Wisconsin men’s hockey head coach, Tony Granato has led his team to an impressive 2-2 start this season, giving Badger fans hope that the team could make a splash in the Big Ten conference this season.
The Badgers have split both of their two series this season, once at a neutral site against Northern Michigan and once at home against the sixth-ranked Boston College Eagles. With two wins just four games into the season, it marks the fastest Wisconsin has got to two wins since the 2013-2014 season. In 2014 it took 15 games to tally two wins and in 2015 it took eight.
As a even .500 team, Badger fans are starting to gain more hope that Wisconsin can keep winning and transfer their non-conference play into Big Ten competition, which does not begin until early December. Wisconsin has finished dead last in the Big Ten standings two years in a row.
Granato says that despite their recent history, this Wisconsin team is built to win games with their ability, “We have more skill in the program right now than I expected or (more skill) when you watched film from last year that you didn’t see.”
The issue in the two losses for the Badgers has not been their offense. They have tallied 16 goals over the four games, not including a combined 14 goals that were scored during two exhibition games against Victoria and the U-18 National Development Team. Leading the way in points is sophomore Seamus Malone and freshman Trent Frederic who each have six points.
Malone, who was hurt in the Badgers 4-3 exhibition win last Friday over the National Development Team is practicing this week and expected to play in the team’s weekend games.
For Wisconsin to succeed moving forward into November and eventually Big Ten play, Granato will continue to rely on his special teams. “We have to be good in both special teams to have success this year and the penalty killers, I think the willingness to block shots, that for me is what it takes to have a good PK (penalty kill)”. Granato said.
The Badgers power play has scored half of the team’s 16 goals. More impressively, the Badgers penalty kill has only allowed two goals on a staggering 23 attempts. Granato cited sophomore Jake Linhart as a key player on the penalty kill unit who gets in shooting lanes frequently and “eats pucks.”
Regardless of special teams, Wisconsin’s defense has struggled this season, allowing 17 goals and requiring the team to put up five or six goals in order to win games, a trend Granato says has to stop.
“Were trying to play aggressive offensively, we want to be a team that can get up on the rush, make plays. We are not going to be a boring, sit-back just defend type of game,” Granato said. “It’s a more aggressive way to play defense. It doesn’t just fall on the defense, I’ll say it over and over; our forwards need to give our defense more support.”
Big Ten opponents are put on hold for the moment as the Badgers head to New York this upcoming weekend to take on St. Lawrence in Canton, New York and then Clarkson in Potsdam, New York the next day. Wisconsin will then return home and have another series against Northern Michigan at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin opens up Big Ten play with a series at Michigan on December 9, 2016 with aspirations of a regular season championship.
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