Not much has changed.
Not since men's hockey Head Coach Mike Eaves played North Dakota as a player.
\I think my junior year we swept them at home,"" Eaves said. ""Then we went up there and we had two wars. As a matter of fact, before one game we had an all-out brawl. There were no referees out on the ice. That's when they started to have referees on the ice, for one thing. I think we won one out of two and that was a pretty good indication of how we were that year.""
And not much has changed since last year when No. 1 North Dakota entered the Kohl Center to play a slumping Badgers team. Wisconsin struggled with a 9-6-5 Western Collegiate Hockey Association record (15-9-6 overall) when, before a sold-out and raucous crowd at home on Feb. 6, UW came from behind 3-0 thanks to sophomore forward Robbie Earl's hat trick to win the first game in overtime, 4-3.
In the second game, senior goalie Bernd Br??ckler was unflappable, stopping 41-of-42 shots on goal. Despite falling behind 1-0, the Badgers came roaring back, with Earl scoring the winning goal, 5-2. The Badgers sweep was the first time last season the Sioux lost two straight and proved to be a momentum booster for UW, turning around the season.
""It was a turning point last year, to come back against a top rated team like that,"" junior forward Adam Burish said. ""It gave us the confidence we needed for the rest of the season.""
This year, North Dakota (3-2-1, 5-3-2) comes to town to face a Badger team (3-3-0, 5-3-0) that has lost three straight, including a weekend series against border-rival Minnesota. After a hard-fought match last Friday that ended 3-2 and Saturday's match where UW, came out looking flat and lost 4-2, it was back to the fundamentals.
""We're focusing on getting ourselves back on track and doing what we need to do to be successful,"" Burish said. ""Whenever you lose like that, the important thing is that you get back to basics.""
With the intensity high, and perhaps a sense of urgency to stop the skid before it goes too far, Burish said the team has been up-tempo this week.
""For this year, what it can do is beating a team like North Dakota after losing three can give us that confidence in ourselves, in our system, knowing we can compete with the top teams because that's what we expect,"" he said.
""Whenever you have a skid you want to get yourself out of there as soon as you can,"" Burish said. ""Whether it's North Dakota or not, the next game we're going to look forward to. ... Luckily it's against North Dakota because we get excited about that. Luckily we get a chance to dig ourselves out of the hole against a top team. There's a bit of urgency to get back and prove to ourselves and prove to others that we are one of the top teams in the country. We want to get ourselves out there and pull ourselves out of the hole.""
Br??ckler hesitates to say the team feels any pressure to turn things around this weekend.
""I don't think there's any reason to panic yet,"" Br??ckler said. ""People keep saying we're a young team, but obviously we want to get better. We want to get better every day in practice and take it one step at a time as far as games go.""
While the timing of this year's match-up does not make it the make-or-break series of the season, the team expects no drop off in intensity-on the ice and off it.
""The atmosphere was unbelievable [last year],"" Burish said. ""The student section was going crazy. The fans were going crazy. It was a sellout. That atmosphere is amazing. We want to create that atmosphere this weekend and I think we should. It should be a competitive weekend of hockey.""
With the football team away this weekend and the intensity the rivalry between Wisconsin and North Dakota brings out in the fans, the Badgers hope to show that not much has changed since last year's surprise season.
""It's probably the most physical series that we ever played,"" Eaves said. ""You know, that's who they are. We're always going to match their heart and that hasn't changed over the years.""
