Joe Gladziszewski

  (1:32 PM)

Welcome to this week's visit of Inside College Hockey at The Show. We're pleased to have Jeff Sauer, who has returned to Madison after taking in the Beanpot on Monday. We'll start with his impressions.

Jeff Sauer

  (1:34 PM)

It was my first trip to the Beanpot and I was very impressed with the enthusiasm. We've played out there a number of times but not in front of those types of crowds. It was great to see and a great championship game between Boston University and Northeastern.

Alex (Madison)

Jeff, there's been some talk of UW playing a game at Lambeau Field. Your thoughts? What happened to the idea you were trying to implement of playing an outdoor game against Minnesota at Camp Randall? Also, who do you root for in the UW/CC series this weekend? LET'S GO RED!

Jeff Sauer

  (1:37 PM)

The WCHA was approached by Lambeau Field and the Packers about putting a game together. Parties have met but there's no determination of which teams would even meet. A lot more might be discussed and released about that in the next few weeks. When I was coaching at UW and attended the Cold War game at Michigan State I thought we could do it at Camp Randall and talked about it with Barry Alvarez, who was then the football coach and is now AD. As far as this weekend goes ... having coached at both institutions it's tough. Being involved with the WCHA now, I'll stay neutral this weekend.

Howard (Cottage Grove, MN)

Coach, do you know Phil Kessel at all? What's your scouting report on him?

Jeff Sauer

  (1:38 PM)

I've known him for a long time. He came to our hockey schools at UW and I was around him on the ice his first few months in Madison. I watched him play at the WJC at Grand Forks and was most impressed with the way he fit into that competition. He wasn't intimidated by the level of play. I know that he impressed everyone who watched him play.

Steve (Houghton, MI)

Do you think Tech's Colin Murphy really has any shot of being a Hobery Baker winner? He has good numbers, but is on a bad team.

Jeff Sauer

  (1:41 PM)

He's an excellent college hockey player. I've been very impressed the times that I've seen him play. He's a player that would play on any college hockey team. As far as being a possibility of winning the Hobey Baker, it might be a bit of a stretch as far where he plays and the team he plays for. He's an excellent player and deserves to be a candidate for the award.

Tim (New York, NY)

Jeff, When you were coaching, which building did you find hardest to play in? If you were a coach now, which building would you most fear going to play in?

Jeff Sauer

  (1:43 PM)

Those are interesting questions because I played in different buildings, new and old. The old Mariucci Arena was a great place and a very intimidating atmosphere. The same holds with the old Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. The new buildings are a little different because they've lost some of their intimacy. It's even happened at Wisconsin. When we left the Coliseum, the boards rocked when you hit 'em and the atmosphere of the building isn't the same as the Kohl Center. The new buildings definitely have advantages. I toured the new arena at BU on Monday and it's the right size for college hockey.

Dave (Menomonie,WI)

Coach Sauer, I'm a big fan of yours and would like to ask you if you agree with the NCAA Selection Committees policy of automatic bids for league winners outside of the big four college leagues. Teams like Bemidji State, Holy Cross, and Mercyhurst get into the tournament and don't stand much of a chance against the big boys from the WCHA, CCHA, and Hockey East. Wouldn't it be a better tournament if they just selected the top 16 teams in the pairwise rankings?

Jeff Sauer

  (1:46 PM)

We are trying to continue to build college hockey and if you take away the automatic qualifiers from the smaller leagues, it might hurt their incentive to play Division I hockey. Who knows? Mercyhurst, Niagara, Sacred Heart, whoever might give the communities more interest in hockey. It might be better competition if you took the top 16, but the overall good of the game is helped by the automatic qualifiers. We want to grow the sport.

Robb (Madison)

Do you see Mike Eaves being able to get the Badgers a national title? What he did last year was amazing and this year's team looks like they might be able to do even better.

Jeff Sauer

  (1:48 PM)

Mike's an excellent coach and he's worked extremely hard to get himself re-involved in the college game. He was gone for a long time and a lot of things have changed since he was a player. There's a lot of parity right now. It's very difficult to get to the Frozen Four and win a national championship. I see a number of teams that are in the position that Wisconsin is in right now with a building, recruiting base, and academics. It'll be fun for the fans as these programs compete over the next few years.

Kramer (FL)

Coach -- give us some darkhorse teams across the country that could bite a powerhouse in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Jeff Sauer

  (1:50 PM)

Good question. Seeing the teams that I've seen play, Harvard's goaltender is strong enough to win games for you and you need that. I was impressed with Northeastern but they're not under consideration. You've got to be careful about Duluth out here in the West. It appears that Walt Kyle has some things going at Northern Michigan and my former assistant Mike Kemp at Nebraska-Omaha has had a great season.

Ron (Boston, MA)

Jeff, how do you think the NHL lock-out will effect college hockey, in term of both fans and players?

Jeff Sauer

  (1:53 PM)

I think the NHL lockout has affected us for the better this year. People seemed to be hungry to watch hockey at the Beanpot on Monday. Getting down to the end of the season, the playoffs and NCAA Tournament will benefit with the attention. Having said that, like all hockey fans, I'm sad to see the NHL gone. John Davidson said there are four things that have to happen when the game returns: Fewer games, More talent given out by players on a nightly basis, Fans walk away feeling good about the effort and game that they've just seen, and lastly being affordable for fans to watch. The NHL has to change to be a better game in terms of excitement and enthusiasm on a nightly basis, which is what fans get from college hockey on a nightly basis.

Joe Gladziszewski

  (1:53 PM)

OK, we're running short on time, so we'll take two more questions from The Dean.

Bob (nyc)

This weekend is huge for the Badgers, they may need a sweep to have a shot at winning the WCHA. Last weekend coach Eaves juggled lines a bit to try to get Dowell, Macmurchy and Joudrey going. My question is do you think this team will be able to score enough goals down the stretch to make a run at a national championship?

Jeff Sauer

  (1:56 PM)

Wisconsin has put themselves behind the 8-ball in the last two weekends. The split with Minnesota and getting 1 of 4 points against Denver. If they want to win the WCHA championship, they really need to get two wins this weekend. They've got a tough schedule coming up. If they can beat CC twice, they've got a chance at the championship.

Steven (Mankato, MN)

What's your frozen 4 look like and who do you like to win it all

Jeff Sauer

  (1:58 PM)

I've heard a lot about Cornell and everyone tells me they have an excellent team and they might be the biggest team in college hockey. I like the possibility of them being in the mix. I like Boston College. Minnesota has struggled a bit but they're playing a regional at home. The team that I think is playing the strongest right now and has a chance because they've been there before is Denver. I like Denver's chances of getting to the Frozen Four and they have experience once they're there.

Joe Gladziszewski

  (1:59 PM)

Thanks for the time, Jeff, and thanks for the great questions from around the nation. There was plenty of good stuff that we didn't get a chance to answer, but the staff at INCH will field some of these questions in our "INCH OT" feature at insidecollegehockey.com.

Joe Gladziszewski

  (2:00 PM)

Have a great weekend and be sure to get out to the local rinks. Mel Kiper is up next in The Show, and he might tell us how Michigan State LB Ronald Stanley's MVP performance at the Hula Bowl affected his draft status.