For all the excitement over the Camp Randall Hockey Classic this weekend, the better game looks to be the women's hockey showdown between Wisconsin and Bemidji State.
The Badgers will enter Camp Randall Stadium for the first game of their series against the Beavers sitting in third place in the WCHA, with Bemidji just one point behind them in fourth. Head coach Tracey DeKeyser said her players will be just as excited to face a quality opponent as they will be to play in the outdoor atmosphere at Camp Randall.
""When you're looking your competition in the eye and they're the ones that are going to put you in fourth place or fifth place and you can take it from them, that should be some great incentive for our players,"" DeKeyser said.
With just six games to go in the regular season, Wisconsin needs all the points it can get to improve their chances of making the NCAA tournament. The Badgers are currently ranked No. 9 and need to move up in the national rankings if they want to make the eight-team tournament.
""Coming out with two wins would be huge for us, to just keep us in the standings and maybe bump us up a bit nationally,"" said senior forward and team captain Jasmine Giles.
That task got a lot easier with news that Bemidji State's starting goaltender, sophomore Zuzana Tomcikova, will not play this weekend because she is training with the Slovakian Olympic team. Tomcikova is second in the WCHA in save percentage and goals against average, and made 35 saves to shut out the Badgers in a 1-0 Beaver win earlier in the season.
DeKeyser admitted she asked, ""Is this for real?"" when she heard Tomcikova would not play this weekend. However freshman forward Brianna Decker said Wisconsin will need to heavily pressure the Bemidji State goal even though Tomcikova will be out.
""No matter what goaltender is in net, we're still going to have to play the game we need to play,"" Decker said.
Despite the challenge of facing the Beavers, Giles said she and her teammates are excited for the chance to take part in the Camp Randall Hockey Classic.
""We're like a bunch of little girls out there right now, just smiles from ear to ear,"" she said after the Badgers' first practice on the Camp Randall ice.
""It's going to be something that's really special, no one really gets to do what we're about to do,"" Giles said. ""I just hope the fans love it, because it's pretty cool.""
Playing outdoors will present more challenges than a normal game at the Kohl Center, but Wisconsin has had the advantage of practicing on the ice a few times before the game.
After holding practice on the ice Wednesday, DeKeyser said there were some things to get used to on the new surface, but added it seems to be holding up well.
""The boards are very lively, the puck is extremely lively, [and] there were a couple of cracks that we continued to repair during practice,"" she said. ""But for the most part, the ice crew did a good job getting it ready today.""
The Badgers will face off against Bemidji State inside Camp Randall Saturday at 2 p.m. before returning to the Kohl Center for the series finale against the Beavers Sunday at 2 p.m.
