Two things Wisconsin men's hockey fans must know about Denver
After taking down North Dakota, 2-1, the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team punched its ticket to the National Championship game. Hours later, a wild Frozen Four game ended with Green Bay Gamblers' Kent Anderson punching Denver's ticket to their third National Championship game in the last five years. Denver outlasted Michigan, 4-3, in a double overtime game that gives Wisconsin a huge advantage.
The Pioneers' legs have less than 48 hours to recover, something the Badgers must take advantage of on Saturday in Las Vegas. Tired legs for Denver In a tournament like this, there's no time to rest . Each team had well over a week to prepare for the Frozen Four, but the only way to win a National Championship is by winning two games in three days.
That's not completely unheard of, but Denver had to sell out against Michigan just to get to this point. The Pioneers needed over 90 minutes of on-ice time to defeat the No. 1 Wolverines, a team Wisconsin already has a pair of wins over this season.
Sure, Wisconsin needed overtime to defeat Michigan State in the Regional Final, but they had nearly two full weeks to rest up prior to their game against North Dakota. Johnny Hicks is a machine Hicks was in goal for 92:35 as he ended the night with a courageous 49 saves. He may have allowed three goals, but two of those came in the first period.
Knowing that, he allowed just one goal in the final 72:35 and that's a ton of momentum to be carrying into the National Championship game. When his team needed him the most, Hicks was there. Denver's goaltender recorded 13 saves in the second overtime period, which was tied for his highest total of any single period in the contest.