With one weekend remaining in its Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season, the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team faces a stark reality: The team is in a three-way battle for two first-round home-ice spots in the playoffs, with only one point of separation in the standings.
As if that weren't dramatic enough, the Badgers will be one of only two teams in the league to bring their regular season to a close Saturday. Both Minnesota State and St. Cloud State - the Badgers' opponent this weekend - are one point behind UW, but each has four games remaining.
With the permutations for the first round of the WCHA playoffs endless, Badgers' head coach Mike Eaves addressed the media Monday afternoon to discuss, among other matters, the emphasis of getting points this weekend on the road against the Huskies.
We've got to go out and get some points this weekend and then see how things fall because we have to watch the last weekend,"" Eaves said. ""So our task will be to get as many points as we can, with four being the maximum.""
The Badgers (10-11-5 WCHA, 14-13-7 overall) are coming off a one-point weekend at Minnesota. Meanwhile, St. Cloud State swept Michigan Tech, pulling even with idle Minnesota State.
For the Badgers to earn four points at St. Cloud, they will have to reprise their performance from earlier this season when UW swept the Huskies at the Kohl Center. Eaves said that the earlier meeting should not give the Badgers false confidence. Indeed, surging St. Cloud State has won five games in a row, outscoring opponents 16-5 during that stretch.
""What matters is this Friday night, first,"" Eaves said. ""Total focus has to be there and then hopefully once after we're successful there, we close that chapter and get ready for Saturday. So history doesn't have anything to do with this. We have to go out and play well.""
On a day when Wisconsin dropped three spots to No. 13 in USCHO.com's weekly rankings, Eaves also discussed the status of freshman defenseman Brendan Smith, who has been out for more than six weeks with an injured back.
""That will depend on this week,"" Eaves said. ""[Smith] hasn't had any contact in so long that we're hoping that he can get on the ice this week and go through this week of practice and have some contact. We'll see how he feels.
""With that being said, let's say he does have a good week. What happens then? Is he really ready to jump back into a big-time weekend? And that's something that will have to go day by day as we get up to this weekend.""
Smith, a first round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, has two goals and 10 assists in 21 games played this season.
