The No. 13 Wisconsin men's hockey team (1-1) will return to the Kohl Center this weekend for its home opener against the Robert Morris Colonials (2-0).
The Badgers are coming home after playing in the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton, Ohio. UW was able to pull off an upset of then-No. 8 Notre Dame 4-1, before losing to now-No. 12 Ohio State 5-3 in the championship game.
Wisconsin was led by freshman forward Kyle Turris, who scored two goals and tallied two assists over his first weekend of college play. Turris, along with freshman Podge Turnbull and junior assistant captain Ben Street, will make a formidable front line for the Badgers.
However, the Badgers lost senior forward Josh Engel last weekend to a shoulder injury, and there is no timetable set for his return. With the loss of Engel, a young team only becomes younger, as UW will have to turn to more underclassmen to step up in Engel's place.
The Colonials impressed many critics last weekend, as well as a majority of the nation. Their upset of then-No. 9 Boston University 3-1 has turned many heads, including that of UW head coach Mike Eaves.
They scare the heck out of me,"" Eaves said. ""I'm glad they won, because all of the sudden they got our attention, especially our young people.""
The Colonials are led by junior forward Jason Towsley, who also scored two goals and had two assists over opening weekend.
Wisconsin will have to be ready this weekend for the Colonials. They return this season with a roster extremely heavy with seniors, something that is uncanny for college teams in general, let alone in hockey. When looking at the experience of Robert Morris, along with the Badgers' young team, it seems the Colonials have a huge advantage over UW.
However, Eaves believes his squad has its own set of skills that will prove to be useful.
""They have an old team - they have 14 seniors. So they're going to be grizzly, they're going to be ugly, they're going to play hard,"" Eaves said. ""We're going to have to rely on our ability to play to our strengths - our speed, our puck movement and see if we can take advantage of that.""
With such a young team, Wisconsin will turn to the home opener for inspiration and motivation against such a seasoned group like Robert Morris.
""You want to win at home, more than anything,"" freshman defenseman Brendan Smith said. ""Winning at home is huge. It gets you an upper hand.""
Knowing how important the ""Crease Creatures"" are when gaining and controlling momentum, the Badgers are not looking to disappoint the home crowd.
""We got to come ready with intensity and excitement,"" fellow freshman defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. ""A lot of fans will be looking forward to seeing us, so we're going to be fired up.""
But overall, no matter what the environment, Wisconsin will be well-prepared for Robert Morris.
""They're an old team,"" Turris said. ""They're on a hot streak, and we're going to have to bring our A-game come Friday night.""
The puck drops both Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
