Last weekend saw the opening of the NCAA men's hockey season and the first major upset of the year. Top-ranked Michigan fell at the hands of unranked Northeastern 4-2. Subsequently, Michigan fell to No. 3.
This weekend, the No. 9 Badgers open their season with a similar situation, as unranked Mercyhurst gets its first taste of the Kohl Center. While it sounds like a no-name team from some college in the middle of Pennsylvania, the Lakers cannot be overlooked. They are picked to win their conference, Atlantic Hockey.
\If anything we should be scared because they're an unknown,"" Head Coach Mike Eaves said. ""They're a very good team in their conference. We as coaches are scared to death of that.""
The Badgers will also spend the weekend feeling out different line combinations showing fans four all-new lines from last season. With the players just getting used to skating on the ice with new players, any young mistakes could prove costly for the UW team.
""We won't really know the chemistry of any of our lines until we play games. That's the ultimate test,"" Eaves said.
""You want to feel comfortable with who you are playing with,"" junior forward Nick Licari said. ""As long as you play hard, I think it works out in the end, but it's definitely important to have some chemistry on your line.""
Luckily, the Badgers have All-American goalie and preseason Western Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year junior Bernd Br??ckler behind them to make up for any mistakes.
""I just have to go out there and focus on one game at a time, and not worry about what's going on around me and just help the team out every day,"" Br??ckler said.
MacMurchy to miss Friday game
Junior forward Ryan MacMurchy will be out of the lineup for Friday night's opener against the Lakers. The Badgers will miss their leading returning scorer just as much as he will miss being on the ice.
""It is going to be really tough [to not be out there],"" MacMurchy said.
It will be just the second time in MacMurchy's Badger career that he will be out of the lineup.
WCHA emphasizes penalties
It seems as though every year WCHA officials talk about calling penalties more closely. It also seems as though this year they may not be kidding.
The Badgers got their first look at the new strict penalty-calling in their scrimmage last Thursday.
""I think it'll take some getting used to because it's a lot of habits that people have,"" sophomore forward Jake Dowell said. ""There are going to be parts of the game that are now penalties. So I think there are going to be a lot of power plays and penalty kills. We're going to have to make sure we're on the top of our game and take advantage of that.""
""It's probably right where we thought it would be,"" Eaves said of the first-week officiating. ""I mean, you could get the feeling talking to the Commissioner of the WCHA and listening to the referees; it's not just coming from the League, it's coming from the NCAA to call the game closer and they're doing that.""
