BEAVER. BUCKY BEAVER.

Last week, we were hailing a successful title defense by Wisconsin's women's hockey team.

Then it was the men's turn to add a seventh title to their ledger.  It didn't turn out well.

The Badgers were outcompeted for pucks, made unforgivable mistakes and had to play from behind.

“I think there was a lot of issues,” Badgers captain and defenseman Ty Emberson said. “They outworked us. They outbattled us. There were a couple tough bounces in the first period. It just sucks to see it come to an end.”

How bad was it? "Starting goaltender Robbie Beydoun laid prone on the ice with his blocker and his catching glove on his helmet after his misplay led to a short-handed goal by Owen Sillinger that put the Beavers up 4-1 late in the second period."  That's right, the Bemidji skaters (at one time, they had two brothers in the penalty box at the same time, is anybody having Slap Shot recollections?) were so aggressive on the penalty kill that a player would follow the clearing dump just in case the goalie misplayed the puck to initiate the power play.

Unfortunately, Bemidji were unable to continue the play in the second round, being excused by Massachusetts.  The other three participants in the frozen four are Minnesota teams:  Duluth, St. Cloud, and Minnesota State.  Still possible for the regional comprehensives to be competitive.

Duluth's trip to the finals took a little longer.  "As the game stretched into early Sunday morning, freshman Luke Mylymok scored the golden goal to send Minnesota Duluth into the Frozen Four semifinals against Massachusetts. Saturday's game — lasting 142 minutes, 13 seconds of ice time and six hours, 12 minutes of real time — broke the NCAA Tournament record for longest game set by the Wisconsin and Harvard women in 2007."  That Wisconsin team still had enough energy to defend their title.  Duluth are currently two-time defending champions.