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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Grant Besse let the thought have its due before discarding it all together.
Fresh off his junior season with the Wisconsin men's hockey team, Besse said he weighed the idea of leaving school as an underclassman and turning pro.
An elusive right winger with a gift for scoring goals, Besse was chosen by Anaheim in the fifth round of the NHL Entry Draft in 2013. He had just led the Badgers in scoring for the second straight season, so the idea of him signing with the Ducks was hardly far-fetched.
"Obviously there was a thought about it," Besse said. "Whether or not that opportunity would have afforded itself, would I have taken it? I don't know that."
His personal sense of readiness was complicated by a broader issue.
The Badgers had just completed the two worst seasons in their proud history — 12 wins in 70 games — which led to the dismissal of alum Mike Eaves and his coaching staff.
UW subsequently hired another decorated former player as head coach, Tony Granato, who brought in highly regarded alums in brother Don Granato and Mark Osiecki to serve as associate head coaches.
But a change at the top was no guarantee that Besse's final college season would mean an upgrade in performance.
"It wasn't much of anything," Besse said, ultimately, of his internal debate to turn pro, "but obviously the last two years have been tough, so there was that sense of 'Was next year going to be the same as the last two?' and was that really worth it."
Turns out it was.
"I'm happy with the path that I've taken thus far," Besse said. "I don't really have any regrets."
It's hard to imagine Besse being in a better place.
He leads the Badgers in scoring with 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) in 18 games. At his current rate, Besse will join Steve Reinprecht as the only players in program history to pace UW in scoring three consecutive seasons.
At the moment, Besse is in the midst of an eight-game point streak, tying a career best, and is closing in on 100 points for his 120-game career (38-53-91).
Besse's streak dovetails nicely into his presence in a Big Ten Conference series with seventh-ranked Minnesota Friday night and Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
Besse has scored nine goals in his last nine career outings vs. the Gophers, a spectacular run that has heightened value to a kid from Plymouth, Minnesota.
Most important, though, is the fact the Badgers (10-7-1 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten) have signaled that the rebuild may not take as long as initially thought.
They own victories over 10th-ranked Boston College and 16th-rated St. Lawrence and are vying to be four games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2013-14 season.
Wisconsin currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, power-play conversion percentage and penalty-killing ratio.
Archrival Minnesota (13-5-2, 5-1) comes to Madison owning a six-game winning streak, looking to stress all those areas.
Are the emotions any different preparing to face a long-time rival — the schools have met 278 times since 1922 — as a coach vs. a player? After all, the new UW coaching staff has some distinctive history with Minnesota.
Tony Granato's teams at Wisconsin (1983 to '87) were 8-14 overall vs. the Gophers and had three straight seasons end in playoff losses in Minneapolis. On the flip side, his first collegiate goal came vs. Minnesota on the way to 100 for his career and he finished with 9-10-19 in 20 outings in the series.
Meanwhile, Don Granato and Osiecki were on clubs that beat the Gophers in Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Four playoff title games in 1988 and '90. The latter triumph gave way to an NCAA championship, the fifth in UW history, but the Badgers were 6-15-1 vs. Minnesota from 1987 to '91.
"You don't want to get too wound up," Tony Granato said. "You want to focus on the game as a game.
"The rivalry and the excitement of getting to play the Gophers is great, but it's really important for our team — especially with where we've come — to just focus on what we've done well and focus on the game plan that's at hand."
Besse, an assistant captain and one of four seniors, is expected to help set that tone. Tony Granato said he's emerged as a quality leader alongside sophomore center/winger and captain Luke Kunin and junior center and assistant captain Cameron Hughes.
"He's quieter than I thought he would be," Granato said of Besse, "but when he needs to stand up and say something he's there for you.
"His leadership skills have really impressed me."
Besse will tell you his role is defined by his ability to produce timely offense. Two of his eight goals have held up as the winners and nine of his team-best 14 assists have been primary ones.
Granato called Besse a "tremendous" offensive player, but other details have caught the coach's eye of late.
"I think the past probably eight to 10 games I've seen a dramatic improvement of his play away from the puck," Granato said.
Throughout this season, Granato said he and his assistants have asked Besse to commit to doing things that make his line mates — sophomore center Seamus Malone and freshman left winger Max Zimmer — better.
To that end, Granato noted that UW has scored multiple goals recently because Besse, listed at 5-foot-10 and 187 pounds, has taken punishment in front of the net as the screener of the goaltender.
"Paying a price," Granato said.
As a result, Granato believes Besse, a record-setting goal scorer at Benilde-St. Margaret's (Minnesota) High School, has become a more complete player.
"He's easier to throw over the boards in every situation now," Granato said.
Asked how he knows he's upgraded his game this season, Besse mentioned this development.
"When your coaches trust you to put you out there in all situations," he said.
"I didn't really have that coming in as a freshman and obviously I had to prove that to Coach Eaves. I had to develop that over the last two years.
"With Coach Granato I kind of started back at square one."
The Badgers are 3-7-2 vs. Minnesota during Besse's career, a trend he'd like to address starting this weekend. It helps that he's on a roll.
Over those 12 outings Besse shows 9-3-12 with 42 shots and an even plus-minus rating. He's had the decisive goal in two of the three victories.
Besse said he didn't know his specific stats against Minnesota, but "I know over the last couple years I've done pretty well, though," he said.
UW players and coaches are focused on the task at hand, but Besse allowed himself a look down the road.
Asked if he's maximized his time at Wisconsin, he said yes, citing the fact he's on pace to get a degree in agricultural economics in four years.
"From a personal standpoint, these four years have flown by," Besse said.
As for his playing career?
"There's still a way to go, so there's still time to maybe fulfill some things that I haven't quite checked off while I'm here," Besse said.
Winning a Big Ten regular-season and playoff title are on his list. So is an NCAA championship, which would be No. 7 for the program.
A year after thinking about leaving, Besse is glad he stuck around.
"It's a good spot to be at," he said.
