Geoffrion’s game is bridging generations of Badgers
June 16, 2016 | Men's Hockey, Andy Baggot
Successful charity event also a reunion for ’06 title team and many others that came before
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Blake Geoffrion has grand plans for his namesake, but for now he's trying to keep everything as simple as possible.
Fatherhood is like that.
Geoffrion and his wife, Katelyn, had their first child earlier this month and one of the wonderful realities of Blake Madison Geoffrion is that she's a fickle sleeper.
"It will be so much more fun when I can get four hours of rest, you know," her first-time father joked.
Of course, the Geoffrions will be on hand Saturday at 5 p.m. when the third annual Blake Geoffrion Classic will be staged at LaBahn Arena.
Geoffrion, who led the Wisconsin men's hockey team to the NCAA championship game and became the program's first Hobey Baker Award winner in 2010, is hoping his child grows up with the same noble energy as his charity event.
The Geoffrion Classic was introduced as a way of raising funds for the UW Health Burn Center. All proceeds — $55,000 in its debut, $100,000 last year — go to help underwrite one of the 64 verified burn centers in the United States.
The facility has seven beds. One third of the admissions are children.
"The support allows us to achieve our goals: research to improve the care of the patients with burn injuries and team education," said Dr. Lee Faucher, a burn surgeon and director of the unit.
Classic tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for youth (2-18) and seniors (55 and older).
In addition, autographed memorabilia will be available in a silent auction format throughout the charity exhibition game that pits members of the 2006 national championship squad vs. other Badgers greats.
The event headliners to date have been hockey-centric ESPN anchor John Buccigross and J.J. Watt, the former Wisconsin defensive end and one-time budding high school hockey standout who's risen to award-winning, superstar status in the NFL.
• Buy Tickets: Blake Geoffrion Hockey Classic
Someday, Geoffrion said, he hopes to stage the game and have a marquee concert event at the adjacent Kohl Center.
This time, though, Geoffrion said he wanted to shine a light on "the brotherhood, the family, the tradition" of Badgers hockey.
The obvious focus is the 10th anniversary of the famed 2006 club that won the sixth, and most recent, NCAA title in UW history.
The team, which featured 14 Wisconsinites and 11 members who went on to play in the NHL, was acknowledged Jan. 30 during the recently-completed regular season. But the turnout was low mainly because 15 players were still skating professionally somewhere in the world.
Adam Burish, who captained the Badgers from 2004 to '06 and was playing in Sweden in January, said he hopes to have every player from that squad on hand for a three-day reunion celebration as well as the charity game.
When the week began the lone wild card was Joe Pavelski. Ten years after leading UW in scoring as a sophomore center he served as captain and helped guide San Jose to the Stanley Cup Final, where the Sharks lost to Pittsburgh on Sunday night.
"I think his world's probably spinning a little bit," Burish said Monday of his former college line mate.
Most everyone else — including former UW coach Mike Eaves — will be on hand to reminisce about a moment they all cherish.
It will be the first public appearance for Eaves since he was dismissed in March after 14 seasons as the coach at his alma mater. He began his new job as coach at NCAA Division III St. Olaf in Minnesota on Monday.
"I think guys are looking forward to seeing him," Burish said.
Jake Dowell, a junior winger in '06 and one of those still playing at the pro level, credits Eaves with making him the person he is.
"We all have the utmost respect for him and what he's done for us," Dowell said. "He basically chose all my best friends for me by who he recruited with me. It's a pretty special thing we have with the group we all played with."
The reunion includes a golf outing with UW alums on Thursday at Hawks Landing — nearly 100 former players and coaches are scheduled to be on hand — a private gathering at a Lake Wisconsin retreat on Friday and brunch on Saturday at the Madison home of Tom Gilbert, a senior defenseman on the '06 squad who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 NCAA championship game victory over Boston College at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Burish, Pavelski, Gilbert, Dowell, winger Robbie Earl, goaltender Brian Elliott and center Andrew Joudrey — all current or former NHL players — all have homes in the area. They represent the corps of one-time Badgers who work out together daily during the summer with current UW strength and conditioning coordinator Jim Snider.
Dowell spoke in a walkway outside the UW hockey headquarters at the Kohl Center. A workout session had just ended and some of the participants — including Elliott, Gilbert and '06 defenseman Davis Drewiske — strolled by on the way to an auxiliary dressing room.
The walls of the long corridor feature pictures of legendary UW teams and players over the years. One of the larger photos depicts an impromptu photo of the joyous '06 club after its win over BC.
What does Dowell think about when he sees that display?
"You realize how special of a group that is," he said. "I just have an appreciation for what we did together and how close that group was."
Burish, who grew up in Madison and went on to win a Stanley Cup ring with Chicago in 2010, said team unity is evident in an enduring email chain. Most everyone responds to a missive within 24 hours, including the six who played last season in Europe.
"The thing that really surprises me is that over 10 years nobody's missed a beat," Burish said. "It's like nobody's really changed."
Same jokes. Same stories. Same personalities.
"You can still make fun of a guy for something stupid or quirky he did in college and he still laughs about it," Burish said. "All the personalities are there. It's cool."
Ten years is a long time to play pro sports. Burish revealed that's he's decided to retire and is contemplating his next occupation after 416 NHL games with Chicago, Dallas and San Jose.
"Tired body," he said, noting that he's had 13 surgeries since his college career ended.
Dowell, who played last season for Rockford (Illinois) in the American Hockey League, wants to keep playing, but knows his hockey career is in its twilight.
"I haven't figured out what exactly I want to do," he said.
Dowell intends to enroll at UW and finish his degree. Earl and '06 teammates Joe Piskula, a defenseman, and Jack Skille, a winger, are in the process of doing the same thing. Drewiske, meanwhile, graduated from UW last month.
Another returning UW student is Tony Granato, who's taking classes this summer while preparing for his first season as coach of the Badgers.
A major initiative for Granato is reconnecting with all the former UW players and coaches, regardless of era or career duration. In fact, one of his first calls upon taking the job in March was to Geoffrion to see how the charity event could be used to involve and highlight alums.
"He calls me more than my wife," Geoffrion joked.
The outreach helps explain why two former UW greats, Hall of Fame goaltender Mike Richter and winger Paul Ranheim, are making rare appearances in Madison. Players from all three prominent coaching eras — Bob Johnson, Jeff Sauer and Eaves — will be represented in the golf outing.
Granato, a standout center for the Badgers from 1983 to '87, is determined to make everyone who wore a Wisconsin sweater feel welcome.
"The one thing he's poured a lot of energy into is getting the alumni to feel comfortable," Burish said. "It's cool to hear how pumped up and excited he is."
The move to hire Granato and two elite assistants, younger brother Don Granato and long-time confidant Mark Osiecki, came after back-to-back losing seasons. The new staff has generated a heightened sense of optimism.
Dowell said it was hard to see the struggles of the last two years and the resulting change in coaches.
"But if they were going to make a change, this is an incredible group of guys to bring in," he said. "It's exciting to see what's going on here."
