Beware the man who has nothing to lose. That is certainly the case for the No. 8 Wisconsin men's hockey team (9-7-2 WCHA, 17-8-3 overall) as they travel to Houghton, Mich., for a date with WCHA rival Michigan Tech (1-14-3, 3-18-3). The Badgers are riding high right now and playing their best hockey of the season, but they can't make the mistake of falling into the trap of overlooking a struggling Huskies team, especially on the road.
This series is a tale of two teams heading in opposite directions. Wisconsin has won ten of its last 11 games, while Tech is mired in last place and haven't won a game in their past 20 contests, a stretch that has seen them go 0-18-2. Despite Tech's struggles, however, the Badgers' players say they know better than to look past a conference foe.
""I don't think we can ever afford to look past a WCHA team,"" sophomore forward Craig Smith said. ""We have to come ready to play both nights, because we can't afford to lose. This is a business trip to go up there and take four points.""
""When you play a team that's struggling, they have nothing to lose, and that's a dangerous team to play,"" freshman forward Tyler Barnes added.
The Huskies have not won a game since before their series in Madison in late October. When Michigan Tech came to the Kohl Center they did so as one of the nation's early-season surprises, with a 3-0-2 record and an offensive attack that had put up 24 goals in its first five games. It was the Badgers that would cool the Huskies off, sweeping the series with wins of 5-2 and 4-1 and sending Michigan Tech into its current miserable spiral.
Wisconsin, on the other hand, is one of the country's hottest teams and has answered many of the questions that plagued it at the start of the season. UW comes into this weekend with a 17-8-3 record, pretty impressive considering that at this same time last season, the Badgers' record was 16-8-4, and that team went on to appear in the national title game.
One would think that the players would be tempted to step back and admire their success, but that is a mindset that they refuse to let themselves fall into, opting instead to focus on further improving their game.
""When you're playing in a streak like this you are playing on a high and you have to be able to control that,"" Barnes said. ""You have to be coming back with the same intensity every game, you have to play hard to keep that feeling going.""
""Its not like after a series we're like ‘rah rah' we won and then we sit on that all week,"" Smith said. ""We're taking it one weekend at a time and are constantly looking for ways to get better.""
According to Smith, based on their series with Michigan Tech in October, the Badgers should be expecting their series in Houghton to be a physical one.
""Any chance they have to take the body, they take it,"" he said. ""They have a couple of guys who can skate pretty well to go along with a group of big defenseman and big forwards.""
""We just need to take care of business and we'll be fine.""
