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