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Re: Wisconsin Recruiting Vol. IV - It's all coming together
I would not be overly shocked if any of the other 6 B1G teams that make the tourney wound up in the FF. They're all capable. There's so many more good players in the NCAA as compared to a decade or two ago that it's gotten more like the Bouncy Ball tourney in that the 30th team is still a pretty good team and can realistically upset anyone, anytime.
As for the Badgers, the difference on paper is definitely special teams play, but the difference between the Badgers and the other B1G teams on the ice is that all of them have a couple of really big time players that can take over a game, make a big play, score a PP goal or a shorty or whatever: MI-Hughes, Norris and Lockwood; MI St- KHL; Goofs- Sheehy, Pitlick; OSU- Jobst, Laczynski, Joshua; PSU- Biro, Barrat, Limoges ND- Nardella, Peeke, Burke, (and now Graham)
The kind of guys that as an opposing fan you just hate to see come over the boards, let alone get the puck in the O zone. The Badgers have some good D-1 players but nobody really like that. We just don't have the difference makers, (moreso with Miller out.) Some of the Freshman, or maybe Linus if he gets his hand sorted out, can turn into that kind of player in a year or two. I can see opposing fans hating to see Mersch take the ice as a Junior, for example. Beyond that, the rest of the Badger's team is filled with pretty solid players that play as good or better than the rest of any of the other teams. Which just isn't quite enough to get over the hump.
Next year's class is perhaps all those kinds of big players though. People will be amazed by Turcotte's skill and relentless game, and I'm told by my Canadian friends in the know, that even with all the hype, they believe Holloway will still shock people in the NCAA. The Badgers fortunes are going to rise quickly over the next couple of years as the big difference makers will be on the good guys side of the ice for a change. Get your tickets early.
Originally posted by ExileOnDaytonStreet
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As for the Badgers, the difference on paper is definitely special teams play, but the difference between the Badgers and the other B1G teams on the ice is that all of them have a couple of really big time players that can take over a game, make a big play, score a PP goal or a shorty or whatever: MI-Hughes, Norris and Lockwood; MI St- KHL; Goofs- Sheehy, Pitlick; OSU- Jobst, Laczynski, Joshua; PSU- Biro, Barrat, Limoges ND- Nardella, Peeke, Burke, (and now Graham)
The kind of guys that as an opposing fan you just hate to see come over the boards, let alone get the puck in the O zone. The Badgers have some good D-1 players but nobody really like that. We just don't have the difference makers, (moreso with Miller out.) Some of the Freshman, or maybe Linus if he gets his hand sorted out, can turn into that kind of player in a year or two. I can see opposing fans hating to see Mersch take the ice as a Junior, for example. Beyond that, the rest of the Badger's team is filled with pretty solid players that play as good or better than the rest of any of the other teams. Which just isn't quite enough to get over the hump.
Next year's class is perhaps all those kinds of big players though. People will be amazed by Turcotte's skill and relentless game, and I'm told by my Canadian friends in the know, that even with all the hype, they believe Holloway will still shock people in the NCAA. The Badgers fortunes are going to rise quickly over the next couple of years as the big difference makers will be on the good guys side of the ice for a change. Get your tickets early.
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