Elliott, Badgers get streaking style back for NCAA

Wisconsin hockey coach Mike Eaves would never say it, but itÂ’s time for his Badgers to do something for him. They need to beat Maine Thursday night, and then also beat the winner of the North Dakota-Boston College first game. ThatÂ’s all.

That would give Eaves and the Badgers the 2006 NCAA menÂ’s hockey championship, and it would create a unique clean sweep of NCAA hockey titles for Wisconsin, because the Badgers already won the NCAA WomenÂ’s title. ThatÂ’s why the menÂ’s quest forÂ…uhÂ…equality has significance. The Badgers women are coached by Mark Johnson, and Eaves and Johnson go way back.

When things get a little tense for WisconsinÂ’s hockey team, or the Badgers need a dose of inspiration, Eaves can summon up all sorts of stories from his rich hockey past, as a player and a coach. In fact, he did just that when the Badgers were embroiled in a scoreless West Region final at Green Bay against Cornell.

“Actually, the mood seemed to get lighter and lighter in the dressing room the longer the game went,” said Eaves. “We tried to loosen things up by talking about some memorable overtime goals. Likethe one Pat LaFontaine scored in the sixth overtime when the Islanders beat Washington in a playoff game…”

Of all the teams in the tournament, Wisconsin might be the most veteran. Freshmen have filled large roles on all four finalists, while Wisconsin is paced by sophomore Joe Pavelski (23-30–53) and junior Robbie Earl (21-25–46). Then comes senior defenseman and captain Tom Gilbert (11-19—30), and senior forwards Adam Burish (8-21–29), Ryan MacMurchy (8-17—25), and junior Ross Carlson (10-11—21).

When it got to the third overtime in the region final, though, it didnÂ’t matter who came through.

“Really, it comes down to will at that point,” said Eaves. “We still had energy, and we stayed focused. At this point, if you’re going to have success, sometimes it’s an underclassman who comes through. Jack Skille is only a freshman, but he’s a horse. He has a great ability to skate, and he can go for long periods. Coach [Mark] Osiecki picked Jack to score the goal for us.”

Eaves, in his fourth season, has all of his own recruits for the first time, and he knows that even when they play their best, goaltender Brian Elliott is the backbone.

“It always starts between the pipes,” said Eaves. “Brian’s play gave our defense confidence and our forwards confidence.”

Elliott has a 25-5-3 record and leads the nation with a .938 save percentage, a 1.55 goals-against average, and nine shutouts.

Eaves knows the other side of that coin, too. Wisconsin was the nationÂ’s No. 1 team through the first three months of the season, as the Badgers compiled a 19-2-2 record. Then Elliott got injured in practice, and the Badgers lost four straight and five of six to blow the WCHA title and the No. 1 national ranking, finishing the regular season with a staggering 3-7-1 slate before sweeping St. Cloud State in the final series.

That makes it truly a season of streaks for Wisconsin. After going 19-2-2, then 3-7-1, as Elliott had problems regaining his sharp edge coming off the injury, but after yielding an unusually high number of goals in a few games, he got things back in order. In their current 7-1 run, the Badgers have scored 21 goals, while Elliott has stifled Badger foes by yielding only six. Those six goals-against include the 4-3 loss to North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five semifinals.
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Other than the four goals in the North Dakota game, the eight-game stretch includes a pair of one-goal yields and five shutouts, giving Elliott a three-game shutout streak against Minnesota, Bemidji State and Cornell going into the Frozen Four. That equates to nearly a four-shutout streak, when you consider it took more than 11 minutes into the third overtime before Skille scored.

When it comes to winning championships, Eaves again can draw on his personal experiences. That goes back to the days when Badger opponents remember Eaves, wearing No. 17, and Johnson, No. 10, as a virtually unstoppable duo on coach Bob JohnsonÂ’s power play. Their records may never fall. No Badger has ever scored more goals than the 48 Johnson got in 42 games in 1977-78, or the 267 points Eaves recorded for his Wisconsin career. Eaves was captain for three years with the Badgers.

In 1976-77, Wisconsin won the WCHA title, the WCHA playoffs, and the NCAA championship, finishing 37-7-1, while Mike Eaves was named All-America, and teammate Mark Johnson was freshman of the year. In 1977-78, the Badgers finished second, and the WCHA scoring title was shared by Eaves (25-45—70), and Johnson (39-31—70), while Eaves was WCHA most valuable player, and both Eaves and Johnson made first team all-WCHA and both were first-team All America.

Both went on to NHL careers, Eaves playing eight years for the Minnesota North Stars and Calgary Flames before his career was curtailed by recurring concussions, while Johnson played 11 seasons, mostly for Pittsburgh, Hartford and New Jersey.

Eaves got a head start in coaching, assisting at Calgary, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, then in Finland, at Hershey in the American Hockey League, and a year each as assistant at St. Cloud State and head coach at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He also coached at Shattuck-St. MaryÂ’s in Faribault, Minn., but the thing that probably launched Eaves to the head spot at Wisconsin was that he spent two years coaching the U.S. Development team in Ann Arbor, Mich. That gave him the chance to coach the 2002 U.S. team that won the Under-18 world championship. He later coached the U.S. to the 2004 World Junior Championship.

One of his players on the National Development system and the Under-18 team was Greg Moore, currently a star at Maine, where he is captain and has scored 28 goals. “Maine plays hard, but also sprinkled in are somepretty good players,” said Eaves. “Greg Moore has power, strength and speed. He’s a player who goes to the tough places.”

Back at Wisconsin, Mark Johnson was assistant to Jeff Sauer with the men’s team, and when Sauer retired, the men’s job came down to two men – Eaves and Johnson. Eaves got the job, which caused some dissension among boosters, some of whom had backed Johnson, the son of the late coach Bob Johnson.

Johnson, however, landed on his feet by taking the job with the Badger womenÂ’s team. Like Eaves, Johnson led the Badger women on a steadily improving course over the last three years, and brought Wisconsin to a pinnacle with a 3-0 victory over two-time defending champion Minnesota two weeks ago.

At the same time, the Badgers were in Green Bay, as the top seed of the Midwest Regional, where they defeated Bemidji State 4-0, and then survived the incredible triple-overtime final with the 1-0 victory over Cornell.

Maine coach Tim Whitehead said he knows what the Black Bears are up against. “It’s the fifth straight year we’ve been on the road in the NCAA,” said Whitehead. “We know Milwaukee will have a great environment, and the fact that Wisconsin made it guarantees it will be a special moment. It will be very difficult, but we know you never have an easy game at this level. Wisconsin is tough whether you look at their goaltending, defense, or forwards. They’ve done a tremendous job of recruiting, because they’re strong at all three positions.”

If the Badgers win two more games this week in Milwaukee, Eaves can bring home the big plaque, and he and Mark Johnson can again stand side by side and share one of the more unique hockey sweeps imaginable.

Ross scores four as Gophers stun No. 1 UNH in semis

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — New Hampshire roared into the NCAA WomenÂ’s Frozen Four with the No. 1 national rank, the top-rated power play, and the best record in the country, but Minnesota had Bobbi Ross. The sophomore from Saskatchewan fired four goals into the UNH net Friday night, scoring every which way including a penalty shot and the game-winner, to give the two-time defending champion Golden Gophers a stunning 5-4 victory.

The Gophers (29-10-1) will seek their third straight championship against Wisconsin (35-4-1), a 1-0 victor over St. Lawrence in the first semifinal at Mariucci Arena. The two victories assure that a WCHA team will win the sixth straight NCAA women’s hockey tournaments – out of six that have been held.

Minnesota will be an underdog against the WCHA season and playoff champion Badgers, who beat the Gophers 4-1 in the league playoff final, but the Gophers also were underdogs against the Wildcats, who brought a 33-2-1 record into the Friday night game, including a 28-0-1 unbeaten streak. That streak is now over, and the Wildcats will take a 33-3-1 record back home to Durham, N.C., after a predominately Gopher boosting crowd of 2,876 fans saw what was the most entertaining, if not the best, performance by the rebuilding Gophers all season.

“I’m still smiling from that game,” said Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson afterward. “It was a tremendous women’s college hockey game. We had the lead, lost it, led again, lost it again, got behind, found a way to come back, and win it.”

Asked where this victory ranked on her list of most enjoyable career coaching victories, Halldorson said: “It’s right up there. This was a huge win for us.”

It was a total team effort, but it was Ross who took charge, firing shots with a forceful confidence that even included a second-period shot off the crossbar. Her prize was the game-winner, with 1:51 remaining, and leaving the Wildcats suddenly out of time to stir up one more counter-rally, as freshman goaltender Brittony Chartier stood firm to the finish.

Ross scored in the game’s first minute, picking up a loose puck and scoring at 0:46, then giving the Gophers a 2-0 head start when Andrea Nichols pounced on a poorly aimed UNH back-pass and fed the slot off the end boards. UNH came stalking back with three straight goals – by Jennifer Hitchcock on a power play and Kacey Bellamy two minutes later in the first period, and by Nicole Goguen on a screened shot from center point to start the second and give UNH a 3-2 lead.

Ross, however, tied it on a penalty shot – the first in Minnesota’s history – and when the teams traded goals in the third period, the game seemed destined for overtime. But at 18:09, Whitney Graft carried the puck into the New Hampshire zone on a 2-on-2 rush, and cut to her left, toward Ross. At the top of the left circle, Graft left a neat little drop pass for Ross. Maybe that’s why they call them STUDENT-athletes, because Graft recognized the hot handed Ross and decided to give her the puck. Ross cut in and fired a shot through goaltender Melissa Bourdon, breaking the tie.

“I saw it was a 2-on-2, so we had to isolate on one defenseman to make anything happen,” said Ross. “Graft left me the puck, and I was able to cut to the middle. I thought I’d shoot for the far side…but I didn’t really know.”

The penalty shot was called because a UNH player, killing a 5-on-3 Minnesota power play, covered up the puck in the crease. Ross, who now has 21 goals for the season, was the shooter of choice for Halldorson.
“At that point in the game, with what was at stake, and we get a penalty shot,” said Halldorson. “The coaches said, ‘Who do you want to take it?’ I thought, Bobbi is calm, cool and collected, and she’s hot. She made a great shot.”

When Ross went out to center ice for the penalty shot, the referee took time to explain the options to UNH goaltender Bourdon.

“I was glad they took extra time,” said Ross, “because I was trying to get my legs to stop shaking. Actually, the last practice we had some extra time, and one of the goalies stayed out for some extra shots. I came in and did that same move three times in a row – I’m not really that creative – so I knew what I was going to do.”

Ross skated in fast, cut to her left and shot into the left edge of the net as Bourdon went down. The goal came at 10:39 of the second period, and the 3-3 tie gave the Gophers a lift.

In the third period, Becky Wacker got in on the fun, skating up the middle to sweep in the rebound of a long slapshot by Nichols at 2:27.

The Gophers then had to kill three straight penalties, and they got through two, and faced enormous pressure from the full might of the UNH power play on the third, with Chartier battling for survival. The Wildcats finally scored an artistic goal, as Leah Craig passed to the blue line, and Amy McLaughlin shot purposely wide to the right of the net, where Nicole Hekle deflected it in at 12:11.

The teams then traded rush after rush to the finish, until Ross took matters into her own hands one more time.

“Hats off to Minnesota, they played great,” said UNH coach Brian McCloskey. “It was an interesting game of ebb and flow. We gave up those two quick goals, but then we came out in the second period carrying a lot of momentum. We knew their speed was going to be an issue – we don’t see many teams that can do what Minnesota did. We’re used to making teams turn the puck over at the blue line, and Minnesota didn’t do that”.

Freshmen lift Badgers past St. Lawrence in 1-0 semifinal

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — Freshman Tia Hanson scored a third-period goal and freshman Jessie Vetter kicked out all 27 St. Lawrence shots as Wisconsin slipped past the Saints 1-0 Friday to move into the NCAA Frozen Four championship game.

The Badgers will return to Mariucci Arena to face Minnesota in Sunday’s 4 p.m. title game, and while the Badgers have some impressive veterans to key on, overlooking their freshmen would be a mistake, because it was the second straight NCAA victory for the Badgers, and the second straight time Hanson and Vetter held the prominent roles.

Last weekend, Hanson scored in the second overtime to lift the Badgers to a 2-1 victory in the NCAA quarterfinals against Mercyhurst in Madison, while Vetter also played a strong game in goal.

“After scoring the goal in double overtime, I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to score another goal as big,” said Hanson, who is from Medicine Hat, Alberta. “Then I get another chance in the Frozen Four.”

The goal came after the two teams locked up in a tight, tense defensive standoff, with scoring chances far fewer than the shots might indicate. Early in the third period, when it appeared any goal would be precious, suddenly Hanson scooped up the puck on the left side, made a neat move to filter past a defending St. Lawrence player, and drilled a snap shot high far side, into the upper right corner.

“I remember getting a pass off the boards, and got around one player,” said Hanson, whose goal was her 10th of the season. “All I meant to do was get it on net, and it went into the top corner.”

St. Lawrence goaltender Jessica Moffat said she saw the puck clearly, and saw the play developing. “I knew from the get-go it would take a goal like that,” said Moffat. “I did what I could do, and she just made a good shot, up high.”

The Saints, making their third trip to the Frozen Four in the last four years, outshot Wisconsin 27-25, gaining a 14-8 edge in the first period, thanks to three straight power plays. Vetter, coach Mark JohnsonÂ’s choice over senior Meghan Horras, said it didnÂ’t seem that busy.

“They got a lot of shots but they were from far out,” said Vetter. “Our team played very well defensively, and my D did a good job clearing the rebounds.”

The Badgers were at their best killing penalties against St. Lawrence, which had the second-best power play statistics in the country coming in. After killing the only three penalties of the first period, the Badgers also had to kill a fourth straight in the second period. Then Wisconsin got two power-play chances, but other than a few scrambles at the net at both ends of the big rink, quality chances were scarce.

Both teams were primed for such a game, because while Wisconsin needed two overtimes to get past Mercyhurst 2-1, St. Lawrence beat Minnesota-Duluth 1-0 in its quarterfinal.

“We won the same kind of a game 1-0 last weekend,” said St. Lawrence coach Paul Flanagan. “Great game to win, tough game to lose. I have to give congrats to Wisconsin, they played a real good game and didn’t give us a lot of great chances. We had some chances on the power plays early, and when you don’t score on those, sometimes it comes back to haunt you.”

St. Lawrence captain Tracy Muzerall had never watched a game here, but her sister, Nadine Muzerall, who is eight years older, was the first superstar when Minnesota started playing varsity hockey. Nadine Muzerall set the first scoring records for the Gophers and was voted All-America, while Tracy was a youngster growing up in Mississauga, Ontario.

Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said his decision to play Vetter was a tough one, because both his goaltenders have been solid – Horras is 16-2-1 with a 1.54 goals-against average, and Vetter had a 9-1 record with an 0.93 GAA. She improved to 10-1, and lowered the GAA.

“It was a decision that wasn’t made overnight,” said Johnson. “Meghan Horras has done a wonderful job for four years, and I thought about it. Jessie had don a good job against St. Cloud up here in a pressure game, and did the same against Mercyhurst too. So I just went with a hunch.

“We have a lot of confidence in these young ladies, and they’re not like freshmen any more. Our other freshmen have done a great job all season, and they certainly have made contributions. It’s nice to relax for a couple of minutes, because our last two games were pretty intense. It’s great to see the commitment, but also the passion these players have.”

Johnson singled out senior Nikki Burish for being willing to block shots, and in the third period, after Hanson had scored, Hanson also dived to sweep-check the puck out of the Wisconsin zone an instant before a Saints skater would have gained possession.

“Nikki has been blocking shots for four years, and it’s great to see from the bench that the kids want to win so badly they’ll dive to clear the zone,” Johnson said. “When you have young freshmen to graduating seniors all doing it, it’s a compliment to the players.”
Hanson, who had one game-winning goal during the regular season, now has three, and reached double figures for goals. Vetter simply enjoyed the seemingly tense pressure.

“I just love these live-and-die games,” Vetter said.

Badgers set to back up No. 1 NCAA rank at Regional

Wisconsin is the No. 1 seed at the Midwest Regional, which figures, because the Badgers are the No. 1 seed in nation among NCAA Division I college hockey teams. The Badgers, therefore, are favored to get past Bemidji State in SaturdayÂ’s semifinals at Green Bay, Wis. Colorado College and Cornell tangle in the other game, and the Badgers stand as favorite to also win the Sunday final against that winner.

None of that will be easy, of course. Wisconsin (26-10-3) seems to have overcome a late-season flat spot, although it would be a serious mistake to overlook Bemidji State (20-13-3), a team that is unranked but gained the NCAAÂ’s automatic berth for one team from College Hockey America, and a team that swept Minnesota-Duluth in Duluth, and also swept Minnesota State-Mankato.

Colorado College (24-15-2) came back from an upset loss to St. Cloud State in the first round of WCHA playoffs, so the Tigers are rested and ready to return to the ice based on a strong enough Pairwise computer rating. They face Cornell (21-8-4), a team from the perennially underrated ECAC but with an impressive record.

For Wisconsin, the key question is whether it has regained a full measure of confidence. Confidence is an enormous factor in hockey, as in all sports, but it has varying degrees of importance. Sometimes, a player or a team can overachieve by lacking confidence, and by being driven to prove superiority. In the case of the Badgers, confidence spells the difference between being the best team in the country, and a team with exposed vulnerability.

Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves knew he had a veteran team in a WCHA dominated by more youthful, rebuilding teams, and this is the first team where every player is an Eaves selection, knowing what is expected – make that demanded – by their disciplined, hard-driven coach.

With brilliant goaltending from Brian Elliott, a solid but mobile puck-handling defense led by all-WCHA first teamer Tom Gilbert, and a balanced and creative offense without a high-profile superstar, the Badgers tore into the season impressively. At the start, they were battle tested by overtimes in their first three games, beating St. Lawrence 3-2, then losing to St. Lawrence 2-1, and then tyhing 2-2.
A 1-1-1 start was at best inauspicious, but at that point the Badgers took flight, soaring to a run of 18-1-1 and what looked like a stranglehold on the WCHA title and the No. 1 rank in the nation. The only loss was 4-2 to Michigan Tech, which the Badgers overturned with a 7-0 rout the next night. That opening 19-2-2 run carried through January 14 when they swept 3-2 and 9-1 victories at CC.

In that stretch, the Badgers were spectacular to watch, sweeping from their end with quick-passing attacks, and, when passing lanes were blocked, laying passes ahead where teammates would speed to scoop up the pucks at full flight.

Suddenly, though, Elliott injured his knee in practice. The Badgers were at home against Denver, and possibly the only flaw in Eaves’ coaching was exposed. Freshman goaltender Shane Connelly had not played a game, and was thrust into the nets. Denver won 1-0, and followed it up with a 4-2 victory. Minnesota – a team the Badgers had swept 4-3, 4-0 in Minneapolis – came in next and also swept the Badgers in Madison, 5-4 and 3-1. Connelly was not the problem in those four straight losses, the problem was that the team played differently – as if subconsciously deciding it had to pull back from its free-wheeling attack to a circle-the-wagons defensive caution.

“No question,” said Eaves. “Elliott went out, and our whole team dynamic changed.”

Coinciding with WisconsinÂ’s sudden struggle, Minnesota went on a late-season tear, led by the explosive scoring of Ryan Potulny, and a defensive corps that gained overnight confidence from a long video lesson on the busride to North Dakota. The Gopher defense, which had been inept at best in two home losses to Wisconsin, learned from a video of the 2002 Gopher NCAA championship game and suddenly played with the assurance of Jordan Leopold, Keith Ballard and Paul Martin from that title team. Confidence carried through, and the Gophers won the WCHA regular season title.

The title became less important than getting everything back in order to Eaves. The Badgers regrouped and appeared back in the groove in a 7-2 romp at Duluth, but the pesky UMD Bulldogs came back to win 4-1 the next night, and the uncertainty returned. The regular season ended with Elliott returning to the nets for a troubling 4-4 tie with Michigan Tech, and two shocking losses, 6-4 and 7-3, at Mankato, before sweeping St. Cloud State.

So the team that started 19-2-2 finished 5-7-1 in the regular season. Elliott seemed to get back on track with 4-1, 1-0 sweep against Tech in the WCHA playoff first round, but at the Final Five, Wisconsin ran into a red-hot North Dakota team, and after the Badgers took an early 2-0 lead, the Sioux came back to win 4-3 in the semifinals.

At that point, Wisconsin went into the third-place game with that question still hanging overhead. But the foe, in Saint Paul, was Minnesota, a team that always makes the Badgers see red, so to speak. Against the No. 1 natiionally ranked Gophers, Elliott was perfect, and the Badgers cruised to a remarkably easy 4-0 victory.

The Wisconsin offense free-wheeled, and the likes of Joe Pavelski, Robbie Earl, Ross Carlson and Adam Burish sparked a solid performance by all four lines, while the defense broke out smoothly and Elliott notched his third shutout in the last six games. Wisconsin gave up only six goals in those last six games – four of them to North Dakota in the WCHA semifinals. The question now remains whether that intensity that returned in full measure against Minnesota can be counted on the rest of the way.

“The intensity of the rivalry depends on how good the teams are,” said Eaves. “That intensity is going to be there all the time against Minnesota because of the rivalry, but it goes to a high level this year, because both teams are good.

“It helped, jumping out to a 2-nil lead,” said Eaves. Yes, he REALLY said “2-nil.” Eaves also was careful not to put too much emphasis on the game, even though the nation’s No. 1 seed was hanging in the balance.

“They’re an up-tempo team, and we were able to control the tempo,” added Eaves. “Our No. 1 goal all year has been to get to Milwaukee to play in the NCAA Frozen Four. “The No. 1 team is whoever wins the NCAA championship.”

Colorado College, still armed with the 1-2 scoring tandem of Brett Sterling and Marty Sertich, which carried the Tigers to the Frozen Four last year, got voted back into the NCAA field by the vagaries of the NCAAÂ’s computer system. That system has been refined to follow the coachesÂ’ insistence on removing all subjectivity, but it is not without flaws. For example, if a team focuses on league play and finishes second, should there be a computer system that can declare four of its league rivals ahead of it?

Denver finished in a second-place tie with Wisconsin in the WCHA season, after a ferocious three-way battle with the two of them and Minnesota for the league title. Denver was upset at home by Minnesota-Duluth in the WCHA first round playoffs – just as CC was beaten in Colorado Springs by St. Cloud State.

Still, within the WCHA, DenverÂ’s power was unquestioned. The Pioneers had their problems with Minnesota, going 0-3-1, but they were 2-0 with Wisconsin, split 2-2 with North Dakota, and went 3-0-1 against Colorado College, for a 7-5-1 mark against the four WCHA teams that were voted into the NCAA. But Denver had gone 4-7 in nonconference games, including losses to Ferris State and Princeton.

That led the NCAA computations to over-rule the WCHA standings. Despite finishing second in the WCHA, the two-time defending national champion Pioneers ranked fifth among league teams via the computer, so Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Colorado College advanced, while Denver was bumped out of the 16 selected teams.

Ironically, Denver benefited by the same system that bit it this year when the Pioneers lost in the first round of league playoffs two years ago, got voted into the NCAA field, and won the championship. Colorado College could follow that same formula to victory this year. But that will require a truly sterling performance in a Midwest Regional where a confident Wisconsin Badgers outfit is the clearcut favorite.

Badgers, Gophers, Saints give NCAA test to No. 1 UNH

On paper, No. 1 ranked New Hampshire is favored to beat two-time defending champion Minnesota in FridayÂ’s 7 p.m. WomenÂ’s NCAA semifinal, and Wisconsin rates only a slim edge against St. Lawrence in the 4 p.m. first semifinal. That would set up a 3 p.m. Sunday final where New Hampshire would rate a slight favorite over Wisconsin, if you believe some sources.

One of those is U.S. Olympic womenÂ’s coach Ben Smith.
Wisconsin had just won the WomenÂ’s WCHA league playoff title at Ridder Arena, beating Minnesota 4-1, and Smith was spotted leaving the facility. He sort of shrugged when it was suggested that WisconsinÂ’s performance was very impressive.

“Wait till you see New Hampshire,” said Smith.

“Are they the best you’ve seen?” Smith was asked.

“They’re the best team I’ve seen in women’s hockey in many years,” said Smith.

Interesting. Smith is an Easterner who has been accused of favoring Eastern teams and Eastern players when selecting his U.S. Olympic teams, and itÂ’s easy to see why Smith is so impressed, because coach Brian McCloskeyÂ’s Wildcats had won 16 straight games and ran their unbeaten streak to 27-0-1. When they breezed to the Hockey East playoff title, it was their first since they were in the ECAC in 1966, then they knocked off Harvard in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Still, despite their current 17-game win streak and 28-0-1 overall run, the Wildcats didnÂ’t displace Wisconsin as the nationÂ’s No. 1 team until February 6, and the thought lingered that maybe SmithÂ’s comment was a swipe at the West, and the NCAA tournament dominance by the splendid former teams from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and the University of Minnesota. Those two are the only teams to ever win an NCAA title.

The first UMD teams featured brilliant elite players such as Jenny Potter (formerly Schmidgall), Maria Rooth, Erica Holst, Tuula Puputti, Hanne Sikio, Patricia Sautter, and Caroline Ouellette, and they won the first three NCAA tournaments ever held, in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Then, like a tag-team, UMD touched off – figuratively of course – to its intense rival Minnesota, and the Gophers won the last two NCAA tournaments, led by the likes of Krissy Wendell, Natalie Darwitz, Kelly Stephens and Lindsay Wall.

There has been speculation that no team will ever again see the dominance of players from those UMD and Minnesota teams, and it seems certain that Smith must be impressed by them, too. For example, Potter, Wendell, Darwitz, Stephens and Wall all played for SmithÂ’s U.S. team at the just-completed Winter Olympics, and Ouellette was a standout for Team CanadaÂ’s gold medal team, while Rooth and Holst were the top players for silver medalist Sweden. Rooth singlehandedly ruined Team USAÂ’s chance to face Canada for gold by scoring twice, including a shorthanded goal to tie the U.S. 2-2, then also scored the clinching goal in the shootout that led Sweden to a 3-2 victory and left the U.S. seeking bronze.

With that background, WCHA observers can remain unconvinced, awaiting the emergence of New Hampshire. If the Wildcats, and their splendid 33-2-1 record, are to win the championship, they will have their work cut out for them.

The University of Wisconsin has broken through the dynamic duo of Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth to win the WomenÂ’s WCHA championship, and the WomenÂ’s WCHA playoff title, and the Badgers are attempting to be the first NCAA hockey champion with a name from outside the state of Minnesota.

The Gophers will not give up the stateÂ’s domination easily, however, having made the Frozen Four with a 28-10-1 record. The Gophers, ranked fourth in the nation, will face New Hampshire following completion of the first semifinal between Wisconsin (34-4-1) and St. Lawrence (31-4-2). The games are at Mariucci Arena, with its wider Olympic ice sheet.

St. Lawrence took out Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA quarterfinals, with a 1-0 victory last Saturday – the second year in succession the Bulldogs couldn’t get past St. Lawrence to reach the Frozen Four. Wisconsin had its hands full with a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Mercyhurst, while New Hampshire dispatched Harvard, and Minnesota cruised past Princeton.

New Hampshire is led by junior forward Nicole Hekle, a junior forward who was a Patty Kazmaier final 10 candidate, although she failed to make the final three. She has a strong supporting cast. When the Wildcats overran Boston College 6-0 in the Hockey East playoff final, junior goaltender Melissa Bourdon recorded her fourth – and UNH’s sixth – consecutive shutout. Bourdon has a live shutout streak of 282 minutes, 10 seconds, and the team streak has now stretched to 402:19.

Hockey East rookie of the year Sam Faber was only one of a UNH sweep of the all-tournament team in Hockey East, along with UNH teammates Bourdon, Jennifer Hitchcock, Sadie Wright-Ward, Kacey Bellamy, and Martine Garland. Hitchcock set a tournament record with seven points (4-3—7).

The Gophers are without the abundance of firepower they donated to the Olympic team, but they have rebuilt gamely, and are led by sophomore Erica McKenzie (27-25—52), WCHA freshman of the year Gigi Marvin (16-30—46), and sophomore Bobbi Ross (17-22—39), and the freshman goaltending tandem of Kim Hanlon and Brittony Chartier. Hanlon is trying to return from a twisted ankle suffered in the WCHA playoff final.

In the first NCAA semifinal, an interesting sidelight will focus on Wisconsin’s Sara Bauer, the WCHA player of the year, a junior forward with 22-35—57, and St. Lawrence sophomore Sabrina Harbec, who has 24-36—60, and was the ECAC player of the year. Also intriguing is that Wisconsin defenseman Bobbi-Jo Slusar, a junior, and the WCHA defenseman of the year, and St. Lawrence senior goaltender Jessica Moffat also were top 10 picks as Kazmaier candidates.

The two WCHA entries have both seen the two Eastern teams in the field, but in cross-reference. Minnesota lost 3-1 to St. Lawrence back on October 8, and Wisconsin lost a 2-1 game at New Hampshire.

The Gophers have improved considerably and ended the regular season with a seven-game winning streak, their season’s best, winning four straight against WCHA foes, and adding three more in the playoffs before being thumped 4-1 by Wisconsin in the league final. Wisconsin, however, has credentials that more closely rival UNH’s. The Badgers opened with a loss to UMD, then rattled off 12 straight victories, before losing at New Hampshire. After that, the Badgers embarked on another 12-0-1 streak – meaning the loss at UNH was Wisconsin’s only setback in a 26-game stretch.

Statistically, Wisconsin had the most goals (151) and the fewest goals-against (51) among WCHA teams, with UMD second and Minnesota third in both categories. In scoring by periods, Wisconsin had a large edge on all league foes, scoring a balanced 49 in the first, 48 in the second, and 50 in the third, and adding four in overtime. The Badgers were 4-0-1 in overtime games, while Minnesota was 2-2-1.

The Badgers also had seven of the WCHAs’s top 20 goal-scorers and seven of the top 20 assist-getters, as Bauer’s 22-35—57 led Slusar’s 12-27—39, Sharon Cole’s 15-24—39, Jinelle Zaugg’s 22-13—35, Angie Kesely’s 13-20—33, Erika Lawler’s 13-19—32, and defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson’s 4-27—31, while Nikki Burish (10-17—27) and Cyndy Kenyon (13-12—25) followed closely.

MinnesotaÂ’s McKenzie, Marvin and Ross were the only Gophers among the top 20, but Hanlon led league goaltenders with a 1.12 goals-against and a .943 save percentage, although WisconsinÂ’s Meghan Horras played twice as many games and was second at 1.54 and .928.

UMD goalie Riitta Schaublin, incidentally, was a close third at 1.59 and .941, and joins Bauer and Harbec as the three Kazmaier finalists for the player of the year award, which will be given out Saturday.

If Olympic coach Smith is right, the Minnesota/UMD domination of the NCAA championship will be accomplished by New Hampshire. But Wisconsin has spent the whole season breaking down Gopher/Bulldog dominance, and the Badgers could be primed to make history themselves. After winning their first Final Five, coach Mark Johnson wouldnÂ’t say his Badgers have peaked.

“I prefer it this way, to not be No. 1 right now,” said Johnson. “Other teams can have a lot of incentive to beat No. 1. Our only intention was to become better every month. Now you win and move on, and if you win the game, you’ve peaked.”

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• About the Author

  John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
  
  For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.