The No. 6 Wisconsin men's hockey team (0-0-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 2-0-0 overall) hosts its second opponent this weekend when the Michigan Tech Huskies (0-2-0, 0-2-0) invade the Kohl Center. The Badgers are coming off a sweep of Mercyhurst last weekend but are well aware that there is no room for complacency when the winless Huskies take the ice.
\We're not going to underestimate anyone we know they've got some good players,"" senior center Ryan MacMurchy said. ""You want to get out there, you want to get it started, start off on the right foot whoever you are playing. We are definitely not going to take them lightly; we're going to play hard and play our game.""
Although Michigan Tech has not been considered to be in the upper echelon of the WCHA, these first two weekends are important to a young Badger team that will soon be tested by the premier teams in their conference. Despite the young squad that starts three underclassman, everyone in cardinal and red knows the importance of starting strong in WCHA play.
""It's a lot easier to be ahead in the league,"" junior defenseman Tom Gilbert said. ""The defense gets tighter, so it's definitely better to be ahead in the beginning of the year when teams might have some cobwebs.""
Despite the cobwebs Michigan Tech displayed in their opening weekend losses to Minnesota-Duluth, the Huskies, according to Head Coach Mike Eaves, have one of the most highly touted goal scorers in the WCHA in junior forward Chris Conner. Michigan Tech took one game from Wisconsin last year in conference play and Eaves knows they will come to play this weekend.
""I talked to the league commissioner, Bruce McLeod, this morning,"" Eaves said. ""He was up at Tech watching the games, and he just said they have a whole different attitude.They think they can win now.""
Conner, a third-team All-American and the Huskies leading scorer last season, was held scoreless in Tech's first two games, but used his explosiveness to notch two assists.
""He's a really skilled player, extremely fast, really creative with the puck,"" Gilbert said of the Huskie junior. ""Our scheme is to always have three guys back. If we have three guys back, it is tough for him to get through three guys. We know he likes one-on-ones ... so we just got to have a tight gap with him and have a lot of guys back.""
Aside from Conner, the Badgers will also have to keep an eye out for senior Colin Murphy who found the net in each of Michigan Tech's first two games. The young Badger defense displayed moments of sluggish play, especially in the opener Friday night, but improved with each minute that passed last weekend. The Badger defensemen will have to put forth another strong performance this weekend when Conner and Murphy team up on the Huskies first line.
""I'm hoping this week we just get a lot better,"" Gilbert said. ""The freshmen are starting to come in with consistency. As long as we get that down, we should be pretty good.""
Although the play of the underclassmen will play a major role in the outcome of this weekend's match-ups, perhaps the biggest obstacle the Badgers will face Friday and Saturday will be themselves. With six of their next seven opponents ranked among the top 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, it is imperative that Wisconsin does not look past a team that cannot be taken lightly.
""They came in here and took a game from us [last year],"" junior forward Adam Burish said. ""Every point in this league is valuable. One of our goals, we want to win the WCHA, and to do that every game is important ... Every game in this league is important and any team can beat anybody as we saw last year.\
