1982–83 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey season

The 1982–83 Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in college ice hockey. In its first year under head coach Jeff Sauer, the team compiled a 33–10–2 record.[1] The Badgers won the 1983 national championship, their fourth title.

1982–83 Wisconsin Badgers
men's ice hockey season
National champion
WCHA tournament, champion
NCAA tournament, champion
Conference3rd WCHA
Home iceDane County Coliseum
Record
Overall33–10–4
Conference15–9–2
Home20–4–1
Road11–6–3
Neutral2–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachJeff Sauer
Assistant coachesGrant Standbrook
Captain(s)Bruce Driver
Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1981–82 1983–84 »

Season

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Early season trouble

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After finishing as the runner up the year before, head coach Bob Johnson left to become the bench boss of the Calgary Flames. He was replaced by former assistant and long-time Colorado College coach Jeff Sauer. The team was very experienced, having made the national championship game in each of the previous two seasons, but early on the squad appeared to have a rough time adjusting to their new coach's style. The team took 3 out of a possible 4 points against eventual CCHA champion Bowling Green in their season opener but the following weekend, back at home, they could only manage a split with Dalhousie. When they opened their conference schedule at the end of October the team couldn't win either contest against Minnesota, leaving the Badgers with a mediocre 2–2–2 record. The following weekend Wisconsin welcomed their coach's former team to Madison and won three games over four days to vastly improve their conference standing. UW held firm with a home split against the Golden Gophers then lost a road series at North Dakota to drop their WCHA record back to .500.

Winning streak

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Wisconsin returned closer to home in late November to face a terrible Illinois–Chicago team and needed overtime to pull out a win. After such a poor performance the team collected itself and game out firing two days later against Air Force, dominating the Falcons in one of the most lopsided series in team history (The Badgers outscored Air Force 27–1 in the two games). After the offensive outburst the Badgers relaxed a bit and were beaten at home by Minnesota–Duluth before salvaging a split in the second game. The win in Duluth was a turning point for the Badgers, who later admitted it was the first time where they really listened to their new coach.[2] With their first win in December, Wisconsin began a stretch of 11 consecutive victories, the first seven coming at home followed by a further 4 in Colorado before CC stopped their streak. When it was over the Badgers were in the thick of the race for the WCHA title and, with 20 wins already, had a good chance at a berth in the NCAA tournament regardless of the WCHA tournament.

Stumbling down the stretch

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Unfortunately, after losing to Colorado College, Wisconsin faced defending national champion North Dakota and the Fighting Sioux got the better of them again, taking 3 of 4 points and putting UND up in the conference standings by 3.[3] After managing a split with Duluth the week after Wisconsin found themselves 5 points behind both UND and Minnesota with only 4 games remaining but when the Gophers swept the Fighting Sioux the following weekend the Badgers' two wins over Denver put them just behind North Dakota for a first round bye. Wisconsin needed to win against Minnesota and get help from Duluth, both of which happened on the last Friday of the regular season, but the Golden Gophers recovered for a split and Wisconsin watched second place slip away when North Dakota won their season finale.

WCHA tournament

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With their 3rd-place finish the Badgers were forced to play in the first round of the conference tournament but fortunately they faced the 6–26–1 CC Tigers. The series was closer than may have been expected but Wisconsin won in the end and advanced to face a rested North Dakota in the Semifinals. Despite not having won any of the previous 5 games, Wisconsin was not fazed by UND's run to repeat as champion and the two teams fought to a 1–1 deadlock in game one. No overtime was used because the two-game series was decided on aggregate but the two squads battled in another defensive contest until North Dakota scored twice early in the third. The Badgers rallied from being down by two twice but still found themselves behind with just seconds to play. With Marc Behrend on the bench future Hall of Famer Chris Chelios scored the tying goal with 12 seconds to play and sending the game into overtime. The first two extra periods passed without a goal being scored but just 62 seconds into the third overtime Ted Pearson notched the game-winner. While Wisconsin celebrated the referees checked the length of Pearson's stick and ruled it illegal. As a result, the goal was waved off and Pearson was given a 2-minute penalty. With both teams exhausted the game didn't last much longer but, surprisingly, North Dakota allowed the first short-handed goal against all season when Paul Houck scored just 26 seconds into the power-play.

With an NCAA berth all but ensured, Wisconsin headed to Minneapolis to take on the WCHA Champion and swept Minnesota to win their second consecutive WCHA championship, the seventh in team history.

NCAA tournament

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Wisconsin was given the top western seed and were slotted to face St. Lawrence who were making their first tournament appearance in over 20 years. The veteran Badgers overwhelmed the Saints, beating the ECAC team soundly in both games to take the series 13–3, the largest margin of victory in any NCAA aggregate series.[4] In the National Semifinal Wisconsin faced a tougher opponent in Providence but were still miles ahead with Behrend being called on to make only 17 saves in the 2–0 shutout.

Wisconsin made their 3rd consecutive championship game, the fifth time in history a team was able to accomplish that feat, but the only time a program did so with two different head coaches.[5] They also faced their third different opponent, this time in the form of Harvard who were in their first championship game after 7 previous trips to the Frozen Four.[6] The badgers jumped out to an early lead, just 7 minutes into the contest, while Behrend held the fort and kept the Crimson scoreless. Patrick Flatley's second goal came with 4 minutes left in the second to build a 2-goal lead and just under seven minutes of game-time later Wisconsin was up by 3. Harvard finally managed to score mid-way through the final frame but each of their two goals were answered by the Badgers and John Johannson empty-net goal sealed the victory for the Badgers.

Awards and honors

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In allowing just 5 goals in the 4 games, Marc Behrend was awarded the Tournament MOP for the second time. He became just the second player to be honored twice and the only one to win on both occasions (Lou Angotti is the only other multiple-time winner as of 2019). Wisconsin played 4 players on the All-Tournament Team with Behrend joined by Chris Chelios, Patrick Flatley and Paul Houck. Behrend finished second in the nation with a 2.23 GAA and was tops with a .921 winning percentage but neither mark was good enough to get him named to the All-American West Team.[7] The only Bader All-American was Flatley who was also the only First Team All-WCHA player.[8] though Chelios, Houck and Bruce Driver made the second team. Jeff Sauer became the first person to win a championship in his inaugural season as head coach with a new team and was later joined by Brad Berry in 2016. The Badgers finished the tournament with a +16 goal differential, tying the mark held jointly by 1950 Colorado College and 1953 Michigan.

Standings

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Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota 26 18 7 1 37 148 101 46 33 12 1 253 155
North Dakota 26 16 9 1 33 115 71 36 21 13 2 158 100
Wisconsin* 26 15 9 2 32 118 85 47 33 10 4 233 131
Minnesota-Duluth 26 14 12 0 28 103 95 45 28 16 1 193 158
Denver 26 11 15 0 22 120 146 37 15 22 0 177 207
Colorado College 26 2 24 0 4 78 184 35 6 28 1 126 227
Championship: Wisconsin
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

Schedule

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Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Exhibition
October 8 vs. Michigan Tech* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin (Exhibition) W 6–3 
Regular Season
October 15 at Bowling Green* BGSU Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio W 4–3  1–0
October 16 at Bowling Green* BGSU Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio T 4–4 OT 1–0–1
October 22 vs. Dalhousie* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin L 2–4  1–1–1
October 23 vs. Dalhousie* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 13–4  2–1–1
October 29 at Minnesota Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota T 4–4 OT 2–1–2 (0–0–1)
October 30 at Minnesota Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota L 8–9  2–2–2 (0–1–1)
November 3 vs. Colorado College Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 7–4  3–2–2 (1–1–1)
November 5 vs. Colorado College Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 9–1  4–2–2 (2–1–1)
November 6 vs. Colorado College Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 5–1  5–2–2 (3–1–1)
November 12 vs. Minnesota Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 4–3  6–2–2 (4–1–1)
November 13 vs. Minnesota Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin L 1–5  6–3–2 (4–2–1)
November 19 at North Dakota Winter Sports CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota L 2–6  6–4–2 (4–3–1)
November 20 at North Dakota Winter Sports CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota L 0–4  6–5–2 (4–4–1)
November 24 at Illinois–Chicago* UIC PavilionChicago, Illinois W 3–2 OT 7–5–2 (4–4–1)
November 26 vs. Air Force* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 13–1  8–5–2 (4–4–1)
November 27 vs. Air Force* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 14–0  9–5–2 (4–4–1)
December 3 vs. Minnesota–Duluth Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin L 3–5  9–6–2 (4–5–1)
December 4 vs. Minnesota–Duluth Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 7–2  10–6–2 (5–5–1)
December 10 vs. US National Team Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin (Exhibition) W 6–4  10–6–2 (5–5–1)
December 29 vs. Lake Superior State* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 7–5  11–6–2 (5–5–1)
December 30 vs. Lake Superior State* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 4–3  12–6–2 (5–5–1)
January 2 vs. Boston University* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 2–0  13–6–2 (5–5–1)
January 3 vs. Boston University* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 5–2  14–6–2 (5–5–1)
January 7 vs. Minnesota–Duluth Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 7–4  15–6–2 (6–5–1)
January 8 vs. Minnesota–Duluth Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 6–2  16–6–2 (7–5–1)
January 14 at Denver DU ArenaDenver, Colorado W 8–0  17–6–2 (8–5–1)
January 15 at Denver DU ArenaDenver, Colorado W 8–4  18–6–2 (9–5–1)
January 19 at Colorado College Broadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado W 4–1  19–6–2 (10–5–1)
January 21 at Colorado College Broadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado W 8–3  20–6–2 (11–5–1)
January 22 at Colorado College Broadmoor World ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado L 1–3  20–7–2 (11–6–1)
January 28 vs. North Dakota Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin T 2–2 OT 20–7–3 (11–6–2)
January 29 vs. North Dakota Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin L 1–3  20–8–3 (11–7–2)
February 4 at Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena AuditoriumDuluth, Minnesota L 3–6  20–9–3 (11–8–2)
February 5 at Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena AuditoriumDuluth, Minnesota W 3–1  21–9–3 (12–8–2)
February 11 vs. Denver Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 4–1  22–9–3 (13–8–2)
February 12 vs. Denver Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin W 5–3  23–9–3 (14–8–2)
February 18 at Minnesota Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota W 7–3  24–9–3 (15–8–2)
February 19 at Minnesota Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota L 1–5  24–10–3 (15–9–2)
WCHA tournament
February 25 vs. Colorado College* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin (WCHA First Round game 1) W 3–2  25–10–3 (15–9–2)
February 26 vs. Colorado College* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin (WCHA First Round game 2) W 5–2  26–10–3 (15–9–2)
Wisconsin Wins Series 8-4
March 4 at North Dakota* Winter Sports CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota (WCHA Semifinal game 1) T 1–1  26–10–4 (15–9–2)
March 5 at North Dakota* Winter Sports CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota (WCHA Semifinal game 2) W 6–5 3OT 27–10–4 (15–9–2)
Wisconsin Wins Series 7-6
March 12 at Minnesota* Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota (WCHA championship game 1) W 5–1  28–10–4 (15–9–2)
March 13 at Minnesota* Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota (WCHA championship game 2) W 3–2  29–10–4 (15–9–2)
Wisconsin Wins Series 8-3
NCAA tournament
March 19 vs. St. Lawrence* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin (National Quarterfinal game 1) W 6–2  30–10–4 (15–9–2)
March 20 vs. St. Lawrence* Dane County ColiseumMadison, Wisconsin (National Quarterfinal game 2) W 7–1  31–10–4 (15–9–2)
Wisconsin Wins Series 13-3
March 24 vs. Providence* Winter Sports CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota (National Semifinal) W 2–0  32–10–4 (15–9–2)
March 26 vs. Harvard* Winter Sports CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota (National championship) W 6–2  33–10–4 (15–9–2)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.
Source:

[9]

Roster and scoring statistics

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No. Name Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts PIM
16 Paul Houck Sophomore RW Vancouver, BC   47 38 33 71 36
26 Patrick Flatley Sophomore RW Toronto, ON   43 25 44 69 76
12 John Johannson Junior C Rochester, MN   47 22 41 63 68
25 Bruce Driver Junior D Toronto, ON   39 16 34 50 50
28 Paul Houston Sophomore W Toronto, ON   46 21 27 48 44
21 Chris Chelios Sophomore D Chicago, IL   45 16 32 48 62
20 David Maley Freshman LW Beaver Dam, WI   47 17 23 40 24
7 Todd Lecy Senior LW Rochester, MN   40 16 18 34 53
23 Scott Sabo Junior C Thief River Falls, MN   47 10 22 32 54
4 Pat Ethier Senior D Saint Paul, MN   47 7 20 27 84
11 Jim Johannson Freshman C Rochester, MN   45 12 9 21 16
17 Marty Wiitala Freshman C Superior, WI   46 10 8 18 8
19 Ted Pearson Senior W Edina, MN   42 6 9 15 90
29 Tim Thomas Sophomore D Richfield, MN   23 7 7 14 31
2 Jan-Åke Danielson Sophomore D Insjön, SWE   36 0 10 10 16
6 Jeff Andringa Senior D Madison, WI   47 2 6 8 12
14 Matt Walsh Freshman D Madison, WI   45 0 7 7 30
8 Ernie Vargas Freshman RW Saint Paul, MN   37 2 4 6 32
13 Tom Carroll Senior W Edina, MN   27 2 2 4 10
18 Steve Tschipper Freshman C Thornhill, ON   8 1 2 3 0
33 Tim Sager Junior W Saint Paul, MN   12 1 2 3 8
24 Eric Faust Freshman D Toronto, ON   11 1 1 2 2
1 Terry Kleisinger Junior G Nanaimo, BC   19 0 2 2 16
10 Mark Edwards Sophomore C Beloit, WI   2 0 0 0 0
22 Tom Ryan Freshman W Madison, WI   6 0 0 0 0
10 Jacques De St. Phalle Senior RW Philadelphia, PA   7 0 0 0 0
30 Gary Baxter Freshman G Don Mills, ON   10 0 0 0 0
31 Marc Behrend Junior G Madison, WI   23 0 0 0 0
Bench 47 0 0 0 14
Total 233 365 598 884

[10]

Goaltending statistics

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No. Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
31 Marc Behrend 23 1315 17 1 1 49 562 2 0.920 2.23
1 Terry Kleisinger 19 1021 11 6 1 48 403 3 0.893 2.82
30 Gary Baxter 10 545 5 3 2 33 230 0 0.875 3.63
Total 47 2820 33 10 4 131 1195 4 .902 2.79

(E1) Harvard vs. (W1) Wisconsin

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March 26[11] Harvard 2 – 6 Wisconsin Winter Sports Center


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st WIS Patrick FlatleyPP Houck and Driver 7:03 1–0 WIS
2nd WIS Patrick Flatley Houston and Maley 36:09 2–0 WIS
3rd WIS Paul HoustonGW Maley and Flatley 43:00 3–0 WIS
HAR Scott Fusco Sheehy and Kukulowicz 48:54 3–1 WIS
WIS Bruce Driver Sabo and Wiitala 51:35 4–1 WIS
HAR Shayne Kukulowicz Sheehy 52:22 4–2 WIS
WIS Paul HoustonPP Driver and Maley 58:39 5–2 WIS
WIS John JohannsonSH EN Behrend 59:21 6–2 WIS
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st HAR Dave Connors Tripping 6:29 2:00
WIS Paul Houck Tripping 11:01 2:00
WIS Marty Wiitala Holding 17:38 2:00
HAR Shayne Kukulowicz High Sticking 18:19 2:00
2nd HAR Mark Fusco Roughing 30:12 2:00
WIS Jim Johannson Roughing 30:12 2:00
HAR Scott Fusco Hooking 30:53 2:00
WIS Jan–Ake Danielson High Sticking 36:50 2:00
HAR Phil Falcone Hooking 40:00 2:00
3rd HAR Grant Blair Slashing 43:42 2:00
HAR Shayne Kukulowicz Slashing 58:12 2:00
WIS Tim Sager Hooking 59:01 2:00

Players drafted into the NHL

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No Wisconsin players were selected in the NHL draft.

[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Creating a new legacy: The 1983 NCAA champion Badgers". Wisconsin Badgers. February 7, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  3. ^ "North Dakota Hockey 2018-19 Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  4. ^ "NCAA tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "All-Time Championship Tournament records and results" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  6. ^ "Year-By-Year Results" (PDF). Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  8. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "Badger Hockey 2018-19 Yearbook" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  10. ^ "1983-84 Wisconsin Badgers ice hockey program" (PDF). University of Wisconsin. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  11. ^ "1983 Championship Boxscore" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  12. ^ "1983 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved July 25, 2019.