Four Men's Hockey Badgers Honored by the WCHA
March 18, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Junior goaltender Bernd Bruckler (Graz, Austria) earned 2003-04 All-WCHA First Team to lead a group of four Badgers honored Thursday at the 2003-04 WCHA Awards Ceremony. Freshman defenseman Ryan Suter (Madison, Wis.) made the 2003-04 All-WCHA Third Team and the All-WCHA Rookie Team, while freshman forward Robbie Earl (Los Angeles) was voted to the 2003-04 All-WCHA Rookie Team. Sophomore Nick Licari (Duluth, Minn.) was Wisconsin's representative on the 2003-04 All-WCHA Academic Team.
Bruckler, the WCHA goaltending champion with a 2.11 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in league games, earned 300 points among 80 ballots to earn first-team honors. Points were awarded on a 5-3-1 basis depending upon what team a particular played was played by each voter.
The CSTV/Hockey Commissioners' Association national player of the month for February, he is the first Wisconsin goaltender since Duane Derksen made the first-team during the 1991-92 campaign, to earn first-team honors. Wisconsin's first WCHA goaltending titlist since Jim Carey's 3.09 goals-against average led the league in 1993-94, his .928 save percentage in league games ties for eighth on the all-time WCHA single season list. The four-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week boasts three shutouts on the season, one off the UW single-season mark, and his current 2.16 goals-against average and .922 save percentage make up the greatest season, statistically, by a UW netminder. The goalie was also the USCHO.com National Defensive Player of the Week once during the season.
Suter, Wisconsin's leader with a plus-17 in WCHA contests, earned 83 points to make the third team. The preseason WCHA rookie of the year, he was one of three Badgers to win a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 World Junior Championship. The UW's leading scorer among rookie defensemen with 3-16=19, he tied for third on the team in WCHA scoring with 3-13=16. The seventh overall pick of the Nashville Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Suter was recently named the No. 6 NHL-affiliated prospect by The Hockey News.
Earl, a WCHA rookie of the week and Insidecollegehockey.com national player of the week, earned 49 points to make the rookie team. Third on the team with 14-12=26, he led the Badgers with six power-play tallies to rank tied for 12th in the league. Tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals, he recorded the first Wisconsin hat trick at the Kohl Center with three against then-No. 1 North Dakota to help the Badgers overcome a 3-0 deficit to the Fighting Sioux. His overtime game-winning goal to cap the hat trick was shown on ESPN's SportsCenter.
Licari, a member of Wisconsin's 'Grind Line ', qualified for the All-WCHA academic team by having completed at least one year for the Badgers prior to this season, having a grade-point average of at least 3.00 for the previous two semesters or overall and by playing in at least one-half of the Badgers ' contests this season. The sophomore wing has two goals and seven assists as one of six Badgers to skate in all 41 contests this season.
Bruckler, Suter, Earl, Licari and the rest of the Badgers await their NCAA fate, which will be announced this Sunday. The NCAA Selection Show will be shown live on ESPN2 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
