When freshmen linemates Jack Skille and Ben Street won the 2006 NCAA championship together at the University of Wisconsin, they were forever linked. The saying “We walk together for life” rang true.
Little did they know that they would again play together, in the NHL for the Avalanche.
Street, called up from the minors last week, is centering a line with Skille and Dennis Everberg. At Wisconsin, Street centered Skille and left winger Ross Carlson, the oldest player on the team. Street and Skille were 18-year-old true freshmen.
“It doesn’t often happen that you end up on a line with someone from college,” Street said. “We came from completely different backgrounds into college. He’s from Madison and I’m Canadian. But we had good chemistry, and still do.”
Street and Skille were among four freshmen on the championship team and each scored 10 goals. San Jose Sharks veteran forward Joe Pavelski, a two-time U.S. Olympian, led the Badgers with 56 points. Wisconsin’s other stars included forwards Robbie Earl and Adam Burish, defenseman Tom Gilbert and goalie Brian Elliott, who briefly played for the Avs.
It was a storybook Wisconsin team that beat Ohio State and defenseman Nate Guenin in an outdoor game at Lambeau Field, and won its NCAA regional in Green Bay and the Frozen Four in Milwaukee.
“We obviously had a lot in common, despite the fact we never played with or against each other before college,” Skille said of him and Street. “The team — we just had a really solid team from the net out. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.”
Skille played two years for the Badgers before signing with the Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him seventh overall in the 2005 draft. Street, who went undrafted, played five years at Wisconsin, obtaining a redshirt year as a junior because of an early season-ending injury.
“We won our first year, and then our team got picked apart,” said Street, who also watched Pavelski and Earl leave college early.
Street, who signed with Colorado before last season, had a handful of stories to share about Skille.
“Coach (Mike Eaves) called him a young stallion. He skates like a horse, I guess. That’s where it came from,” Street said. “And I don’t think his full name is Jackson, but everyone called him Jackson.”
“Jackson” and “Streeter” see each other every summer in Madison, along with other former Badgers.
“We have a pro camp every August,” Skille said. “Streeter, he trains in Chicago all season. But I see him end-of-summer every year. It’s a good facility and good chance for guys to come back and get ready.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or @mikechambers
