For the nine seniors and Head Coach Jeff Sauer, this weekend's best-of-three Western Conference Hockey Association's playoff series against the Minnesota State University-Mankato Mavericks will be the last home series. However, as Coach Sauer pointed out, there is no time to think about that.
\Each head coach is in the same boat right now. Everyone is focusing on the week at hand and taking it series by series until they are done,"" Coach Sauer said. ""I haven't given myself the liberty of thinking that this is it for me. It won't hit me until next fall when practice starts up again and I'm not out there coaching.""
This week's focus for the No. 5 Badgers is beating the No. 6 Mavericks. On Jan. 18-19, these two teams faced off in Mankato, splitting the two-game series with the Mavericks 1-3 and 5-4. The winner of this weekend's series will move on to the WCHA Frozen Five Tournament in St. Paul, Minn.
One of the keys for the Badgers this week is to stay out of the penalty box and play up to the level they can compete at. In the previous series, the Badgers had 18 penalties for 36 minutes in the penalty box in two games.
MSU-Mankato, which had more wins overall but a worse conference-winning percentage than the Badgers, will create a challenge for Wisconsin. Doman believes that the work ethic of the Mavericks is something to watch for.
""If we come out and work as hard as Mankato, we should be able to keep with them and beat them,"" senior wing Matt Doman said.
Junior goalie Scott Kabotoff believes that their goaltending may create some problems for the team, too. However, coming off decisive wins against Minnesota-Duluth last weekend, winning 3-1 and 5-1, Kabotoff hopes that the momentum carries over to the upcoming series.
According to Coach Sauer, Kabotoff will get the start Friday night, but after that he may not have as much ice time. ""This could be a long series, so after Friday night, we'll see how things look and go from there.""
Kabotoff has been splitting time with freshman goalie Bernd Bruckler since his return to the ice Feb. 16. Kabotoff spent three weeks on the bench with a sprained left knee.
Last Saturday against Minnesota-Duluth, Bruckler stopped 47 of 48 shots on goal by the Bulldogs to help the team win 5-1. The WCHA named Bruckler the Rookie of the Week for his performance. Bruckler came out of the game early to let senior goalie Mark Baranczyk finish the game.
Coach Sauer said that senior defenseman Rob Vega is day to day with a shoulder injury. No other injuries were reported.
""No one wants to quit playing hockey yet. We want to keep going,"" Kabotoff said. ""It's everyone's goal right now to work hard and get far in the playoffs and maybe get some games in the NCAA tournament.""
In other WCHA playoff action, the top ranked Denver Pioneers will host the No. 10 Michigan Tech Huskies. Denver is the WCHA Champions and junior goalie Wade Dubielewicz won the WCHA goaltender crown for the second straight year.
The No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs travel to St. Cloud State to take on the No. 2 Huskies. St. Cloud senior forward Mark Hartigan captured the WCHA scoring title with 24 goals, 25 assists and 49 points in 28 league games.
The Fighting Sioux of North Dakota, No. 8 in the WCHA, play against No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers in St. Paul. In the last five games, the Golden Gophers have been 5-0 while North Dakota has only been 3-2 in the same time period.
Lastly, the No. 4 Colorado College Tigers host the No. 7 Alaska-Anchorage Bulldogs. Both teams are tied in the season series 2-2.
