A chorus of cheers reverberates throughout the Kohl Center.

The University of Wisconsin men's hockey team has just scored its third goal in less than seven minutes to build a 3-0 lead on Senior Night.

After the celebration settles down, the referee brings the play to center ice for a faceoff.

As the puck is dropped, a man clad in a white sweater over a red turtleneck stands and with a certain, but steady, urgency points to his wife, who throws up her arms.

"One," the crowd shouts.

The man's friend, in rhythm, hoists his arms.

"Two," the crowd responds.

Then his friend's wife pulls out her sign. "Three — We want more."

"One, two, three; We want more," is the chant from the raucous student section known as the Crease Creatures.

Phil Dzick, 64, is semi-retired, religious and attends just about every UW men's hockey, football and men's basketball home game.

He hasn't missed a football game since 1962, and has had hockey tickets since 1973 and basketball tickets since 1971.

While Dzick describes himself as just another fan, he's clearly well-known — especially at hockey games. Dzick — also known as "The Sweater Guy" and "The Sign Guy" by UW fans — has become a student section favorite. Three college-aged girls in the student section could be seen wearing "I Heart Phil" T-shirts at the Badgers' regular-season home finale, and there's a Facebook group dedicated to "Phil (the old guy from the hockey games)."

"The fact that this old guy is so willing to stand up and cheer harder than a lot of the student fans do says a lot about him," said UW junior Ashley Ojala, a former student season-ticket holder. "He probably has the most Wisconsin spirit out of anyone there."

Dzick feels it's up to him — and the UW Band — to get the crowd involved, since there isn't a spirit squad or dance team for hockey.

He does it with simple cheers such as "On Wisconsin," "Let's Go Red" and "1-2-3, we want more."

"It isn't that people won't cheer along with that, it's that they need someone to get it started," said Dzick, who works part-time and is heavily involved with his church when he isn't at UW games.

Dzick's cheering "career" started back in 1981 in Potsdam, N.Y. UW was playing Clarkson in the NCAA tournament at Walker Arena, Dzick recalled, and there were no more than 50 Badger fans in the stands.

Dzick started with a simple, spelled-out word: "B-A-D-G-E-R-S."

That 1980-81 team was called the "Backdoor Badgers," as they somehow got a berth in the NCAA tournament and went on to win their third national title.

This season's UW team also has gotten into the NCAA tournament in somewhat surprising fashion, and faces Denver in an NCAA Midwest regional semifinal Saturday night at the Kohl Center.

"If it matters," Dzick said, "I'd like to think we can make it happen."