A night like this was one of the things that was part of the recruiting pitch to Blake Kessel. New Hampshire had games scheduled against Wisconsin, and the Wildcats used that as incentive to lure the defenseman out East from his hometown near Madison, Wis.
Kessel’s on-ice homecoming Friday didn’t start well and didn’t finish well, and he wasn’t feeling too upbeat about either development.
As the starters skated around in the interval between the end of the national anthem and the opening faceoff, Wisconsin captain Blake Geoffrion crossed the center red line and appeared to brush up against Kessel and start chirping at the UNH sophomore.
“He’s just going to come up and say whatever he wants,” Kessel said. “That’s their captain. He can say whatever he wants; I’m going to sit there and I’m going to back myself up. If he’s going to talk the talk — it’s a big thing in college hockey where I guess you can talk, but normally you have to back it up at this level, and that’s kind of a tough thing. You’ve got to listen to the crap. Obviously, it’s going to come from them guys, me being back at home. But it’s not like I can’t give it right back at them. It’s just part of the game.
“Off the ice, I have no problem. I’ve got good friends on the team, obviously. But when a guy comes right off the opening draw and comes at me and runs into me before the first draw even starts, I’m going to take that a little personal. It’s kind of something that’s ridiculous where they allow a guy to come on our side of the red line before the game even starts.
“That’s not going to fly anywhere else. But I guess it’s part of the game. We’ve got to deal with it. Tonight, it’s not even really about that. I’m more disappointed just the way that the game turned out more than anything.”
Kessel’s Wildcats looked listless in much of a 4-1 loss at the Kohl Center on Friday.
“We didn’t come to play off the bat, and they jumped all over us,” Kessel said. “That was the difference in the game, just the start right there. When they’re carrying momentum like that, it’s tough to overcome.”
The scene was quite unlike the last time a Kessel played at the Kohl Center. On Jan. 28, 2006, Phil Kessel — Blake’s brother — scored the clinching goal for Minnesota in a 3-1 victory over the Badgers, then cupped his ear as if to welcome the boos from the crowd, which had followed the long recruiting battle between UW and the Gophers for the forward’s services.
Blake Kessel was introduced as part of New Hampshire’s starting lineup Friday night. No audible boos. A little bit of applause.
He played in front of more than 30 family members and friends, including sister Amanda, a senior at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Minnesota who is considering Wisconsin and Minnesota among her college destinations.
“It’s a lot of fun to have them watch me play, but it’s more important to win the game than to have them watch,” Kessel said.
He had already played Wisconsin once — in his first collegiate game, even. Last season, the Wildcats thumped the Badgers 5-1 in Durham, and Kessel had an assist and was plus-2.
“This year, I think it’s a little bit more pressure on me,” Kessel said. “That was early in the season last year. This year, I feel a little bit more pressure of having to step up.”
There’s a little bit of pressure on Kessel and UNH to step up in Saturday’s series finale.
“We feel we’ve got something to prove, obviously. Tonight was not the way we can play at all.”
