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Milewski: Badgers respond positively to ref's mistake with rout of Pioneers (with video of disallowed goal)

Todd D. Milewski  —  1/15/2008 8:20 pm

DENVER -- They all knew it should have been a goal. They didn't need a message from the league to tell them that.

What University of Wisconsin men's hockey players did with the anger and unease they felt after a long night of looking at grainy YouTube replays was the impressive thing Saturday night.

And it's one of the moments you have to log as a potential season-changer.

Wronged by Western Collegiate Hockey Association referee Randy Schmidt's misinterpretation of a video review at the end of Friday's 3-2 loss to No. 3 Denver, the Badgers channeled all that pent-up emotion, which has been building for a couple of weeks, and unleashed it against the Pioneers in the series finale.

A dominating 7-2 victory was the result of the us-against-the-world mentality that took hold with the Badgers in the day after the error potentially cost them a point or two in the ultra-competitive WCHA race.

Badgers captain Davis Drewiske probably didn't have to get as charged up as he did before the series finale. The rest of his teammates all seemed to share the same motivation.

"Just don't let anybody deny us," Drewiske said of the pregame feeling in the locker room. "Let's go out tonight and take care of it, not leave it up to anybody but us."

They learned the harsh lesson Friday that putting things in others' hands doesn't always work out the way you'd like.

Still, it was an embarrassing weekend for the WCHA, which had to admit to a mistake by Schmidt for the second time this season. On Dec. 7, Schmidt counted a Denver goal after a review, even though it was clear that forward Kyle Ostrow interfered with St. Cloud State goaltender Jase Weslosky on the play. The Pioneers won that game by a goal.

Further review of what happened to the Badgers on Friday showed Schmidt's mistake this time was inexcusable.

The overhead camera trained on the goal that the WCHA uses in its review procedure showed Matthew Ford's shot crossed the goal line with around one second left on the clock, then rattled around the back of the net and came out.

The video shows Schmidt signaling for a goal with time still on the clock. Time ran out before the scoreboard operator stopped the clock, and Schmidt went to the replay.

No one who saw that footage on Saturday was denying that the goal should have counted, but it's unclear how much of the replay Schmidt saw in deciding to wave off the goal. One source said the referee looked at only a still picture of the crease area when the clock reached zero. That would have showed the puck back out of the goal, but it also should have showed Schmidt himself pointing at the goal.

UW coach Mike Eaves indicated after Saturday's game that Schmidt had trouble communicating with the video replay operator, who provides the footage that the referee sees.

Still, the whole situation was botched, and Wisconsin was denied the chance to play for a win or a tie in overtime.

Eaves said that Schmidt apologized on Saturday. The league statement acknowledging the mistake and expressing regret came out about two hours before the series finale.

The Badgers then had the task of moving on, and they took it to heart.

"In life, you can't always know why things happen," Eaves said. "And I think that if you're an optimist, things happen for a reason. And we looked at this as an opportunity, for this event of (Friday) night to perhaps be a watershed moment for ourselves in terms of coming together as a group."

Ford watched the television replay that had been posted on YouTube about a dozen times, and came away feeling like he had been robbed in a way different than last weekend, when Colorado College goaltender Richard Bachman was the one doing the thievery.

He said the Badgers just had to let go of what happened and move on to Saturday's game.

"I think we wanted to show what we were capable of," Ford said.

Sometimes, good things come out of bad events. Two seasons ago, the Badgers rebounded from a painful sweep at the hands of Minnesota State to find their stride en route to the national championship.

This UW team isn't in that caliber, but there's enough time left to make the season a success if the Badgers can carry on.

"This could be a turning point in our season for sure," said UW defenseman Kyle Klubertanz, who was plus-5, the highest single-game plus/minus rating for a Badgers player since defenseman Joe Piskula had the same rating on Dec. 30, 2006. "Things happen for a reason, so maybe that was supposed to happen."

When the Badgers had completed their whipping of the Pioneers -- which turned in part because of a review of a first-period Podge Turnbull goal that controversially went Wisconsin's way -- their spirits were as high as they have been in a while.

What a change from the same time the night before.

"Optimism is a wonderful thing," Eaves said. "They responded like we hoped they would. Is this a watershed moment for us? Only time will tell, but certainly we have the wind at our back right now."

BY THE NUMBERS

6:

Multiple-goal games by Wisconsin players this season. Kyle Turris is the first with a pair after scoring twice in Saturday's 7-2 victory over Denver. Josh Engel, Michael Davies, Tom Gorowsky and Ben Street also have recorded a two-goal game this season.

7:

Goals Wisconsin scored on Denver goaltender Peter Mannino in the series. That matches the season high against the senior, who was pulled after allowing five goals in 37:55 on Saturday. Colorado College scored seven times in two full games earlier this season.

3:

Teams tied for sixth place in the WCHA standings with identical 5-8-1 league records. Michigan Tech, Minnesota and Wisconsin all have 11 points. The Badgers play both of those teams in the next month.

48:

League games between Saturday's contest and the last time the Badgers scored seven goals against a WCHA opponent, a 7-2 road victory over Minnesota-Duluth on Feb. 3, 2006.

2:

Shorthanded goals scored by the Badgers this season. Turris scored during a Denver power play Saturday night. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh scored a shorthanded, empty-net goal on Nov. 3.

tmilewski@madison.com

Todd D. Milewski  —  1/15/2008 8:20 pm