It's easy to see why the hype is building around the UW men's hockey team.
After all, the Badgers have won 12 of their last 13 games and carry a 19-8-3 overall record into this weekend's series against No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha. Sophomore defenseman Justin Schultz is tied for seventh in scoring nationally with 39 points and sophomore forward Craig Smith isn't far behind with 35, while senior goaltender Scott Gudmandson has the best goals against average and save percentage in the country.
But those numbers, and the Badgers' record, don't necessarily mean they are far better than people thought at the start of the year, nor does it mean we can expect another trip to the Frozen Four this April. As much as I would love to think Wisconsin is playing as well as they did last year, I still haven't seen it.
Sure the Badgers have played well in the past few weeks —losing once in two months is good no matter what—but who have they been beating in that stretch?
With the exception of a road win in Duluth (which is no small feat to say the least) Wisconsin's success since Dec. 4 has come against Alaska-Anchorage (9-11-2 WCHA, 10-13-3 overall), Bemidji State (6-12-2, 10-14-2), Massachusetts (5-10-4, 6-15-4), Canisius (8-8-5, 9-13-6), Minnesota State (6-12-4, 12-12-6) and Michigan Tech (1-18-1, 3-22-3).
These are teams the Badgers should beat, and even critics who doubted the Badgers' abilities at the start of the year—myself among them—didn't think they would lose games to the likes of Michigan Tech or Mankato. So to say that putting together wins against these teams somehow proves Wisconsin is ready to make another real run at a national championship is a fallacy.
By winning those games the Badgers showed they weren't in the WCHA cellar, but not that they belonged in the conference's top tier. If they were, their record against teams ranked ahead of them in the WCHA standings would be better.
Although they are No. 7 nationally Wisconsin currently sits fifth in the WCHA standings with Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha ahead of them. This weekend's series against the Mavericks will be the team's first meeting with Omaha, but against those other three teams the Badgers are 1-6-1. Granted those were close games (none of the losses were by more than two goals), but that only proves where the Badgers really stand.
A team ranked fourth or fifth in the conference should be able to hang tough with the schools in front of it. Maybe they'll take the occasional win as they did in Duluth last month, but for the most part the better teams will come out on top, and they have in Wisconsin's case.
I'm not saying Wisconsin hasn't improved since their struggles earlier in the season; I just have yet to see real evidence of the kind of improvement that would put them in the top 10 nationally.
The Badgers' forwards have not lacked for physicality, but beyond the top line of Smith, junior Jordy Murray and freshman Mark Zengerle there are few purely offensive scoring threats. And while three of Wisconsin's defenseman—Schultz, junior Jake Gardiner and sophomore John Ramage—are NHL material, the other half of its defensive corps has struggled this season. Those were concerns in October, and I have seen little reason to believe they are not still justified.
With last year's team I could point to times when they played like one of the best teams in the country, and if the Badgers' current success invites comparisons to that squad I haven't seen the same thing. An opportunity to do just that is coming up this weekend, however, when Wisconsin will travel to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Maybe the Badgers will return to their early-season struggles, and we'll know their top-10 ranking was too optimistic. Maybe Wisconsin will put on a show, steamroll the rest of their competition in the regular season and make a playoff run that carries them as far as last year's team.
I'll be waiting to see, and while I hope the Badgers show they deserve their hype, count me as a skeptic for now.
Are the Badgers as good as their No. 7 ranking indicates? E-mail Nico at savidgewilki@wisc.edu.
