Just Another Badger Preview

Another week and another opponent to degrade, insult and/or humiliate at my leisure.  This time it's the Wisconsin Badgers.  There's a multitude of hilarious stuff with which to dog the residents of Wisconsin.  Last year I wrote a paragraph or two touting Ed Gein as my favorite serial killer.  Naturally, I was accused of being degenerately morbid and sick for doing it, so a couple of days later I used the metaphor of a Badger vivesection to closely examine their squad ... Eek ... blood and guts!  I've also posted pics of road-killed badgers, I've described the origin of the name badger (old-timey English gentry teasing i.e ... badgering the poor little buggers and then turning them loose for their dogs to chase).

All of those things have been interesting in one way or another (at least to me) but this season I thought I'd talk briefly about some of the past and present things that I've admired about Wisconsin.  So if you'll allow me to bond with a relatively small portion of it's residents I'll get to the hockey stuff.  Hang in there Ronnie Reagan and George Bush lovers ... I will get to hockey.

Madison is a well known liberal bastion in the heartland of America which generally tends to be very very conservative.  My well-documented extreme Marxist views demand that I give the liberal citizens of Madison props for that.  Good on ya's.  Posting the Monty Python Constitutional Peasant scene above is my little homage.  UW graduates some of the most liberally minded lawyers in the U.S. ... Nice.  I feel better here in quite probably the reddest of red states, knowing someone somewhere is doing something to propagate socio-political views that I share.

There are only two other things I've admired about Wisconsin though.  Barb Zarkis and Jen Lawlor.  Barb was a long ago crush from my days in the USAF before I met my wife.  I was head over for Barb at the time.  I just dug the way she pronounced Wiscawnsin.  And she was a redhead.  That was a crazy long time ago though.  But maybe Barbara Zarkis will google her name and find this post one day and remember what an awesome guy I am and send me an email.  You never can tell ... I get hits every once in a while for posting lgvivy ttnbstu sometimes.  If not her, then maybe Jenny Lawlor will do the same.  I had a crush on Jen while I was involved with my last girlfriend a few years ago.  I lost track of her though.  I don't think she'd ever be romantically interested in me but who knows?  She knows I was (and am)"the shit".  We always had a blast together and she said Wiscawnsin too.

Ok that's it.  Everything else about Wisconsin I pretty much hate.  Unless they beat UND.  Then I like them of course.

The bad news for the Seawolves is that Sean Wiles won't be available to help defeat the Badgers this weekend.  He's from Wiscawnsin ya know?  Word on the news last evening was he'll be out 2-4 weeks.  So it's up to the rest of the team to step it up and replace the production he gave the team versus DU.

The Badgers are a single point ahead of the Seawolves in 7th place.  They have 5, we have four.  Three teams we hate are in 1st with 9.  A four point weekend would likely vault either UAA or UDub into the top tier.  No doubt both teams would like that. So once again, the upcoming series is the most important series of the season so far.  I'd love to tell you all about Wisconsin and give you the comparative stats and all that preview stuff but you know what?  Tyler "Seawolves Examiner" Durrell has already done a much better job of it than I could.  Here's some bits and pieces to encourage you to go over there and read the whole thing, you'll be glad you did; I'm glad he wrote it.

They average 3.4 goals a game and 39.4 shots per game.  Fortunately for the Seawolves their power play is struggling at 14%.  Their penalty kill, however, is an impressive 92%.

Junior defenseman Brendan Smith.  Leads the Badgers with 9 points on the year.  Drafted 27th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2007 NHL draft.

 Junior defenseman Ryan McDonagh.  One of the three captains for the Badgers, Ryan has 6 points in 8 games so far this season.

Junior defenseman Cody Goloubef.  Cody leads the Badgers with a +7 rating this season and scored the game-winning goal in both games against UAA last season.

If you take a look over at my "Some Blogs" section to the right you'll see I've added a link to him.  As I notice good stuff, I'll try to remember to link it in any relevant post but I suspect some of you will make it a regular read.

The Badgers overall aren't a huge team.  They're the 32nd tallest and and 29th heaviest team in D-1.  That's enough of a difference to provide a bit of an advantage to the Seawolves.  The last three WCHA series our boys have been able to physically impose themselves on Saturday night versus UND, Minnesota and DU.  I think a big part of that has been essentially that they've worn down each of those teams.  That may be true again this Saturday but it does nothing for Friday night.  And the last three Friday games have all been pretty ugly.  Of course that fact has perhaps been a factor in the good play we've seen in the 2nd games of each series.

So the obvious key seems to me to find a way to maximize the effort on Friday night.  All those things we've seen in 2nd games need to happen in the 1st game this weekend.  The Seawolves need to first and foremost take care of business in their own end.  They need to block shots, they can't lose track of their man, they need to deny 2nd opportunities.  Defensemen and backchecking forwards all need to keep their feet moving and win the battles for loose pucks.  I think good play going forward has to start there against Bucky.

The Badgers are always known for playing it tight in their own zone.  If the Seawolves can match that defensive play then I think they have the transition resources to counterattack effectively.  I know with the puck in the Badger end that the UAA forwards can get a cycle going and possess the puck and gain scoring chances from that but quick transitions and breakouts could very well be THE key, particularly on Friday.

All of Wisconsin's defensemen are talented.  Three 1st round and two 2nd round NHL draft picks are all you need to know really.  They can skate.  They can check.  And they're good positionally.  But perhaps ... just perhaps, the Seawolves can catch them overcommitting and take advantage of it.  50% of their top 8 scorers are blueliners (Smith, McDonagh, Ramage and Golubef).  They all like to get involved in the offense and most of their goals/points haven't come on the power play.  These guys like to go deep.  I'm hopeful the Seawolves can use that to their advantage.

Not to sing their praises too much here.  I think the three WCHA foes the Seawolves have faced are likely superior teams overall to the Badgers.  Perhaps not by much though.  I'd peg Derek Stepan as the most talented forward on the team but there aren't many guys that can be overlooked.  Jordy Murray is no slouch and senior John Mitchell brings a boatload of size and the experience to know how to use it.  Six other senior forwards give them a wealth of WCHA experience which can't be discounted and all seven of those guys have only lost to UAA once during their careers.  But if the Seawolves can upend DU and UND then the Badgers are certainly beatable.

Predictions:

UAA 4 - UW 2 on Friday

UAA 3 - UW 1 on Saturday

And ok ... I lied.  There two something else's I like about Wisconsin.  I like me some cheese.  'Specially some aged extra-sharp black label cheddar.  It's "the kind" ... like the kind I just gobbled up for breakfast in a delicious omelette.  And I love the video below.  If you can sit through either of the vids I posted today and not laugh then I must express the greatest concern for your mental health.