LetsGoDU

WCHA Playoffs

Wisconsin Hockey Season Plagued By Near Misses

From Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)
by Andy Baggot

(left) Wisconsin All American goaltender Brian Elliott leads the Badgers
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Two freshly minted school records define the incredibly small margin for error the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team had during the regular season.

The Badgers scored an average of 2.11 goals in 28 Western Collegiate Hockey Association games, eclipsing the mark of 2.18 registered in 2002-03.
At the same time, UW allowed opponents 1.89 goals per game in league play, surpassing the 2.12 allowed last season.

Those were the final regular-season numbers after the Badgers came away with a 3-1 win and 0-0 overtime draw at Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend.

"We haven't had wiggle room for a long time," UW coach Mike Eaves said.

Conventional wisdom suggests that margin for error is going to shrink even more now that the postseason is officially here.

The seventh-seeded Badgers (15-17-4 overall) open the WCHA playoffs with a best-of-three series at fourth-seeded Denver (21-13-4) starting Friday.

If UW wants to defend its NCAA title, its only avenue into the tournament involves knocking off the Pioneers and winning the WCHA Final Five. The winner of the league playoffs gets an automatic bid into the 16-team field.

The margin of error reflected in that 0.22 differential is huge when you consider two dramatic realities:

* The Badgers dropped five one-goal decisions to schools currently in the top 10 of the PairWise Rankings as compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online. The equation is unofficial, but it accurately mimics the formula used by the NCAA selection committee to seed and align the national tournament field.

Flip those outcomes - two vs. No. 1 Minnesota and one each vs. No. 5 North Dakota, No. 9 Michigan and No. 10 Denver - and UW likely is in contention for one of the at-large berths instead of languishing in a tie for 20th in the PWR.

* The Badgers lost one-goal decisions to four schools that finished ahead of them in the WCHA standings.

Flip just one of those results - two vs. MacNaughton Cup champion Minnesota and one each vs. third-place North Dakota, fourth-place Denver and fifth-place Colorado College - and UW is almost certainly hosting a playoff series this weekend instead of hopping a plane to face the Pioneers.

Traditional playoffs beards began to sprout in the UW dressing room three weeks ago, but their meaning seemed to get lost during a series sweep at the hands of Michigan Tech last week.
That awareness returned during the Duluth series, which featured do-or-die intensity in the finale, the first scoreless tie of the modern era at UW and the third shutout of the season for backup goaltender Shane Connelly.

Eaves called it a "healthy sign" that his team was at its best down the stretch both nights.
"I think that's something the guys can walk out of that locker room and know they can count on each other for that," he said.

The Badgers lost three of four regular-season meetings with Denver - the teams have combined to win the last three NCAA titles - but their lone win and best efforts came in early January at Magness Arena.

It remains to be seen how much momentum UW will take into the playoffs - the Badgers are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games and 7-7-2 since Jan. 1.

The same thought applies to Denver, which is 4-6-2 in league play since splitting with UW Jan. 5 and 6.

"Once you get to the playoffs, you can throw all that out the window," Badgers center and captain Andrew Joudrey said. "It's good to be on a roll, but once it's playoff hockey, everyone knows it's do-or-die. So, no matter who you play or where you play, everyone's going to be ready to go."