Men's hockey named team of the week
December 04, 2008 | Men's Hockey
The Wisconsin men's hockey program has been garnering national attention for its season storyline and this week, Collegehockeynews.com has chosen the Badgers as the national Team of the Week .
The Badgers swept the 16th annual College Hockey Showcase last weekend with a 3-1 victory over Michigan State and a 3-0 blanking of Michigan at the Kohl Center. The victories helped the Badgers reach the .500 mark for the first time this season at 7-7-2, erasing the program's 0-6-1 start.
Since that 0-6-1 start, which included five road contests and seven ranked opponents, the Badgers have gone 7-1-1 with a pair of three-game winning streaks. Since beginning the season 0-6-1 against ranked opponents, including No. 1 Boston College, No. 7 New Hampshire, No. 4 Denver (twice), No. 6/7 Minnesota (twice) and No. 18 North Dakota, the Badgers have skated to a 3-1-0 mark against ranked foes, including No. 18/RV North Dakota, No. 17/RV St. Cloud State and No. 14/15 Michigan.
The Badgers were oh-so-close to winning many of the first seven games as the Badgers held third-period leads in four of the first seven games, but they failed to get over the proverbial "hump."
A five-goal outburst in the third period at North Dakota on Nov. 1 gave the Badgers the jump start they needed and the squad has slipped up just one time since.
The Badgers hope to continue their hot play this weekend when No. 15/RV Alaska Anchorage (7-5-2) visits the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday. The series will end a run of nine consecutive weekends of play for the Badgers and will send the squad into a two-week break before the team returns to action for the Badger Hockey Showdown on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 27-28.
