My pick for 4th place in the WCHA is Wisconsin.
Projected Depth Chart
LW Ross Carlson C Ben Street RW Jack Skille
LW Jake Dowell C Andrew Joudrey RW Matt Ford
LW Zach Bearson C Tom Gorowsky RW Blake Geoffrion
LW Andy Brandt C Mike Davies RW Ben Grotting
LD Jeff Likens RD Kyle Klubertanz G Brian Elliott
LD Matt Olinger RD Jamie McBain G Shane Connelly
LD Joe Piskula RD Nigel Williams
Strengths:
Getting Brian Elliott back in goal was huge for Wisconsin. Shane Connelly has a year of experience under his belt and should be more ready to play if he has to again this season. Wisconsin is going to need to rely on their defense to win games this season because they’re severely lacking in offense. The defense lost their best player in Tom Gilbert, but they’re still a solid group that should provide good protection.
Weaknesses:
The Badgers have lost their top 5 leading scorers from last season. Jack Skille looks like he’s blossoming into an elite player. They’ve some hard-working grinders like Dowell and Joudrey, but they’re not going to be consistent scorers.
Question Marks
Do the Badgers have a top line center? I picked Ben Street, who had a solid year last season, but the Badgers will somebody to step into that role. Can Brian Elliott win the Hobey? I think it's doubtful because Wisconsin won't be as dominant as they were in the first half of last season.
Overall:
This could be a bit of an ugly year for the Badgers. Even if they do finish fourth, which is the highest I think they could finish, they’re going to have to do it with ugly, boring trapping hockey. Their defense isn’t overwhelmingly good, but they’ve got some good defensive-minded forwards that should help their team defense. I see them winning a lot of 2-1 and 1-0 games this year.
Key Player: Jack Skille. Skille started to show some flashes of brilliance at the end of last season. With Robbie Earl and Joe Pavelski gone off the top line, a lot of the scoring responsibility will fall on Skille’s shoulders. He was impressive at Chicago’s prospect camp, and will be playing to earn the rookie maximum contract with the Blackhawks next season.
Breakout Player: Tom Gorowsky. Gorowsky had an impressive junior career, winning Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey award and being picked first overall in the USHL Entry Draft, and having an impressive USHL career. But he struggled to find his way into the lineup last year, only playing 18 games, and registering two assists. He should see more consistent ice time this season that will allow him to showcase his talent a little better. Wisconsin will be desperate for scorers this season, and Gorowsky has proven he can do that in the past.
Bellwether: A good indication of how the Badgers are playing is the number of shots that their defenseman block. When they were at their best last season, their defenseman did an excellent job of holding the opposition to the perimeter and blocking a lot of shots in front of Brian Elliott. When they played poorly, a lot of shots were getting through to Elliott, causing a lot of scoring chances.
Did You Know?
Ross Carlson, from Duluth, is the Badgers leading returning scorer this season. If he leads the Badgers in scoring, he will be the first Badger that did not come from Wisconsin or Alberta to lead the Badgers in scoring since Brad Englehart in 1996-97.
Madison is considered the birthplace of the Progressive Party thanks to Governor/Senator Robert LaFollette. LaFollette’s magazine The Progressive, is still published in Madison today.
Comedian Chris Farley hailed from Madison.
If You Go There
You Have to Eat At: Anywhere that serves bread. Because you’re probably going to be drinking a lot of beer.
You Have to Visit: State Street, which leads from the campus to Capitol square and is lined with various shops and restaurants.
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6 comments:
I got $20 that says a bunch of drunkin sconi's cry and bitch about how low they are ranked in your analysis. I think your opinion is right on so far with the first 4 teams. Elliot is there only chance, and the only reason they won last year.
Some Points:
1.) Licari graduated
2.) 4th is where I have them pegged, slow start, but should be able to come on strong as the seasons progresses.
3.) the top 4 in the WCHA could end up in any order, and it's possible for SCSU to sneek in there.
4.)corrections to your projected lines/depth chart
LW Ross Carlson C Andrew Joudrey RW Jack Skille
LW Jake Dowell C Ben Street RW Matt Ford
LW Zach Bearson C Blake Geoffrion RW Tom Gorowsky
LW Mike Davies C Andy Brandt RW Ben Grotting
LD Jeff Likens RD Kyle Klubertanz G Brian Elliott
LD Josh Engel RD Jamie McBain G Shane Connelly
LD Joe Piskula RD Nigel Williams
5.)There are a NUMBER of holes in the UW line-up and Eaves is well known for shuffling his lines and D pairs to find combinations that work so even the unlisted players will have an opportunity to make an impact and see plenty of ice time.
Hey anonymous #1, this time last year when everyone was making pre-season predictions, most people thought Wisconsin would be pretty solid going into last season except they had an unproven goaltender, remember. Actually, this drunkin Sconni agrees with most of Chris's analysis except for the fact that yes, the offence is unproven, but will a couple of guys step up this year just like Elliott did last year when he was "unproven"? The D should be in the top 2 or 3 in the WCHA and Elliott will be one of the best goalies in the nation. I think Wisconsin will be in the mix at the end of this season.
Now, where did I leave my thinner?
Yeah, Nashville reportedly wants Geoffrin playing center because of a lack of depth in their organization.
From the limited work that Elliott had going into lasy year, it was clear that he could be a good colegiate goaltender. How good and would he be able to handle the pressure of being the #1 guy game in and game out were the questions last year.
This year there are 6 forwards who are proven WCHA performers returning and if they can step up offensively because they were never asked to carry the offensive load before but they are proven players who know the system, it's the question of how quickly the incoming freshmen adapt and adjust to the college game that will determine how this season goes for the Badgers.
I agree with most of what you said Chris.
UW, talent-wise, probably has about the 3rd or 4th best D-corps in the league, but they far and away play the best as a unit, as was proven last year. They lost 1 Dman (although their best) and bring in 2 studs.
I don't think Elliott will put up quite the numbers he did last year, but it's definitely possible with this unit and how well they play together. If Elliott's numbers are as good as last year, they'll be just fine. (;
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