Five questions that face the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team this season:

1. Will the Badgers be able to survive the first month of the season?

If they're above .500 after they finish a series at North Dakota on Nov. 1, it'll be a pretty good sign for their chances to be around at the end of March and in April. They play nothing but teams in the top 10 of the preseason polls over the first eight games, starting with Friday's opener at No. 1 Boston College.

Those games come when the Badgers are just getting their footing, but they catch opponents as they, too, are building the structure of their season, so that might be a wash.

The guess here is that UW is a game or two under .500 after the first eight games, which isn't great but, considering the competition and that six of the eight games are on the road, will keep them in the NCAA tournament mix down the stretch.

2. How will the goaltending position change without longtime coach Bill Howard on the staff?

Howard, who in August announced he was resigning as a volunteer assistant coach after 36 years with the program, said he wasn't worried about Shane Connelly because the senior would be able to set up all the practice drills exactly the way Howard did in the past. With reserve Scott Gudmandson, however, there may be a gap because the sophomore is still in the learning process.

That being said, the goaltenders are working with consultant Mike Valley, a former UW goaltender who teaches a system very close to Howard's. The big change will come in that Valley isn't around for every practice like Howard was. From all accounts, that kind of normalcy was a big help to the goaltenders, even if they didn't realize it as Howard was "adjusting" them.

This will be an even more interesting topic next season, when the Badgers bring in a freshman goaltender to replace Connelly.

3. How will the crackdown on grabbing players with the puck affect the Badgers?

If UW doesn't improve its special teams, it will be a net loss. The Badgers scored 32 power-play goals last season, but they allowed 35. They allowed nine shorthanded goals while scoring only two.

As in past seasons, there will be an emphasis on calling holding and obstruction penalties early, leading to more special teams situations. Like it or not, a lot of games are going to be decided by who has the better power play and penalty kill.

4. Who's going to score the goals?

It may not be a question of who will score goals as much as how many people will score a decent number of goals. When the Badgers won the national championship in 2006, they had two big scorers in Joe Pavelski and Robbie Earl, but they also had seven other players with at least eight goals.

If this year's team can find six or seven players who can reach the relatively modest 10-goal level, they should be in good shape provided the defense doesn't fall off. Who's capable? Ben Street, Blake Geoffrion, Michael Davies, Podge Turnbull, Patrick Johnson, John Mitchell, Aaron Bendickson and perhaps even defensemen like Jamie McBain and Ryan McDonagh.

5. Which of the freshmen has the best chance to make a big impact?