March 29, 2008
Midwest Regional | First Round
Redemption Song for Badgers
Wisconsin earns improbable shot at Frozen Four against North Dakota

By James V. Dowd

Wisconsin 6, Denver 2
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-UW	Michael Davies (12)	EV
8:59	J. McBain, B. Geoffrion
Second Period
2-UW	Jamie McBain (4)	PP
8:15	J. Engel, K. Turris
1-DU	Dustin Jackson (5)	PP
16:40	J. Martin, T. Ruegsegger
Third Period
3-UW	Cody Goloubef (3)	EV
9:19	B. Street
4-UW	John Mitchell (8)	EV
10:19	B. Grotting
2-DU	Tom May (9)	EV
11:47	J. Martin, A. Maiani
5-UW	Michael Davies (13)	EV
14:38	D. Drewiske
6-UW	Davis Drewiske (5)	EN
17:14	M. Davies
Goaltending
DU: Peter Mannino, 58:16, 20 saves, 5 GA
UW: Shane Connelly, 60:00, 30 saves, 2 GA
Penalties: DU 8/16; UW 9/18
Power Plays: DU 1-5; UW 1-6
Attendance: 9,968

MADISON, Wis. – Imagine experiencing the biggest disappointment of your academic or professional career. Think of flunking an important midterm, losing a huge sale or watching a carefully engineered piece of equipment fail during testing.

Now you know how the Wisconsin Badgers felt after St. Cloud State swept them during the first round of the WCHA playoffs two weeks ago.

But after all the stats, facts and figures had been input into the NCAA tournament selection committee’s mythical algorithm, the Badgers received a new lease on life, a chance to enjoy home ice for the first time since Feb. 16 and left the Denver Pioneers with a summer to experience an even greater disappointment.

“I sensed a team who had a second chance at life,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said after his team suffered a 6-2 loss to the Badgers. "It’s no fun to sit at home after being eliminated after the first round of the playoffs and sit and wait to see if you get the chance to play another game. When you get a second chance like that, you certainly want to make the most of it.”

Heading into the game, Gwozdecky and the Pioneers seemed to have the upper hand after the Badgers sat on the sidelines for 14 days after the St. Cloud losses while Denver continued on to win the WCHA Final Five title.

“I certainly thought that we had at least an edge at least going into the game,” Gwozdecky said. “You get into a routine through six and a half months of playing basically, or at least almost every weekend."

But Gwozdecky’s former college teammate, Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves, was a step ahead of the game, making the first 10 minutes of the game a priority during practice since a sluggish start at St. Cloud severely handicapped his squad. With an early penalty kill, some aggressive physical play and a power-play goal, the Badgers got a lift from the hometown fans and overcame any miniscule amount of rust which might have been left on their legs.

Michael Davies was the unlikely offensive star for Wisconsin in its 6-2 win against Denver.

“It just gives us a boost,” Wisconsin netminder Shane Connelly said. “We talk about this before every home game, getting the crowd into it. We did that, we had an awesome start. We give them something to cheer about, and it might not hurt the other team but it’s a huge boost for us. The fans are awesome.”

While the intimidating wall of red throughout the stands and a large, Olympic-sized ice sheet might normally take a team off of their game, Denver considered it routine.

“For us, this is just another weekend in the WCHA,” Denver’s Andrew Thomas said. “There are so many Olympic-sized ice surfaces in the league that it’s not too much different for us. They are all over the country, whether it’s in Hockey East or in the WCHA or the CCHA. It almost played into our hands, with our speed we’ve played really well Olympic-sized ice this year.”

As the game went on, however, an inspired Wisconsin team continued to feed off of the fans and seized the momentum. Although Denver scored at the 11:47 mark of the third period, bringing the Pioneers back within two, the Badgers jumped back with two late goals to close out the game and secure a spot against North Dakota in Sunday’s regional final.

North Dakota 5, Princeton 1
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-ND	Andrew Kozek (17)	PP
13:39	C. Genoway, J. Marto
Second Period
2-ND	Ryan Duncan (15)	EV
16:18	T.J. Oshie, M. Watkins
Third Period
3-ND	Ryan Duncan (16)	PP
8:13	R. Martens, C. Genoway
4-ND	Ryan Duncan (17)	EN
14:48	T.J. Oshie
5-ND	Chay Genoway (8)	EN SH
16:28	Unassisted
1-P	Cam MacIntyre (13)	EV
19:27	L. Jubinville
Goaltending
ND: Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, 59:58, 38 saves, 1 GA
P: Zane Kalemba, 59:04, 13 saves, 3 GA
Penalties: ND 3/6; P 5/10
Power Plays: ND 2-4; P 0-2

SIOUX POWER PAST PRINCETON

As two of North Dakota’s WCHA counterparts found out on Friday night, the notion that special teams take on an even more pivotal role in the NCAA Tournament certainly rings true this season.

One day after St. Cloud State and Colorado College went a combined 0-for-11 with a man advantage and started their respective summer vacations earlier than planned, the Fighting Sioux went 2-for-4 on the power play and added another goal just three seconds after a Princeton penalty expired in a 5-1 victory over the Tigers.

“You have to find ways to win games at this time of year,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said. “We found a way to win a game and advance and that’s what it’s all about.”

Princeton dominated the early stages of the game, using a strong physical presence to keep the Fighting Sioux from generating the easy chances which can help games get out of hand quickly. But when Tigers’ forward Mark Magnowski was whistled for tripping, North Dakota began to show the first signs of just how deadly its patient and systematic offense can be.

Once the Fighting Sioux successfully gained control of the offensive zone, they worked the puck methodically around the Princeton defenders. Stringing together a pair of passes from Jake Marto to Chay Genoway and then from Genoway to forward Andrew Kozek, who was wide open in the right faceoff circle, North Dakota took a lead which they would never relinquish when Kozek slipped the puck past Tigers’ netminder Zane Kalemba.

While Kozek’s goal was an example of what a deadly power play can do, it was North Dakota’s second goal – seconds after Princeton captain Mike Moore emerged from the penalty box – which showed what would separate the two teams in a game that Princeton outshot the Fighting Sioux 39-18.

 

Goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux made 38 saves to post the victory against fourth-seeded Princeton.

“(The second goal) was unfortunate because they scored on the first power play, and we thought we finally had a pretty good kill,” Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky said.

As Moore skated towards the play from the box, North Dakota forward T.J. Oshie rocketed the puck all the way across the Kohl Center’s Olympic-sized rink to reigning Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan, who was waiting all lone to lift the puck past Kalemba.

Having seen Wisconsin give up 10 shots and a goal to Denver on six Pioneers’ power plays tonight, Hakstol’s squad will undoubtedly be focused on how they can take advantage of Wisconsin’s deficiencies as well. But as Denver learned, the Fighting Sioux must focus on keeping Wisconsin mum on their power plays, as the Badgers’ power-play goal was a huge turning point during Saturday’s game.

“Our penalty-killing style is much different than what our opponents’ style is” Denver coach George Gwosdecky said after the Wisconsin loss. "I think that’s pretty evident. We’re more of a pressure type of in-zone system and when you’re playing on a larger, wider ice surface you have more surface to cover. There were times where we were a little slow reacting to the rotation that we needed. With any penalty kill you look to take advantage of certain areas that they give you and (the Badgers) were very effective at doing that today.”

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE KOHL CENTER

INCH's Three Stars of the Night

3. Michael Davies, Wisconsin Shane Connelly was strong in net for the Badgers, but it was Davies who got the home team on the scoreboard first, and then took Denver out of the game one final time with a breakaway goal in the third period. 2. Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, North Dakota While the Fighting Sioux power play was strong and Duncan stole the show offensively, it was Lamoureux’s consistently spectacular play which kept Princeton out of the game all night long. 1. Ryan Duncan, North Dakota Duncan reminded everyone why he won the Hobey Baker last year, with classic goals from the backside which reportedly have teammates standing and celebrating before they even go in, as they have been such a guarantee throughout his career.

• The Kohl Center concourse was a who’s-who of the NHL scouting world before the game. Mingling outside the press box, a quick glance down the hallway would give you a view of the Coyotes’ Tom Kurvers (the 1984 Hobey winner from Minnesota Duluth), the Thrashers’ Don Waddell (who sparked Northern Michigan’s first Frozen Four trip in 1980), the Ducks’ Dave McNab (a former Wisconsin goalie), the Penguins’ Jason Botterill (who helped Michigan to the 1996 NCAA title), the Wild’s Tavis MacMillan (the former Alaska head coach) and the Blackhawks’ Norm Mciver (the 1986 Hobey finalist from Minnesota Duluth), among others.

One tournament official said there were so many scouts in the building that they had to run off an extra 100 copies of the line charts to meet the demands of the guys with the long coats and clipboards.

• While it is customary for a team to pull their goalie when trailing by a goal or two in the waning minutes of a game, both semifinal games featured an uncharacteristically early exit for the losing teams’ goaltenders.

Trailing 3-0 with nearly six minutes remaining, Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky called netminder Zane Kalemba to the bench in a last ditch effort to generate some offense.

“We were down by three and we are here to win, so we did it,” Gadowsky said.

While Princeton did add a goal in final minute, it was a 5-on-5 goal after the Fighting Sioux scored two empty-net goals while Kalemba spent two separate short stints on the bench.

During the second game, Denver didn’t have much better luck after pulling Peter Mannino with four minutes remaining. Already winning 5-2, the Badgers iced the cake with an empty net goal by Davis Drewiskie.

• If there was anyone who doubted that Wisconsin, with a record one game under .500 heading into this weekend, was undeserving of an NCAA tournament bid, they were proven wrong by the Badgers’ strong performance Saturday.

While this type of criticism of the system is quite common, especially from coaches, players and fans whose teams don’t receive a bid or are sent to a less favorable site for their regional matchup, the jibes thrown Wisconsin’s way were a source of motivation for the Badgers.

“We’ve heard it all week,” Davies said. “We’ve heard it from the press and heard it around the rink. It’s something we try to tune out. But it’s something we try to grab and try to take and motivate us to go out there and play hockey. We’ve got nothing to lose because people already doubt us so we’re just trying to go out there and prove people wrong and have a good run here.”

According to coach Mike Eaves, his team’s showing tonight proves that the mysterious strength of schedule and other components of the selection process have proven an adequate measure of what teams might be competitive in the tournament.

“I think there are people looking at our record and saying we don’t deserve to be here,” Eaves said. “When you see a game like this it speaks to the strength of the WCHA in terms of its level of and the strength of the schedule that we have. If those are the factors in the formula then things are done right … That was solidified by what we did here tonight.”

Ryan Duncan beat Zane Kalemba from a tough angle for his first of three goals Saturday afternoon.

• While he piled up gaudy numbers last year en route to winning the Hobey Baker Award and had notched 14 goals this year, North Dakota’s Ryan Duncan certainly wasn’t flying into this weekend’s matchup after scoring only once in his last 10 contests. He saw two of his teammates earn spots amongst the 10 finalists for the award which he won last season.

With this taste of NCAA Tournament success for the Fighting Sioux and a personal turnaround with his first career college hat-trick, Duncan feels he has turned a corner, and might be better off at the next level for the experience.

“I’ve just been trying to contribute as much as I can throughout the year,” Duncan said. “Obviously the offensive stats haven’t been there compared to last year, but I’m just trying to do everything that I can. I don’t know if you’d say I’m struggling, but sometimes it just doesn’t go in for you. I know players in the NHL go through scoring slumps like that, but I’m just proud I could come out and contribute to this team this afternoon.”

• While Ryan Duncan was reminding people why he won the Hobey Baker Award last year and T.J. Oshie displayed his finalist-worthy offensive skills with two assists on Duncan’s goals, Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux kept pace in the Hobey Baker race at the other end of the ice, making 38 saves during the game.

“I thought Phil (Lamoureux), from the drop of the puck, (was) our stability back there,” Hakstol said. “He made several big saves at key times, as he's done for us all year.”

Heading into this weekend’s regional, Lamoureux was allowing just 1.65 goals per game, and has proven a worthy adversary for every opponent he has faced. His play has been an inspiration to his entire team, and gives them the confidence to create offensively without worrying about stability on the back end.

“He did what he does every night for us,” Oshie said. He's solid all year. I can't remember him having a bad game. It's nice to have him back there. We're confident in him and proud of everything he's done for us."

• For what it’s worth to North Dakota and WCHA fans, this was only Princeton’s second NCAA tournament appearance. In their first dance, back in 1998, they were knocked off by a Marty Turco-led Michigan team which went on to win the national championship.

• While home ice appeared a valuable commodity for Wisconsin in their thumping of Denver, the Kohl Center had been less than kind the Badgers in matchups against Denver prior to this weekend. In 14 previous meetings at the Kohl Center, the Pioneers had amassed a 11-1-2 record.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

After years of incessant NCAA sports ads, the good folks running this regional used the Kohl Center video boards to show replays, promos for other NCAA tournaments and highlights of past Frozen Four action during breaks. Although the decision to show clips from Lake Superior State’s win over Wisconsin in the 1992 title game during the first break of the day seemed like a bit of a shot at the red-clad fans in attendance.

To Kohl Center p.a. announcer Bob Look, who introduced North Dakota’s starting right defenseman as “Robbie Bye-nah.” If you can’t get the pronunciation of a four-letter last name correct, how are you going to handle Lamoureux, Genoway or VandeVelde?

WHAT'S NEXT

Much like Saturday’s Western Regional Final between Michigan State and Notre Dame, Sunday’s Midwest Regional finale brings together familiar foes in Wisconsin and North Dakota.

The two teams split a series at the Kohl Center earlier this season, but had taken opposite directions after that point until Saturday’s similarly dominating performances. Look for continued emphasis on special teams and for the offensive stars on both squads to make a difference.

With hot hands on both sides of the ice, goaltenders Lamoureux and Connelly to make the difference in this contest.

Inside College Hockey's Jess Myers contributed to this report.