March5-11 Tenth-seed Wisconsin (16-16-2, 11-15-2 WCHA) travels to third-seed Denver (21-11-4, 16-8-4 WCHA) for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The winner of the best-of-three series advances to the 2012 WCHA Final Five, March 15-17 in St. Paul, Minn.
Wisconsin has played in 13 of 19 Final Fives, last skating at the 2010 event and placing third.
Friday’s game begins at 8:30 p.m. CT, while Saturday and Sunday’s games are 8 p.m., starts.
The Badgers split last weekend at Minnesota, taking a 4-1 victory on Friday night, before falling 2-1 on Saturday. Denver posted a road sweep over Nebraska Omaha, winning 3-0 on Friday and claiming a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday.
SERIES: Wisconsin leads 74-57-11 (Leads 37-26-5 in Denver) LAST MEETING: The teams split, with the Badgers falling 3-0 on Feb. 17 at the Kohl Center, before taking a 5-2 victory the next night. Sophomore Michael Mersch had a goal and two assists to lead the way for the Badgers. SERIES NOTES: The games will mark the 143rd, 144th and possibly 145th meetings in the series ... Denver head coach George Gwozdecky is a former Badger and was a teammate of UW head coach Mike Eaves during UW’s 1977 NCAA title run ... the Badgers are 3-2-2 against Denver since the start of the 2009–10 season, but 10-19-4 in the Eaves era against the Pioneers ... the teams last met in Denver on Oct. 22-23, 2010, with the Badgers falling in the first game, then tying the second ... the teams have met three previous times in the first round, with the Badgers sweeping all three prior series (1984 and 2001 in Madison; 2007 in Denver) ... UW is 12-1-0 all-time in the postseason against Denver (WCHA and NCAA)
Game Notes Complete men's hockey game notes in printable PDF format.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER • Wisconsin enters as winners of four of its last five games.
• This weekend is the third consecutive on the road for the Badgers. They are 3-1-0 during the past two weekends on the road after going 1-8-1 on the road this season prior to the current stretch.
• Sophomore forward Mark Zengerle (Rochester, N.Y.) had points on all five goals the Badgers scored last weekend in a split at Minnesota (4-1, 1-2). Zengerle had a goal and three assists in the Friday game and an assist on Saturday.
He ranks fourth in the nation with 49 points and a 1.44 points-per-game average, and is tied for the national lead with 37 assists and a 1.09 assists-per-game mark.
• Sophomore forward Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.) put together a career-long four-game goal-scoring streak with a goal last Friday at Minnesota, but saw the string end with a goal less outing on Saturday. Mersch did collect an assist Saturday to extend his point-scoring streak to five games (4g, 4a). The streak matches his career-long five-game streak he had earlier this season (Oct. 28-Nov. 11).
Mersch now has 14 goals and 30 points on the season to rank third on UW after posting eight goals and 19 points as a rookie. His 14 goals ranks second on UW.
• Sophomore forward Tyler Barnes (Eagan, Minn.) and junior forward Ryan Little (Fond du Lac, Wis.) ended extended goal-scoring drought’s last Friday at Minnesota.
Barnes actually opened both games of last weekend with the first goal. Friday’s tally was his first since Jan. 21 against Alaska Anchorage, a span of eight games. He had seven goals through his first 16 games, then scored just once in the next 16 games, before tallying twice over the weekend.
Barnes is one of four Badgers with at least 10 goals and ranks fourth on the team with 25 points.
Little scored his first goal since Oct. 19 against Nebraska Omaha, a span of 18 games, and posted his second multi-point game of the season, which included his first game-winning goal of the season and second of his career, on Friday.
Little, who was playing his first game of the season on UW’s top line, had the primary assist on UW’s first goal on Friday, then gave the Badgers a 2-0 lead in the second period with his third tally of the season.
Little’s two-point game gave him three goals and 10 points on the season.
• Wisconsin had scored four or more goals in each of its games during its four-game winning streak, scoring 17 goals and allowing just seven during the streak. That marked the second time this season UW strung together at four games with four or more goals. UW went four games (Oct. 21-29) with at least four goals in a game.
• The Badgers have allowed two goals or less in each of their last five contests.
• Wisconsin’s senior class, which includes defenseman Eric Springer, ranks last in the nation (58th) in scoring with five points. UW’s sophomore class, led by forward Mark Zengerle’s 49 points, ranks as the third-highest scoring group of second-year skaters with 153 points and a 4.50 points-per-game scoring mark.
Wisconsin’s juniors are tied for 26th in the nation in scoring (72 points), while UW’s rookies share 30th in the nation (55 points). Ten of Wisconsin’s top 14 scorers are either sophomores (six) or freshmen (four). The other four are juniors.
SCHULTZ FOR HOBEY • Junior Hobey Baker Memorial Award candidate Justin Schultz (West Kelowna, British Columbia) has 15 goals on the season and 39 for his career. He ranks ninth all-time in WCHA history in career goals for a defenseman and third in UW history, two goals out of eighth and second, respectively. Schultz’ 15 goals and 42 points are tops in the nation among defensemen. He is 17th in the nation among all skaters with a 1.24 points-per-game scoring average, while his 42 total points are tied for 12th in the country.
Junior defenseman Justin Schultz became the first Badger defenseman to reach 100 career points since Brian Rafalski in 1994–95 with a four-point effort on Jan. 6 against RIT. Schultz’ 35th career goal got him to 100 points. Schultz now has 111 points to rank ninth all-time for UW defensemen and 39 career goals, which ranks third in UW history for defensemen.
Schultz is the 12th UW defenseman to reach 100 career points and the sixth to do so in three seasons or less (Craig Norwich, Sean Hill, Bruce Driver, Tim Thomas, Theran Welsh - two seasons). He’s the 70th Badger all-time to reach 100 points.
Rk.
Defenseman
UW Years
Career Points
1
Theran Welsh
1977-81
228
2
Craig Norwich
1974-77
168
3
Tim Thomas
1981-86
154
4
John Taft
1972-77
131
5
Sean Hill
1988-91
129
6
Paul Stanton
1985-89
115
7
Bruce Driver
1980-83
114
8
Norm McIntosh
1974-78
113
9
Justin Schultz
2009-
111
10
Rob Andringa
1987-91
104
11
Bob Suter
1975-79
103
Rk.
Defenseman
UW Years
Career Goals
1
Craig Norwich
1974-77
42
2
Tim Thomas
1981-86
41
3
Justin Schultz
2009-
39
4
John Taft
1972-77
36
5
Sean Hill
1988-91
35
• Schultz is the third Badger in head coach Mike Eaves’ 10 seasons at Wisconsin to have back-to-back 40-point seasons with 47 last season and 42 so far this season (Forwards Joe Pavelski and Robbie Earl are the only others to do so - 2004-06).
• Schultz leads the Badgers with 15 goals and could become the first defenseman in school history to lead the team in goals at the end of a season.
• Schultz has been on the ice for 68 of Wisconsin’s 101 goals, 27 of the UW’s 33 power-play goals and 10 of the squad’s 16 game-winning tallies.
• Led by junior defenseman Justin Schultz’ 15 goals and 42 points, Wisconsin’s defensive corps ranks second in the nation with 29 goals. Only Quinnipiac’s total of 32 goals from the blue line is higher. UW’s defenseman rank fourth in the nation with 89 points and a 2.62 points-per-game scoring mark. Michigan’s defense leads with 98 points and a 2.72 points-per-game scoring average.
• Wisconsin returned its leading scorer in junior defenseman Justin Schultz (West Kelowna, British Columbia). Schultz, a top-10 Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist in 2010–11, as well as the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year last season, scored 18 goals and 47 points to lead all defensemen in the country.
Schultz is the first non-goaltending Badger All-American to return to the UW since defenseman Jeff Dessner and forward Dany Heatley played for the Badgers a season after earning 2000 All-American honors. Goaltenders Brian Elliott (2006–07) and Bernd Brückler (2004–05) returned for their senior seasons after earning first-team All-American honors in 2006 and 2004, respectively.
ZENGERLE FOR HOBEY TOO? • Sophomore forward Mark Zengerle shares the national lead with a 1.09 assists-per-game mark and 37 helpers. He ranks fourth in the nation with a 1.44 points-per-game scoring average. His 49 total points are also fourth in the country.
Zengerle’s 49 points are the highest total in the nation for anyone not a senior.
• With one more point, Zengerle will become the seventh Badger in Mike Eaves’ 10th season as head coach to score at least 50 points, joining Joe Pavelski (56) and Robbie Earl (50) in 2005–06 and Derek Stepan (54), Michael Davies (52), Brendan Smith (52) and Blake Geoffrion (50) in 2009–10.
• Zengerle has 37 assists on the season and is the second forward and fourth player in UW history to have at least 30 assists in his first two years as a Badger. Zengerle had 31 assists as a freshmen.
30 Assists in First Two Seasons at Wisconsin
Name
Years
Fr.
So.
Theran Welsh, D
1977-79
45
54
Mark Johnson, F
1976-78
44
38
Chris Chelios, D
1980-82
43
32
Mark Zengerle, F
2010-12
31
37
• Freshman goaltender Joel Rumpel (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) posted his second shutout of the season on Jan. 20 against Alaska Anchorage. He's only the second UW freshman goaltender to record two shutouts in a season.
Freshmen with Shutouts (Since 1963-64)
NAME
YEAR
SO
Joel Rumpel
2011-12
2
Shane Connelly
2005-06
1
Bernd Bruckler
2001-02
1
Graham Melanson
1997-98
1
Jim Carey
1992-93
1
Curtis Joseph
1988-89
1
Duane Derksen
1988-89
1
Mike Richter
1985-86
1
Terry Kleisinger
1980-81
2
Roy Schultz
1978-79
1
Dick Perkins
1971-72
1
INDIVIDUAL IMPROVEMENT • Sophomore center Mark Zengerle scored five goals out of 36 points as a rookie, taking a total of 60 shots the entire season (just under 1.5 shots per game). In 2011–12, Zengerle has fired 87 shots in 34 games (2.56 shots per game) to rank second on UW in shots on goal. He ranks third with 12 goals.
• With Wisconsin relying on new faces for offensive output, it comes as no surprise various Badgers have surpassed their goal or point totals from 2010–11.
Name
2011-12
2010-11
Mark Zengerle
12-37=49
5-31=36
Michael Mersch
14-16=30
8-11=19
Tyler Barnes
10-15=25
5-12=17
Frankie Simonelli
5-13=18
2-9=11
Derek Lee
4-7=11
3-14=17
Keegen Meuer
7-4=11
1-2=3
Jefferson Dahl
4-5=9
3-3=6
Eric Springer
1-4=5
0-2=2
Joe Faust
2-3=5
1-1=2
SPECIAL TEAMS • UW’s penalty kill struggled to start, beginning the season at a 67.5 percent clip (27-for-40) in the first nine games, then went on a 12-game stretch where things improved, with the Badgers going 85.7 percent (42-for-49) on the penalty kill. A six-game stretch followed in which the Badgers went 59.1 percent on the penalty kill (13-for-22), but the UW is perfect in five of its last seven games on the kill.
The Badgers rank last in the WCHA with a 75.2 percent kill (97-for-129) overall and at 73.8 percent (76-103) in league games.
Denver owns the WCHA's top power play.
• UW’s power play ranks fourth in the WCHA at 21.4 percent (33-for-154) after going 3-for-8 at Minnesota. The Badgers sit eighth at 19.1 percent (22-115) in WCHA action.
ODDS OF WINNING • Scoring four goals is the magic number for Wisconsin. The Badgers are 12-1-0 when reaching the mark and 0-9-0 when allowing four goals in a game. Scoring at least three goals for the Badgers has been pretty successful, as well. The UW sits 15-2-2 when scoring 3+ goals.
• The Badgers had their first sellout of the Kohl Center in the 2011–12 season on Saturday, Feb. 18 against Denver. The total of 15,325 marked the school’s 41st sellout at the Kohl Center and helped the Badgers up their season attendance average to a national-best 11,773.
• The Badgers have led the nation in attendance for all 14 years in the Kohl Center and for 38 seasons all-time.
UP NEXT • The 2012 WCHA Final Five takes place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., from Thursday, March 15 to Saturday, March 17. The Badgers will play in it if they win this week's best-of-three series at Denver.
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