Category: Athletics

MILWAUKEE, Wis. ââ?¬â? When choosing superlatives for a college hockey crowd, “classiest” is not always the adjective selected. Roam from rink to rink and invariably there will be moments in the game when you have to turn to your young one and say “earmuffs.”

For all the success the University of Wisconsin athletic teams enjoyed in the past 10 years, from back-to-back Rose Bowl championships in football to an unexpected appearance in the Final Four in men’s basketball, something was missing from those increasingly packed trophy cases.

There was time for one last public give-and-take session between the first family of University of Wisconsin hockey, and as usual, Adam and Nikki Burish did not disappoint.

Brother and sister Adam and Nikki Burish talk with Mark and Teri on Live at Five about their experiences in helping the University of Wisconsin to become the first college in history to capture both the men’s and women’s hockey national titles.(Video.)

After reliving the final moments of Saturday night’s big win, fans were pumped up and ready to greet their champion Badgers at the Kohl Center Sunday night.And while some of these fans may be getting their first taste of Badger victory, others are quick to remind you they’ve been here before.

No championship season is complete without its challenges, and the Wisconsin Badgers had a final one at hand Saturday night that tested the team�s mettle: break convention and come-from-behind to win the national title.

MILWAUKEE, April 8 ââ?¬â? The furious final 15 seconds left Mike Eaves, the Wisconsin men’s hockey coach, stressed and confused.

Boston College swarmed like gnats around the Badgers’ net, trying to tie the N.C.A.A. Frozen Four championship game Saturday night. Wisconsin goalie Brian Elliott might have been the only person at the Bradley Center who did not hear Peter Harrold’s desperation shot hit the right post with two seconds to play. It bounced away, leaving Wisconsin a 2-1 winner.

“We own college hockey.”
With those words, UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez capped off a remarkable period in Badger history.

CULVER — Molly Engstrom, a 2001 graduate of the Culver Academies, realized her dream of playing ice hockey in the Olympics for Team USA. What she hadn’t dreamed was having to play on a fractured ankle.”I took a puck in the ankle two days before we were to leave for Italy,” said Engstom, who was the keynote speaker Sunday at the Culver Academies’ winter sports banquet. “There was talk of not taking me to the Olympics. But there was no way I was going to roll over.”

To ensure he savored every moment of Wisconsin’s sixth NCAA men’s hockey championship, Mike Eaves didn’t leave the Bradley Center ice until he looked into the eyes of each of his players and shared an intimate bond outsiders can’t truly understand.

A proud and storied Wisconsin men’s hockey program that spent the last 15 years in a championship wilderness has come in out of the cold. The Badgers won their sixth NCAA title but first since 1990 by beating Boston College 2-1 Saturday night.

After reliving the final moments of Saturday night’s big win, fans were pumped up and ready to greet their champion Badgers at the Kohl Center Sunday night.
And while some of these fans may be getting their first taste of Badger victory, others are quick to remind you they’ve been here before.

They say to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been.
We know where they’re going – to the national championship game.
But two loyal fans know where the Badger hockey program has been.

13 skaters – that’s how many Badgers were raised here in Wisconsin.
And without them, this season would have looked much different.
Jack Skille’s triple overtime goal against Cornell is just one of many moments made possible by a hometown boy.

MILWAUKEE – In the split-second that it took the puck to travel from Joe Pavelski’s stick to the open spot on the ice where Tom Gilbert was heading, the senior defenseman for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team had time to think about two missed opportunities earlier in Saturday’s game.

“I was just thinking to myself, ‘I am not going to strike out three times,'” he said. “Joe Pavelski made a great pass to me and I just buried my head. I knew the puck was going to go in.”

That it did, giving Gilbert a memory he can cherish forever – and the Badgers their first NCAA title in 16 seasons.

With two brilliant dashes up the ice, one ending with an acrobatic leap and a highlight-reel goal and the other ending with a celebration of another Wisconsin goal, this time from his back side, UW junior Ross Carlson helped lift the Badgers to within one victory of their season-long goal:

An NCAA men’s hockey championship, a prize that has eluded UW’s proud program since 1990.

MILWAUKEE – The shifts were seismic, providing boosts at critical times.Twice Thursday night, the University of Wisconsin was in a precarious situation in a high-pressure environment.

Twice, the Badgers responded with a momentum-changing goal to ignite their team and an already charged Bradley Center audience. The reward? “We get to play in the last game,” Badgers winger Ross Carlson said.

Other teams honored at the White House were the University of Colorado men’s and women’s skiing team, the University of Florida men’s basketball team, the University of Wisconsin men’s cross country team, the University of Portland women’s soccer team, and the University of Washington women’s volleyball team.

There are 13 of them, more than any other season in University of Wisconsin men’s hockey history. They are Wisconsin natives, guys who grew up in places like Antigo, Eau Claire, Hudson, La Crosse, Madison, Menomonie, Plover, Rice Lake, Sun Prairie and Wausau.

They are guys whose grew up following the Badgers, dreaming of the day they would pull on the Cardinal and White sweater and skate in front of their families and friends.

They are guys whose greatest desire is to give the Badgers their sixth NCAA championship, a task that begins tonight when they face Maine in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals at the Bradley Center.

Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott and his teammates had just completed a road-series sweep of North Dakota in early November. Elliott was stopped for a postgame TV interview. When he got to the locker room, goaltending coach Bill Howard had a welcome-to-the-big-time gift waiting: A bag of ice. To wear as a hat. Couldn’t have the kid’s head swelling, Howard figured, although it was mostly in good humor. Elliott, recruited as a last-minute stopgap and relegated to backup status behind an All-American during his first two seasons as a Badger, traveled a humble route to Division I distinction.

It wasn’t the most controversial decision Pat Richter made during his tenure as University of Wisconsin athletic director, but it’s in the top two for sure.In March 2002, Richter hired Mike Eaves as UW men’s hockey coach and immediately created a seismic shift in the emotional plates beneath the storied program.

Sometime late Thursday afternoon, more than 18,000 hockey fans will walk out of the Bradley Center with about two hours to kill before the next game.

The prospect of waves of thirsty and hungry hockey fans looking for bar stools and booths downtown is a problem restaurant and bar owners would love to have every day of the week. What’s even better from their perspective is that the University of Wisconsin is in the NCAA Frozen Four this year. That should guarantee that fans who don’t even have a ticket for the tournament will head downtown just to be part of the action.

Jameson Davis, a reserve defensive back on the University of Wisconsin football team, has been placed in a first offender’s program for six months for his alleged role in two misdemeanors.

University of Wisconsin football player Marcus Randle El will face 18 months of probation after reaching a plea deal Monday in Dane County Circuit Court.

A UW football player will serve 18ââ?¬â??months probation for a runââ?¬â??in with the law last year.

Marcus Randleââ?¬â??El received the sentence Monday for a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

It can be confused for a nasty disposition. Some take it to mean he’s a grumpy person.

Those who have worked closely with Bill Howard know better. Flat out, he’s just demanding.

The expectations are high for the University of Wisconsin goaltenders he has worked with since 1972. He picks apart the playing style of new pupils because he’s confident in the system he teaches.

Mike Eaves has a chance to do what no University of Wisconsin men’s hockey coach has ever done: win the award as the nation’s top coach.

Eaves is one of 11 finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award, earning his way onto the list for taking the Badgers to the Frozen Four. The list of finalists includes those who were coaches of the year in their conference and those who advanced to the Frozen Four.

There were two classic indicators of Brian Elliott’s personality on display Wednesday.

When University of Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves summoned Elliott to share that the standout goaltender was one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award – college hockey’s top individual honor – the junior directed credit for the achievement at the people that play in front of him.

After 25 years of the Crazylegs Classic, race organizers are planning two major changes for the April 29 run.

This year, racers will bypass State Street due to construction on the 300 and 400 blocks. The five-mile course will begin at the Capitol Square and will continue onto Langdon Street, ending as usual at Camp Randall.

When thousands of runners line up next month to participate in Madison�s annual CrazyLegs Classic race, they will see two significant changes.

University of Wisconsin women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson didn’t want the moment to pass without proper respect and introspection. So he took the time to reflect on what was happening before sending his team out to play Minnesota for the national championship Sunday at Mariucci Arena.

“I went out before warmups,” he said, “and sat on the bench by myself.”Alone with his thoughts. “I started looking up in one corner of the rink,” Johnson said, “knowing that the night before I had sent my kids up there. I told them, ‘Go find Grandpa.'”

….There was a close-up camera shot of )Mike) Eaves standing behind the UW bench and he was wearing a whimsical look on his face as the overtime marathon with Cornell progressed Sunday during the NCAA Midwest Regional final at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon. His demeanor seemed out of place given the circumstances of the moment. After all, the tension on the ice was mounting with each scoreless shift.

….According to numbers compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, 16 men’s basketball programs which qualified for this year’s NCAA tournament turned a profit of at least $4 million during the 2004-05 school year….Yet of those 16 programs which raked in the mega-bucks, only Texas ($6.86 million) and Duke ($5 million) advanced past the first week of this year’s NCAA tournament – and the Longhorns are the only one of those cash cows to move on to the Elite Eight.

For what it’s worth, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team turned a profit of $8.11 million – $11.95 million in revenue minus $3.84 million in expenses – a year ago.

….Now that those in the red-sweater crowd have had a week to shake off the ugly way in which the Badgers’ 2005-06 season crashed and burned, should the Badger Nation still have complete confidence in the direction Ryan has his program pointed?

An all-girls club hockey team right here in Madison is on its way to the first round of its National Championships.

Judy Ferwerda coaches the Madison Capitols girls 14 and under team The girls are vying for the top spot in the Midwest Elite Hockey League. Ferwurda says it is no coincidence her girls are headed to their national championships. Teams like the Madison Capitols are essentially feeder programs for some of the nation’s top college hockey teams.

Dear Editor: As a longtime fan and ticket holder for UW men’s basketball, I would like to thank the 2006 team and coaches for a great and entertaining season.I go back to the 1970s as a season ticket holder and I want the coaches and members of this year’s team to know that we fans appreciated their effort and the success they had this season.

Two big changes await participants in this year’s Crazylegs Classic, the Madison tradition that brings thousands of runners Downtown.

Road construction will force the April 29 race to bypass State Street for the first time in its 25-year history.

It only took one hundred total shots and one hundred and eleven minutes of scoreless hockey, but the Wisconsin Badgers men�s hockey team persevered, advancing to the Frozen Four in Milwaukee, Wis.

A Dane County circuit judge ruled March 23 that former University of Wisconsin running back Booker Stanley will stand trial on a variety of criminal charges, including felony second-degree sexual assault.