Heading into the last weekend of the season, No. 14 Wisconsin has the opportunity to finish anywhere from first to seventh place in the conference as it hosts No. 8 St. Cloud State at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.
The Badgers (12-7-7 WCHA, 16-11-7 overall) played at the Coliseum from 1967-’98 before they moved to the Kohl Center, but with the state high school basketball tournament coming to town, Wisconsin will head back to its old home.
“There’s been a great tradition as far as teams go that have played here,” junior center Mark Zengerle said. “To kind of have a throwback, it should be cool.”
Head coach Mike Eaves compared the series to a regional playoff game, but one in which teams have the opportunity to practice at the rink beforehand.
The Huskies (17-8-1, 20-13-1) lead the WCHA by two points, but the top five teams in the conference—including Wisconsin—all have an opportunity to win at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup, which is given to the WCHA regular season champion.
With so much potential for change in the standings, it is possible for the players to get caught up watching other series and lose focus of what they need to do on the ice. The Badgers do not feel that will be the case for them.
“If we take care of our business I think things will fall into place,” senior defenseman John Ramage said. “The goal at the beginning of the season [was to] win the WCHA and that’s still obtainable if we take care of business.”
St. Cloud boasts the third best offense in the country (3.32 goals per game), but that is hardly anything new for UW, who will be facing a top-five offense for the third time in their last four series.
“When we’re playing high-powered offenses like [Minnesota], and Nebraska and Denver, those sort of teams, you’re always taking pride in who you’re out there against,” Zengerle said.
Wisconsin has had a surge of offense itself lately, averaging four goals per game over its last five contests—well above its season average of 2.50 goals per game.
Zengerle in particular has flourished of late. After recording 50 points a season ago, the Rochester, N.Y., native has scored just half that (25) going into the final series of the season after dealing with injuries and inconsistency. He appeared to return to form last weekend, however, putting up five points, including a four-point performance Saturday, against Nebraska-Omaha.
The increased scoring has given confidence to the players, but Eaves said he does not want to alter UW’s defense-first team style to open up the offense.
“I think we have played and scored because we’ve played the same way,” Eaves said. “I think one thing about offense, is there is a flow and ebb, and I certainly hope we’re on that big part of the flow right now at the right time.”
After starting the season 1-7-2, the Badgers turned their season around over the winter break and have earned at least a point in 20 of their last 24 games to put themselves in position to earn home-ice in the postseason or a conference title in their final WCHA season.
“I think there would be great satisfaction in that because of the fact that we came from so far away,” Eaves said. “We battened down the hatches, we kept our heads amongst ourselves.”
“Home ice, that’s one of the things you put in the locker room in September,” Zengerle added.
The games get underway at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night with a free shuttle for students running from Union South to the Coliseum at 6 p.m.
