It's Friday, I'm in Love

Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Oh, Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love

BADGER MEN v. UMD: FRI/SAT 7 PM

Gameday Links
TV: MyMadison TV / Charter MainStreet (live), WPT (tape-delay)
Radio: WIBA 1310 in Madison, ESPN 540 in MKE*, yahoosports ($4.95/mo)
Video webstream: uwbadgers (both nights)
Livestats - uwbadgers
Game blogs: Milewski (pre/post-game post), dare we hope for Chuck?

* Thanks to Scott in Milwaukee for keeping me up-to-date on Badger radio coverage there.

(Photo from uwbadgers: Badgers @ UMD, November 2008.)

Lines
Andy Bohmbach-Blake Geoffrion-Tom Gorowsky
Jordy Murray-Derek Stepan-Michael Davies
John Mitchell-Aaron Bendickson-Ben Grotting
Patrick Johnson-Sean Dolan-Matt Thurber

Jake Gardiner-Jamie McBain
Ryan McDonagh-Cody Goloubef
Ryan Little-Eric Springer

Shane Connelly
Scott Gudmandson

Nice to see Thurber back in the lineup:

"He's shown us the things that we needed to see from him," UW coach Mike Eaves said. "He really competed hard. He made his presence known at practice. So that's why he's getting the nod."

Series Previews
uwbadgers: game notes
umdbulldogs: series preview, game notes

UMD likes to point to their top-ranked PP (#1 in WCHA, #3 nationally). But let's not forget that the Badgers have a pretty good PK (#2 in WCHA, #4 nationally). And you know what else? The Badgers' PP is pretty good, too. The Badgers 22.8% conversion in league games puts them 2nd in the leauge just behind Duluth's 23.6%.

And here's a fun little blurb from the Badgers' game notes about the Badgers' starting line:

Wisconsin’s line of junior Andy Bohmbach (3-3=6), junior Blake Geoffrion (3-3=6) and senior Tom Gorowsky (2-4=6) have combined for eight goals and 18 points in the last four games. Bohmbach, Geoffrion and Gorowsky each boast four-game scoring streaks.

Blake Geoffrion, by the way, won this week's shootout. The last time he won the shootout, he scored 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points. Nice!

Milewski (Icehouse): Thurber earns spot again (includes lines and shootout results)
Milewski (TCT): UW vs. Minnesota-Duluth preview
Mason (Badger Herald): Men's hockey returns to ice against UMD
Breiner (Daily Cardinal): UW laces up skates for Minnesota-Duluth
Worgull (BN): Finding their place (premium content)

Here's a fun blurb from Milewski's preview:
Minnesota-Duluth is just 2-5-3 in true road games and 4-6-3 away from home this season. It is 9-1-3 at home, but Wisconsin is the only team that has beaten the Bulldogs at the DECC.

Oh, and if you haven't read about Duluth's Banner Raising or Stalock, Stalock, let me recommend doing so now. Also, don't forget to place your vote in the Patrick Johnson poll! As of right now, it looks like "Vladimir" is going to be our "winner".

Other Articles
Milewski (TCT): Many ways to define UW's identity
Baggot (WSJ): Johnson tries to get his edge back
Storlie (Daily Cardinal): Big man growing into scorer role
Milewski (TCT): Being better boosts Bulldogs
Paul Braun (uwbadgers blog): Speedos, a toilet seat and the Kennedy assassination
Baggot (WSJ): WCHA drops the puck once again

The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA
INCH: Quake in Anchorage, Rust in Grand Forks; WCHA stick salute, bench minor, great getaway



BADGER WOMEN v. OSU: SAT 2PM / SUN 12 PM
* Skate with the Badgers follows the Sunday game *
* The Badgers are collecting non-perishables for the Second Harvest Food Bank at Sunday's game*

Gameday Links
TV: none
Radio: WIBA 1310 (Sat only)
Video Webstream: both games - uwbadgers
Live Stats: uwbadgers
Live blog: none (away games only)

Series Previews
uwbadgers: series preview, game notes
ohiostatebuckeyes: series preview

I'd pull out some fun blurbs from the Badger women's game notes like I did for the men, but there's just too much stuff. Holy cow, the Badger Women are impressive, aren't they?

Storlie (Daily Cardinal): Badger blueliners plan to spark Wisconsin in its series against Ohio State
Mosgaller (Badger Herald): Badgers face off vs. Ohio State at home

Other Articles
Watts (BigTen): Going for Four (Jessie Vetter article)
uwbadgers: Keseley earns WCHA defensive player of the week
Baggot (Badger Blog): A first-class experience
Baggot (Badger Blog): Traveled this road before
Breiner (Daily Cardinal): Fans still ignoring top hockey team

Considering that Keselely had previousy been a forward, it's pretty impressive that she won WCHA defensive POTW her 1st weekend on the blueline. Here's an excerpt from Jacqueline Boscacci's Women's Badger Hockey Insider:

Senior Angie Keseley from St. Louis Park, Minn., moved into defense for the WCHA road series against St. Cloud State on Jan. 23-24. In her season debut on defense she had five assists for a series high. Keseley had two assists in the series opener last Friday, a 5-1 Badger victory, and then helped complete the sweep over the Huskies by contributing three more assists in last Saturday‘s 6-3 win at St. Cloud State. Keseley also recorded a +5 plus/minus rating for the weekend.

So far this season, Keseley has produced 12 goals, 19 assists and 31 points for top-ranked Wisconsin and over her four-year collegiate career she has 47 goals, 66 assists and 113 points in 148 games which ranks her 10th in career points at UW.