W
hether the speaker was Mark
Zengerle, the gifted scorer on
the brink of a career milestone,
100 points; or Jake McCabe,
the captain of the gold medal
winning U.S. junior team; or John Ramage, the
owner of back-to-back game-winning overtime
goals at Minnesota State, there was no ambiguity on the turning point to the Wisconsin men's
hockey season.
"I would say it was that
weekend in Denver,'' said
Zengerle, the junior forward from Rochester,
N.Y. "I wasn't playing, I
was watching (because
of an injury), and we got
three of four points. That
was the turnaround.''
"We could have easily
taken four points at Denver but they scored a late
goal, kind of a fluky goal
(in the opener),'' agreed
McCabe, the sophomore
defenseman from Eau
Claire, Wis. "The Denver
series was definitely the
turning point.''
"To go into Denver and take three points was
huge,'' acknowledged Ramage, the senior defenseman from St. Louis. "Ever since then, we haven't
looked back. Of late, we have great confidence and
we're excited to play every weekend.''
Going into that Denver series on Nov. 30, Wisconsin was searching for answers and an identity after struggling to a 1-7-2 record in its first 10
TIMELINE OF A TURNAROUND
OCT. 6: Badgers skate in first official
practice, then win 5-0 over the U.S.
Under-18 Team that night in exhibition
game. Frosh forward Nic Kerdiles is
not in the lineup against the team he
played for last year.
OCT. 8: It is announced
that Nic Kerdiles has been
ruled ineligible for the
entire season by the NCAA
for violation of its amateur
rules. He will also lose a
year of eligibility.
28 ยป VARSITY
JANUA RY 31, 2013
OCT. 12-13: Wisconsin
is swept by Northern
Michigan at the Resch
Center in Green Bay,
Wis., to open the season.
OCT. 21: S
Lee crashes
to miss UW
OCT. 19: The decision on Kerdiles an
Wisconsin's appeal regarding his amate
status changes NCAA's withholding pen
to 30 percent of the season, or 10 gam
He will be able to make his college deb
for the Denver series that begins on Nov
