WW U18s: CAN, USA advance to gold medal game

Team Canada defeated Sweden 6-1 earlier today to earn a spot in the tomorrow's gold medal game (10:30 AM CST). Team USA is still playing the Czech Republic, but as they're already up 14-0 at the end of the second period, they've also earned a spot in the championship game, barring a collapse of epic proportions that Mark Johnson would never allow. (Normally I wouldn't jinx a team by calling the outcome in the middle of the game, but come on, a 14 goal lead?)

Here are the box scores/recaps/stats -- I'll update it after the US victory is complete. In the meantime you can follow livestats. Oops, as I type, the 3rd period has started, and the US has scored few more goals . . .

CAN 6 - SWE 1
box
recaps: iihf, hockeycanada
Breann Frykas 0-1-1, 0 SOG, +3
Saige Pacholok 0-3-3, 0 SOG +3

USA 18 - CZE 0
box
recaps: iihf, usahockey
Brianna Decker 3-0-3, 6 SOG, +4 --- named US player of the game
Alev Kelter 3-1-4, 8 SOG, +6
Madison Packer 3-0-3, 11 SOG, +5
Brittany Ammerman 0-2-2, 3 SOG, +5

"We're excited for the opportunity to play for the gold medal," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson, who is also the head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. "It is the ultimate goal to play in the championship game and I anticipate that it will be very exciting; we're looking forward to it."

Today in Badger Hockey History: Jeff Sauer

1/9/2002

Jeff Sauer announces he is retiring as the head coach of Badger men's hockey after 20 years behind the UW bench and 31 years as a head coach in the WCHA.

- from uwbadgers.com

In his 20 seasons as a head coach at UW, the Badgers won 2 regular season WCHA titles, won 5 WCHA playoff titles, received 11 bids to the NCAA tourney, and won 2 National Titles.

In his Toast to Jeff Sauer, PB reminds us, among other things, that Sauer is the winningest coach in Badger Hockey history -- 489 wins and the only coach to have four 30+ win seasons.

It's Friday, I'm in Love

I'm getting started a bit late today, but since game time for the men isn't 'til 10pm tonight and since the women don't play 'til tomorrow, I figure that gives me a little leeway here. *shrug*

BADGER MEN @ SEAWOLVES : FRI/SAT 10 PM CST
Gameday links
TV: none
Radio: WIBA 1310, yahoosports webcast ($4.95/mo)
Video webcast: goseawolves (free)
Livestats: goseawolves
Game blogs: Milewski, Capobianco

Lines
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - Gorowsky
Murray - Stepan - Davies
Mitchell - Bendickson - Grotting
Hickey/Turnbull - Dolan - Thurber

Gardiner - McBain
McDonagh - Goloubef
Springer - C. Johnson/Little

Connelly
Gudmandson

Connelly will start in goal on Friday. He allowed 6 goals in his last game, and Milewski has pointed out that the last time Connelly did so he responded with a shutout victory. Gardiner is expected to take Brendan Smith's spot on the top PP unit.

Yesterday, Milewski indicated that Goloubef hadn't arrived yet and that it wasn't clear if he'd play on Friday. But Milewski and Baggot had him listed in today's lines and made no further mention of the issue, so I'm assuming he'll be playing.

Chris Hickey won this week's shootout. So I say that Eaves has gotta put Hickey in the lineup this weekend! I wanna see Chris score some goals!

Oh, and with PJ out of the lineup, it looks like it falls to Ryan Little to own Nils Backstrom (or whichever player wins the final poll), so Little better be in the lineup, too, as Gandalf hasn't designated any additional backups.

Series Previews
uwbadgers: UW hits the road to reopen WCHA play, Game Notes (pdf)
goseawolves: Seawolves face No. 17 Badgers at Sullivan, Game Notes (pdf)
Milewski (TCT): Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey vs. Alaska Anchorage
Baggot (WSJ): UW-Anchorage preview
Worgull (BN): Looking for the road stuff (premium)
Woody (Anchorage Daily News): Seawolves head into Badger country
Woody (Anchorage Daily News): Well rested Seawolves return to ice tonight
Milewski (Icehouse): Connelly will start opener
Milewski (Icehouse): What happens to the defensive pairings?
Milewski (Icehouse): The injury report
Baggot (Badger Blog): A world without Smitty
Baggot (Badger Blog): Who's got the upper hand?

I gotta agree with Andy that the Badgers are in a bit of a better spot right now that the Seawolves. Sure, being swept by Northern was horrible. But perhaps it'll get the boys in the frame of mind not to take any opponents lightly. And at least they've gotten the rust off from the holidays. UAA, on the other hand, hasn't played in over a month, with their last game being the 7-2 loss to the Badgers at the KC in December.

Other Articles
Capobianco: Even the moose are cold
Milewski (TCT): Much up for grabs in WCHA's second half
Baggot (Badger Blog): For the record
Baggot (WSJ): Confidence game for goalies
Milewski (TCT): Stepan steps into added roles
uwbadgers: Stepan named WCHA Rookie of the Week
Woody (Anchorage Daily News): Seawolves add 2 new players

The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA
INCH: Seen and heard in the WCHA; WCHA stick salute, bench minor, great weekend getaway


BADGER WOMEN @ THE DULUTH FOREIGN LEGION: SAT 7 PM CST / SUN 3 PM CST
Gameday links
Video webcast: b2tv (pay)
Livestats: umdbulldogs
Live game blog: Boscacci

Series Previews
uwbadgers: No. 1 Badgers hit the road to face No. 3 Duluth, Game Notes
umdbulldogs: Badgers and Bulldogs Round 2, Game Notes

Other Articles
Milewski (TCT): This team compares favorably to UW's best
Baggot (WSJ): UW learns what it's like without Johnson
uwbadgers: Mark Johnson honored as Red Smith winner

Brittany Haverstock and Mallory Deluce, who just won Silver at the MLP Cup in Ravensburg Germany, will be back for this weekend's series. Mark Johnson, who is coaching the US Women's U18 team, will be absent, as his team will be playing later today in the semifinals.

Looking at the Badgers' game notes, is anyone not super impressed with Hilary Knight, Brooke Ammerman, Jessie Vetter, and, well, the entire Badger team? Wow.

2010 World Junior Championship predictions

What would the internet be without speculation and predictions? That's right, absolutely garbage. Western College Hockey, and the World of Junior Hockey, both put together predictions on who will be on the U.S. roster at next season's World Junior Championships.

Both lists are similar so it seems as though next years class doesn't have a ton of question marks on who will make the roster. Both list Wisconsin players Derek Stepan (forward), and Jake Gardiner (Defense) as virtual locks for the roster. I would agree that both should make the team. Next year's defensive class is rather weak so Gardiner shouldn't have too much of a problem. It's too bad Atlanta wont release Bogosian. Stepan is having a hell of a freshman season and is leading all forwards in points.

Photo from nhlentrydraft2008.com

Around the WCHA Jan 9 & 10

Non-conference games are basically over and its time for teams to make the push for the MacNaughton, home ice in the 1st round or respectability, whichever is the case. Here is a look at last week:

Duluth took 2nd at the Shillelagh Tournament, beating UMASS-Lowell and losing to Notre Dame
Denver took 2nd at the Denver Cup, tied Holy Cross (won in shutout) and lost to Boston U
minnesota won the Dodge Holiday Classic beating Brown and Northeastern
North Dakota swept Bemidji State
Wisconsin…well we know what happened there

Here are the standings heading into the 2nd half.

A full WCHA schedule this weekend, let’s get right to it:

Wisconsin @ UAA – The Badgers take 3 pts, Goloubef and McDonagh make the difference
minnesota @ North Dakota – split (though I’m cheering for Sioux)
Michigan Tech @ Denver – Denver sweep, the 1,000 fan march will make all the difference
Mankato @ CC – Split
Duluth @ St. Cloud – another split in the battle of the dogs

WW U18s: USA, CAN win final prelim games

(Alev Kelter scores! Photo from usahockey.com)

Team USA and Team Canada have both won their final preliminary games, going undefeated in the preliminary round. In Friday's semifinals, CAN will face SWE at 9:30 AM CST and USA will face CZE at 1 PM CST. (How on earth did CZE make the semifinals after winning just 1 of their 3 prelim games?)

USA 9 - SWE 2
Box, Recap, Photos
Brianna Decker 2-0-2, 5 SOG, +1
Alev Kelter 1-0-1, 1 SOG, +4
Brittany Ammerman 0-1-1, 3 SOG, +1
Madison Packer 1-0-1, 3 SOG, -1

"We're extremely happy with the outcome of tonight's game," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson, who is also the head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. "Sweden has a very strong team and I certainly give our players credit for coming out with energy. It was a very good way to finish the prelims - now we have a day to recoup and get ready for the next round."

By the way, Gandalf tells me that the folks on the uscho women's fan forum have indicated that Packer has verballed to the Badgers, so I've added her stats above. (Ammerman has not yet verballed as far as I'm aware; I'm just hopeful.)

Also, I neglected to mention that Kelter is serving as captain of Team USA and Packer is an alternate captain. Furthermore, it seems that both girls are contributing to a diary of the WW U18s.

CAN 13 - CZE 0
Box, Recap
Breann Frykas 0-1-1, 4 SOG, +3
Saige Pacholok 0-4-4, 0 SOG, +6

WCHA Non-conference Record

College Hockey has reached that point in the season when non-conference games are basically over and it’s the stretch run toward determining conference championships. I thought it would be a good time to look at how the WCHA faired against the rest of the country by conference. Wisconsin was on the right track after sweeping the College Hockey Showcase, but the epic collapse Saturday night could go a long way toward hurting their post season chances if they don’t kick some ass finishing up WCHA play.

UAA 3-1-0 (2-0 vs AHA, 1-1 vs HE, 2 left vs Alaska)
CC 4-1-3 (1-1-1 vs AHA, 2-0 vs CHA, 1-0-2 vs ECAC)
Denver 4-2-1 (1-0-1 vs AHA, 2-1 vs CCHA, 1-0 vs ECAC. 0-1 vs HE)
Michigan Tech 3-4 (0-2 vs CHA , 3-2 vs CCHA)
minnesota 3-1-2 (0-1-1 vs CCHA, 1-0 vs ECAC, 2-0-1 vs HE)
Duluth 4-1-1 (3-1-1 vs CCHA, 1-0 vs HE, 2 left vs Bemidji)
Mankato 4-2-1 (2-0 vs CHA, 2-0-1 vs CCHA 0-2 vs ECAC, 1 left vs Nebraska-Omaha)
North Dakota 5-4 (2-0 vs CHA, 0-1 vs CCHA, 3-1 vs ECAC, 0-2 vs HE) also lost to Tech at the GLI
St. Cloud 5-2-1 (2-0 vs AHA, 3-1 vs CHA, 0-1 vs ECAC, 0-0-1 vs HE)
Wisconsin 3-4-1 (1-0 vs CHA, 2-2-1 vs CCHA, 0-2 vs HE)

Obviously these aren’t all apples and apples. St. Cloud played a bunch of cupcakes like Robert Morris and Mercyhurst, but Wisconsin would be bringing up the rear if not for Michigan Tech.

Overall the WCHA has gone 38-23-10 in non-conference w/ the following breakdowns: 6-1-2 vs AHA, 10-3 vs CHA, 12-8-4 vs CCHA, 6-5-2 vs ECAC and 4-6-2 vs HE. There stands a good chance the WCHA will win their remaining five non-con games.

As you see a little farther down, that record against Hockey East is the only losing record the WCHA has had against another conference in the past four seasons. The record versus the ECAC isn’t great either this season. Good to see that the WCHA once again owned the Cup Cake Hockey Association though.

I think the record against Hockey East is telling, they are probably the top conference this season. Though its still early in the Pairwise, I wouldn’t be surprised to see HE get 4 or 5 teams. The ECAC on the strength of Princeton and Cornell will likely see at least 2 tourney teams. Since UND blogger goon might read this, no I don't think Princeton or Cornell are better than 4-7 in the WCHA standings. The WCHA might be looking at only 3 teams this season, w/ minnesota and Denver out ahead, Wisconsin needs to win and win often down the stretch to get ahead of Duluth and CC in the pairwise. The WCHA will not be sending six teams to the dance again.

Since I felt like it, here is the WCHA’s non-con record during the past three seasons.

07-08: 49-18-10 (4-2-2 vs AHA, 16-1 vs CHA, 13-10-5 vs CCHA, 10-1-1 vs ECAC & 6-4-2 vs HE) Wisconsin went 4-2-2 last season.

06-07: 51-22-11 (4-0 vs AHA, 12-5 vs CHA, 16-6-5 vs CCHA, 11-4 vs ECAC & 8-7-1 vs HE) Wisconsin went 3-4-1 following the National Championship.

05-06: 42-29-7 (3-1 vs AHA, 7-4 vs CHA, 15-13-2 vs CCHA, 9-4-4 vs ECAC & 8-8-1 vs HE) On the way to winning #6, Wisconsin went 6-1.

Like I said earlier, this isn’t all apples to apples. Some teams in the WCHA generally play tougher non-conference competition (minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota & Denver), while other schools generally find less stout opponents (St. Cloud, Duluth & Mankato). Overall, the WCHA is kicking butt on a regular basis w/ Hockey East being the best competition out there. I would like to see more games against those eastern foes.

Strang nets Hat Trick

Cody Strang's hat trick last night was all the offense Madison Edgewood needed as they defeated Middleton 3-2, handing their rival their first loss of the season.

Cody is making a strong bid for Mr. Hockey having amassed 19-13-32 in just ten games so far this season. He will be joining the Badgers in 2010 at the earliest.

From the article on Cody's evening against Middleton:

Give Cody Strang some space on the ice and he's going to make an opposing defense look silly.

WW U18s: USA, CAN clinch semifinal spots

By defeating Germany 11-0 yesterday, Team USA has clinched a spot in Friday's semifinals of the World Women's U18 Championship.

Box, Recap
Brianna Decker - 1-0-1, 5 SOG, +4
Alev Kelter - 0-0-0, 5 SOG, +4
Brittany Ammerman - 2-0-2, 5 SOG, +4

The preliminary round isn't over yet. At 12:30 pm today, the US will play Sweden, the other team in Group A who has also already clinched a semifinal spot. Sweden defeated Germany 8-1 and Russia 6-1 in their previous prelim games.

“The competition will get tougher starting tomorrow against Sweden – we've played two good games, but now we'll have the opportunity to really make some strides,” U.S. head coach Mark Johnson said.

By defeating Finland 6-0 yesterday, Team Canada has also clinched a spot in Friday's semifinals. They'll play the Czech Republic in their final prelim game today. The Czechs lost to Finland 2-1 and defeated Switzerland 7-3 in their previous prelim games

Box, Recap
Breann Frykas 0-0-0, 2 SOG, E
Saige Pacholok 1-0-1, 3 SOG, +1

Silver for Deluce, Haverstock

Mallory Deluce, Brittany Haverstock, and Team Canada will be taking home silver medals from the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany. Congratulations Mallory and Brittany!

Canada was defeated by Sweden 2-1 yesterday in the championship game. Canada had previously defeated Germany 3-0, Russia 11-0, and Finland 3-0. They had also previously defeated Switzerland 7-0 and 8-1 in exhibition play prior to the tournament.

Players left behind, Stepan wins award, Elliott AHL All-Star

When the plane leaves for Anchorage tomorrow morning, Patrick Johnson, Brendan Smith, Ben Street and Tom Bardis won't be on it, remaining in Madison this weekend, cheering on their teammates from afar. Johnson skated in practice early this week, but was non-contact, and therefore a no go. Smith and Street are both on the shelf w/ injuries.

Todd of TCT also mentions in his post that Street has not begun skating yet following his knee surgery in November.

In other news, Derek Stepan was named WCHA Rookie of the Week for the period covering the last two weekends of action. Derek was 2-3-5 in those 4 games, and has really caught fire since right around Thanksgiving.

Lastly, former All-American Brian Elliott was not only named to the AHL All-Star squad, he will be the starter for the Canadian team in the event. Brian leads the AHL in wins (18), second in save % (.926) and sixth in GAA (2.31). I'm guessing this game will be televised on the NHL Network on January 26th. W/ his success this season, Brian should be looking to look down a spot in the NHL next season w/ the Ottawa Senators.

Smith has broken wrist

Earlier today I posted about injuries and that Smith was likely out w/ a wrist injury. Andy Baggot confirmed that; Smith has a broken wrist and is out indefinately.

Baggot also talks in a separate post about Smith's abilities on the PP, where he works rather well w/ All-American candidate Jamie McBain. So who is going to attempt to fill Brendan's shoes on the 1st PP unit? Jake Gardiner appears to be the man for the job.

This is two years in a row that Smith has gone on the DL (if you will) right after the WJC. Last year following a sweep by CC, Smith sat out the rest of the season w/ a back injury only to return for the Regional final as a forward against North Dakota.

Funny, last season after Christmas the Badgers went 1-2-1 in the four games w/ out the services of WJC caliber players, and they did so again this season. Let's hope like last season the team goes on a nice run, but instead of crapping out at the end finishes strong w/ some home ice for the WCHA playoffs.

The 12th Day of Christmas

Today is the 12th Day of Christmas. So I thought it would be a good time to take a little look at Paul Braun's 12 Days of Christmas . . .

On the first day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
A game at Lambeau Field . . . 2/11/06 UW 4 - OSU 2

On the second day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
2 - two-time First-Team All-Americans . . . Mark Johnson, Mike Eaves, Craig Norwich . . . oops, that's 3

On the third day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
3 WCHA regular-season Championships . . . 1977, 1990, 2000

On the fourth day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
4 First-Team All-American goaltenders . . . Julian Berretta, Roy Schultz, Bernd Bruckler, Brian Elliott

On the fifth day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
5 goals in a game from three different players . . . Bert DeHate, Mike Meeker, Mark Johnson

On the sixth day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
6 NCAA championships . . . 1973, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1990, 2006

On the seventh day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
7 - 30+ win seasons . . . 76-77, 81-82, 82-83, 87-88, 89-90, 99-00, 05-06

On the eight day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
8 - NHL teams that have former Badgers involved with the Stanley Cup . . . Ducks, Avalanche, Flames, Red Wings, Canadiens, Devils, Rangers, Penguins

On the ninth day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
9 members of the UW Athletics Hall of Fame . . . Steve Alley, Marc Behrend, Bert DeHate, Mike Eaves, Tony Granato, Mark Johnson, Bob Johnson, Craig Norwich, Mike Richter

On the 10th day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
10 straight years of leading the nation in attendance . . . well, Ididn't look it up, but I'm assuming 97-98 through 07-08

On the 11th day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
11 WCHA playoff titles . . . 70, 72, 73, 77, 78, 82, 83, 88, 90, 95, 98,

On the 12th day of Christmas
The Badgers gave to us
12 different coaches . . . Viner, Blodgett, Iverson, Brandow, Farquhar, Carlson, Thomsen, Riley, Rothwell, Johnson, Sauer, Eaves

International Badgers Update: everything except the WJC

MLP Cup
Yesterday, Team Canada defeated Russia 11-0 in their final preliminary game. Mallory Deluce had an assist on Canada's first goal. Today, Canada defeated Germany 3-0 in the semis to advance to tomorrow's gold medal game.

Good luck Mallory Deluce and Brittany Haverstock!

World Women's U18s
In their first games of the tourney, both Team USA and Team Canada won big, with CAN defeating SUI 16-1 and USA defeating RUS 17-0.

For Canada, forward Breann Frykas had 1 G, 6 SOG and finished +1. Defenseman Saige Pacholok had 1 assist and finished +4. Here are the recaps: IIHF (link currently not working), hockeycanada

For the US, Forward Brianna Decker had 2G, 1A, 4 SOG and finished +5. Defenseman Alev Kelter had 1G, 2A, 4 SOG and finished +4. Forward Brittany Ammerman had 2G, 2A, 5 SOG and finished +6. Here are the recaps: IIHF (link currently not working), usahockey

You know, I had heard that Kelter would be on the roster, but she wasn't listed on the roster on the IIHF site (still isn't listed on roster, but she's listed on the stats page), and usahockey was delinquent in posting the roster on their site. So that's why I missed her the other day. Sorry, Alev!

Next up:
CAN v. FIN - Tues, Jan 6 @ 9:30 AM CST
USA v. GER - Tues, Jan 6 @ 1:00 PM CST

World U17s
Team USA won the bronze today by defeated Canada West 4-2. Michael Mersch had 1 assist. Frankie Simonelli was held off the scoresheet.

Congratulations Michael and Frankie!

Cody Goloubef, Canada, Win GOLD

Surprise, surprise, Team Canada won the gold medal at the 2009 IIHF U-20 World Junior Championship. Canada dominated most of the game and won by a decisive 5-1 score, although they scored 2 empty netters.

Wisconsin defenseman Cody Goloubef finished the tournament with 1 assist and 8 PIM. What a great experience for Goloubef to play under the pressure of a tournament like this and win gold on home soil. He will no doubt be tired next weekend in Anchorage but it will be great to have him and Ryan McDonagh back. While they were gone Little, Johnson and Springer didn't play great but the extra experience all 5 of them gained whether they were in the World Juniors or getting extra ice time at Wisconsin will no doubt help out the Badgers in the future. Congrats to Cody and Team Canada.


EDIT: I hope Chuck doesn't mind my popping in here to add a couple of links: Box, IIHF recap. I'd also like to point out that Cody was 2nd on Team Canada and 2nd among all skaters with a +/- of +10. -- 60


Photo by Melissa Wade, hockeyphotography.com

Patrick Johnson owns (insert name) @ UAA

It's been about a month since the last addition, and I really didn't feel like doing one for the Showdown and then Patrick was injuried last week. So, it just so happens that Patrick's last opponent to own will be the same as his next opponent, Alaska Anchorage.

Now there is possibility that Patrick will not be able to suit up this weekend because of said injury. I have a perfect replacement for him: Ryan Little. Ryan is still figuring out the college game, and getting use to the pace, but one thing he excels at is owning opponents. After Patrick, I would put him as the biggest hitting little guy on the team (pun intended). If Patrick can't go, the skates are yours to fill Ryan, take this job seriously.

I should remember the UAA series better, but the Holidays and what not (3 goal epic collapse) have clouded my mind, so I'll do my best.

Option #1 - Sean Wiles, he had a great series against the Badgers in December, scoring his 2nd goal of the season in front of some family and friends from Beliot. That was all fine and good because the Seawolves lost. Sean is a big kid, but the bigger they are the harder they fall, especially after being crushed into the boards.

Options #2 - Tommy Grant, he also had a goal against the Badgers, and really is a pretty good WCHA talent. He keeps up this pace and he'll definately be 2nd team all-WCHA at minimum. That doesn't matter this week, time for him to come crashing back to reality, by being owned by a Badger.

Option #3 - Nils Backstrom, if my memory serves me right, he was doing a lot of crying to the officials when UAA visited Madison last month. I would have sworn he had a gopher jersey on instead of the equally ugly seawolf. He might be the only NHL draft pick on their squad, but that won't grant him immunity from being owned.

Option #4 - Trevor Hunt, again my memory is clouded, but I remember young Mr. Hunt being involved in some post whistle extra cirriculars during the series in December. The WCHA allows that crap so that the game gets out of hand later and Sheppard can further look like complete moron. Maybe he won't be looking for the cheap shot after the whistle after being repeatedly owned by Wisconsin.

Injuries

I caught the end of a Mike Eaves press conference on 1310 WIBA here in Madison, and Brendan Smith will definately not be skating w/ the Badgers this weekend in Anchorage. Based on rumors over on buckyville, Smith had his wrist in a cast at the Skate w/ the Badgers and it was rumored that he will be out at least 4 weeks. Wait to see if this is true or not, but either way, that is a blow to the team even in the short term. While Smith still makes errors on defense, he is much improved, and his offensive skills on the ice is top notch. Heal up quick Brendan.

Luckily Ryan McDonagh and Cody Goloubef will be back this coming weekend; they will be joining the team directly in Alaska, and practicing w/ the team later in the week.

No word yet on Patrick Johnson's injury status. I was told he hoped to play against Anchorage, but that he might not see the lineup again until Colorado College. Patrick is a key component to the team. While he doesn't regularly light up the score sheet, the energy he brings to each shift and on the bench is missed. Whether the team is up by 3 goals or down by 3, he gives it his all every shift, setting the bar high for his teammates to follow.

While it certainly is no excuse, the injury bug has really hit the Badgers all season. It started w/ Ben Street being out likely for the whole season, but there have been a rash of minor injuries that have kept several players out of the lineup for at least a game including Aaron Bendickson, Ben Grotting, Jake Gardiner, Johnson and Blake Geoffrion. McDonagh had some knee issues too, and now Smith will be out for at least a few games.

Craig Smith praise from the USHL blog

The Unofficial USHL blog had lots of high praise for 2009 Wisconsin forward recruit Craig Smith. Ryan who runs the blog is doing team-recaps through the first half of the season. Here is what they had to say about the Waterloo Badgers, err... I mean Black Hawks forwards and more specifically, Craig Smith:

"The offense has been led by team captain Craig Smith and Jordan Samuels-Thomas. Smith, in his third year, has developed into one of the league's best. He's one of those kids you just can't help but root for. Came in his rookie season and had a decent point output, but he just kept working hard. He is one of the hardest workers on the ice I've seen over the last few years, and this year it is paying off big time. "

A lot of people wrote off Smith because of low point totals when he entered the league. To be fair, he entered the league as a Junior in high school and one of the youngest players in the league. Traditionally, he would be in his first year in the USHL this season if he would have finished high school like a player such as Jefferson Dahl. Smith will be a good player for Wisconsin next season and I can't wait for him to return to Madison where hes from and put some points on the board for the cardinal and white.

Cody Goloubef in World Junior Gold Medal Game

Wisconsin defenseman Cody Goloubef will be on the ice tonight as Team Canada takes on Team Sweden at 6:30 CST in the gold medal game of the IIHF U-20 World Junior Championships. While I am an American, and am still disappointed in the United States showing at the tournament, I will be cheering on Team Canada tonight simply because of Goloubef.

The game will be televised on the NHL network. If you don't get the NHL network where you live, (like me) and don't want to go to a bar to watch the game. It will also be available at this link. If you scroll down about half way through the list you will find the game listed. Coverage starts at 6 PM CST, game time should be 6:30.


In case you were wondering, here is the Vegas line for the game.







Photo by Melissa Wade, hockeyphotography.com

USA finishes a disappointing 5th in WJC

It took an overtime goal by James vanRiemsdyk, (and an absolutely sick one at that!) to fend off Czechoslovakia for a disappointing 5th place finish. Coming into the tournament, the United States had hopes of gold even though Canada was favored in their own country. At the absolute worst, the United States was the third best team talent wise going into the tournament, and even that might be under-estimating them. So to say the least, It's not only disappointing, but also embarrassing that it took overtime just to salvage 5th place.

Wisconsin defenseman Ryan McDonagh assisted on the overtime goal by vanRiemsdyk and finished the tournament with 3 assists. He along with Canadian defenseman Cody Goloubef will rejoin the Badgers when they head to Alaska this weekend.

Here is the video of James vanRiemsdyk's highlight reel overtime goal assisted by Ryan McDonagh.



Photo by Melissa Wade, hockeyphotography.com

Brian Elliott is AHL Goaltender of the Month, Matt Ford is an ECHL All-Star

Apparently nubeetle is having technical difficulties, so it falls upon me to inform you all that Brian Elliott has been named AHL Goaltender of the Month for the month of December. Congratulations, Brian! And since we're talking about Brian, let me point out this extremely complimentary article (props to DPlaya for finding it) that contains lot of good quotes. Good stuff!

Matt Ford had been named an ECHL All-Star. The All-Star Game will be played on January 21. In 16 games with the Charlotte Checkers, he has 13 goals and 9 assists. His 22 points put him 3rd on the team, despite the fact that most of the other players have played a lot more games for Charlotte, as Ford also played about a month for the AHL's Hartford Wolfpack. Ford also leads the Checkers with a +14.

Badgers blow 3 goal lead, get swept by N. Michigan

A wise man once said, over confidence will be your undoing, and I think the Badgers (and their fans) might have had a little bit of that this weekend.

On friday, in a similar fashion to the Lake State game, N. Michigan came to play and the Badgers didn't equal their intensity for long stretches of the game. Huge let downs at critical times, early in the 2nd and 3rd periods, lead to three goals for the Wildcats and the Badgers weren't able to generate enough offense to overcome, losing 3-2.

Bad losses happen to good teams, maybe they needed the wake up call, and well...the Badgers got another last night in the 3rd period.

The game started off well for Wisconsin, Brendan Smith scored two PP goals in the 1st period (though he left w/ an injury late in the 1st), while John Mitchell notched two of his own goals in the 2nd period. Derek Stepan added a goal in the 3rd, and everyone was happy because they were getting ice cream. The game seemed in hand and then everything went to shit. W/ about ten minutes left to play the score was 5-2 and the Badgers were in control, but sloppy play, bad decision making, poor passing and puck control opened the door wide open for N. Michigan to capitialize and chip away at the lead, eventually tying the game 5-5 late in the period. All the swagger was gone, all the good feelings about making up for friday were dashed.

The Badgers were able to kill off a penalty that carried over into OT, but a big faceoff lose by Blake Geoffrion in our zone about halfway through the extra frame, was sent to the back of the net by N. Michigan and all the fans in Cardinal and White were left to sit in disbelief, a 6-5 OT loss. Several things stuck out at me.

• The PK was not as good as usual. Matt Thurber was a scratch which I think was a bad move, w/ Patrick Johnson already out. Thurber sitting in street clothes put two of our best PK forwards out of the game. Derek Stepan is a great assest to the team, but not much of a PKer as of yet.
• I didn't think the loss of Ryan McDonagh and Cody Goloubef was going to be such a deathstroke like last season's losses to the WJC, but it sure showed on the blue line. Eric Springer did not play well all weekend, he took a big step back. The pace of the game was fast last night, and Craig Johnson didn't keep up w/ it. Ryan Little and Jake Gardiner made mistakes, but played alright. W/ McDonagh and Goloubef we don't lose either game.
• I think everyone was too overconfident coming into this weekend. Not just the players, but every fan and media outlet that follows the Badgers. N. Michgan had a bad record, they couldn't score, etc, but in the end they came away w/ two wins; the Badgers didn't. For a team that started 0-6-1 and needs every win down the stretch to make the NCAA tourney, every opponent should be considered equally w/ the goal to get the W, no matter what their record is or how futile they appear on paper.
• Watching the 3rd period of this game was like watching friday night against Denver where the Badgers blew a 4-1 lead to lose 6-5. A lot of the same mistakes too, not taking care of the puck, players simply not doing their job, bad decision making and allowing the N. Michigan players to basically camp up right in front of the net.
• Finally, some positives. The PP was great early on, and that was largely due to Jamie McBain. He had a monster game, and was like 6 blue liners all by himself, which he needed to especially when Smith left w/ injury. He'll be visiting an NHL town near you soon enough.
  

Some reading

Friday's game:
TCT (Milewski): UW beaten by basics

IceHouse (Milewski): GameDay Post

WSJ (Bagg0t): UW shocked by Northern Michigan

uwbadgers.com: UW edged out by Wildcats

Saturday's game:

TCT (Milewski): In 12 minutes, UW's big lead turns to loss

IceHouse (Milewski): Gameday Post

WSJ (Baggot): Northern Michigan pulls off stunning sweep

uwbadgers.com: Badgers drop series to NMU with overtime loss

Badger Women 3 - US Select Team 2

With a 3-2 victory, the Badger Women have become the 1st WCHA team to defeat the US Select Team this year. The Select Team had previously defeated Bemidji, Minnesota, UND, SCSU, Mankato, and Ohio State, as well as Mercyhurst. (For those of you who don't follow women's hockey all that closely, Mercyhurst is one of the top teams in college hockey, as is Wisconsin and Minnesota.) Congratulations, Badgers!

The Cap Times has the game story, with pictures!

Your Badger goals were scored by Brooke Ammerman (Rachel Bible), Maria Evans (Emily Kranz), and Hilary Knight (Angie Kesely, Erika Lawler).

I gotta tell ya, it was a lot of fun to see the Badger Women play a competive opponent, as those blowouts games tend to get a bit boring by the end of the 1st or 2nd period. This was some seriously good hockey. If you didn't get a chance to make the game this year, make sure you get to next year's game when Team USA again takes on the Badger Women.

The Select Team includes Jinelle Zaugg (who just joined the team after finishing her studies at the UW in December), Molly Engstrom, and Kerry Weiland (who played limited minutes as she's recovering from an injury). Composed of post-collegiate players participating in the Blaine Residency, the Select Team typically plays with a pretty short bench -- the USA website lists 9 forwards and 5 defenseman -- making for a lot of minutes for each player, especially on D as Weiland recovers from her injury. Two players were added to the roster for this weekend only to bring the total up to 16 skaters.

International Badgers: Sunday update

WJC
Cody Goloubef and Team Canada defeated Russia 6-5 in the semifinals yesterday. Goloubef was held off the scoresheet.

hockeycanada: recap/box
iihf: recap
bleacherreport: Jordan Eberle the hero, Does it get any better than this?, Canada and Sweden go to the finals
tsn: recap

I'm having difficulty today with the IIHF website, so I can't find the IIHF box score, which has a bit more info than the box score at the end of the hockeycanada recap. So if any enterprising readers find it, please post it in the comments or send me an email at sixtymin@gmail.com

Goloubef is currently 2nd among all skaters in the tourney (behind CAN defenseman PK Subban) with a +/- of +9. Nice work, Cody!

Canada will take on Sweden in the gold medal game Monday at 6:30 CST. (Russia will play Slovakia at 2:30 CST for the bronze.)

And in case you forgot, Ryan McDonagh and Team USA play the Czech Republic at 6:30 CST tonight for 5th place.

World U17
Team USA lost 6-5 to Canada Pacific in their semifinal matchup. Forward Michael Mersch had 1 goal, and defenseman Frankie Simonelli had 1 assist.

They'll play Canada West for the bronze this afternoon at 2 PM CST. (Canada Pacific will play Ontario for the gold at 7 PM CST.)

US Select Team
The US Women's Select team was winless this weekend, losing 3-2 to the Badger Women on Friday and 4-2 to the Madison Capitols AAA boys team on Saturday. The US Select Team is comprised of post-collegiate players who are participating in the Blaine Residency, including Badgers Kerry Weiland, Molly Engstrom, and Jinelle Zaugg. Zaugg recently joined the residency after completing her studies at the UW in December. Weiland played limited minutes of Friday but didn't dress on Saturday, as she's recovering from an injury. It's worth noting that the Select Team typically plays with a pretty short bench -- 9 forwards (including Zaugg who just joined the team) and 5 defenseman (including Weiland who's been injured). Two players were added to the roster for this weekend only to bring the total to 16 skaters.

The Badger Women are the first WCHA team to defeat the Select Team, which was previously 6-0-0 against WCHA oppenents with wins over Bemidji, Minnesota, UND, SCSU, Mankato, and Ohio State.

Both games were a lot of fun to watch, as the competition was excellent. The attendance at Friday's game was pretty good, but the attendance at Saturday's game was disappointing (although not surprising given the lack of promotion). I believe that the US team will be back next year to play the Badger Women again!

Women's MLP Cup
In their first game of the MLP Cup on Friday, Team Canada defeated Finland 3-0. Badgers Mallory Deluce and Brittany Haverstock were held off the scoresheet. They play Russia today at 9 AM CST. The semifinals take place on Monday, with the medal games on Tuesday.

Women's World U18s
Just a reminder that the Women's U18s start on Monday in Dussen, Germany. Mark Johnson is head coach of Team USA. Team USA also includes future Badger Brianna Decker and potential future badger Brittany Ammerman. Team Canada includes future Badgers Breann Frykas and Saige Pacholuk.

On Monday, CAN faces SUI at 9:30 AM CST and USA faces RUS at 12:30 PM CST.

Badgers at the World U17s

As milzie was so kind to remind me the other day (thanks, milzie!), future Badger defenseman Frankie Simonelli and future Badger forward Michael Mersch are playing for Team USA in the 2009 World U17 Hockey Challenge. The tourney started on Mon, Dec 29 and continues through Sun, Jan 4.

Team USA has won all 5 of their games so far and will face Canada Pacific in the semis today at 9:00 CST. Hmmm, USA defeated PAC 11-0 in the exhibition game preceding the tourney. Canada West and Ontario play in the other semifinal at 5:00 CST.

Sun, Dec 28: USA 11 - PAC 0 (ex), Simonelli 1G 1A, Mersch 1 G
Mon, Dec 29: USA 12 - FIN 1, Simonelli 0G 2A, Mersch 1G 1A
Wed, Dec 31: USA 4 - QC 3, both held off the scoresheet
Thurs, Jan 1: USA 6 - SVK 1, Mersch 1G 0A
Fri, Jan 2: USA 7 - WST 0, Mersch 1G 0A

By the way, before being defeated by the US yesterday, Canada West was previously unbeaten in the tourney.

SVK 5 - USA 3, Canada in semis today

Team USA lost to Slovakia 5-3 in the quarterfinals yesterday. Disappointing. McDonagh was held completely off the scoresheet -- no points, no SOG, finished even.

iihf: box, recap
usahockey: recap, game blog, game photos

For what it's worth, USA will play CZE Sunday at 6:30 CST for 5th place.

Cody Goloubef and Team Canada faces Russia today at 6:30 CST in the 2nd semifinal of the day (SWE and SVK play at 2:30 CST today), with the medal games taking on Monday. And of course these games will be televised on the NHL Network. Go Cody!

Northern Michigan 3 Wisconsin 2

It's alright buddy, the sun will rise tomorrow.

It's Friday, I'm in Love

Badger Men v. NMU Wildcats: Fri 7 PM, Sat 8 PM
* Special emphasis for my good friend TAW -- the Sat game is at 8 PM *

I've been told that all you need to know about this series is this: Geoffrion is back, PJ is out, and Northern sucks . . .

(And yeah, it appears that so far this season Northern really has sucked . . . they've won just 5 games all season, and that includes exhibition games against Toledo and the NTDP U-18 team . . . and Baggot points out that they're 56th in scoring 55th in PP conversion . . . )

Nonetheless, I thought I'd better link it all up for you . . .

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

Brendan Smith-Jamie McBain
Craig Johnson-Eric Springer
Jake Gardiner-Ryan Little

Shane Connelly
Scott Gudmandson

By the way, Brendan Smith beat out Tom Gorowsky in the final round of this week's shooutout. Smith has now won 3 weekly shootouts; Gorowsky has won 2. Doesn't really matter, but I think Goro's still a bit ahead overall, though -- he was the shootout hero on Sunday (the 2 pipes and the blown call on the other side of things should not detract from Tom's very nice goal), and if you remember, he scored a shootout goal in the Red-White scrimmage at the beginning of the season.

Gameday Coverage
TV: Friday - local Madison TV (live), WPT (tape-delay); Sat - FSN (live), WPT (tape delay)
radio: WIBA 1310, yahoosports ($4.95/mo)
video webcast: none
livestats: uwbadgers hockey gameday

Series previews
uwbadgers: Seven-game unbeaten streak on the line for Badgers, Game Notes
Milewski (Icehouse): Geoffrion set to return to lineup
Baggot (WSJ): UW-Northern Michigan preview
CHN: Tale of the Tape

Andy Baggot makes a point in his preview with which I wholeheartedly agree -- the Badgers need to do better on PP faceoffs, as it seems (to me, at least, and apparently to Andy as well), that the Badgers waste a lot of PP time getting the puck back and setting things up again. Andy points out that having Geoffrion back will help, so that's a good thing. Mr 60 asked me (seriously, he asked me this; this isn't me asking) why Tom Gorowsky doesn't get to take more faceoffs, as it seems to us that he wins a large majority of the ones that he takes. (I shrugged and answered that he's being used on the wing, not at center, what the heck do I know?)

Other articles
Milewski (TCT): Fundamentals, not injuries, interest Eaves
Milewski (TCT): Dolan, Mitchell, Grotting doing what they do best for UW
Baggot (WSJ): Road to recovery easy to pinpoint
Baggot (Badger Blog): Rating the goaltenders
Baggot (Badger Blog): No whistles in their sleep
Lowman (CHN): Badger baby steps

Of particular interest to me is this blurb from Todd's "Fundamentals" article:

What is on Eaves' mind is getting his team back to basics after that break. UW had only about an hour of practice before last weekend's tournament, so this week's lead-up to a nonconference series against Northern Michigan at the Kohl Center will stress heavily the need to win the small battles that make up the larger result.

"Maybe one of the reasons that we did lose those little battles is that we haven't done it in a while," Eaves said.

I'm not gonna lie; it drove me crazy on Sunday that the Badgers kept losing battles for the puck. Don't get me wrong, Lake State had a lot to do with this -- the Lakers battled hard the whole game and earned each puck. But the Badgers have got to to better.

Weekend Notebooks
USCHO: don't see anything up yet . . .
INCH: don't see anything up yet except more tourney previews . . .


******************************************************************************
Badger Women v. USA Select Team: Fri 2 PM (Kohl Center)
Madison Capitols v. USA Select Team: Sat 2 PM (Cap Ice)

Badgers Jinelle Zaugg, Molly Engstrom, and Kerry Weiland will be playing for Team USA. What fun!

Badgers Head Coach Mark Johnson will be absent from the exhibition game (as well as next weekend's series @ the Foreign Legion of Duluth) as he's coaching the US U18 team at the U18 World Championship in Fussen, Germany. (Future Badger Brianna Decker will be playing for the US U18 team, and I think maybe future Badger Alev Kelter, too, although don't hold me to that. Keep an eye out for Brittany Ammerman, as well, as I gotta believe she'll be a Badger someday soon. A couple of future Badgers will also be playing for Canada's U18 team -- Breann Frykas and Saige Pocholuk)

Brooke Ammerman, Hilary Knight, Jessie Vetter, Erika Lawler, and Meghan Duggan all recently participated in USA Hockey's Holiday Camp (Dec 26-31). I think they'll be here this weekend; please correct me if I'm wrong.

Looks like Mallory Deluce and Brittany Haverstock will not be here, as they'll be in Germany competing for Team Canada in the MLP Cup (Jan 2 - 6). The MLP Cup includes CAN, FIN, RUS, GER, SWE, and SUI.

Andy Baggot had a nice piece in yesterday's WSJ about Mark Johnson, the Badger Women, Friday's game, and the upcoming U18 World Championship: Johnson's influence is spread wide. THANKS, ANDY!

Here are a couple of other links:
New York Times: Program keeps US women's hockey at elite level
uwbadgers: Free chance to catch Team USA and the No. 1 Badgers
uwbadgers: Johnson heads overseas to coach US U18 team

WSN Girls Hockey Blog

WSN (home of DPlaya's HIW blog) appears to have separated it's coverage of boys and girls hockey -- HIW continues to cover boys prep hockey (in addition to Badger hockey), whereas girls prep hockey is now covered by DPlaya and Del Scanlon in WSN's Girls Hockey blog.

I have updated the recruiting links on the left accordingly.

New Year's Day Catch-Up

A few random items that I've neglected to post recently . . .

Milewski (TCT): Talkin' Hockey with the Suters

Milewski (Icehouse): Alum Bourque nets first NHL hat trick (includes links to recruit and alumni stats reports)

Five questions with Joe Piskula, Monarchs defensman

By KEVIN PROVENCHER

The Union Leader

updated 12:46 a.m. CT, Wed., Dec. 31, 2008

MANCHESTER - The Dossier: Joe Piskula is a 24-year-old, second-year pro defenseman who played three seasons for Wisconsin, winning the national championship in his sophomore season of 2005-06. At the end of his junior year he turned pro, signing as a free agent with the L.A. Kings. The 6-foot-3, 216-pound blueliner is a defensive defenseman and is known among pro scouts for his smooth, fluid skating ability and playing bigger than his size. Piskula, who began skating at 3, is from a hockey-playing family. His 20-year-old brother, Charlie, plays at a high level of state men's hockey and his 21-year-old sister, Trish, is the senior captain at Wisconsin-Stevens Point. They all played four seasons for the Antigo High School Red Robins (Trish played on the boys' team). From there Joe played two seasons of USHL juniors where he was a teammate of Monarchs' defenseman Davis Drewiske.

1. Some scouts put a lot of emphasis on plus-minus and others don't. What does plus-minus mean for you?

Piskula: "It is huge for a player like me since my job is to keep the puck out of the net. If I'm minus I'm not doing my job. I try not to focus on stats too much but for the type of player I am that's a huge stat."

2. How did Wisconsin prepare you for playing pro hockey?

Piskula: College prepared me well for it. We played in big rinks with a lot of fans (Wisconsin averages 14,000 fans) and played against good teams. But, you can't prepare yourself for playing 80 games in a season, three games a week. You really have to be focused and be consistent with your play and be good every game."

3. Three things people don't know about you?

Piskula: "I was a potato farmer in high school. Antigo has huge potato farms. That's how I got my growth spurt, I was eating meat and potatoes every day. I played high school baseball (outfielder) and hockey with Justin Berg. He's a pitcher and he was just signed by the Chicago Cubs. I live with Davis Drewiske (a fellow Wisconsin Badger, although they were not a defensive pair in college.)."

4. Outside of ice hockey what else do you enjoy?

Piskula: "Antigo (a small city of 8,000 people) is the gateway to the north woods so its big deer hunting country. I enjoy bow hunting for deer, pheasant, ruffed grouse and black bear ... I have my bow but I haven't had any time here."

5. This year the Monarchs have a lot of college players led by a large contingent of Ivy Leaguers. Any college rivalry in the locker room?

Piskula: "Wisconsin is the Ivy League of the West.''

Patience is the key for netminder Elliott

Sports

December 31, 2008 11:16 AM

Cuddy Shark

Rule No. 1 for goaltenders — keep an eye on the puck at all times.

Yet, when there exists scads of turmoil at the big league level, it must be even more difficult for the guy in the minors, hoping to emerge as the next puck-stopping answer, to be completely tuned out from proceedings upstairs.

It’s precisely the situation in which Brian Elliott finds himself these days as a goaler in the American Hockey League’s Binghamton Senators, the top minor league affiliate to the Ottawa Senators.

An observer might figure the farther removed from present mess in Ottawa the better for a top prospect.

In his second full professional season, 23-year-old Newmarket resident is still learning the ropes in his trade. By the same token, there are a lot of intangibles involved in reaching the ultimate plateau which is the National Hockey League. Perhaps that is what the Senators were thinking from the outset of the season when they told Elliott he’d be the main guy in Bingo.

“It’s fun being the team that’s winning in the organization, rather than losing, because sooner or later, you think someone has to get a shot up there,” said Elliott, during a schedule break spent in Newmarket last week. “The guys look at it as always being one phone call away from being called up. It’s always in the back of your mind you could get called up.”

It is difficult to calculate a timetable by which any young player can gauge his arrival in the NHL on a full-time basis. There are simply too many intangibles that can’t be controlled from the player’s end.

But Elliott is doing everything possible to stay on Ottawa’s radar.

“There’s a lot of young goalies getting chances and you want to be part of that,” Elliott said, alluding to recent NHL debuts by fellows such as Justin Pogge in Toronto, Jonathan Quick for the L.A. Kings, Steve Mason with the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks’ Cory Schneider, among others, getting their chance to play in the NHL. “But you can’t get caught up in that. It is being in the right place at the right time.

“You’ve got to control what you can and can’t worry about what’s going on up there and just get wins. You do whatever they want you to do. That’s the way the game is.”

Elliott is indeed controlling his end, bumping his record to 16-7-1 on the weekend with a pair of wins. He also dropped his goals against average to 2.42 and sports a .924 save percentage. Overall, the B-Sens are 17-10-3-3.

Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be proper form to publicly take satisfaction in the misery of others, namely the Ottawa team and its netminders, Martin Gerber and Alex Auld. Yet, deep down in the heart of every minor league pro athlete you just know he’s watching to see what goes on with the big club.

“It’s a lot more fun when you can win a few games in a row rather than lose one and then sit for awhile,” he said. “(Ottawa) said a bunch of things. You don’t know how many things are true or how things have changed with how (Ottawa) is playing. But the goalies have been playing well.

“The worse (the Senators) do, the more changes they’re likely to make. But if you get called up, you’d rather the team was winning.”

Elliott seems destined one day for the NHL — he has played one career game in the NHL, making his debut last season when he earned a win against the Atlanta Thrashers — whether it is in Ottawa or some other NHL city.

“I’m in my contract year,” said Elliott, who enjoyed a stellar career at the University of Wisconsin where he was a Hobey Baker Award finalist and led the Badgers to an NCAA championship in his junior year. “We’ll see what happens. Obviously, I want to make it to the next level.”

Hi, my name is . . . Jake Gardiner

Posted Dec 31st 2008 8:00AM by Bruce Ciskie (author feed)
Filed under: Ducks, Western, NHL General, NHL Draft, NHL Fans

Hi, My Name is ... appears weekly on NHL FanHouse. We will spotlight future NHL prospects currently making a name for themselves in college hockey. Where applicable, the players' draft rights will be listed. Check back again next Tuesday at 8AM ET, as we return to our regular timeslot. Please post in the comments section if you have a nomination, or if you feel the author really blew it this week.

While many top Division I teams are missing star players to the World Junior Championships, others have a chance to step up and get noticed.

This is certainly true at the University of Wisconsin, where top defensemen Ryan McDonagh (Team USA) and Cody Goloubef (Team Canada) are playing in the tournament and unavailable for the Badgers.

Without them, Wisconsin hosted the Badger Hockey Showdown this past weekend, winning the tournament for the first time in three years. One of the bigger reasons for Wisconsin's success is the weak field they invited to the tournament depth they have on defense.

2008 first-round pick Jake Gardiner (NHL rights: Anaheim) is a huge part of that improving defense.

Gardiner was a forward for much of his youth, only converting to defense while in high school at Minnetonka (Minnesota). Still, his work was enough to get him a scholarship at Wisconsin, and the Ducks liked him enough as a defenseman to draft him 17th overall.

Over the weekend, Gardiner got his first collegiate goal in Wisconsin's 5-0 semifinal win over Alabama-Huntsville, then assisted on the equalizer in a 1-1 tie against Lake Superior State (Michigan) in the championship game. Wisconsin won a shootout to take the tournament title, but the game officially counts as a tie. His play drew praise from teammate Jamie McBain (Carolina).

"Getting that first goal is a big relief off your shoulders. Obviously, he's been playing really good for us and it just hasn't gone in for him. So it was great to see him get it. Obviously, he's excited. And hopefully we can see many more from him."

Todd Milewski covers Badger hockey for The Capital Times in Madison, and he offers the following assessment of Gardiner.

There are some times you can tell he's still relatively new on defense, but it's not a completely obvious thing where he's standing out because he doesn't know what he's doing. He's picking it all up well, especially the little nuances like body position when he's one-on-one with a forward.

But I think the thing I've been most impresed with is his awareness while handling the puck. He's the kind of guy that sees the whole ice from his own zone and can carry the puck 150 feet up ice and make it look easy -- you don't see that from many players any more. As long as he understands when not to try something too risky, it's a pretty neat thing to see.

All in all, he's a pretty heady player who could be a really good pro.

Our FanHouse pal Earl Sleek, who also writes at Battle of California, is the first to admit that he doesn't know much about prospects. That's not at all sinful, because it's why we're here. Sleek does, however, make it sound like Gardiner could be on his way to the Anaheim farm system (or the Ducks' big-league roster) very quickly.

Next summer looks to be a pretty big shift in the Anaheim blueline (at least right now). Brian Burke has left a pretty clean slate for his GM successor Bob Murray -- Chris Pronger is the only defenseman signed beyond this year, and he's only got one year after this one. I'm sure that there will be some re-signings in the coming months, but it also seems that it'd be a real opportune time for some defensive prospect to make the jump to the big leagues. That probably couldn't be said for any of the last few years for Anaheim -- at least a promotion didn't seem very necessary back then.

It's a rather odd thing when you watch the Badgers, and you see three defensemen on the ice during a power play, but Gardiner is such a good offensive player that it makes perfect sense when you think about it. He has tremendous offensive skill, and while he is still a work in progress as a defenseman, there's no question his size, hands, and smarts will make the transition a complete success in the not-too-distant future.

WJC quarterfinals start tomorrow

I know, I know . . . I haven't been online in a week . . . [hangs head] . . .

Ryan McDonagh and Team USA will take on Slovakia in the first quarterfinal on Friday at 2:30 CST. Russia and the Czech Republic will play in the second quarterfinal on Friday at 6:30 CST.

There are only 2 quarterfinals, as Sweden and Canada earned byes into the semifinals. Cody Goloubef and Team Canada will take on the winner of RUS-CZE on Saturday at 6:30 CST. Hopefully, Sweden's opponent at 2:30 CST on Saturday will be Team USA!

The bronze and gold medal games will be played Monday at 2:30 CST and 6:30 CST.

The quarters, semis, and medal games will all be televised on the NHL network.

Anyway, for those of you like me who have been extremely busy and haven't been able to keep up, here's how USA/CAN fared during the preliminary round to get to the playoff round . . .

12/26/08
USA 8 - GER
iihf: box, game recap
usahockey: game recap, game blog, game photos, video highlights
McDonagh -- 0-1-1, 0 SOG, +2

CAN 8 - CZE 1
iihf: box, game recap
hockeycanada: game recap
Goloubef -- 0-0-0, 2 SOG, +2

12/28/08
CAN 15 - KAZ 0
iihf: box, game recap
hockeycanada: game recap
Goloubef -- 0-1-1, 2 SOG, +5

USA 4 - CZE 3
iihf: box, game recap
usahockey: game recap, game blog, game photos, video highlights
McDonagh -- 0-0-0, 0 SOG, -1
McD puts the game in context: "Some might say we didn’t take a step forward, but I don’t think we took a step back because we still got the win."

12/29/08
CAN 5 - GER 1
iihf: box, game recap
hockeycanada: game recap
Goloubef -- 0-0-0, 1 SOG, +1

12/30/08
USA 12 - KAZ 0
iihf: box, game recap
usahockey: game recap, game blog, game photos
McDonagh -- 0-1-1, 2 SOG, +4
McD's comment Team USA's play: "Just making strong plays and smart decisions with the puck. I thought we did well, guys didn’t try to get too fancy, which can sometimes happen against an opponent like this."

12/31/09
CAN 7 - USA 4
iihf: box, game recap
usahockey: game recap, game blog 1, game blog 2, game photos
hockeycanda: game recap
tsn: video highlights
McDonagh -- 0-0-0, 0 SOG, -1
Goloubef -- 0-0-0, 0 SOG, +1


While I'm at it, I might as well mention this little blurb in the Canadian Press:

Cody Goloubef, Oakville, Ont. - Lone college player on the team out of Wisconsin is calm, covers off gaps and doesn't give quarter in the defensive zone. A good skater with quick transition game.

Nice!

And in case you missed it when Gandalf previously posted it, here's a bunch more on Goloubef from the WJ Team Prospects Report:

Cody Goloubef-D- Team Canada is loaded with talent from the three major branches of the Canadian Hockey League: the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. However, Goloubef managed to earn a spot on the roster as the lone representative of the NCAA. Goloubef scored four goals and 10 points in 40 games for the University of Wisconsin last season. However, those moderate offensive totals don't begin to tell the full story. Goloubef was the second-youngest player in the NCAA last season and he was playing on a squad that prioritizes defense and doesn't like gambling offensively.

Goloubef would call himself an offensive defenseman, and he has the skills to back up that claim. He's a strong and fluid skater who enjoys getting involved in the rush. He has strong offensive instincts and a good shot. Goloubef isn't an overly physical player, but he also isn't afraid to use his body when necessary. He's a good two-way player who could develop into a great power-play point man in the NHL. Playing for Wisconsin has allowed Goloubef to fly under the radar a bit, but he's someone to watch closely in the upcoming World Junior Championship. If he is given enough ice time to show what he can do, he could turn some heads in this year's tournament.

Wisconsin outdoor game resurrected?

Most of you have already caught this on other blogs such as the WCH blog, or the Blog that Yost Built, but it's definitely worth a mention here as well. According to the Detroit News, Wisconsin is primed to make an announcement on an outdoor game at Camp Randall in February of 2010.

It sounds as if the likely opponent will be the University of Michigan. Back in June, there was speculation that the opponent would be Minnesota. Well, due to Bruce McLeod (who by the way, does anyone remember this?) Wisconsin couldn't play Minnesota in an outdoor game due to a bunch of bogus excuses.

Personally I'm really excited for the prospects of another outdoor game. As the Blog that Yost Built pointed out, outdoor games kick ass. There is also a possibility that we could break the record for attendance. I expect them to make an announcement soon to build off the success of the Chicago outdoor game at Wrigley.

Around the WCHA Jan 2 & 3

Still no conference action again this week, but there are some non-conference games and a few holiday tourneys left to be played before the stretch run. First, last week's results:

Badger Hockey Showdown: Wisconsin takes the title
Great Lake Invitational: Michigan Tech beats North Dakota taking 3rd place, handing the Sioux 4th
Florida College Classic: St. Cloud takes 4th (nice work Huskies...)

Mankato went east and lost to both Yale and Princeton earlier in the week

Overall not a good weekend for the WCHA in non-conference. This could bode poorly for the WCHA in the NCAA tourney as the Pairwise Rankings start to take shape. Hopefully teams fair better this weekend.

Dodge Holiday Classic (Brown, minnesota, W. Michigan & Northeastern) - minnesota should take 1st
Denver Cup (Boston U, Rensselear, Holy Cross & Denver) - Denver takes their own tourney
Shillelagh Tournament (Mass-Lowell, Duluth, Union, Notre Dame) - Duluth takes 2nd

Wisconsin hosts N. Michigan - Badgers sweep
North Dakota home & home w/ Bemidji State - Sioux split w/ Beavers
Mankato hosts Nebraska Omaha (saturday only) - the Land Cows continue to suck in a loss

Geoffrion Returns

Good news Badger fans, Blake Geoffrion will be back in the lineup this weekend when the Badgers host N. Michigan for a pair of games. Blake missed the last three games after suffering an ankle injury. It will be great to have his leadership back on the ice, in addition I think he works well w/ Tom Gorowsky on the 1st line, and has been missed on special teams.

It appears Patrick Johnson will not be in the lineup this weekend. Todd @ TCT has the proposed lines for the weekend but Patrick is not included. He suffered a leg injury of some kind last friday night, hopefully he'll be back in the lineup soon.

Four Days Of Hockey For The Hardcore Fans

For starters the Chicago Blackhawks are playing the Detroit Redwings in the Winter Classic in Wrigley Field home of the Chicago Cubs New Years Day. Three Badger Alumni players could be participating in the Game. Brian Rafalski (91-95) is sure to play for the Redwings. Chris Chelios (81-83) has just returned after breaking his leg and is a good possibility to play for the Wings. That leaves Adam Burish (02-06) who is also returning from injury and is yet to be annonced for the lineup. Adam is no stranger to the outdoor game which should help Adam get into the lineup. The Badgers defeated Ohio State at the Frozen Tundra Game in Lambeau Field in 2006 with Adam as the team captain.

The next game on tap is the Badger Women vs. The US Selects team featuring Badger alumni, Jinelle Zaugg, Kerry Weiland, Molly Engstrom and Chanda Gunn. Game time is 2:pm Friday Jan. 2nd at the Kohl Center and parking and admission is Free!!

Game three is the Badger men facing CCHA foe Northern Michigan at the Kohl Center face off is at 7:o7 pm.

Game four of the extended weekend will be The US selects Womens team vs. The Madison Capitols AAA midget boys team at the Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton. Game time is Saturday 2:20 pm Parking is free and admission price is ?.

Game five is the Badger Mens game #2 and going for the sweep vs. Northern Michigan. Game time for Saturday has been changed to 8:07 pm due to a daytime basketball game.

Day four, Sunday Jan. 4th is Skate With The Badgers Mens edition. The hours of the Skate With The Badgers are 2-3:30 pm, parking and admission is free.


Please support your Badgers by attending as many events as possible. Go Badgers!!!!

News of note, Rene Bourque (00-04) scored his first ever NHL hat trick for the Calgary Flames.