Friday, December 29, 2006

Badger Hockey back in action..

This weekend the Badgers host the Badger Hockey showdown. The four team tournament features #15 Clarkson, #18 Lake Superior State and Providence. At first glance of those teams, you'd think it's a puff tournament, but with both Clarkson and LSS being ranked, this is no easy skate.

Add to that Badgers Jake Skille, Blake Geoffrion and Jaime McBain will be off representing Team USA at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden, and we're talking no easy feat for the Badgers to take the crown at the our tournament, as they usually do.

The thing with these holiday tournaments these days is that any team worth their mettle hosts their own tournament, thus vastly narrowing the competitive pool. The Badger Hockey Showdown used to be fairly big and it used to take place in Milwaukee. I actually went to the Showdown once or twice in high school, when I knew nothing about hockey, just because it was a big deal and it was when we were out of school.

The tournament's back in Madison now and rarely features any recognizable hockey powerhouses. In fact, I'd call it a cakewalk most years, but clearly this year could be (embarrassingly) different.

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