Minnesota vs. Wisconsin: Border rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin will play a two-game series for the second time this season at Mariucci Arena this weekend. The two schools have met at least four times a year every season dating back to 1969-70. Back on Nov. 11 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., The Badgers won a 3-1 decision to hand the Gophers their first conference loss of the year, but Minnesota salvaged a split the following night with a 4-1 win. All-time, the Gophers hold a 153-84-20 record against Wisconsin with a ledger of 89-26-7 at home. As a top-ten team under coach Don Lucia, Minnesota is 22-9-1 against the Badgers.
About The Badgers: Looking to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time under current head coach Mike Eaves, Wisconsin is heating up at the right time. After losing five straight games from Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, the Badgers have won three in a row, including a win over then-No. 10 Denver, to climb back into the top 25 of the PairWise Rankings. Wisconsin entered last weekend with just one win away from home on the season, but swept Bemidji State on the road with a pair of 4-2 victories. The Badgers are a young team that has only two seniors on the roster. They are led in scoring by sophomore forward Mark Zengerle (11g-33a) and junior defenseman Justin Schultz (15g-27a). Sophomores Michael Mersch (13g-15a) and Tyler Barnes (8g-15a) and freshman Joseph LaBate (5g-15a) each have 20 points or more.
Aside from Schultz, Wisconsin is led defensively by second-year skater Frankie Simonelli (5g-13a), rookie Jake McCabe (3g-6a), and junior captain John Ramage (3g-6a). Freshmen Joel Rumpel and Landon Peterson have played a majority of the time between the pipes. Rumpel has played more minutes, posting a 10-9-2 record with a 2.70 goals against average and a .910 save percentage, but Peterson has started two of the team's last three games. Peterson is 5-6-0 with a 3.02 goals against average and an .896 save percentage on the year.
Chasing The Cup: Minnesota is chasing its first MacNaughton Cup since 2006-07 when the Gophers finished with 39 points at 18-7-3 in the WCHA. This year, Minnesota is 19-7-0 and has 38 points with two games to play. Minnesota Duluth is 16-6-4 and has 36 points and is the only team capable of catching the Gophers. If Minnesota is able to secure two points against Wisconsin this weekend or if Minnesota Duluth suffers, a loss at St. Cloud State, the Gophers will capture their first MacNaughton Cup since 2006-07.
Home Ice: Minnesota has secured home ice and a top-two seed for the WCHA playoffs. Minnesota will host a soon-to-be-determined opponent in a best-of-three series on March 9-11 at Mariucci Arena in the first round of the playoffs. The Gophers are 14-5-0 at home this year and 10-2-0 in home WCHA games (overtime loss to Michigan Tech and a last-minute loss to Colorado College).
The last thing I wanted was for SUCS to win a tourney game and all of the sudden feel like they are worth two craps.
