Saturday Night Badger Thoughts....

The Badgers just finished off the Fighting Sioux 1-0 in an extremely gritty game. Quite an effort by UW without Skille, Carlson and Klubertanz.

I was impressed with Jake Dowell this weekend, especially tonight. He was really flying around the ice putting on hits and grinding. His garbage goal was a thing of beauty for those who love the muckers and their hard work.

In my opinion, John Mitchell is in the lineup to stay. I'm shocked to be saying this, but he was really noticeable on the ice tonight, and not just because he is 6'5". Well I guess it is partially because he's so tall...his wingspan allows him to make plays that other guys just cannot. Imagine what he could be like with 25 additional pounds of muscle and a few years of playing experience. I have to admit that I thought he would the 14th or 15th forward for the Badgers with not much chance to play, but I just can't see Bohmbach, Grotting or Bearson ahead of him from what I've seen at this point. Grotting showed nothing tonight that I saw, except for a penalty, nor did Bohmbach. Bohmbach does not skate as well as I thought he would. Bearson must have been the only healthy scratch at forward tonight, and he has only played in one game so far. He has been the biggest disappointment so far (I realize it's early) for the Freshman class. I guess that's in part because he was highly touted several years ago, and verballed three years ago. Some guys just take longer to adjust to the college game, and that may be the case with Bearson.

I didn't notice any defensive breakdowns by Davies tonight...good for him.

Brian Elliott played a great game...he makes every game a potential win for Wisconsin, regardless of how many of their other stars are on the shelf with injuries.

The defensemen redeemed themselves tonight after giving away too many chances last night. Jamie McBain is going to fit in very well. He sees the ice very well and makes some great passes. He also skates pretty well.

The thought of adding Brendan Smith, Cody Goloubef and Ryan McDonagh to UW's defensive core next year is unbelievable....now if the staff can just get a couple more mid/high forwards to add to Turris. They mentioned last night on the telecast that Mark Osiecki had recently spent two weeks in British Columbia recruiting. It's good to hear the staff is doing everything they can to build a pipeline from the BCHL to Wisconsin.