The Wisconsin men's hockey team (10-12-2, 7-8-1 WCHA) is searching for momentum as it draws ever closer to the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The Badgers may have found that opportunity this weekend as they take on the stumbling Minnesota State Mavericks (8-14-4, 5-10-3 WCHA) at the Kohl Center.
Big Red comes into the weekend having split its last three season series. Wisconsin fell to Clarkson in the first round of the Badger Hockey Showdown on Dec. 29, only to bounce back the following day and defeat Providence in the second round. The next weekend the Badgers split a high-scoring pair of games with the Denver Pioneers. And two weeks ago, Wisconsin, led by senior forward Ross Carlson, managed to split a pair of games with the top-ranked and cross-state rival Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The 2006-'07 campaign has indeed been an up-and-down effort for the defending national champions, a Jekyll-and-Hyde season of sorts. The Badgers lost several key players from last year's championship lineup, with sophomore forward Jack Skille one of the key players remaining. Then, as luck would have it, the team was plagued with a myriad of injuries that took several players out of action, including Skille himself. For a time, it appeared Big Red was in big trouble, as the Badgers lost eight games in a nine-game span in October and November, including a heartbreaker against Denver with 14 seconds left in overtime.
Just as the season seemed lost, the Badgers began to turn a corner, as Wisconsin defeated Michigan State and then pulled off an impressive two-game sweep of North Dakota before the Badger Hockey Showdown. And Wisconsin's upset of the Golden Gophers certainly rekindled a fire inside the players and the fans, a fire that would not be put out by the bitter Wisconsin winter.
After this weekend's series with the Mavericks, Wisconsin has two home series left in the season against Alaska Anchorage and St. Cloud State, but by no means are the Badgers underestimating Minnesota State. Losing two straight games to the Mavericks last year left a bad taste in senior forward Andrew Joudrey's mouth.
""They're a team that competes every weekend,"" Joudrey said. ""Last year we got swept by them in their rink. They play hard and come to play every night. For us we're going to try and get that mentality this week to work hard, prepare, watch videos and scout them but at the same time make sure we're ready for a battle at both ends.""
This year the team has definitely turned a page in the book that is their season, but the Badgers know they must build up their momentum as they prepare for the playoffs. They must make the adjustments necessary on both sides of the ice and not become content with mere series splits. Assistant coach Mark Osiecki commented on the team's need for consistency.
""I think right now it's something that everyone has to be accountable,"" he said. ""The last two weekends I would say, if you just look at Denver and Minnesota, the consistency factor was there other than the one start in the first period against Minnesota. I think we've seen this in practice with the team's work ethic, I think holding each other accountable is a big factor for us and there's no question it's all peer pressure.""
Perhaps the man in the crease, senior goalie Brian Elliott, summed up the team's objectives for this weekend and for the remainder of the season best.
""Right now, it's just about how we play,"" said Elliott. ""We can prepare all we want for it and have the other team come in but we know that if we don't play our style of game we're not going to win any games.""
