Sunday, January 27, 2008

Badger Update

The Badger Men secured a 3-1 victory Friday and came from behind for a 2-2 tie on Saturday to earn 3 of 4 points available on the weekend. I was able to catch most of both games via television and thought the team looked pretty good this weekend. Friday the Badgers dominated the game physically and they certainly did not back down Saturday when the Gophers came out and played about as well as they can play, according to Don Lucia. I think the forward lines may finally be settled. The first two lines have the ability to put the puck in the net, while the third and fourth line will notch a goal here and there. It was nice to see offensive contributions coming from a lot of different players and different lines on the weekend, including the defensemen.

News of defenseman Patrick Wiercioch's verbal is great news for the Badgers. Landing Derek Lee for next season would also be an even bigger boost as UW has had far more trouble landing elite forwards than defensemen. That being said, I think the group coming in at forward over the next few years should help the offense continue to improve. It won't take the offense to elite status, but I think it will keep the offense on an "upward trajectory".

The Badger Women had a great weekend defeating St. Cloud 4-1 on Friday, 4-0 on Saturday and they set a new NCAA Women's Hockey attendance record with 5,377 fans in attendance.