Wisconsin Badgers Sports Overview - School Year 2014-15

Just kind of want to get this out before the school year starts again.  A look back at this last school year's sport season. It's been an amazing season for the Men's Basketball and Women's Hockey teams this past year. Men's Hockey team it has not. So here is a walk down memory lane...

Badgers Men's Basketball.  It was quite the season this year for these guys! The first number one seed spot in the rankings in the UW-Madison school's history, making the final four again for a second year in a row, beating Kentucky then moving on to the NCAA's March Madness Finals in a long time since 1941 one in the school's history! Just writing this out makes me feel like I am writing out a fictional movie plot to send off to Hollywood to see if I can make a movie out of it. It's surreal to write this all. I am proud of this team, and coach Bo Ryan for all they have done this year. It's honestly one of the most real examples when you think of hard work and dreaming, can we make this into a Disney movie now? But the main point this is what hard work and drive look like. It inspired me, and for sure future generations of Badgers to come. Even though we did not win the NCAA Final against Duke, we won second place. If this was the Olympics we would have gotten the silver medal, so not bad. ;)

We BEAT Kentucky! 

Badgers Men's Hockey. I am right now to start this off with a bright note, the Badgers honored the late Bob Suter on their jerseys with a patch on them dedicated to him. Also I was also glad to catch the majority of the men's home games in person too. But here is the thing, this season was a real dud. As much as I LOVE Badger hockey, this had to be said. This season did not go well for them at all. They finished last in the B1G conference. (I personally do not feel like this whole creating a B1G conference for hockey was a such a good idea, bring WCHA back for the men... -- oh okay, saving this for another day). But, I personally think that maybe an factor. The whole this is a young team excuse does not cut it for me. Alright, I digress. With this season not going well for the men's hockey I feel like they have lost the majority of their fan base, until Boston University and the Minnesota Gophers showed up to town. But again that is old rivals and that is self explanatory. But fans who made it to those games found out, that this season did not go well for these guys. Lost after lost. I have remained by their side as a true fan and haven't left them yet. Not sure how everyone else is feeling about them. But there have been reports about fans leaving their side and also big names from the team have left, but no one have been reporting it in the state of Wisconsin or down here in Madison. Men's hockey, in all honesty why aren't you getting your shit together yet?

A Gopher fan on Twitter complaining about the 

lack of interest down here in Madison.

Badgers Women's Hockey. It was an amazing season for these ladies! I am glad I got to witness the majority of the home games in person for it. These girls played at one hundred and twenty percent! They had fire in their eyes and they had their hearts set on the prize. Main goal was to win an other NCAA Women's Hockey championship, but that did not happen they ended up falling to the Minnesota Gophers in the final four game which lead them to getting third place. Again, if this where the Olympics we would have gotten a bronze medal, so again it's an amazing finish to the season! I am so proud of these girls for what they have accomplished this season, and cannot wait to see what they do in the future. Speaking of the future -- Blayre Turnbull has signed a contract with the CWHL (Canada's Women Hockey League) to be apart of the Calgary Inferno. Good luck to Turnbull and the other girls who have graduated this year with their futures.

 Members of the University of Wisconsin - Madison's

Women's Hockey team kissing the Natty.

Speaking of the graduating seniors on the Badgers Women's Hockey team I also going to say good luck to those who have graduated on the Men's Basketball and Hockey teams in your futures. Also those who have signed into the NBA and also the NHL good luck on your careers there too. I cannot wait to watch you guys excel in these professional sports leagues.

I cannot wait to see what the 2015-16 season have to offer to the Badgers as a whole. I hope the football team have a better ending than it did, maybe another Rosebowl title to add to the books? Badger Basketball, I hope you will get your first NCAA national title in the school's history! I hope this won't be Bo Ryan's last season! We need this man around in our lives. When it comes to Badger Men's Hockey, I hope they can get these kinks out of their system and work their way through them. I hope they can power through this hump and power through and become amazing as they where during the Badger Bob Johnson days, during the 1989-90 season, that powerhouse of a season in 2006-07 and they had fire and passion under their butts in the season of 2013-14. I know that they have that in them, and lets show the world how Wisconsin Hockey is still a powerhouse! For Badger Women's Hockey, I hope they bring home another NCAA championship! Mark Johnson and the Badger ladies have done this four times already. These have been won since Mark Johnson started coaching. So already, they are a powerhouse with one hell of a coach coaching them, you should see his stats as a hockey player as well! Also he is the son of Badger Bob Johnson, so coaching is in his blood!

So to all the Badgers who are competing during the 2015-16 season good luck and I hope you all do well! Bring home the gold! I mean, the Natty! 

NHL: Draft, Contract Renewals and Trades... OH MY

I do not even know where to begin with this topic. July first was just a whirlwind of trades and renewals contracts being signed. I do not think the NHL is going to look the same anymore after the trades that have been made this past July and that are continuing on happening through out the summer until the 2015-16 season starts in October.

But let's start with the 2015 NHL Draft. Let's meet the NHL Class of 2015:

Five members of the NHL Class of 2015

Connor McDavid (Canada) 
First drafted in the 2015 NHL draft to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.  McDavid is from Ontario. He considered playing for Boston University and becoming a Terrier but opted out to play in the OHL.  McDavid played in the OHL for the Erie Otters before being drafted. He was a decorative OHL player with numerous awards.

Jack Eichel (United States of America) 
Second drafted and the first American to be drafted during the 2015 draft in the first round. Eichel grew up in Massachusetts, and played for Boston University Terriers before the draft. He also won the Hobey Baker award as a freshmen, was the second to do so. Eichel got drafted to the Buffalo Sabres.

Mikko Rantanen (Finland) 
Rantanen is the tenth pick in the first round of the draft and also is the first to be picked from the country to Finland. He got drafted to the Colorado Avalanche. Rantanen is from a little town in southern Finland named Nousiainen. Before he got drafted he was playing for TPS which is in the Liiga league that is located in Finland.

Joel Eriksson Ek (Sweden) 
Twentieth to be drafted to the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL draft. Elk is from Karlstad, Sweden. Before he got drafted he played for Färjestad BK which is in the SHL league.

Andong Song (China) 
First Chinese born player to be drafted in the NHL. Song was drafted in the sixth round of the 2105 NHL Draft and was the 172 pick. He got drafted to the New York Islanders. Song is from Beijing, China. He ended up playing in the Beijing International Ice Hockey League (BIIHL) as a kid before moving to Ontario, Canada to peruse his hockey career further. Before Song considers signing a contract with the Islanders, he plans to attend Phillips Academy in Massachusetts and probably play more competitive hockey before jumping into the NHL.

Contact renewals seemed to happen all at once on Canada Day (July, 1st), also along with trade mania, we will get to that a bit later. I would just like to list a few notable contract renewals: Mikael Granlund (Minnesota Wild), Patrick Eaves (Dallas Stars), Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues), Brody Sutter (Carolina Hurricanes), Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal Canadians), and the full list here of trades, resignings and signings during the 2015 off season.

The trades, here is the mind bottling part of it all. We got players from teams who have won the Stanley Cup this year that got traded, we got an American player who played in Canada now playing in the United States. While we got the USA Olympic Hockey Hero from 2014 playing in the nation's capitol. Hold on to your hats everyone, things are going to start to be a little insane. I believe insane, is an understatement, as in the news I am going to tell you. Let's see how the NHL team rosters, majority of them got turned upside down:

Phil Kessel: Toronto Maple Leafs to Pittsburgh Penguins
Kessel is finally out of Toronto! In the past he been having issues with the media and rumors of him not getting along with the coaching staff, these rumors where also probably started with the Toronto media anyways. Now he finds himself back in the States playing for the Penguins. Just sitting here typing this up and more that I think about it, it is possible for an Crosby, Kessel and Malkin line. This line is probably the scariest future line in the NHL so far, for someone who is thinking about this for the next playoffs and Stanley Cup finals to come.

 
Patrick Sharp: Chicago Blackhawks to Dallas Stars 
Even though Sharp has won the Stanley Cup at the end of last season this year with the Blackhawks. This trade shows that no one is safe from being traded. No matter who you are, you will be traded when you hit free agency status. Also it's up to the club on who they see fit for next season and in the future of their club. Even though it is wired to see Patrick Sharp in a different jersey that is not a Blackhawks one, it shows that life happens and trades happens in the NHL.

 
TJ Oshie: St. Louis Blues to Washington Capitals  
Trades can rock one's world. Oshie was just building his dream home with his wife in St. Louis, they got the green light status to move in a short while before his trade happened to the Capitals. Looks like someone may have two homes? Who knows, but that is not the main point. The St. Louis Blues where not doing so hot last season, and things needed to be changed. Out with the old faces and in with the new. So the majority of the headliners of this team got traded. But what pretty cool about this is the fact that Oshie was in the long lasting shoot out in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi where the America beat Russia, on their own soil. Just to remind you of it, why? Watch it, the whole thing because it's pretty epic! So to have him wear a Washington Capitals jersey is pretty amazing too, also he got a new number too, so no longer 74 anymore, he is 77.

With these new drafties, contract renewals and trades that have been made, it looks like the 2015-16 NHL season will be an interesting one. People are ready to watch Connor McDavid play, they are comparing him to Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby. I am also looking forward to all the NHL rookies that are heading into this season too, to see what each of them bring to the NHL table. Also I am glad to see some of my old favorites come back to their old teams. I am also looking forward to some of my old favorites who got traded will have to bring to their new teams, and the reactions these players are going to get when playing in their old barn. So heres to an interesting up coming season that will all blow us away!

Minnesota Wild: Second Part of 2014 - 2015 Season Rollercoster

Unlike the first part of the season where it was mainly a lot of downs, the second half seemed to be a nice change of pace for the Wild. Giving them a glimpse of happy times a head, even though it may be the upcoming season in October, the start of the 2015-16.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBS! The man who saved the Minnesota Wild's butt goaltending wise! Daven Dubynk, our man. No longer the Wild will find themselves in hot water when it comes to goaltending. With injuries, sickness and whatever else could keep goaltenders out of the crease, we finally have three to juggle! A little bit of the weight have been lifted from Darcy Kuemper's and Niklas Bäckström's shoulders.

 Daven Dubynk in between the pipes for the Minnesota Wild

Ryan Suter's adventure to the NHL's All Star Weekend in Cleavland, Ohio. He was the only Minnesota Wild player to be voted into the 2015 All Star Weekend roster.

Suter also found himself picking up a part-time broadcasting

job, while in Cleavland for the All Star Weekend. He was filming some

VISA advertisements. Here is the challenge one he did too.

The players on the Minnesota Wild team, and also every NHL player has it hard when they are traveling all the time and sometimes if these players are easily trade-able do to contracts and other reasons. This gives them rarely time to spend with their families, loved ones and friends during the seasons. Heck, they could be in different cities or different countries from their families. Sometimes the families cannot be able to get up and move right away, due to the fact some of the kids of these hockey stars are school age kids, who can't be exactly get up rooted and move right away, due to school schedules. Jordyn Leopold wrote a letter to the Minnesota Wild coaching staff asking them to see if they can get her father, Jordan Leopold to get traded back on to the Wild, because Lordyn and other members of her family missed him very much and they wanted him to get returned to Minnesota to be with them again. The Wild coaching staff and the general manager read the letter, and got Jordan Leopold back on the Wild team again. This is not just a player only thing, this can also happen to coaches, general managers and other staff that it takes to help a hockey team run successfully.

Jordyn Leopold's letter to the Minnesota Wild's

coaching staff.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

First round, against  the St. Louis Blues

This was a fun series to watch, due to the fact that the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild are becoming rivals. It's nice that I got to witness the history of this young rivalry come about. There was an interview during the first round of this series with Mikael Granlund talking about how one of the games in the series did not have any penalties at all. I cannot remember what exactly happened, but if you are more carious about this, here is the overview of the series. Even though it's not heated quite yet, it's getting there. So I am interesting in seeing what this comes out to become in the future.


Second round, against the Chicago Blackhawks

With this series being a four game sweep, unlike other past two years it was a fight (in 2013 and 2014). The Minnesota Wild had to do some soul searching this time to pull out motivation from themselves to hopefully hold on and turn this series into a seven game one, instead of the four game series it turned out to be. I felt like people where looking at head coach Mike Yeo to be the one pulling out the motivation from under the Wild's bench. Yeo, isn't the one who can pull the motivation from under the team's feet or set the fire under their butts, it's them, the individual players themselves to pull the motivation out from under themselves or set that fire under their own butts.

I feel like there that was something not connecting with the Minnesota Wild during this series. I really can't detected it, and I do not want to point fingers anyways. I feel like they where not with it. Sorta playing the victim instead of the underdog that can take over and push the king off the top of his hill. I would not go around again pointing fingers and saying, "Oh, we should fire head coach Mike Yeo..." Really? Again, it's not his fault. It was a rough season for players, coaches and everyone involved with the Minnesota Wild. Yeo got dealt a hand of cards, and dealt with it, the only way he could. He used what he had, and stayed claim while doing so. So, I personally hope Coach Yeo doesn't go anywhere for the time being. Yeo has grown on me, and I hope he does to his doubters too. Yeo is one good guy, who knows what he is doing.

This post-season has been a good one, so far: Daven Dubynk won the Masterton Trophy at the NHL Awards. Once we got around to the the NHL Draft, we got Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway as new rookies for next year. Another new rookie that will join these two next year is Mike Riley, of the Minnesota Gophers. Another Minnesota Gopher to join the Wild. Keeping the strong Minnesota hockey tradition alive. The Minnesota Wild officially have three goalies, since they have signed Deven Duybnk! Also the Wild have resigned Mikael Granlund, Nate Prosser, Ryan Carter, Christian Folin and Erik Haula, for the up coming season or seasons to come. Also there is no word on if Jordan Leopold is going to be officially signed with the Minnesota Wild for his last few years as a professional NHL hockey player. Maybe we will be hearing this news by the end of the summer and before the next season starts in October? 

Duybnk with the Masterton Trophy at the NHL Awards

The 2014-15 season was one hell of a season. Even though it ended early than everyone would have liked. It would have been cool to see Zach Parise and Ryan Suter hold up Lord Stanley over their heads after the loses of their fathers. Also everyone else who on the team after their rough season as a whole team. But I think this season taught the whole team to grow as a team, and learn how to deal with hell when it's all around you. I have a feeling that the Minnesota Wild can pull themselves through this dark tunnel into the light they hopefully see at the end of the tunnel. I have a feeling the 2015-16 season will be a better one and a special one. Who knows maybe Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will be holding up Lord Stanley over their heads at the end of the season. I believe that Minnesota Wild can be that good and will be that good. Now, they have to prove that to themselves and us. Let's see what happens when the puck drops on the Minnesota Wild's fifteenth season in the NHL...