They came so close and yet oh so far.
When the Wisconsin men's hockey team finished its season over the weekend, two different flavors characterized the latter part of the season. On one hand there was the razor-thin margin that kept the team from continuing its postseason, and on the other were the lost opportunities that hurt the talent-rich Badgers down the stretch.
In the end, the late failures will be the take-home theme of this season.
The Badgers finished the season in a three-way tie for 15th in the PairWise rankings, which attempt to imitate the formula used by the NCAA selection committee. Unlike college football and basketball, the hockey system is entirely objective, using a set of formulas to determine the tournament field.
Wisconsin held the tiebreaker with Minnesota, but Ohio State held an edge of .0002 in RPI-—a combination of a team's winning percentage, opponents' winning percentage and opponents' opponents' winning percentage-—which left the Badgers at home.
Hidden within that close finish is the fact that the Badgers sat just a few points behind Denver and North Dakota with three weeks to go and series against both teams remaining. A league title and near-sure tournament berth were within Wisconsin's grasp, and yet they couldn't close the deal.
Instead, UW went 1-5-0, losing two games to seventh-place Minnesota State. A win or two there likely would have the Badgers playing this weekend, but they couldn't pull out a victory, despite two third-period leads.
Again the Badgers had a chance to get into the tournament by winning the WCHA conference tournament, but again they failed, unable to score a single goal against Denver in the semifinal game.
Overall the season was one of contrasts. The team was winless in its first seven games, but then rallied to vault back into contention for the conference title. Even as it ran to that position, there was a brutal home sweep at the hands of Northern Michigan, which left an uneasy pall over the strong stretch.
The team featured 10 players drafted by NHL teams, yet it never came together as one might imagine all that talent could. Despite having five defenders with NHL ties and a senior goaltender in his second season starting, the Badgers had the second-worst scoring defense of the Mike Eaves era.
Part of that is due to the tendency of offensive-minded defensemen to jump into the action in the attacking zone and then not get back when opponents took possession of the puck.
The offense relied, as it usually does, on the dump and chase, firing pucks down into the corners and hoping to retake possession with speed and strength. Playmaking forwards, in the tradition of national champions Joe Pavelski and Robbie Earl, never quite developed. This left the offense prolific, but challenged when opponents denied rebounds and offensive production off long slap shots.
It also didn't help that the WCHA was particularly weak this season, boasting only three teams playing in the postseason.
As the 16 NCAA tournament teams prepare to compete for a national title, those who follow the Badgers must be left to wonder what went wrong. How did all that talent and promise translate into an inconsistent squad that came so close despite squandering so many chances?
Really, who knows?
Do you have the answer? Share it with Ben at breiner@wisc.edu.
