After earning a win last weekend when it mattered the most, the No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team will host Minnesota-Duluth in a best-of-three series at the Kohl Center this weekend.
The Badgers (13-8-7 WCHA, 17-12-7 overall) defeated No. 8 St Cloud State—the top-seeded team in the WCHA—Saturday 3-2 to earn the No. 4 seed and home-ice advantage, as well as a chance to host the Bulldogs (10-13-5, 14-17-5) in the first round of the conference playoffs.
“It’s really nice, you don’t need to worry about sleeping in some hotel room,” sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe said of playing at home. “To be around these settings—it’s home for us—so its always an advantage. We hope all the fans come out and really pack this place and if that happens, this place should be a fun environment.”
In the first round of the 2010-’11 WCHA playoffs, UW took game one on the road against Colorado College, but dropped the next two to lose the series and ultimately have their season ended. That mirrored the following season when the Badgers also took game one in Denver before again dropping the final two games to lose the series.
McCabe said that getting off to a good start in the season is key, but even that may not be enough.
“A lot of us have been in this situation before in the past couple years and we’re not very happy with the result,” he said. “You can’t look at it as a three-game series, you have to take it one game at a time. From here on out we have to win out. That’s our mindset; you have to win hockey games from here on out to keep playing.”
Back in October, Wisconsin and Duluth faced off in their regular season series. Sophomore goaltender Joel Rumpel made 29 saves to lead the Badgers to a 2-0 victory in game one before the teams skated to a 2-2 tie in game two.
Coming of an eight-game winless streak, the Bulldogs have put together four straight wins with series sweeps over Alabama-Huntsville and Nebraska-Omaha.
Duluth is a team that has relied heavily on their young talent this season. Freshmen forwards Austin Farley and Tony Cameranesi lead the team with 34 points, and freshman goaltender Matt McNeely has earned a team-high 24 starts and 10 wins for Duluth.
While the Bulldogs are carried by younger talent, the Badgers are a veteran team that is supported by their more experienced core of players.
“I think [we can], especially the way we have been playing here the last couple months—hard nosed hockey,” McCabe said. “We’ve been playing hard in the corners and our forecheck has been outstanding so I think if we can get pressure on them, rattle [McNeely] a little bit … If this place gets rocking and we score a couple goals early I think he might feel a little uncomfortable.”
Head coach Mike Eaves, however, is a little more wary of the Bulldogs’ young talent.
“After Christmas, they are not freshmen anymore,” he said. “We’ve had kids here that become big-time players after Christmas. They are good players, and a little puppy dog will bite you in the ankle as well as an older dog so we have to be ready for that.”
Duluth also has one of the most impressive power play units in the country. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 in the country, converting on 41-of-171 chances this season. Their 41 power play goals account for an incredible 42 percent of their total offensive production this season (41-of-97)
“We have to stay out of the box, that’s the number one thing.” freshman forward Nic Kerdiles said. “If we take too many penalties, then we just get in trouble. First priority is to stay out of the box and just play our 5-on-5 game and go from there.”
The last time the Badgers made it out of the first round of the conference playoffs was in 2010 when they made it to the NCAA title game, but they have gained valuable playoff experience in their three-game series with Colorado College and Denver.
“Veteran guys like [senior defenseman John] Ramage who have gone to the Frozen Four and other older guys like [junior forward Mark] Zengerle—all those guys can bring a little more,” Kerdiles said. “Hopefully we as freshman can learn from this and then we can also play our best game and help the team.”
The puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center Friday, Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday.
