Tuesday Afternoon Link Central

Apparently Nebraska-Omaha thinks their series against the Badgers this weekend is a big one as they have initiated a campaign to sell out the building on Friday night. They started a website called "selloutwisconsin.com" which features video and a tracker of how many tickets are left for the game. As of this post, 3,667 tickets are available in the 16,680 seat stadium.

2012 Wisconsin recruit Nic Kerdiles has been invited to represent the United States at the 2011 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament according to @chrismpeters. Kerdiles was promoted to the U18 squad from the U17's a few weeks ago and has been playing excellent hockey.

Chris Dilks at Western College Hockey has put out his list of his top 50 NHL prospects playing in the WCHA and CCHA. Jake Gardiner, Justin Schultz, Craig Smith, Mark Zengerle, and Michael Mersch are all listed.

More praise on Nic Kerdiles as Baggot indicates that he and 2011 recruit Jake McCabe from Eau Claire are both projected as second round draft picks for the 2012 draft according to the latest Red Line Report.

The Hockey News prospect watch features former Badger Brendan Smith in his journey to become an NHL defenseman. Kid is going to be a star some day.

Wisconsin Prep Hockey's game of the week features Wisconsin recruit Tim Davison and his #4 ranked Green Bay Notre Dame Academy Tritons as they travel to take on #2 ranked Wausau West.

Speaking of high school hockey, the playoff brackets were released over the weekend. Tim Davison and his GB Notre Dame squad are the #1 seed in section 5. They will get a bye and face the winner of Oskosh and Fox Cities on February 17th. Future Badger Brad Navin's Waupaca Comets were awarded the #5 seed in the same regional. Waupaca will open up against Shawno on February 15. A potential game pairing Navin against Davison could happen if both teams reach the sectional semi-finals which is entirely possible if Navin can come back strong off his knee injury.

High praise has been thrown upon Badger sophomore defenseman Justin Schultz as he was named Hockey's Future prospect of the month for January.

2010 Hobey Baker Award winner Blake Geoffrion has been named the AHL Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after his 4 point night on Blake Geoffrion bobble head night. Geoffrion is the first player to win the award in back to back weeks since former Badger goalie Jim Carey did it 16 years ago. Geoffrion has 13 points and is a plus 8 in his past 4 games.

UWBadgers.com continues the celebration of Black History Month by featuring former UW Men's hockey player Chris Nelson.

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