Badgers rise to playoff peak in time for Frozen Four
In the moments after Wisconsin won a tough and challenging West Regional championship, Badgers coach Mike Eaves could pause and wonder what happened to sidetrack Denver and North Dakota on their way to their appointed spots at the Frozen Four.
While he may have been puzzled that WCHA regular-season champion Denver and WCHA playoff champion North Dakota had both lost in other regionals, Eaves is a master pragmatist, capable of focusing on things that might be within his control. At that moment, satisfaction at having beaten Vermont, then reversing a league playoff loss to St. Cloud State was foremost. It earned the West Regional’s berth in the April 8-10 Frozen Four in Detroit, which now becomes something that might fall into that controllable category.
No. 2 ranked Wisconsin (27-10-4) faces RIT (28-11-1) in the 4 p.m. (CDT) first semifinal, with No. 1 Miami of Ohio (29-7-7) taking on Boston College (27-10-3) in the 7:30 p.m. second semifinal, with both games on ESPN2. The winners play at 6 p.m. Saturday, on ESPN.
“We’re blessed to have some awfully talented young men on this team, with a tremendous work ethic,” said Eaves. “They are selfless, capable of focusing on the team, and all things have come together for us at the right time. Last year, we were .02 points away from making the [NCAA] playoffs. That has been on our kids minds; we even had t-shirts made up.”
The Badgers, who finished second to Denver in league play, had to lift themselves up after reaching the Final Five, where they were blanked 2-0 by St. Cloud State in the semifinals. They rebounded the next day to beat Denver. As the No. 1 seed at the West Regional, Wisconsin beat Vermont before coming back with force to avenge that setback to St. Cloud State in the West Regional final.
“There was a lot of redemption for us [against St. Cloud State],” said junior defenseman Ryan McDonagh. “We didn’t play well last weekend [in the Final Five], and we knew what was riding on the game this time — going to the Frozen Four.”
Now Wisconsin faces the peculiar venue of playing the Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit — the Lions NFL stadium, which could produce record hockey tournament crowds. In that regard, the Badgers have the experience of having played in a football stadium already this season, having played and beaten Michigan 3-2 at Camp Randall Stadium, before 55,031 — a number that might be difficult to top in Detroit, with both Michigan and Michigan State conspicuous by their absence.
Boston College also played at Fenway Park on January 8, losing 3-2 to Boston University before 38,472 fans. Big-stadium experience notwithstanding, Wisconsin will make a formidible entry in the Frozen Four, with an overpowering defense, and a surprisingly unheralded scoring attack. The large, hard-hitting, and mobile defense, with five first- or second-round NHL draftees and a sixth who is certain to be drafted this year, are Wisconsin’s most evident asset.
An NHL expansion team would thrive with a defense that included juniors Ryan McDonagh, taken in the first round by Montreal in 2007; Brendan Smith, taken on the same first round by Detroit; and Cody Goloubel, taken on the second round in 2008 by Columbus; plus sophomore Jake Gardiner, a 2008 first-rounder by Anaheim; and freshman Justin Schultz, a 2008 second-round pick of Anaheim. That leaves only John Ramage, who started the season as an 18-year-old freshman from St. Louis. He’s the son of Rob Ramage, a 16-year NHL defenseman who was a first-round pick of Colorado in the 1979 expansion draft.
But don’t underestimate the forwards. Most notable up front has been captain and first-line center Blake Geoffrion, the lanky, 6-foot-2 grandson of Bernie (Boom-Boom) Geoffrion. With his hometown listed as Brentwood, Tenn., Geoffrion is undoubtedly going to be the first home-state performer for the Nashville Predators, who drafted Geoffrion on the second round. A key to the Badger season was when Geoffrion turned down th eoffer and decided to play his senior season at Wisconsin.
“We don’t have the team we have without Blake coming back,” said Eaves, matter-of-factly.
Geoffrion led the WCHA in conference scoring until the final day, when Denver’s Rhett Rakhshani slipped ahead — 15-20–35 to 19-15–34. But a funny thing happened to the team scoring lead in the playoffs. Geoffrion had a goal and an assist in the 3-2 West Regional victory over Vermont, and added a goal and two assists in the 5-3 victory over St. Cloud State, his overall total of 27-21–48 is impressive, and helped him win West Regional most valuable player status — but his points rank only third-best on the Badger team.
Senior Michael Davies has 19-32–51, and sophomore Derek Stepan has 10-40–50 to rank 1-2 on the Wisconsin team in all games. Junior defenseman Brendan Smith has 15-32–47 to rank one point behind Geoffrion’s total. Geoffrion is best with 14 power-play goals, while Stepan leads all league scorers with his 40 assists, while Davies and Smith — the league’s top-scoring defenseman — are tied for second best with 32.
“Our seniors have worked ever since our freshman year,” said Geoffrion. “It’s an incredible feeling to get to the Frozen Four.”
Then he pointed to “Mitchie” — John Mitchell, a 6-foot-5 crusher who scored twice in the region final. He had only five goals all season until adding those two. Mitchell, in turn, gave credit to the penalty-killers for stopping all seven Huskies power plays, and it’s understandable, because that’s a group he not only appreciates, but also personally gives them a lot of action.
{IMG2}
“Our PK did a tremendous job,” said Mitchell. “I got five penalties in the two games [of the West Regional], and I think I’m going to have to limit those penalties.”
As for contributions from players like Mitchell — a free-agent senior who might also earn a lot of attention from NHL scouts after the season — Eaves, who has had numerous teams that had difficulty scoring and had to rely on defense and goaltending to survive.
“At this point, we’re looking for offense from anybody,” Eaves said. “And Mitch was very effective for us this weekend.”
As a further example of how this team has developed and matured, Eaves singled out another senior, and said: “Look at Aaron Bendickson. He had a great chance with an open net, but he bounced it off the post. He came back after that and played like he was possessed, and he wound up getting a goal. I’m not sure he would have reacted the same way at the start of the season, but that’s how focused we are now.”
The added burden carried by the Badgers into the Frozen Four will be shrugged off with two Wisconsin victories. But the league’s opportunity to get three teams to the Frozen Four seemed like the most lucrative since 2005, when Denver, North Dakota, Minnesota and Colorado College filled all four slots at the Frozen Four in Cincinnati, with Denver winning. Such success leads to questions about parity. Did the fact that WCHA champion Denver was upset 2-1 by Rochester Institute of Technology, and that WCHA playoff champion North Dakota had been upset 3-2 by Yale, mean that the proud Western Collegiate Hockey Association might not be as strong as we in the west would like to believe?
After all, while no other league can approach the 36 NCAA championships won by teams from the WCHA. And close followers of the annual league race and the spectacle of the WCHA’s playoff structure, resulting in the flashy Final Five tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, can look with pride at the listing of years WCHA teams won those titles. It does appear, however, that someone hasn’t been keeping that list up to date, because after it shows “…1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006…” there aren’t any more years listed. What happened to 2007, 2008, and 2009?
Correct. The proud WCHA, which won so regularly that in 2005 Denver, North Dakota, Colorado College and Minnesota made it an all-WCHA Frozen Four, and which won five consecutive NCAA titles up through 2006, hasn’t won since.
That, of course, isn’t a problem for the Badgers. They won that 2006 title, and while they might prefer to see some familiar WCHA faces across the rink, their only challenge is to be ready to win two games and recapture the title for the WCHA.
Comments
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
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:
Click here for sports