of the minnesota golden gophers:
  

  “They outworked us at times but I think we deserved at least one this weekend.”—Minnesota captain Tony Lucia, to Roman Augustovitz of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune following Denver’s second shutout of the weekend at Mariucci Arena Saturday.

  When Lucia the younger says “one”, is he referring to a win or a goal?

• Chris on WCH mentions Blake Geoffrion as one of his favorite WCHA players to watch and picks him as his dark horse candidate for the WCHA's best player:

  Blake Geoffrion, Wisconsin: Kind of a dark horse pick, but one of my favorite players in the WCHA to watch. He'll probably only score in the point per game range, which won't put him among the leaders, but he's as tough a player as there is in the league.

• Friday is Kids Day at the Kohl. The event starts at 11AM and precedes the Badger Women's 2PM game v. minnesota. Looks like the event is free and includes free admission to the game. Nice!

• The UW has issued a reminder about Camp Randall / Kohl Center policies regarding carry-ins.
  

Smith suspended for an additional game, Lee cleared to play, & other news

• In addition to sitting out this Friday's game v. UNH due to his game disqualification associated with his check-from-behind on Mankato's Geoff Irwin last Saturday, Craig Smith will also be sitting out this Saturday's game, as the WCHA handed down an additional game suspension yesterday. Andy Baggot writes about it in his blog and the WSJ, and here's the uwbadgers release. Shane Frederick reports that Irwin will miss both games at Denver this weekend due to an upper body injury.

• Derek Lee has finally received clearance to play by the NCAA. Baggot writes about it in the same blog post and WSJ article linked above, and here's the uwbadgers release.

• Mike Eaves and Tracey DeKeyser addressed the media Monday in their weekly press conferences.

• Andy Baggot has 5 good minutes with Brett Bennett.

• Olivia Jakiel returned to her blog this week.

• Tom Hager of the Badger Herald has a nice article about Lauren Unser, as well as an article about the Badger Women's early struggles and goaltending battle.

• The Badger Herald finally has a recap of the Badger Men's games last weekend.

• As expected, with the the Hawks off until Thursday, Jake Dowell was sent back to Rockford yesterday. The Icehogs play tonight @ the Chicago Wolves.
  

A few alumni links

Here are some blurbs on Dowell/Skille/Burish from various Blackhawks blogs over the past couple days, as well as a Kyle Turris article I stumbled upon:

• Turris learning while bidding for for an NHL return

• Second City Hockey (Oct 26): It was nice to see the fourth line generate a little bit of pressure and physicality tonight, with Jake Dowell getting into an obligatory scrap with Shane Hnidy

• Chicago Blackhawks Examiner (Oct 26): Jake Dowell should stay up in Chicago, even when Toews comes back. Working a rotation with Fraser, Ebbett and Dowell would bode well for the Hawks, who can chose for a player based on the team they would be playing and the level of physicality. If Dowell, the Rockford IceHogs captain, is too valuable to the AHL to be kept up as an NHL scratch, then the Hawks should call up a player like Rob Klinkhammer or Bryan Bickell to fill the role of de-facto enforcer and fourth liner. Also, I sure hope that Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook don't need as much time as Ben Eager to recover from a concussion. I understand that the Eager has a history of concussion problems, but Jake Dowell's AHL/NHL status might as well be how Ben Eager is feeling that day. If it's bad, Dowell is in the NHL, good, Dowell is in the AHL. Overall, I'm not sure why the Blackhawks don't put a timetable on Eager so they can stop stringing players between Rockford and Chicago. Then again, this is the team that refuses to put Adam Burish and Marian Hossa on the long term injury lists, so logic isn't exactly first priority.

• Fifth Feather (Oct 25): The much maligned Hawks fourth line put together a respectable performance with some solid forechecking and pressure. I would venture to guess Jake Dowell will probably get to stick around a bit this time even when Toews returns. Not to take away anything they did tonight, but they were playing Nashville. The true tests will come when they play better teams.

• Jesse Rogers - ESPNChicago (Oct 25): Toughness vs. Fighting. There is a difference. When Toews got lit up at center ice by Willie Mitchell, it once again brought up a decade-old question: Do the Hawks have enough toughness? A heavyweight is nearly meaningless in this day and age. The rules have changed. There really are no more goons. At least not on great teams -- they can't afford to carry them. And I don't mean because of the salary cap.

  I said that when Adam Burish went down, we would start looking back and saying, "Man, we could have used Bur in that situation." I think we can name about four or five situations already. It's not the heavyweight they miss. It's the energy and toughness that Burish and Ben Eager brought last season. They bring that partly because they can skate. Stan Bowman said as much on the Hawks' radio flagship after Saturday's game. He said the Hawks would consider replacing that toughness if they could find someone who can play a regular shift. Bowman said you can't hit what you can't catch, and he's right. Those guys are not as easy to find as you might think.

WCHA refs' jersey numbers . . .

You might have noticed that the powers-that-be have decided that the officials will simply have numbers on their jerseys rather than names.

So that you can "offer your assistance" to the appropriate ref while enjoying the game, here's a list of their numbers. (Thanks to RichManitoba on buckyville for typing this out.)

At the KC opening weekend v. CC, we had the "pleasure" of watching Todd Anderson and Brad Shepherd. Brad must've gotten a promotion from Daddy, b/c last season he reffed the women's games and was an AR for the men's games.

3 -- Derek Shepherd
4 -- Todd Anderson
5 -- Justin Brown
7 -- Don Adam
8 -- Tom Sterns
9 -- C.J. Beaurline
10 -- Peter Friesema
11 -- Tim Walsh
12 -- Butch Mousseaux
14 -- Brian Thul
15 -- Marco Hunt
17 -- Craig Welker
18 -- Max Battimo
20 -- Brad Albers
22 -- Bill Mason
23 -- Matt Ulwelling
24 -- Jon Campion
25 -- Mike McCreary
27 -- Jonathan Morrison
29 -- Scott Bokal
31 -- Brett Klosowski
33 -- Brad Shepherd

Dowell back up to Chicago

Looks like Jake Dowell was called back up to Chicago for tonight's game v. the Wild. Yay!

I, however, just figured out that I don't get Versus anymore on Directv, so I guess I won't be watching the game. Bummer.

EDIT: Oooh, wait, I *can* watch, via this link courtesy of the kids on the Hawks message board. :-)

EDIT: Video keeps freezing up on me; I'm using the radio link from the Hawks website now. :-(

UPDATE -- In 5:11 TOI (4:35 EV, :36 SH), Dowell was held off the scoresheet but had 3 hits. Oh, and 5 for fighting, as already mentioned by HatchetJoe. Hawks win 3-1.

Monday morning odds & ends

• Todd Milewski is trying out a new weekly installment on his USCHO From the Press Box blog, and I gotta tell ya, I like it. In this week's "What I Think", Milewski talks about minnesota being shutout in 2 consecutive games for the 1st time since 1930 (0-0 tie w/ Tulsa Athletic Club and 2-0 loss to Wisconsin), defending national champ BU's opening season losses to Notre Dame, George Gwozdecky's 500th win, Wisconsin's terrible CFBs, Michigan Tech's brutal PK (60% overall), and his Top 20.

• Andy Baggot covers some of the same ground in his "The weekend that was in the WCHA" blog post. Baggot chose to look at the bright side of things regarding Tech's brutal PK and their being swept by CC this weekend. CC converted on 8 of 14 PPs, but hey, at EV, Tech outscored CC 5-2. Go TECH?
  

• The campus papers have some coverage of the Men's and Women's games this past weekend:
  Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Penalties cost Badgers chance at road sweep
  Donohue (Badger Herald): DeKeyser's squad continues to struggle in 1st game
  Hager (Badger Herald): Wisconsin splits weekend series with Ohio State
  Skurzewski (Daily Cardinal): UW continues trend of splits against Buckeyes

• I missed a couple of Jake Dowell and Jack Skille blurbs over on the Rockford Icehogs blog last week:

  10/21/09
  Lead By Example: Since being named team captain on Friday, centerman Jake Dowell has taken over the team lead in points and assists, a spot the third-year pro is not used to being in. In the last two games, Dowell has factored in on 71% of Rockford goals, recording two helpers on Friday and three on Saturday. Before this season, Dowell had five career multi-point games (one in 2006-07, two in 2007-08 and two in 2008-09). The Eau Claire, Wis. native now has three in 2009-10.
  
  Jack Skille will also go tonight for Rockford and he’ll be my first intermission guest. Some interesting stuff and for a sneak peak, click here. Say what you want about Skille, he’s been great through this whole up and down process with the Blackhawks and is carrying a great attitude.

• Baggot has an article about Mark Johnson's sabbatical from the Badgers this year. Dang, I really need to do an update of the Women's National Team and the Qwest Tour, don't I?
  

• Back in September, Baggot had an article about the plans for the new UW hockey rink being in jeopardy. And the same topic is in the news again this month. (Thanks to DPlaya for the heads-up on the 2nd link.)

• I've been AWOL in my coverage of TW because I simply don't have time. But DPlaya and Walby have been terrific (thanks, guys!), so I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you to check both of their sites for TW Major and TW Minor updates. Go TW!
  

• Speaking of DPlaya and Walby, they are also in the process of previewing HS hockey teams, so check that out. DPlaya also has Fri and Sat USHL updates from this past weekend, Wisconsin players on the NHL Central Scouting list, Wisconsin players in the USHL, and Wisconsin players in the NAHL.