The UW men's hockey team (10-13-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 12-18-4 overall) wraps up the regular season this weekend at the Kohl Center against the University of Minnesota-Duluth (6-17-3 WCHA, 13-20-3 overall).
The Badgers have struggled as of late and are in the midst of a seven-game winless streak. Despite that, UW still has the opportunity to clinch the fifth and final home seed of the WCHA playoffs.
The Badgers are coming off a stinging sweep by the Golden Gophers while the Bulldogs split with the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota. The last time these two teams met was Nov. 9-10 in Duluth.
The Badgers manhandled the Bulldogs in the series, winning 5-1 and 4-1.
However, UMD is much better than they were earlier in the season.
Wisconsin Head Coach Jeff Sauer was quick to point out the difference.
\They have played very good hockey the past two months,"" Sauer said. ""We're [just] looking to get two solid wins and get on to the playoffs.""
When asked if this series has any extra meaning with the possibility of it being his last home game, Sauer was quick to state the true point of the series.
""The bottom line is that we have to win'anything else is unimportant right now,"" Sauer said.
This weekend's series is key for UW, currently No. 5 in the WCHA. Two wins this weekend means UW locks up home ice for the first round of the playoffs, which begin next week.
Two losses, however, will leave Wisconsin with the unenviable task of traveling, in all probability, to Anchorage, Alaska to face the Seawolves.
Minnesota-Duluth has less to play for; currently it sits as a No. 9 seed and will play either Denver or St. Cloud State in the first round.
Duluth's record and ranking are both rather misleading, as the Bulldogs are 5-2-2 over their last nine games. Their recent success has come mostly at home which has a much smaller ice arena than the one they will play on in the Kohl Center.
The Badgers have played well at home and look to use the larger surface to their advantage.
""[Duluth's] success has come on the small ice,"" Sauer said. ""I think they might struggle on the Olympic sized rink we have here.""
In spite of the recent woes there have been several bright spots for UW, two of the brightest being the return of junior goaltender Scott Kabotoff from injury and the emergence of talented freshman forward Alex Leavitt.
Kabotoff returned to action last weekend in Minneapolis. Though he looked rusty at times, Kabotoff looks to return to his early season form.
Leavitt has scored at least a point in three of the past four series and is sitting in fifth on the Badger scoring list this season.
""I have had the opportunity to play with a really talented line in [senior forward Matt] Hussey and [junior forward Brad] Winchester, which has helped a lot,"" Leavitt said.
The Badgers can look forward to some more home-crowd advantage if they take care of business this weekend'otherwise it's on to the great white north of Alaska. With Kabotoff afforded a full week of practice, his sharp net-minding skills should be back.
Wisconsin leads the all-time series 72-49-8. The advantage is greater at Madison, where the Badgers hold a 42-18-3 series lead.
