Chris Chelios will make his Wolves debut on Friday

It is an honor for us to have him. We are very excited to have someone of Chris’ stature join our team. He will be an excellent example for our young players to watch, both on and off the ice.

-- Wolves General Manager Wendell Young

I've got no goal, just keep playing. I'm not going to come out and jeopardize this team's success. It's a challenge. I want to see if I can play.

My son's as old as some of these kids, but it's going to be fun. They're very respectful kids and I intend to have a good time with these guys.

-- Chris Chelios

Chris Chelios has signed a contract with the AHL's Chicago Wolves and will make his debut on Friday v. the Manitoba Moose (Allstate Arena, 7:30 PM).

Wolves press release
Canadian press

Thoughts on Opening Weekend

I’m disappointed after the opening weekend. I’ve never felt this deflated two games into a season, usually it doesn’t even happen. The past few seasons, I was very positive until the very end. I think the Drive for .500 by Christmas proves that.

I have to wonder why Eaves didn’t schedule a real exhibition last weekend in preparation for the opening weekend of play. CC already had three games under their belt and while that didn’t matter on Friday, I think it did Saturday night. Instead of playing a Red/White scrimmage, why not play someone, even St. Norberts. Get the team ready for 60 minutes of a real game.

The real reason I’m disappointed is that Friday was a continuation of the 2nd half of last season: pissing away a game that the Badgers should have won. I don’t care if it was the 1st game, they can’t afford to lose these games this season or any season, first game or last game of the season. You can’t outplay the opponent consistently and come away w/ a loss. Saturday they came out flat, seen that too many times for my enjoyment as well.

I’m sick of the dump and chase. Anyone else out there feel the same way? Why don’t other teams do this every time down the ice? Why do our forwards or dmen skate to the blue line w/ open ice in front of them and still dump it into the corner? Countless times this weekend I watched guys get to the blue line w/ space to still carry the puck in and make something happen, but instead its dumped in. Also, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but it looked like CC did a great job of defending the dump and chase Saturday, the Badgers couldn’t get anything going. They knew it was coming, because what else would Eaves do? Where is the adjustment in offensive strategy?

Speaking of strategy, the PP was horrible. No one in front of the net, and in typical Badger fashion pass the puck around and around and around until it skips over a stick and over the blue line. When I watch other teams’ PPs I never see this. Teams like Denver or North Dakota have dynamic PPs where guys are moving around and the passes aren’t moving solely on the outer boundary of the offensive zone. I’m beginning to realize how important Jamie McBain was to the PP last season, he ran it like a well oiled machine. One of the offensive blue liners needs to step up ASAP and be that guy and I didn't see it this weekend.

I’m worried about the offense too, after Geoffrion went out w/ injury on Friday, the only line gave me any hope was Bohmbach/Stepan/Smith. On Saturday, it wasn’t much better. Street’s line wasn’t bad, but John Mitchell looked lost out there, Grotting was doing more for the team than Big John. The team needs to finish, I’m always amazed that all the other teams have a bunch of guys around the net regularly on rebounds, and Wisconsin players are still standing by the boards.

Michael Davies needs to pull himself together and get in the lineup right now until the lines click and the goals start flowing the team needs all the skill it can find, but it starts w/ the player. If Davies isn’t going to do it in practice, well that sucks for him. This is his last chance, not only at Wisconsin, but I can’t believe that an AHL contract will be sitting out there for a lazy, apathetic player who doesn’t bring their best effort every night. Come on Michael!!! The fans want to see you out there, time for you to want to see yourself out there and start busting ass.

As for goaltending, I liked Gudmandson on Saturday night. Only goal he let in was on a 5 on 3. Bennett wasn’t bad, but his glove side appears weak, and I’m not a fan of his wanderings. As I discussed w/ 60 and Mr. 60, he reminds of Alex Stalock. If you read the blog, you know I’m not a fan of his wanderings. It doesn’t help when teammates aren’t ready for a long pass from their goalie.

I should cover the positives too. The freshman looked good. Huge fan of Craig Smith, he plays much bigger than his size and like 60 said, he isn’t outstanding at anything, but good at everything. Justin Schultz and John Ramage did not look like the freshmen on the blue line this weekend.

Andy Bohmbach was arguably the best player on the ice throughout the entire weekend. As I mentioned earlier, his line was the best all weekend too, and the only one getting regular chances against CC. It looked like Ben Street was trying too hard on Friday, but it was great to see him back out there. He just needs to find some linemates to get going. Derek Stepan had some sick moves throughout the weekend, he is a special player.

I loved the intensity to start the game on Friday too. Ryan McDonagh’s huge hit set the tone, but then they didn’t keep it up. Things started to unwind after the intensity was benched; that intensity shouldn’t be getting a breather until the final buzzer.

All in all, starting the season out by losing a game like they did regularly down the stretch last season is a bad omen. I know it’s the opening weekend, and things will get better, they have to w/ so much talent on the team, but it needs to click quickly. While Mankato isn’t anything special the season, the Badgers don’t play well there, and then they return home for some tough games against New Hampshire and minnesota. I’m beginning to question Eaves’ coaching too, I want to see some creativity on the PP and something other than the dump and chase. If the well is dry, do you keep going back to it hoping there will be water?

I guess it all came to a head for me Saturday night sitting there, because it was like I was watching last season’s team, struggle w/ the same things that last season’s team struggled w/ and the memory of another game handed to an opponent (Friday night) was very fresh in my memory instead of months in the past.

31 months...

...since the Badgers won a game in OT. March 17, 2007 to be exact. Ben Street scored in OT to beat St. Cloud in the 3rd place game of the Final Five.

Will children born on or after March 18, 2007 ever see the Badger Men win a game in OT?

The OT Futility Counter will NOT return, until I can find one that works properly.

Dowell gets the "C" in Rockford

Jake Dowell, who had been serving as alternate captain, was named captain of the Rockford Icehogs yesterday. I have mixed feelings on this. It's really nice that the coaching staff and the team recognize his leadership abilities, but at the same time it also seems to be an indicator that they're not expecting him to go anywhere this season. I know, I know, Chicago has a ton of depth and they can't even keep Skille up on a permanent basis, but you know what I mean, right?

MHKY G2: Tigers 1 - Badgers 1

I was hoping we'd be at the other end of the spectrum, that the offense would come out and create things.

-- Mike Eaves, when asked if he overestimated the offensive potential of his forwards

Recaps: uwbadgers, cctigers, Baggot (WSJ), Paisley (Gazette), Worgull (BN), Worgull (USCHO), Wodon (CHN)

Box: uwbadgers, collegehockeystats, USCHO

Postgame presser: uwbadgers

A couple of lineup notes from last night. Blake Geoffrion was out with a concussion, so Matt Thurber was in the lineup as a center. Also, Eric Springer replaced Brendan Smith on D.

The Badgers opened the game with the line of Murray-Street-P Johnson, but early in the 3rd Turnbull replaced Johnson and late in the 3rd Mitchell replaced Murray. IIRC (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), the other lines for most of the game were as follows:

Bohmbach - Stepan - C Smith
Mitchell - Dolan - Grotting
Bendickson - Thurber - Turnbull

McDonagh - Gardiner
Goloubef - Schultz
Springer - Ramage

On the radio during the 1st intermission, Oz said the Badgers played flat and weren't moving their feet. Umm, well, yeah. I guess I don't have much more to say than that.

But I liked Scott Gudmandson. A lot. I don't know anything about goaltending, but I thought he looked confident and poised, and I thought he made some pretty good saves. Nice job, Goody, you probably deserved a win.

MHKY G1: Tigers 3 - Badgers 2

We put 41 shots on the kid (and) only get two goals. We got to keep getting those pucks at the net, but we got to get there and bang in those rebounds. It’s frustrating when you feel like you did a lot of good things … and pretty much dominated the game for a lot of it and still come out with a loss.

-- Ben Street

Recaps: uwbadgers, cctigers, Baggot (WSJ), Paisley (Gazette), Worgull (BN), Worgull (USCHO), Wodon (CHN)
Box: collegehockeystats, USCHO
Photos: Schreiner (WSJ)

A quick preliminary for those who didn't see/listen to the game and who haven't read any recaps yet. Geoffrion got banged up (Baggot said he was woozy) in the 1st and didn't return to the game. Baggot says it's unknown if he'll be available tonight, but I'd be surprised to see him tonight because ya gotta be careful with that sort of thing. Also, if you noticed that Brendan Smith didn't play in the 3rd, Baggot indicates that Eaves benched him (ie not an injury).

Ok, moving on to the game. I think we probably should've won that one last night, but there were a few defensive breakdowns and some goaltending difficulties perhaps, and CC capitalized, and there ya go. Bummer.

But most of the first 2 periods were fun, and I saw a lot of things I liked. Just my opinion, of course, so take it for whatever it's worth. A lot of players looked like they were working hard and had good energy, and I liked that a lot.

There were a half-a-dozen players who caught my eye, and I'll go through them in order of when they caught my eye.

The 1st player I liked, of course, was Andy Bohmbach; I thought he looked pretty good. Timothy A says Bohmber's not a goal-scored (but I still like ya, Tim, I don't hold it against you), but I think in his mind Tim has Bohmber pigeon-holed as a gritty 4th-line type of guy, and I think Bohmber has shown he can finish and score some goals, and I think he also can create opportunities. He seems like a smart player who has decent vision on the ice. Tim's right that Bohmber is a gritty player and works hard, and that's part of why I like him -- he had some nice defensive work that led to offensive opportunities, he kept some offensive plays going when they looked like they were going to fall apart, and he works hard all game. But there's more to him as a player than that, and I'm wondering when Tim will see it. HEY TIM, WHATCHA THINK? (Poor Tim, you know I only call ya out because I like you.)

The 2nd player who really grabbed my attention was Podge Turnbull. I hadn't been looking specifically for him, but he grabbed my eye on a number of occasions (especially in the first 2 periods), and I told Mr 60 a number of times that I thought he looked good. Podge looked like he liked being in the lineup and wanted to stay there. And based on his effort and performance last night, I think he should stay there. I told this to Mr 60, but I don't think he was listening to me, so I told nubeetle, and nu agreed.

I'm going to write a bit more about Turnbull than the other players b/c I think there's a good story here with him coming off somewhat of a rough season last year. I'll admit that I wasn't a huge fan of Turnbull and didn't care for his play last year, but yesterday I remarked to Chuck that I was interested in seeing him play last night because I had heard from a friend of mine that for various reasons we might expect to see something more from him this season. Of course, by game time, I forgot that I wanted to watch him, but luckily Podge went ahead and reminded me by playing well enough to make me notice.

You know, when Turnbull got the nod over Davies, Eaves comments didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about either player, because he said that Turnbull "didn't exactly grab the position away from Davies, but did enough to merit the first crack at ice time." But now I think Turbull has grabbed the position from Davies. I think Davies will get into the lineup sooner rather than later, but I don't think it will be (nor should it be) at the expense of Turnbull, at least not based on last night.

Yeah, I know, I'm basing a lot on one game, but I have no reason to think that Turbull won't continue to play hard and play well like he did last night. I'll say this for Podge -- he's shown commitment to the program and to earning a spot on the team. Going into the offseason, Podge was looking at a team with 19 forwards, and he was on the outside looking in. But even before the numbers got trimmed to 16 (which is still a lot of depth), I hear that he was firm on staying with the Badgers and doing whatever it took to make the team. Ya gotta admire that. I'll admit to being somewhat skeptical on his chances, but despite not previously being a big fan of his, I can honestly say I'm happy to see him successful. Who doesn't like a story about a kid coming off a rough season, working hard, getting in the lineup, and winning over fans with his play? Personally, I love that kind of stuff.

The 3rd player I liked a lot was Derek Stepan. Honestly, can anyone say they don't like Derek Stepan? He gave us what we expected and hoped for based on his play last season -- he just keeps getting better. He's got moves, he creates opportunities, he's smart, and someday I'm going to give him a St. Stepan's Day Holiday. What else can I say?

The 4th player who caught my eye was Jordy Murray. He looked like he was playing hard, and I thought he made some good plays. I kept telling Mr 60, "I like Murray a lot tonight!" Again, I don't think Mr 60 was listening to me, but that's alright, I'll just keep telling others.

The 5th player I liked a lot was Craig Smith. This is only the 2nd time I've seen him play (Gandalf has seen him more), but he looked to me like he's a smart player. He looked smart on the ice and like he was seeing things well. And I get the impression that he's the type of player to work hard at all the little things. He might not be the fastest skater or the most talented player, but neither is Joe Pavelski. Now clearly Pavs has a lot of talent, but he's not the best at any particular thing -- he's smart and he works hard at all the little things, and those things combined with his talent make him extremely successful.

The 6th player who caught my eye was Justin Schultz. I thought he looked good for his 1st NCAA appearance. I don't think he looked out of place defensively, and he's got a heck of a shot. Cerniglia says it's the hardest shot on the team and that Schultz tries not to hurt teammates in practice, lol. You know, I like Schultz's pairing with Goloubef a lot. They both feel solid to me. And you know me; I'm already a huge Cody Goloubef fan. So now I'm a Justin Schultz fan too, and I gotta tell ya, I like 'em paired together.

Wolves 5 - Icehogs 4

Nice signs, hey?

These very nice fans were sitting near the penalty box, and nubeetle and I saw them holding up the signs when Dowell was in the box (5 for fighting). We saw Jake give them a smile, so we went to check out the signs in between periods, and the fans were kind enough to hold 'em up for us.

If I had been thinking, I would've asked them how they became Jake Dowell fans and why Jake was their favorite player, because I love that kind of stuff. But, alas, sometimes I just don't think. Hopefully they'll see this post and leave us a comment or send me an email at sixtymin@gmail.com.

Dowell was held of the scoresheet, at least scoring-wise -- as I mentioned, he got 5 for fighting in the 2nd period. As you might expect, he won the fight. Had a pretty solid game. He doesn't seem to make many mistakes, and he had a number of good chances. Might just be my biased perception, but it seemed to me that his line didn't get as much ice time as the other lines, so I was a bit disappointed by that, because (obviously) I really like to watch him play.

It's too bad that Chicago has so much frickin' depth. I gotta believe that there are a number of NHL teams in which Dowell would fit in nicely on the 4th line. He's not a star, but he certainly wouldn't be out of place, either.

While we were disappointed that Dowell's team lost, at the same time we were quite happy to see Don Granato get the win as the Wolves head coach. The Wolves had been 0-3, so Granato really needed the win. Don's one of the nicest guys you'll meet, and he loves his Badger fans, so ya gotta cheer for him.

Chris Chelios was in the building, and as I mentioned in another post he seems to really like the chicken dance. He didn't actually do the chicken dance, but I think he wanted to. He was bouncing in time with the music and I think he was smiling; he seemed to really be enjoying the song. Yeah, I think he wanted to do the chicken dance . . .

Oops, almost forgot to give the box score from the game.

Badger Alumni updates

I should title this post "Stealing from Paul Capobianco", because I'm stealing a bunch (but not all) of this from his weekly Men's Hockey Insider email.

Capo tells us that 11 Badgers have skated in the NHL so far this season: Dany Heatley (SJS), Rene Bourque (CGY), Davis Drewiske (LAK), Jack Skille (CHI), Tom Gilbert (EDM), Joe Pavelski (SJS), Brad Winchester (STL), Steve Reinprecht (FLA), Brian Rafalski (DET), Brian Elliott (OTT), Ryan Suter (NSH).

As of today, Heatley is 6th in the league for goals (5) and total points (5). Bourque is tied with a gazillion players for 11th in goals (4) and is tied with 6 players for 10th in total points (9). I guess Heater likes being a Shark, and Rene likes being a Flame.

Pavelski is out with a lower body injury, but I'd expect him to be back soon as he was expected to miss about 2 weeks, and that'll be up in a few days.

Adam Burish (CHI), of course, was injured during the preseason and is expected to miss most of the regular season.

Brian Elliott made his 1st start this season in the Senators' 4-2 win over the Thrashers on Oct 10. Unfortunately for Els and for Badger fans, Leclaire has gotten the start in the subsequent games.

If Todd were still a Badger Hockey beat writer, he'd keep track of updated stats for NHL/AHL/ECHL Badgers, but alas, that's not the case, and I just don't have the ambition. (Miss ya, Todd!) However, I'm in the process of adding a feature on the left with links to stat pages for this year's NHL Badgers. Hopefully I'll remember to add players when they're called up. (For the time being, you're SOL on AHL/ECHL Badger stats.)

Speaking of AHL Badgers, as we previously posted, Chris Chelios has been skating with the Wolves, and while he didn't play on Wednesday when we were there, I can report that he seems to like the chicken dance and that he may have liked our Wisconsin jerseys. (I swear he gave us a little smile when he saw the jerseys, but nubeetle says he didn't see a smile. At the very least, he acknowledged the jerseys as we walked by.)

Capo also has links for Jack Skille's 1st goal of the season: video, article.

And he also offers us a couple of Ryan Suter links: Car racing, Suter's business

Oh, and I picked up some random trivia Wedensday from a very nice Wolves' photographer. Remember Chris Nelson from the 1990 championship team? After 4 years on the Badgers' blueline ('88-'92, 144 GP, 11-31-42), Nelson bounced around the IHL/AHL/ECHL/WCHL for about 10 years before playing several years of roller hockey, in which I understand that he was quite good. But obviously that's not the trivia. The trivia is that Chris Nelson apparently got into modeling. Who knew?

Belated Congrats to Davis Drewiske on his 1st NHL goal

I suppose I could've included this in the alumni updates post that I'm planning, but dang it, I wanted to give Davis his own post, and who's gonna stop me?

I meant to post this a while back but never got around to it. I'm a bad Badger fan / bad Davis Drewiske fan. Sorry, Davis!

In the 2nd game of the season, Drewiske scored his 1st NHL goal, an empty netter in the Kings' 6-4 win over San Jose. He also has an assist that night.

Here's the video of his goal. (Thanks, Capo!)

Drewiske has played in every game this season, and he's averaging 15-16 min of ice time. You can follow his stats here.

I like Drewiske because he's not the most talented guy (obviously he has enough talent to play in the NHL, but you know what I mean), but he's smart and works hard and keeps his game simple.

Oh, and Baggot had a nice article a couple weeks ago (which I also neglected to post earlier, sorry) which featured Drewiske.

"I always thought that mentally I was smart enough to be able to figure it out, but I needed to get myself faster and stronger so I could compete."

"I always felt like I could play. I've always believed in myself."

Today in Badger Hockey History: Badgers 20 - Windsor 0

From uwbadgers.com:

10/16/1981

The Wisconsin hockey team marked its largest winning margin ever with a 20-0 win over Windsor.

Opening Night Line Chart (Where the F*** Is Davies?)

Let me start this off by stating that the opinions in this post are of mine, and mine only. These thoughts (at least that I know of) do not reflect the opinions of the other posters on this blog.

Our favorite local writer Andy Baggot provides us with the line chart for the season opener tonight for the Badgers when they take on the Tigers of Colorado College.

Andy Bohmbach-Blake Geoffrion-Patrick Johnson
Jordy Murray-Derek Stepan-Craig Smith
John Mitchell-Ben Street-Ben Grotting
Aaron Bendickson-Sean Dolan-Podge Turnbull

Ryan McDonagh-Jake Gardiner
Cody Goloubef-Justin Schultz
Brendan Smith-John Ramage

G -- Brett Bennett

With the disclaimer out of the way, let me put this out on the table for you. WHERE THE F*** IS MICHAEL DAVIES.

I've been one of the biggest Eaves backers out there. The past two seasons I was the one defending him when over half of the fan base was throwing him under the bus. At the end of this past season there was an overwhelmingly large group of fans calling for the dismissal of our esteemed coach. I was the one writing articles defending him.

BUT, I will also say that if Eaves does not take this team with an extreme amount of talent, and make them a National Championship contender, his job should be in jeopardy. Especially when he's making roster decisions like leaving big time point producers like Michael Davies off of the lineup card.

We all know that Wisconsin has an abundance of talent at the forward position this season. But it is a complete, and utter joke, that a player of Davies caliber is being left out of the lineup when Patrick Johnson is getting first line minutes. Davies is an elite play making threat. He trails only Geoffrion and Stepan in returning forwards in points per game last season. In 35 games last season, Patrick Johnson produced a whopping 7 points. SEVEN. In 34 games last season Davies had 23. I just do not understand how you leave a player, who enters his senior season over the 70 point mark of his career, in the stands.

Now I know Davies sat out some time last season due to coaches discretion. And I somewhat understand the tactics behind that. But leaving him off the lineup on opening night? Did I miss something here? This has to be a joke right?

Needless to say, I'm pissed off at this roster decision. I pray that this is simply a brain cramp on the part of the coaching staff. You simply cannot leave players like this in the stands. What does this say to potential recruits? Yeah you may put up 20 plus points ever season but if you piss Eaves off your going to be in the stands as a senior? I mean come on. You can't honestly tell me that Davies, even if he's doing backwards crossovers in the neutral zone when the puck is in our end isn't worthy of cracking the UW lineup right now.

With that said, Go Badgers.

chuckschwartz@live.com

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

It's a bye week for the Badger Women, but I don't need to tell you that it's opening weekend for the Badger Men!

BADGER MEN: v. Colorado College, FRI/SAT 7 PM

UW 0-0-0
CC 1-1-0 (last weekend split w/ Northeastern: 4-2, 3-4)

Check out Gandalf's preseason Colorado College preview.

And if (like me for much of the summer) you've been hibernating, here are some links to get you ready for the Badgers' season:

uwbadgers Mike Eaves' season preview videos: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
WPT interview w/ Mike Eaves (thanks to sunpraire for the heads-up)
Gandalf's Wisconsin preview
Chuck's "If I were Eaves" series

Gameday Links
TV: FRI ONLY - FSN (live), Wisconsin Channel (tape delay Fri 10pm, Sat 6pm)
Radio: Madison - WIBA 1310
Audio webstream: WSUM (free) - no confirmation, but I'd expect they'll be broadcasting, insideBADGERSPORTS.com ($9.95/mo, but I can't figure it out), RXP (CC feed)
Video webstream: SAT ONLY - Big Ten Network ($2.99)
Live stats: CSTV gametracker
Live blog: Worgull (BN) -- I'll try to add the link when I have it

Weekly Shooutout Winner
Podge Turnbull won the weekly shootout, as well as a spot in tonight's lineup.

Lines
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - P Johnson
Murray - Stepan - C Smith
Mitchell - Street - Grotting
Bendickson - Dolan - Turnbull

McDonagh - Gardiner
Goloubef - Schultz
Smith - Ramage

Bennett
Gudmandson

Bennett gets the nod tonight; no word on who will get the start on Saturday, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Gudmandson.

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes
cctigers: preview, game notes
Baggot (WSJ): UW-Colorado College preview
Paisley (Colorado Springs Gazette): CC hopes for continued hockey success in Wisconsin
Gabriel (Daily Cardinal): Badgers jump into WCHA play with season opener against CC
Holt (Badger Herald): Wisconsin opens season at home

Other Articles
Baggot (WSJ): Pieces are falling into place as UW men's hockey team prepares to open its season
Baggot (WSJ blog): Bennet to start in goal for Badgers
Baggot (WSJ blog): Turnbull gets the nod for Badgers
Baggot (WSJ blog): A few good minutes with Patrick Johnson

The Usual Suspects
CHN: Tale of the Tape
USCHO: This Week in the WCHA
INCH: Hmmm, no WCHA notebook, just a national notebook

Jack Skille back in the NHL... for now

At a certain point, its going to stop being worthwhile to keep posting updates on Jack Skille's status with the Blackhawks. But, at least this time, he got called up before lunchtime on a gameday, scored a goal and has gone (almost) the whole day without getting sent back to Rockford. So I guess there's that.

Summer Talks of a BTHC and a move to the CCHA

I wasn’t going to waste my time, but for our one faithful Sioux fan reader Goon, I finished my thoughts.

On Sunday, I awoke to read the WSJ and saw that over the summer there were some more talk about a Big 10 Hockey Conference and even a move for UW from the WCHA to the CCHA.

There were several conference calls between the Big 10 schools w/ varsity hockey along w/ Big 10 commish Jim Delany to discuss the creation of a BTHC. There was support for the idea including UW in the form of UW senior associate athletic director Sean Frazier and AD Barry Alvarez. Joel Maturi (gopher AD) spoke out strongly against it, and for probably the only time in world history I agree w/ a ground squirrel.

The plan for the BTHC is to either convince Notre Dame to join as the 6th team (needed for a NCAA autobid), or incorporate Bowling Green, W. Michigan and Miami (OH) to make a eight team conference. The reason for the later? They are all D-I programs. Wow that would be awesome to have Bowling Green and WMU, two of the worst programs in the CCHA, come along and be tabbed “Big 10 Hockey Schools” and UW would leave behind the best conference in College Hockey for that? Sure Miami (OH) would be a great opponent to add, but UW plays UM and MSU already. Ohio State in hockey is nothing special. Maturi hinted that the real driver for this is the Big 10’s greed to get more games on the BTN. Why can’t they do that now? Is there a reason they can’t show UW vs Colorado College or Michigan against Notre Dame? They don’t even show the Big 10 games that occur now when they are played! Or interrupt one of them to watch a disgraced basketball coach quit at Indiana! The BTN could make a commitment to hockey now, showing more live Big 10 teams (no matter who they play) instead of replaying a review of Iowa’s 1942 football season.

One more thing that stuck out to me:

Alvarez believes the sport needs to be more regionalized, especially as it relates to programs in the CCHA and WCHA. Both leagues have schools that stretch from the Eastern time zone to Alaska.

So how do you solve that w/ a BTHC Barry? Are there 4 more schools in Alaska ready to play D-I hockey? What about the Colorado schools who just happen to be two of the best teams in the country year to year? Better pass those teams by so the Badgers can play Ohio State four times or W. Michigan, YES! The time zone thing is quite asinine since Michigan Tech is almost due north of Madison, not east, but happens to be in the Eastern time zone.

I read a post on a message board where someone said the College Hockey needs to wake up and follow the example of basketball and football. Put the small teams in their own conferences and the big boys in there’s, etc. Well I see one very obvious problem w/ this: the # of teams in D-I college hockey. D-I basketball has 300+ teams, football 200+ between DIA and DIAA. College Hockey has 58 teams at D-I and probably a similar # at D-III. College Hockey is not the huge monopoly that is D-I basketball and football. The small schools survive off hosting the big schools and the long developed rivalries, and some of them are actually pretty good. College Hockey is more of a family than anything. You move four of the biggest draws in College Hockey (not including Ohio State) into their own conference and the small schools in the CCHA fold. The WCHA marches on, but attendance would go down for every school other than North Dakota and Denver. So instead of growing the sport (which was the point of this message board post) the sport shrinks. Any small D-I school or D-II school looking to go D-I in hockey sees the greed of the BTHC and what is left, and they don’t make the jump (unless it’s a Big 10 school). College Hockey is never going to have 200 teams at D-I, maybe someday in the future 75 to 100, but that someday could be 50+ years from now. Pulling conference matchups away from some marginal programs will see College Hockey fall to 50 teams in ten years, how does that improve the sport?

The current alignment of College Hockey has some issues, no one w/ a brain will argue that, but the BTHC is not the answer. Personally, I get tired of the Big 10, and the WCHA schools are not only a nice break, but where the best of the best play College Hockey. While I criticize Coach Eaves for some of his recruiting practices, I’m very happy to see that he put his foot down realizing that leaving the WCHA would be utter stupidity.

Finally, as for Alvarez’s stupid talk of joining the CCHA, I’m now convinced that Barry has a contest going w/ Andy Baggot and who can come up w/ the worst idea to sink Badger Men’s Hockey. Barry is currently in the lead since going independent “might” actually be a better idea, w/ better being a relative word.

What value is there in joining the CCHA? Please raise your hand if you can think of one? No hands…what a surprise.

If Barry wants to have the athletic department lose money then join the CCHA. Attendance will go down at the Kohl Center, because these new teams aren’t going to draw the same as the existing WCHA. Season ticket holders have been watching WCHA teams for decades. Ferris State, Alaska Fairbanks, W. Michigan, Bowling Green and Lake State are arguably the bottom five in the WCHA. How do they compare to UAA, Tech, Mankato, Duluth and St Cloud? NOT EVEN CLOSE! Not close in interest, and not close in the quality of team that is playing the Badgers. Give up guaranteed matchups against Denver, CC and North Dakota? To gain Michigan (oops already play them), Michigan State (oops already play them), Miami (OH) and Notre Lame? How does this change UW’s relationship w/ minnesota? Are they going to spend four non-conferences on UW? Badger Fans who would you rather play each season? The gophers or Ohio State?

Travel isn’t a huge reason to join either. A trip to any of the MN schools is somewhere between 4 and 6 hours, probably about the same to Tech, and 9 hours or so to North Dakota. Sure you have to fly to CC, DU and UAA, but Fairbanks is still in Alaska. Notre Dame is the closest school about four hours away. N. Michigan and Lake State are even farther into the UP. Trips to WMU and MSU are 5 hours at least, and Ann Arbor is at least 6 hours. Then there is the teams in Ohio, same trip as North Dakota. Other than the one less flight to Colorado, I see NO gains, especially in “regionalization.” How many alumni live in MN, not to mention the relatively easy trips for UW fans living in Wisconsin who can travel quickly (4 to 5 hours) to half of the WCHA venues, which by the way are generally nice places to watch games. Has any other Badger fan ever been to Notre Dame? Holy s*** it makes the DUMP in Duluth look like a palace, plus Michigan as a whole is a dump right now. Is there any reason to get excited about a trip to Michigan other than Big Boy? You might lose your job in Wisconsin just by traveling to Michigan, its that bad.

At the end of the day, while the BTHC is a plausible idea, joining the CCHA is complete stupidity. Barry Alvarez is a moron who is actually dumb enough to think that getting to play three Big 10 schools (Michigan, MSU and OSU) in the CCHA would somehow be an improvement. Nice bluff to worry minnesota and the WCHA. Leave hockey decisions to someone w/ a clue Barry and go back to kissing the asses of all the big $$$ football and basketball donors. I realize football and basketball and the real cash cows at UW, but I’m still waiting for football to win ONE national championship banner, let alone catching up to the Men’s Hockey team’s SIX.

Around the WCHA: Conference Play Begins

Last week’s results:

St. Cloud was swept by Miami (OH): 2-3 (OT), 0-2
North Dakota swept Merrimack: 5-2, 3-2
CC split w/ Northeastern: 4-2, 3-4
Denver split w/ Vermont: 5-4, 4-6
Mankato swept Bowling Green: 3-2, 4-1
UAA beat Mercyhurst, 5-3, & lost to Michigan 1-6
Duluth beat Lake State, 4-3, & lost to N. Michigan 1-4
Michigan Tech beat N. Michigan, 5-3, & lost to Lake State, 1-3

Overall the WCHA went 4-2 against Hockey East, 1-0 against Atlantic Hockey, but only 4-5 against the CCHA. That is a pretty good start, but the WCHA needs to keep winning non-conference games. Last season, a stronger non-conference record by the WCHA might have put UW and minnesota into the NCAA tourney instead of Ohio State and Miami (OH).

I watched the Denver/Vermont game on Friday night, and Denver’s defense is definitely shaky. Too many young defenseman who are all offensively talented, but overall the team struggled on D. I’m sure that Gwoz will clean that up, because otherwise DU had no shortage of offense. Based on the box score, North Dakota had a lot of different players notching points last weekend; very balanced attack.

WCHA Top Performers from last weekend (something new):

F Brett Olson (Michigan Tech): Hat Trick on Friday and added two assists on Tech’s other two goals (apparently Tech will have “some” offense)
F Justin Fontaine & F Jack Connolly (Duluth): each had two goals and two assists on the weekend
F Joe Colbourne (Denver): two 3rd period goals to win the game on Friday night
G Kevin Murdock (Mankato): only allowed one goal while making 22 saves in his first win

This weekend conference play begins w/ three matchups. Three other teams continue non-conference play while Tech has the weekend off.

Denver @ Ohio State (Thurs/Fri) – DU sweep
Rensselaer & Robert Morris @ UAA (Brice Alaska Goal Rush) – UAA splits, beating RMU
CC @ UW – UW is rusty on Friday, but crush the Tigers on saturday
Mankato @ Duluth – 3 pts for Duluth
Union @ St Cloud – St Cloud sweeps
minnesota @ North Dakota – The Sioux take 3 pts at home, but will there be a handshake line square dance w/ a new Joe Finley and Blake Wheeler?

Turning an eye to the Women’s side of the WCHA, here are last weekend’s results:

Mankato swept Maine: 5-2, 2-1
minnesota swept Ohio State: 6-5, 6-1
Wisconsin split w/ Bemidji: 0-1, 3-1
Duluth Foreign Legion swept St Cloud: 5-3, 2-0
Team USA destroyed North Dakota: 11-1

It’s too early in the season to worry about the standings, but here is this week’s schedule:

DFL @ minnesota
Ohio State @ Bemidji State
Mankato @ North Dakota

The Badgers are off, which is probably a good thing. I think its way too early to panic, but the team needs to score some goals and a weekend off before a nice long 4 weekend home stand will hopefully help. Anyone dismissing the season after four games and blaming Tracey Dekeyser are fools.

Jessie Vetter named Sportswoman of the Year

Congratulations, Jessie!

Former Wisconsin women’s hockey goaltender Jessie Vetter received her highest honor to date Tuesday night at the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 30th Annual Salute to Women in Sports Dinner. At a ceremony held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, and hosted by Bob Costas and Mary Carillo Vetter was named Sportswoman of the Year for team sport athletes. Sports fans and champion athletes from Laila Ali, Shawn Johnson and Michelle Kwan to young breakout stars such as Melanie Oudin gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of those who have helped break down barriers and open doors for girls striving to make their mark in female athletics.

If you're interested, you can find some older links here from when she was named a finalist.

It's Wednesday; I'm in Love?

Not exactly how the song goes, but I'm going to Chicago tonight to see the Icehogs/Wolves and should see at least a couple of Badgers.

I have no idea where Skille is; I can't keep up, and I'm starting to think it's not worth trying. Last thing I saw was him being sent down to Rockford yesterday, so I'm expecting to see him, but who really knows.

Looking forward to seeing Jake Dowell play. In Rockford's last game (5-3 win over Toronto), Dowell had 1 G and 1 A. Hey Jake, how 'bout scoring some more goals for us tonight?!

Also looking forward to seeing Don Granato behind the bench for the Wolves. It shouldn't surprise you that I'm a big Don Granato fan!

And of course there's the potential for a Chris Chelios sighting, in which case I'm supposed to tell him that Ma 60 says "hi". Nubeetle told me he heard that Chelios had signed with the Wolves, but I haven't seen anything in print yet. Chelios skated with the Wolves on Monday, and here's an excerpt of an email I received from the Wolves:

Chris Chelios takes a big step toward joining the Chicago Wolves when he starts skating with the club Monday, according to a source close to Chelios.

The 47-year-old Chelios has told friends he would like to play professional hockey until he's 50, and the 24-year NHL veteran turns 48 in January.

The legendary ex-Blackhawks star plans to skate with the Wolves next week and see how he feels physically while checking out the operation, but it would be shocking after that if he didn't sign a contract with the team.

Chelios always talks about returning to Chicago someday, and this would not only allow him another season in his hometown, but also a chance to get his legs in shape in case an NHL club throws in a call to him next spring.

Badger Men's catch-up linkorama

(I'm somewhat surprised Gandalf hasn't threatened to kick me off the blog for being useless, but since he hasn't yet, I'm going to try a bit harder to better earn my keep.)

• Eaves Monday presser
  
  
• A few goaltending articles:
  - Baggot (WSJ): UW starting goaltender still up for grabs
  - Baggot (WSJ): Sanger casts wide net
  - Syms (Badger Herald): Eaves happy to use 2 in crease
  
  Yesterday, Eaves indicated he would announce the starting goaltender on Thursday after practice.

• About the lines for this weekend: Baggot (WSJ) Eaves mulling last two lineup holes
  

  ?? - Street - Mitchell (most recently, Eaves has been alternating Davies/Turnbull on RW)
  Bohmbach - Geoffrion - P Johnson
  Murray - Stepan - C Smith
  Dolan - Bendickson - Grotting
  
  Goloubef - Schultz
  B Smith - Ramage
  McDonagh - Gardiner

• WCHA Previews / Last weekend in the WCHA:
  - Baggot (WSJ): WCHA men's hockey preview
  - Spisak (USCHO): 2009-10 WCHA season preview
  - Myers (INCH): 2009-10 WCHA season preview
  - Baggot (WSJ blog): The weekend that was in the WCHA


• Other Articles/Links
  - Baggot (WSJ): Geoffrion dodges draft to continue tour of duty at UW
  - Oates (WSJ): Eaves must turn UW into title contender
  - Capobianco (uwbadgers): White defeats Red in men's hockey scrimmage, scrimmage sights and sounds
  
  
  

Badger Men's gameday coverage

UPDATE : uwbadgers.com has revamped their site -- I tried to fix all my links below, but I wasn't completely successful. The nice thing about the new site is that the game calendar on the front page appears to include the webcast links and indicates if the game is on TV -- clicking on the TV icon will take you to the schedule, and highlighting the game will bring up TV broadcast info on the right.

With the opening season this weekend, I suppose it's time to review the TV/radio/webcast coverage:

TV Coverage Schedule
16 games will be shown live -- with 7 games on FSN, 8 games on WISC TV in Madison (on Charter or Time Warner Cable in other parts of the state), and 1 game on the Big 10 Network. Which I guess for a lot of people means 7 games. Because not everyone has the Big 10 Network, and not everyone can get the WI local broadcasts -- I have DirecTV, and from what I remember from last year, I couldn't get those. (Anyone else remember differently?) Bummer.

14 games will be shown tape-delay on WPT / The Wisconsin Channel. Games on WPT will be aired at 10PM; games on The Wisconsin Channel will be aired at 11PM. All 14 games will also be aired the following day at 6PM on The Wisconsin Channel. The Big 10 Network will also show 1 game tape-delayed.

6 road games will also be shown on Charter Digital Cable channel 87.

Video Webscasts
Per uwbadgers.com, all games not shown live will be webstreamed on uwbadgers.com, I'm assuming for free as in the past. Also, the Big 10 Network will webstream 4 games for $2.99 each. 3 of those games are not televised and would have been streamed for free at uwbadgers.com; I'm hoping that uwbadgers will still stream these events so that we don't have to pay the stupid Big 10 Network, but I'm guessing not.

Radio / Audio Webcasts
Of course, if you're in Madison, you can catch the games on WIBA. Here's the list of the Badger Radio Network, but good luck with that, as my experience has been that most of the stations don't air hockey games. I'm hoping loyal reader Scott from MKE will continue to keep me in the loop on radio coverage in MKE so I can include that in my "I'm in Love" posts.

You can get audio webcasts on insideBADGERSPORTS.com for $9.95/mo. Hmm, last year we could get hockey on yahoo for $4.95/mo, but there's no hockey option this year -- we have to get all of the sports (FB/MBB/WBB/MHKY), which stinks for those who aren't really interested in audio webcasts for the other teams. I also remember something from March of last year about WIBA being able to live stream games for free online, but I have no idea if that will continue this year. (Anyone know anything?) Oh, and I think WSUM student radio will be streaming all home games online for free.


Gameday Blogs
I'm assuming that Paul Capobianco will do live gameday blogs for away games as he did in the past. Luv ya, Paul!

EDITED TO ADD: Capobianco's guide for watching, listening to, and following Badger Hockey

Yesterday in Badger Hockey History: Dennis Snedden

(Yeah, yeah, I'm a day late on this, but I ran out of time yesterday morning, and I got home late last night and didn't go online. But it's Dennis Snedden, and you know I just can't resist a Dennis Snedden post.)

From uwbadgers.com:

10/13/1990

Dennis Snedden, of the UW hockey team, scored three goals as the Badgers beat Michigan Tech, 4-0.

Snedden is one of five players to have a hat trick in a game during the 1990-91 season.

Snedden, who was mostly a 3rd/4th line guy up until his senior season, scored 5 goals that weekend, prompting his teammates to call him "Gretzky".

IIRC, Snedden also had a really nice goal in the 1990 championship game v. Colgate. As a junior on the '89-'90 team, Snedden mostly skated with Brett Kurtz (It's Kurtzy Time!) and Joe Decker. Snedden said that their job was to create "controlled chaos" and that opposing teams “don't know what to expect because we're never in the right positions. It's like, ‘Where's this guy? He was here a second ago?’” About the trio, coach Jeff Sauer said, " They're not pretty", but they go out and make things happen and that's the key to that line. . . . I use them in a situation where I want to make something happen.”

From Eagle River, WI, Snedden was just 1 of 4 players from our beloved state on the the 1990 Championship team.

In his 4 years with the Badgers, Snedden played in 170 games and had 50 goals and 48 assists for 98 points. He also won the 7th-man Award as a freshman.

(I don't have links to the articles that contained the above quotes, because Madison Newspapers' archives don't seem to go back that far since they redid their website. Bummer.)

Badger Women split @ Bemidji / Olivia Jakiel injured

The Badgers split @ Bemidji this past weekend, losing Sat 1-0 and winning Sunday 3-2.

SAT
game blog: Boscacci
box: uwbadgers, collegehockeystats, bemidjistate
recaps: uwbadgers, bemidjistate, pioneerpress

Becca Ruegsegger made 24 saves in the loss.


SUN
game blog: Boscacci
box: uwbadgers, collegehockeystats, bemidjistate
recaps: uwbadgers, bemidjistate, pioneerpress, dailycardinal

The Badger goals were scored by Nash (Deluce, Haverstock), Deluce (Prevost), and Frykas (Prough, Ammerman). Alannah McCready made 35 saves for the win.


After a scary incident on Sunday, Boscacci reports that Olivia Jakiel was released from the hospital and made the trip back to Madison with the team. I haven't seen anything further about her status.

Here's the Pioneer Press' description of the incident:

With 3:31 left in the second period, the game was stopped for nearly an hour when Wisconsin's Olivia Jakiel was injured on a collision with a teammate at the Badger blue line. She layed motionless on the ice while medical crews attended to her and an ambulance was called.

Jakiel was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher and her condition was not immediately known.

The teams resumed play for the final 3:31 of the second period and after a five-minute intermission, the third period was played out.

Skille reassigned

Well, that was a short trip. After playing just 5:22 in the Blackhawk's 4-3 SO win over Colorado on Saturday, Jack Skille was sent back down to Rockford.

Jack Skille Called Up... For Now

It's no secret that Jack Skille is having trouble staying up with the big club in Chicago. It's no secret that Chicago is flirting with the salary cap. (Not taking into account the many call ups and send downs: nhlnumbers.com has the Hawks at only $804,000 below the cap as I'm writing this)

Suburban Chicago news source The Herald News has an article up comparing the two situations, along with some of Jack's takes on the situation:

As for Skille, he's just happy for whatever time he gets with the Hawks. The five minutes he played in Saturday's opener was his first taste of ice time this regular season.

''It feels good to be part of this team that, that's for sure,'' Skille said. ''It's frustrating knowing your contract is what's really hurting you, and there's nothing you can do about it. That's the worst part. You're helpless in that situation.''

...

''His being sent down was the economics of our game, and that plays a part in hockey decisions,'' coach Joel Quenneville said. ''Jack had a real good camp. You could see his speed and how much he wanted to make this team.''

...

''Whether he's a fourth-line player or more than that, he provides speed and give us a lot of energy,'' Quenneville said.

...

Because of the NHL's salary cap rules Skille isn't sure where he'll play his next game, and he's prepared for a season of bouncing between the Hawks and Rockford.

''I've got to have the attitude that I've got to prove myself every shift like I had in training camp,'' he said. ''For me this is still training camp. You never know what will happen. I might get called in one morning and told I'm back to Rockford for salary cap issues again. That will be haunting me the whole year, until they make some moves to make some [cap] room.''

I don't think its unreasonable to say that Chicago's lack of money management is both handicapping the team and its ability to develop players like Jack Skille. On the bright side, he seems to have a good attitude about it. Any way you slice it, he's absolutely right that if the Blackhawks want to be successful, they'll have to make some cap moves, and I wouldn't be shocked to see them selling off some players by the deadline, regardless of their placement in the standings.

It's a shame that someone like Jack has to get caught in the middle of what's going on on Madison St. By all reports I've read, the Hawks seem to wish they could keep him up top, but it's just not happening. Whattya gonna do? That's just the way the business goes. We'll be pulling for you, Jack.

Vilardo Officially On Team USA

There has been a ton of disarray with the NTDP this season and they have been short on players. There had been rumors about late '92 born forward Michael Vilardo filling in with the NTDP U17 squad. Over the weekend, Vilardo played two games with the U17's against Green Bay (USHL). Tonight I was officially told that potential recruit Michael Vilardo has left the Chicago Mission and will play the rest of the season with the USA NTDP.

Vilardo, who at one point had committed to The Ohio State University, started this season with the Chicago Mission U18's. (In Vilardo's words, he felt he committed to early, before really looking at all of his options) Badger commit Jordan Schmaltz also plays for the Mission.

Current Badger committed recruits Michael Mersch and Frankie Simonelli both play with the U18's, and both hail from the state of Illinois like Vilardo. Just two seasons ago, Mersch and Vilardo teamed up to produce a dynamic duo for the Team Illinois U16 squad. Mersch led the team in scoring and Vilardo was one point behind him.

The interesting thing of note here is that the U17 team is made up of '93 birth year players so they are allowed to play in U17 international competitions. Vilardo will not be eligible for that portion of the schedule. Although he will still get to take part in a large chuck of USHL games that the U17's will play and get to participate in the rigorous training program at the NTDP.

Vilardo is a late '92 which means after this season he will have to play at least one season of junior hockey after he ages out of the NTDP this season. Like I've posted before, the Badgers are currently thin on forwards out of this age group. Vilardo should be a big time target for the coaching staff along with forwards Garrett Allen (Fargo Force), Ryan Belonger and CJ Eick (St. Louis Bandits NAHL).

Vilardo says he's keeping his options open at this point, but said that Michigan, Denver, Notre Dame, New Hampshire, Harvard, Wisconsin, and Princeton have shown the most interest.

chuckschwartz@live.com

It's Friday, I'm in Love

I don't care if Monday's blue
Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don't care about you
It's Friday, I'm in love

I know, I know; I'm a week late here, as the Badger Women opened play last weekend. My sincerest apologies to the Women, as I'm somewhat concerned that my "not being in love" last Friday irritated the hockey gods and subsequently jinxed the Badgers' scoring (never mind the great play by UND's goaltender). Plus, it's just horrible that I didn't post before their opening weekend. I'm a sieve.

Anyway, here's what's going on this weekend . . .

BADGER MEN: Red/White Scrimmage, FRI 7PM (Kohl Center)

The scrimmage, which will consist of three 20-minute periods, is free and open to the public. Parking is free as well. Unlike past years, there won't be a dinner or presentation afterward (in the past Eaves and the captains said a few words), but players and coaching staff will be available to sign autographs.

Andy Bohmbach had a hat trick in the 1st scrimmage (Oct 3); will he get another one tonight?

Lines
No idea what lines we'll see tonight, but here are some of the forward lines that have been seen so far (per Baggot). As of Oct 6, Derek Lee still couldn't practice due to some NCAA paperwork snafu.

Oct 6
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - P. Johnson
Bendickson - Dolan - Grotting
Murray - Stepan - C. Smith
Mitchell - Street - Turnbull
Meuer - Thurber - Davies

(Note that C. Smith was moved from center to wing; Eaves indicated that the staff felt he wasn't quite ready for center yet.)

Oct 3
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - P. Johnson
Street - Stepan - Murray
Bendickson - Dolan - Grotting
Mitchell - C. Smith - Davies
Turbull - Thurber - Meuer

Sept 31
Mitchell - C. Smith - P. Johnson
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - Davies
Bendickson - Dolan - Grotting
Street - Stepan - Murray
Turbull - Thurber - Meuer

Sept 15
P. Johnson - Street - Davies
Bohmbach - Geoffrion - Turnbull
Murray - Stepan - Smith
Mitchell - Dolan - Grotting
Meuer - Thurber - Bendickson

As far as defensive pairings go, Baggot shared the following pairings from Oct 3, with Springer/C. Johnson/Little moving in and out of the pairings:

B. Smith - Goloubef
McDonagh - Ramage
Gardiner - Schultz

Baggot also shared some thoughts in his blog post yesterday about the Badgers defensive lineup.

Other Articles/Links
Baggot (WSJ): Badger goal is to find a goalie
uwbadgers: Sanger named men's hockey volunteer assistant coach
uwbadgers: Eaves makes Monday news conference debut
uwbadgers: Watch Ben Street at men's hockey media day
uwbadgers: Breaking the ice with Brett Bennett, Justin Schultz, John Ramage, Keegan Meuer
Fiammetta (Badger Herald): Eaves, Badgers set for home opener


BADGER WOMEN: @ Bemidji, Sat 7PM / Sun 4PM

Gameday Links
TV: none
Radio: none
Audio webstream: Listen to the Beavers (free, Sunday only)
Video webstream: none
Live stats: bemidjisate
Live blog: Boscacci (no link yet, will be linked on uwbadgers.com)

Series Previews
uwbadgers: preview, game notes (current link doesn't work)
bemidjistate: game notes
Hager (Badger Herald): UW won't overlook Bemidji

Other Articles/Links
Jakiel (uwbadgers): A different start, Back to business
WSJ: UW women's hockey slips to No. 4
Baggot (WSJ blog): UW Women's hockey loses top rookie to broken arm
Baggot (WSJ): Title defense off on wrong skate
Baggot (WSJ): DeKeyser has tough act to follow
WSJ: UW Women's hockey a unanimous No. 1 to start season
WSJ: UW Women's hockey ranked No. 1
Baggot: UW's Ammerman still center stage

Around the WCHA: let the games begin

Finally, another season of College Hockey is upon us and w/ it the return of my weekly review of the WCHA. The Badgers aren't in action this weekend, and they weren't last weekend when all 9 other WCHA teams faced off in exhibitions, and won all of them. Everyone else begins w/ non-conference action except the gophers. Here is the schedule:

Vermont @ Denver
St. Cloud @ Miami (OH)
Northeastern @ CC
Mercyhurst & Michigan @ UAA (Kendall Hockey Classic)
Lake Superior St & N. Michigan vs Michigan Tech & Duluth (Superior Showcase)
Bowling Green @ Mankato
Merrimack @ North Dakota

Expansion corner (let's keep an eye on next season's expansion teams)
Air Force @ Bemidji State
Army & UMASS Lowell/St Lawerence vs Nebraska-Omaha (IceBreaker in Omaha)

No predictions on games this week, but here is a review of my predicted 09/10 WCHA Standings:

1) Denver
2) Wisconsin
3) St Cloud
4) North Dakota
5) minnesota
6) Duluth
7) Alaska Anchorage
8) Mankato
9) Colorado College
10) Michigan Tech

And while I'm doing this I might as well take a stab at the All-WCHA teams for this season.

WCHA POY: Jordan Schroeder, minnesota
WCHA Top Defenseman: Chay Genoway, North Dakota
WCHA Top Goalie: Marc Cheverie, Denver

WCHA All Rookie Team
F Zach Budish, minnesota
F Michael Cichy, North Dakota
F Rylan Schwartz, CC
D Matt Donovan, Denver
D Dylan Olsen, Duluth
G Mike Lee, St Cloud

WCHA 1st Team
F Jordan Schroeder, minnesota
F Chris VandeVelde, North Dakota
F Garrett Roe, St Cloud
D Chay Genoway, North Dakota
D Ryan McDonagh, Wisconsin
G Marc Cheverie, Denver

WCHA 2nd Team
F Derek Stepan, Wisconsin
F Justin Fontaine, Duluth
F Joe Colbourne, Denver
D Patrick Wiercioch, Denver
D Kurt Davis, Mankato
G Mike Lee, St Cloud

Lastly, no good reason to leave the Women out of this post going forward, so here is the schedule this weekend:

Badger Women @ Bemidji State
Mankato @ Maine
minnesota @ Ohio State (a member of the WCHA for Women's Hockey)
St. Cloud @ Duluth Foreign Legion
Team USA @ North Dakota (saturday only)

09/10 WCHA Previews: Denver

Finally the last preview...

School: Denver University
Mascot: Pioneers (in the guise of a red tailed hawk…)
National Championships: 7 (5 during ancient times when CC was winning NC’s, ’04 & ’05)
Head Coach: George Gwozdecky, 346-217-46, 16th season @ DU

Last Season: 16-8-4, 2nd Place WCHA; 23-12-5 Overall

Predicted 09/10 WCHA Finish: 1st

Key Departures:
D Patrick Mullen, 4-21-25*
F Tyler Bozak, 8-15-23
D JP Testwuide, 3-10-13
*All stats listed from 08/09

Key Returnees: (88.6% of scoring returns)
F Anthony Maiani (Jr), 11-30-41
F Rhett Rakshani (Sr), 15-22-37
D Patrick Wiercioch (So), 12-23-35
F Joe Colborne (So), 10-21-31
F Kyle Ostrow (Jr), 14-14-28

Top Tender:
Marc Cheverie (Jr), 23-12-5, 2.34 GAA, 0.921 save %

Key Additions:
D Matt Donovan (USHL), 19-32-51
F Drew Shore (US NTDP), 17-32-49
G Adam Murray (US NTDP), 22-10-1, 2.94 GAA, 0.902 save%
D William Wrenn (US NTDP), 6-11-17
D Paul Phillips (USHL), 8-25-33

Freshman Scouting Report: Wow, loaded class coming to the Mile High City this Fall; well they are already there. Matt Donovan is the two-time USHL Defenseman of the Year, he is a stud. Shore, Murray and Wrenn all played together the last two years w/ the National Team Development Program, they won the U18 Worlds in Fargo early in the year. Shore and Wrenn were both drafted in the second round of this summer’s NHL Draft. Paul Phillips is another nice young defenseman, and Shawn Ostrow isn’t even on the list because he didn’t have any stats since he was out the whole year in the AJHL w/ an injury. INCH ranked DU’s class #2 in the Nation.

When UW beats DU: KC 1/22 & 1/23

08/09 Recap: Before the season even started, freshman dman David Carle was told he would no longer be able to play hockey. W/ a scholarship open, DU lured Patrick Wiercioch into defecting and backing out of his verbal commitment to UW. Not only did they steal Wiercioch, but went on to beat UW 5 times, including UW blowing two multiple goal Friday leads on opposite sides of the season. Overall, DU had a really nice season and were right in the running for the MacNaughton Cup until the end. Only a few teams in the WCHA caused them trouble: St. Cloud (1-3), North Dakota (0-1-1) and Colorado College (0-1-3). How’s that Gold Pan? After dispatching UW in the Final Five, DU laid an egg against Duluth in the Final and left that egg at the Xcel Energy Center to pick it up the following weekend in the West Regional losing to Miami (OH) after being given a #1 seed. It didn't help that DU was w/ out their top player Tyler Bozak in the 2nd half until he returned in the West Regional. I think their season would have finished differently had he been healthy the whole season.

Team’s Biggest Strength(es): Do you see all the scoring returning and the talent at forward? They will light the lamp, no doubt.

Team’s Biggest Weakness(es): If you ask DU’s beat writer or the Let’sGoDU blog, DU is so stacked they will go undefeated because this is the best college hockey team of all time; they have no weaknesses, to them. The team didn’t lose much, but they did lose two senior blue liners, both regulars in the lineup. Three freshman will be regulars on that same blue line this season. The Badgers started three freshman on the blue line a few seasons back, and they were as (arguably more) talented than DU’s frosh trio, and Badger fans remember the struggles. It takes longer for a blue liner to adjust than a forward to the WCHA. There isn’t a ton of experience on the DU blue and I see a weakness.

09/10 Thoughts: Denver is loaded on offense, and has the top returning goalie in the WCHA (at least based on 1st team voting). As I said above, I think their blue line will be weak for no other reason than inexperience. For every Patrick Wiercioch and Jake Gardiner who steps in as a frosh as does fine, there are many more examples of freshman on the blue who struggle. That being said, I don’t think it will matter in the overall scheme of things w/ their depth and experience at forward. DU is so loaded their 4th line will be better than Tech 1st line; UW is the only other team w/ the forward experience close to matching them. DU is ranked #1 in most polls and picked to win the WCHA by most as well. Really it’s their season to screw up, which can be a lot of pressure. They will score a lot of goals, and if their defense is sound they should be #1 in the PWR at season’s end and the favorite to win the National Championship. Unlike Notre Dame or Miami (OH), DU will actually play tough competition more than once or twice during conference play, which hopefully will help.

In about 6 months we’ll know if all the hype was legitimate or just of a bunch of hot air. The Badgers only play DU twice at home this season; time to end the sad trend of losing to DU at the Kohl Center.

Decker out til December

Brianna Decker was injuried after scoring her second goal during saturday's 3-0 win, now we know the extent: she has broken her right arm and will be out til December.

This is a big blow for the Badger Women; Brianna was the top player on the ice both nights even though she's only a freshman.

Hoping for a speedy recovery!

09/10 WCHA Previews: University of Wisconsin

School: University of Wisconsin
Mascot: Badgers
National Championships: 6 (’73, ’77, ’81, ’83, ’90 & ’06)
Head Coach: Mike Eaves, 143-111-34, 8th season

Last Season: 14-11-3, 3rd Place WCHA; 20-16-4 Overall

Predicted 09/10 WCHA Finish: 2nd

Key Departures:
D Jamie McBain, 7-30-37*
F Tom Gorowsky, 12-18-30
G Shane Connelly, 19-14-4, 2.51 GAA, 0.913 save %
*All stats listed from 08/09

Key Returnees: (84.7% of scoring returns)
F Derek Stepan (So), 9-24-33
F Blake Geoffrion (Sr), 15-13-28
F John Mitchell (Sr), 15-11-26
F The Bohmber (Sr), 10-15-25
F Michael Davies (Sr), 10-13-23

Top Tender:
To be determined

Key Additions:
F Craig Smith (USHL), 28-48-76
D Justin Schultz (BCHL), 15-35-50
G Brett Bennett (USHL), 35-17-2, 2.59 GAA, 0.910 save%
F Derek Lee (BCHL), 12-47-59
D John Ramage (US NTDP), 2-10-12

Freshman Scouting Report: Unlike the last few classes, this class does not include multiple early round NHL picks, but overall is a solid class who very well could be the back bone of the team in the seasons to come. Justin Schultz is a star and two time BCHL Defenseman of the Year. Craig Smith tied for 2nd in scoring in the USHL, and Derek Lee is another talented playmaker. Brett Bennett helped the Indiana Ice to the Clark Cup Championship last season in the USHL. John Ramage is a solid stay at home blue liner, which is sorely needed to balance all the talented offensive dmen.

08/09 Recap: The Badgers started 0-6-1 and things were dire. The Badgers brought the ship back around and by Christmas had climbed above .500 w/ a nice 9-1-1 run. Then the second half of the season began, and the Badgers proceeded to blow countless 3rd period leads. A win either night against N. Michigan, Saturday vs CC, Saturday vs Duluth or Friday vs Denver and the Badgers dance in the NCAA Tourney. They SHOULD have won all of those games. In the end, between the bad start, and the inconsistent finish to the season, the Badgers missed the NCAA Tourney by the slimmest of margins.

There were many bright spots during the season. The Badgers were in the top 3 in scoring, PP and PK, and 1st in combined special teams and Special Teams Net in WCHA games. Jamie McBain was special most of the season, was WCHA POY and a 1st Team All-American. Freshman Derek Stepan lead the team in scoring the last 20 games of the years. Tom Gorowsky FINALLY got the chance to play and was 3rd on the team in scoring, and lastly Andy Bohmbach slayed WCHA opponents w/ reckless abandon during his breakout season.

Team’s Biggest Strength(es): Best blue line in NCAA Hockey, enough said.

Team’s Biggest Weakness(es): Goaltending is a question. Scott Gudmandson did not play well last season in the few chances he received, while Brett Bennett was the top goalie in the USHL. It should be a battle between the two for the top spot, and hopefully both play well right out of the gate. Jeff Sanger has been added as a volunteer goalie coach, which is a huge bonus.

09/10 Thoughts: Things are looking up for the Badgers this season. Only Jamie McBain left early, the team could easily have lost Blake Geoffrion and Ryan McDonagh. John Mitchell wasn’t a lock to return either. For the first time in several seasons, the Badgers will be dominated by upperclassmen. Ben Street returns following a medical redshirt. The stereotype of boring offense wasn’t remotely true last season (while the stereotype of horrible gopher goaltending certainly was), and w/ all the returning talent that should continue this year. The blue line is special, McDonagh and Cody Goloubef will be the leaders, and complimented by Brendan Smith and Jake Gardiner. The only real question is in goal, and cleaning up the 3rd period collapses that riddled the 2nd half of the season last year. I think leadership was lacking last season, Street’s return goes a long way to helping this.

Can’t wait for the season to start.

HS Hockey Elite League

Yesterday was a full day of hockey for me, as I made the trip to Stevens Point for two HS Hockey Elite League games. In the early game, Team Wisconsin tied Team NW 3-3. Instead of giving my opinion on the game, Dplaya was sitting next to me, so I'll direct you to HIW for his analysis.

Team Wisconsin has three "home" venue weekends this season in the Elite League. The last one is in Eau Claire the weekend of October 24/25. If you are looking for something to do that weekend in NW WI, go watch some hockey. The level of play is very good in this league, I've enjoyed it the last two years.

Badger Women split to open season

Friday night the 2009 Championship Banner was added to the rafters at the Kohl Center, unfortunately the celebration was on the wrong end of the ice when the final buzzer went off. North Dakota Lady Sioux gained their 1st ever victory against the Cardinal and White in a 2-0 shocker (to some).

The Sioux goalie was outstanding (giving credit where it was due) and the officiating was horrible (same on saturday night), but the Badgers didn't capitalize on several chances. The Badgers dominated most of the game, especially the 2nd period, but couldn't sneak anything by. In the 3rd period, several Badgers tried to win the game by themselves, and the team game evaporated, and then the frustration started and penalties basically ended the game w/ 4 minutes to go, as the Badgers PKed it til there was 7 seconds left.

I wasn't completely shocked by the outcome and here is why. The Badgers graduated the most successful class in school history including the best goalie in NCAA history. Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan are off preparing for the Olympics, and would have been the top two returning scorers. Alannah McCready, who started friday night, had little experience since Jessie played so often. Filling the gaps on offense will take time and the blue line saw three new faces. Team Chemistry is not instantaneous. North Dakota already played two games last weekend; the Badgers were definitely rusty on friday night.

The rust was gone on saturday night. The Badgers dominated almost the entire game, the Sioux did make a push late in the 3rd period. Becca Ruegsegger played her first game in the goal, and pitched a shutout as the Badgers won 3-0. Freshman were key in the victory. Besides Ruegsegger, Brianna Decker was phenomenal scoring 2 goals (both assisted by Jasmine Giles), while walk-on Lauren Unser notched her first goal assisted by Stepanie McKeough and Junior Maria Evans. Decker is going to be something special, but she did leave the game after her second goal, after schooling several Sioux players, she flew into the net shortly after the puck and hit the crossbar. She did not return following the 2nd period.

It will take some time for the team to come together, by the time they return later in the month for a 4 weekend home stand, they should be fine.

Line combos for those interested.

Giles-Decker-Ammerman
Prevost-Deluce-Sanders
Kranz-Nash-Frykas
Evans-Prough-Unser

The defenders were rotated on friday as 7 played, though on saturday I remember the following combos:

Haverstock-Dronen
Windmeier-Jakiel
Pacholok-McKeough

Geena Prough played D on friday and forward on saturday. She was great in either role and a great addition to the team.

It will be an interesting season for the Badger Women, there could be some ups and downs, but the only thing that really matters is how the finish in the end. One poor game doesn't make a season.

10 point weekend

1st Star Zengerle continued his torid start to the BCHL season. On friday night, he was named 2nd star after helping his team w/ 2 goals and 4 assists in a 7-2 win over Burnaby. Mark followed that up saturday night being named 1st Star notching 2 goals and 2 assists as Salmon Arm went on to beat Merritt 7-3.

Through 10 games, 1st Star is 9-17-16, good for 2nd in the league in scoring. If he were to somehow keep this pace up he'd end the season w/ 156 pts.

1st Star...again

Photo from the BCHL website

Another night, another First Star performance for Mark Zengerle.

On Tuesday, Salmon Arm tied the Trail Smoke Eaters 5-5 and in the game Mark had 3 assists.

Salmon Arm plays a pair of games this weekend.

INCH pre-season stuff

Disclaimer: the following info and links are from InsideCollegeHockey (INCH). These are the same idiots who accused Badger fans of throwing coins on the ice at the 2008 Midwest Regional.

Let's start w/ recruit rankings. Two Badgers ranked in the Top 20 at their respective position. Craig Smith was ranked 11th among forwards, and Justin Schultz was ranked 3rd among blue liners. Personally I think Schultz, UMD's Dylan Olsen and DU's Matt Donovan are better players then gopher Nick Leddy who was #1.

Overall, the Badgers recruiting class was ranked 11th. Notre Lame was #1 followed by Denver.

INCH also graced us w/ their pre-season All-American teams. No Badgers were given any love, probably goes back to us fans throwing coins on the ice at the Kohl Center. I haven't seen much love for any Badgers this season even on All-WCHA picks. Now I can understand that at forward, though Derek Stepan WILL surprise the nation, but the blue line? Jake Gardiner, Ryan McDonagh, Brendan Smith and Cody Goloubef? Ever heard of these guys? My favorte thing about these "teams" is that Cade Fairchild is on the 2nd team and Patrick Wierdcock of DU is on the 3rd team. Cade Fairchild, when has he ever shown he deserves to be considered an All-American? Thanks for the good laugh INCH!

Lastly, INCH has their pre-season rankings.