Given the way the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team has played this season, who's to think anything more than a split with Minnesota is on tap this weekend? You have to look all the way back to the very beginning of December for two wins in a series by UW.
Moreover, the Badgers have tied their season-long, three-game unbeaten streak - a run that matches two other occasions this season. Why should this team, most appropriately described as inconsistent, be ahead of Minnesota in the WCHA standings after Saturday night?
The Badgers and Gophers show equal records and equal standing in the league leading up to Friday's face-off, prompting head coach Mike Eaves to say tonight's game will be the most important of the year even though he makes the same remark week in and week out.
Fact is, he's right, because this could be the make-or-break point for the Badgers this season. The team can scarcely afford to lose both games at home, especially after the Colorado College letdown three weeks ago. If they split, they remain tied with Minnesota and still have to face down a series in Minneapolis.
The Badgers shouldn't even be in a tie for fifth place. Without a woefully egregious error by officials two weeks ago in Denver, UW in all likelihood comes to play with a four-game unbeaten streak and a lead over Minnesota and St. Cloud State, another team UW is tied with and has to oppose late in the season.
How many people going to the games this weekend are actually aware of what happened in the first game at Magness Arena on Jan. 11? No. 2 Denver already had enough in the way of talent and fan support and clearly didn't need more help.
The Badgers were trailing, 3-2, and on a third period face-off with 3.7 seconds showing on the clock. Matthew Ford got ahold of the puck after the draw, moved to the slot and shot it past the Pioneer goalie just as the buzzer sounded.
Make no matter of what the referee called the shot, because the play immediately went under review. On the Fox Sports Net replay, according to a uwbadgers.com report, the clock, synched with the official game time, did not show all zeroes when the puck crossed the goal line.
What's more, the red light - indicative of a goal - illuminated before the green light, a signal for the end of the period. Nevertheless, the referee somehow came to the conclusion that there was no goal, and the Badgers were denied an overtime that could have earned them one, even two points.
The next day, the WCHA issued a release saying the officials had erred - in other words, the goal should have counted. But the words of regret were all the league had to offer. To the Wisconsin's big-time credit, it put the previous night's polemics behind it and turned frustration into seven goals and a win.
Still, where is the recourse for Friday? Conference games carry too much weight, each point means too much, for this incident to go unchecked. And while it would not be wrong to say there is behind-the-scenes action taking place between the Badgers and WCHA officials, it will be a dismal, if not costly, failure if Eaves fails to press this issue full-bore.
If you don't think that one or two points could come into play later in the season, look at the WCHA standings from last year. The fifth and sixth place teams, the difference between playing at home and on the road in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, were separated by ... two points.
E-mail Jon at bortin@wisc.edu to talk about how close the WCHA will finish this season.
