Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - July 11, 2013

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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In the 1992-93 season, Richter was the team's MVP and fourth-leading scorer with 46 points. He also had a team-high nine power-play goals. stings Coach Sauer as well.'' Jeff Sauer was the head coach who guided the Badgers to NCAA crowns in 1983 and 1990. "We weren't supposed to be there, to be honest,'' Richter said of the '92 NCAA final in Albany's Knickerbocker Arena. "We just had some dumb luck and we were playing well at the time. "Duke (goalie Duane Derksen) was playing great in the nets and we just grinded it out. We were just a better team than anyone thought and we felt, 'Gosh, we have a good chance to win this thing.''' Richter was selected to the NCAA's all-tournament team along with Zent. So, what was it like to regroup for Richter's senior year in 1992-93? Especially since he was coming back as the team captain? "I tried to lead by example in practice and games and, once in awhile, I'd speak my thoughts in the locker room,'' he said. "We had some pretty good guys on the teams in terms of strong leadership. "We just didn't know what we had in terms of our goaltender.'' Taking over for Derksen was freshman Jim Carey from Weymouth, Mass; the top high school goalie prospect in the country and a second-round draft pick (32nd overall) of the Washington Capitols. After getting an early look at Carey between the pipes, Richter said, "All of a sudden, it was like, 'Gosh, this kid is pretty good.' That's half the battle ― having a good goaltender.'' In '92-93, the Badgers finished tied with Minnesota for second in the WCHA behind MinnesotaDuluth. Carey was the Rookie of the Year with a 13-5-1 record in league games and a 2.97 GAA. Richter was the team's MVP and fourth-leading scorer with 46 points. He also had a team-high nine power-play goals. Zent, Andrew Shier, Dan Plante and Kelly Fairchild each had 20 or more goals. 32 » VARSITY JULY 11, 2013 Wisconsin wound up winning at least 20 games for the 13th-straight season. But one loss still haunts Richter in what would be his final skate as a collegian. As a freshman, Richter had helped lead the Badgers past Boston College and Colgate to capture the school's fifth national championship at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Three seasons later, UW got knocked out of the tournament in the same building, allowing Michigan to gain a measure of revenge for a loss to Wisconsin in the 1992 semifinals in Albany. David Roberts sent the Wolverines to the Frozen Four in Milwaukee with a beautiful individual rush that resulted in the game-winning goal on Carey at 1 minute and 35 seconds of overtime. Making the 4-3 loss even more difficult to swal-

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