Badger Men's Hockey

Went to another Badger game Saturday night and this game was more than worth our while.

The Badgers beat the Michigan Tech Huskies 6-0 and finally looked like they had some life.

We had pretty good seats, so I took a bunch of pictures. Considering how fast hockey is, how new I am and that we were in the stands, I was pretty impressed with the number of goal shots I got.

Check out the slideshow here

On the weekend, our defensemen notched 14 points. Prior to this weekend, we would have been happy if our WHOLE TEAM or just the offense had that many points, so it was nice to see guys like Jamie McBain step up and show that this team isn't totally dead, yet.

While walking the hallways of the Kohl Center, I saw Podge Turnbull in his suit, not dressed for the game for what coach Mike Eaves said was 50-50 because of injury and because of on-ice play. He was bitching to someone about how he wasn't happy about the situation and it was tough to not break in and tell him to suck it up and start playing with some passion and skill if he was so upset. You'll be happy to know I kept my mouth shut, not embarassing myself or the boyfriend.

On the ice, the Badgers showed signs of life and won their third straight. They also managed to find an answer for two of the glaring problems early in the season. We scored five power-play goals and managed not to let down in the third quarter.

Before I mention anything else, the absolutely stellar play of keeper Scott Gudmandson has to be mentioned. We were on his end for two of the three periods and he made some saves that were just jaw-droppingly good. I haven't been too impressed with his play prior to Saturday, but he had 34 saves and got his first career shutout and the Badgers first shutout in almost a year - since Nov. 9 of last year.

The Badgers were 5-for-7 on the power play, or just over 71%. On the season, we're 14-of-71 for about 23%.

The last time Wisconsin scored five PP goals? 1995! And even then, we were 5-for-11 on the PP - the fact that we converted SO many Saturday night was just plain stunning.

My favorite part was watching the Huskies on PP. I'm not that mean - it wasn't my favorite because they were bad, but because their PP reminded me of the Badgers at times in the past. What was great about it is that it was nothing like how we were on Saturday night. The dichotomy was great in my mind and gave me a little bit of hope. The Huskies were slow and tentative and looked like the Badgers have at times in the past. They barely got shots off, there was no urgency and a few times I forgot they had a PP going, that's how bad it was.

Edit:

I almost forgot to mention something and then I was reading the Badger thread at USCHO.com and was reminded.

Keep an eye out for freshman Jake Gardiner. He's a freshman and was incredibly impressive Saturday on his skates. He out-skated everyone on the ice. He's crazy quick and he's got six assists already and it would seem it's only a matter of time before he nets his first goal.