"An above-average game" is how Wisconsin goaltender Brett Bennett described his Badger debut, a 3-2 loss to Colorado College last Friday.
Prior to Wisconsin’s season opener, Madison’s famed State Street was jumping with an interesting mix of humanity clad in combinations of red, white, black, and gold. Alumni by the thousands came back to the Isthmus to celebrate the school’s homecoming, where they were greeted by foes in bumblebee colors—Iowa in football and Colorado College on the ice.
And at the Kohl Center, a show that was supposed to be new Badger goalie Brett Bennett’s triumphant return to the college game was stolen by a little-known rookie from the Front Range.
Bennett, a junior from the Buffalo suburbs, won 16 games for Boston University two seasons ago before he was released from the team. After a season in the USHL, Bennett made the sequel version of his college hockey debut at the Kohl Center and was relatively solid throughout with 23 saves.
“It was an above-average game, but I think there’s more to come,” said Bennett. “I think I’m better than that.”
On that Friday, he was not the best goalie on the ice. CC freshman Joe Howe turned aside 39 shots, keeping the Tigers close during the first half of the game when the Badgers appeared poised for a blowout and allowing CC to rally for a 3-2 win.
“Obviously, Joe Howe was our best player,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said, recalling an opening 40 minutes in which the Badgers had a 26-14 edge in shots. “That thing could have been 2-0 or 3-0 after one, and it wasn’t—it was 1-0.”
Howe, from suburban Minneapolis, hadn’t before played at the Kohl Center, but had been clued in by high school friends now going to Wisconsin that he’d face immediate hostility from the arena’s raucous student section.
“We came in and said we can’t let that affect us,” said Howe, who earned WCHA Rookie of the Week honors in helping the Tigers to a road win and a tie. “Teammates did a good job of blocking a lot of shots and letting me see a lot of shots too.”
Oddly, Wisconsin’s new goalie coach might have felt a sense of pride in watching Howe’s performance. Madison native Jeff Sanger, a four-year letterwinner in goal for the Tigers earlier this decade, admitted he was a little shocked after getting the Badger job to learn that his first opponent would be the one he knew best.
“When I first got offered the position and I saw [the schedule], it was one of those ‘oh my God’ feelings,” Sanger said. “It was tough after playing at CC for four years. I told them if I was in Colorado Springs and had an opportunity to coach CC, I would. But I’m in Madison with a chance to coach UW, so it is what it is.”
For decades, the Badgers have generally been known for riding one very good goalie for much of a season, but this will likely be a season of departure in Madison, with another junior, Scott Gudmandson, in the mix for the starting job. Gudmandson started the Saturday match with the Tigers, stopping 31 shots (to 26 for Howe) in a 1-1 overtime tie. The new goalie coach advised Bennett to forget the past and focus on the battle to earn favor with head coach Mike Eaves.
“I don’t know what the history was at BU; I just know that here he’s got to work his butt off,” Sanger said. “He’s competing against Scott Gudmandson, who’s a great goaltender as well, so it’s going to be a battle throughout the year and nobody can feel comfortable. They’re not set on one guy. Somebody’s going to have to take the torch and run with it.”
In Colorado Springs, meanwhile, it appears that Howe’s run with the Tigers’ goaltending torch is well underway.
