Men's Hockey Opens WCHA Slate
October 21, 2005 | Men's Hockey
No. 13 Wisconsin (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) begins WCHA play with a visit to St. Cloud State (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) beginning tonight at National Hockey Center. The Badgers hope for a strong start to the conference season after a surprising first two weeks of results for teams in the WCHA.
The Badgers opened a season with consecutive overtime contests since the 1976'77 season when the Badgers lost, then beat Michigan by 7-6 scores. Wisconsin beat St. Lawrence by a 3-2 overtime count, before falling 2-1 to the Saints the next night.
A pair of freshmen that stood out. First-round NHL pick Jack Skille (Madison, Wis.) scored the overtime game-winning goal in the UW win, while Ben Street (Coquitlam, B.C.) scored the Badgers' first goal of the season and was one of the Badgers' best players on the ice.
St. Cloud State comes off a road split with Northern Michigan. The Huskies are led by first-year head coach Bob Motzko, who takes over for recently retired Craig Dahl. Dahl led the Huskies move to Division I in 1987'88 and directed the squad to five NCAA tournament appearances. Saturday will be Craig Dahl Appreciation Night at National Hockey Center.
Elsewhere in the league, no teams remain unbeaten after two weeks of the season. Preseason No. 1 teams Minnesota and Denver are 0-1-1 and 0-2-0 thus far, while league teams are 10-15-1 in non-league games. This comes just six months after four WCHA teams comprised the entire NCAA Frozen Four field.
Overall, the Badgers are 21-14-1 in WCHA openers since joining the league for the 1969'70 season. They are 19-16-1 in their first WCHA road game of the season and 12-7-1 when they open the WCHA season on the road. The Badgers are 1-2-0 in WCHA openers under head coach Mike Eaves. The UW opened 2004'05 with a 7-3 win at home against Michigan Tech, but dropped the 2003'04 opener at St. Cloud State by a 2-1 score.
The Badgers currently sit at 599-405-69 all-time in WCHA contests, meaning that a UW win this weekend would the 600th WCHA victory in school history.
When the Badgers last met the Huskies, they earned 6-0 and 4-2 victories last January in St. Cloud. Wisconsin went 3-for-3 on the power play in the 6-0 win, while Ryan MacMurchy collected all four goals in the 4-2 victory. The UW is 3-0-0-1 in the last four meetings of the series, including two shutouts. They have outscored the Huskies 14-3 over that stretch.
Both games this weekend will be televised live by FSN North beginning at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday. On the radio, Brian Posick and Bill Howard will call the action. Friday's contest can be heard on WIBA 1310-AM, while Saturday's game can be heard at WTSO 1070-AM.
