Big Ten Hockey?

Before delving into details of the newest University of Wisconsin men's hockey schedule, circumstances almost beg that we first look further down the road.

The schedule for 2012-13 will be the last for UW in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association before the new Big Ten Conference makes its debut in 2013-14.

In addition to playing their final set of WCHA games, the Badgers will be expected to accommodate as many future Big Ten opponents as possible.

That includes Penn State, which is scheduled to play its inaugural season in NCAA Division I in 2012-13, as well as Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, which are leaving the Central Collegiate Hockey Association to join the Big Ten for hockey.

Of course, Minnesota, which will join the Big Ten after being a member of the WCHA since 1959-60, will be on the schedule.

UW coach Mike Eaves acknowledged those new priorities exist but said his scheduling canvas for 2012-13 has a ton of white space.

Let's hope that Bucky can make the adjustment.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers are losing confidence

It's no secret that the No. 18 Wisconsin men's hockey team has fallen on hard times. The Badgers are 0-5-1 since their bye week, and have been steadily dropping in the national polls and conference standings all month. A month ago, home ice in the WCHA playoffs and a berth in the NCAA tournament seemed a certainty. These days, not so much.

With the way the past month has gone for the Badgers you would expect the confidence level in the locker room to be dampened, but Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said that what his team is going through right now isn't all that unexpected.

"The confidence level isn't what it has been at other times during the year, I would be lying if I said anything different," Eaves said. "But by the same token what we're going through is what most teams will go through at some point in a season."

For those looking for precedent in this situation, Eaves pointed to the 2006 national champion team, who went through a similar situation as this year's squad.

"Relating it to the story about '06 when we lost [former goaltender] Brian Elliott. Brian came back and we lost two games against Mankato and we were kind of going through the same thing," he said. "We were able to gather ourselves then, win the next series and get on a roll."

"Our hope is that we can do the same with this group," Eaves added.

"They are a young group that has played very well at times. They know they can beat anybody. It's been a tough stretch but we have to gather ourselves like the '06 team did and see if we can get ourselves on a roll."

Eaves refused to label the Badgers' current situation as desperate or crisis-like, instead choosing to remain optimistic by seeing it as a chance for this young team to grow and come together.

"Sometimes when you go through things like this what seems like a negative becomes a positive," Eaves said after Saturday's 7-3 loss to St. Cloud State. "It's how you handle these moments and how you try to right your ship. This is a big growth opportunity for this team."

For Eaves, choosing to be negative in the face of adversity doesn't result in positive results moving forward.

"I don't think being negative in any situation has any benefits," he said. "We can be truthful with one another, we're not going to skirt issues. It's about perspective, and the perspective of the coaching staff and our captains is one of moving forward and figuring this out together, doing the things we need to do and get going again."

A good analogy for what this team is going through, and how it will end positively, is marriage, according to Eaves.

"The value of marriage in real life goes up when you go through hard times," he said. "The value of a team concept becomes more real when you go through hard times. This is part of us becoming closer as a team. It's a good thing to go through and we hope to see the benefits as soon as this weekend."

Let's hope the Badgers can turn it around in time.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Hockey is picking up

For No. 16 Wisconsin (5-6-2 WCHA, 9-7-3 overall), the first two and a half minutes of play against Bemidji State (4-8-1, 5-9-1) could not have gone much worse Friday night.

The Beavers scored two goals—on their first two shots of the night— in the opening minutes, as the youthful Badgers continued a season-long trend of starting a step slow. Still, UW got the first of two goals from sophomore center Craig Smith at the 12:16 mark of the first and tacked on a goal in each of the next two periods to earn a 3-2 victory in front of 11,358 spectators at the Kohl Center.

"Let's call a spade a spade," Badger head coach Mike Eaves said. "That was probably a disappointing a start as we've had this year."

Despite the win and two conference points, Eaves said he is considering changing the team's pregame routine to combat the sluggish starts, and might draw from other coaches for inspiration.

"When we were in Finland, there was a Russian coach that had his guys play two-on-two in the corners to make sure his team was ready," Eaves said. "I've never seen that before but I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we may have to try that with this group."

The Badgers tied the game just after the mid-point of the second period when senior forward Podge Turnbull took a break-out pass and, with a defender in front of him, fired a wrister at the net. The puck took a strange hop and handcuffed junior Beavers goaltender Dan Bakala, skipping by him and into the net.

"I'm not sure if it hit the guy's stick or if I just kind of muffined one in there, but it went in and that's the important thing," Turnbull said.

Smith added the game-winner at the tail end of a five-minute power play early in the third period. Junior Bemidji forward Shea Walters earned an ejection along with the penalty for checking sophomore Badger defenseman Justin Schultz into the boards.

"It's a good sign when your team battles back," Smith said. "But it's not good when you're putting yourself in a hole right away."

Both of Smith's goals Friday came with a man-advantage and the team finished two-for-five on the night, improving their conversion rate to a WCHA-best 30.0 percent. The Badgers have scored a power play goal in 16 of 19 games this season, but have struggled to produce offense in even-strength play.

Between the slow start and power play-reliant offense, Friday's game continued multiple trends that have plagued UW through the first half of the season, but ended with the Badgers earning their first one-goal victory of the year.

"It was a frustrating night as a coach," Eaves said. "But you know what, we won a game where we played ugly. We'll put that in the bank, come back tomorrow and hopefully be better."

Let's hope Bucky can keep it rolling.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stanley cup shows up in Madison

While many Badger fans count the days until football season starts, a taste of hockey came to the Kohl Center in the middle of August. Adam Burish, the Madison native who helped Wisconsin’s men’s hockey team win the 2006 national championship, came home with an even more impressive piece of hardware Wednesday: The Stanley Cup.

Burish won the Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, claiming the trophy after Patrick Kane’s overtime goal in game six of the Stanley Cup Finals. Each player from the championship team is given a day with the Cup, and Burish spent the first part of his signing autographs in Madison as hockey fans waited in long lines for a few moments up close and personal with the prized trophy.

Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves, who coached Burish on the 2006 title team, said having the Cup in Madison was a great way to build interest in the game ahead of the upcoming season.

“It brings hockey to the forefront right now in August, and I think that will permeate through the whole community,” Eaves said. “It just kind of compounds and produces more interest in the game, especially for young people.”

Burish’s time with the Cup began when it arrived from Roseau, Minn., where Blackhawk forward Dustin Byfuglien spent some time with the trophy in his hometown. From there, Burish took the Cup to the Eagle’s Nest in Verona, Wis., a rink he said was very important to him.

It is great to see former Badgers honoring where they came from.  GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Hockey Roster Set

Near as University of Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Eaves can tell, his roster for next season is set.
In addition to the signings Thursday of two freshmen — defenseman Joe Faust and winger Gavin Hartzog — junior winger Jordy Murray has told Eaves he intends to return.
Murray, the top returning goal-scorer for the Badgers with 12, had weighed the possibility of leaving school to play professionally in Europe. His older brother, Brady, took a similar career path in 2005 after two seasons at North Dakota.
"I don't foresee anyone else leaving (early)," Eaves said.
Faust and Hartzog are byproducts of a volatile offseason that saw four underclassmen leave UW for the NHL teams that own their rights: sophomore center Derek Stepan (New York Rangers) and junior defensemen Cody Goloubef (Columbus), Ryan McDonagh (Rangers) and Brendan Smith (Detroit).
Faust was added after McDonagh signed, but not before he backed out of an oral commitment to attend Princeton. Faust, listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, was a standout the past two years at Bloomington (Minn.) Jefferson High School and was a fourth-round NHL draft pick of New Jersey in June.
Hartzog, from Pewaukee, was added after Stepan's somewhat surprising decision to turn pro. Hartzog, listed at 6-3 and 210 pounds, played last season with Fargo (N.D.) of the U.S. Hockey League and Bismarck (N.D.) of the North American Hockey League.
Faust (uniform No. 24) and Hartzog (No. 13) are part of a 10-member freshman class that includes center Tyler Barnes (No. 7), winger Jason Clark (No. 29), center Jefferson Dahl (No. 14), defenseman Chas Drake (No. 5), winger Sean Little (No. 18), winger Mike Mersch (No. 25), defenseman Frankie Simonelli (No. 27) and center Mark Zengerle (No. 9).

Lets hope Bucky can return to the Frozen Four. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger Head Coaches have contracts extended

After a banner year for many programs, the Wisconsin Athletic Department extended the contracts for six head coaches, the department announced Friday. Men’s basketball head coach Bo Ryan, who led the Badgers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, was signed through May of 2015. Women’s basketball head coach Lisa Stone got the same extension after her team’s NCAA Tournament appearance. Men’s hockey head coach Mike Eaves earned an extension as well, thanks in part to his trip to the national title game in April. His contract goes through June of 2015.Head wrestling coach Barry Davis and men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach Eric Hansen will stick around as well. The department said they were signed through April and June of 2013, respectively.

It is great so see that the Badgers have so many successful coaches. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers fail to show up for National Title Game

During Wisconsin’s NCAA Tournament run, senior forward Blake Geoffrion several times responded to positive moments for his team by looking forward and saying, “job’s not done yet.”
And Saturday night they left that job of winning a seventh national title in school history unfinished.
The No. 2 Badgers suffered a 5-0 loss at the hands of No. 3 Boston College at Ford Field, ending the season a win short of their ultimate goal. The Eagles hamstrung the UW attack, and their junior goaltender John Muse made sure any good Wisconsin chances went for naught.
“I just didn’t think we had our best effort in terms of being sharp,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “It just didn’t seem to be our day, but that doesn’t take away from what Boston College did.”
The opening was reminiscent of the 2006 title game matchup between the two teams, as BC took a first-period 1-0 lead. Senior center Ben Smith received a pass in the slot on the power play, faced Wisconsin netminder Scott Gudmandson and snapped a wrist shot through the five hole.
Wisconsin won that previous title game, scoring one in the third and one in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. But this time, the Badgers got grade-A scoring chances, Muse was there to shut the door. I hate to say it but the Badgers played awful as far I am concerned. Lets hope we can make a run at it again nex year. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badgers are headed to the Frozen Four

Ben Street knows it. Mike Eaves and Brendan Smith do too.
The Wisconsin men’s hockey team has had a charmed season in making its run to the Frozen Four — and possibly the program’s seventh national title. Lots of little things happened that added up in a big way: players staying, opportunities to play in big games and maybe most importantly, a lack of injuries.
“It’s not wood, but it will do,” Street said with a chuckle, as he tapped the practice rink boards in reference to the Badgers’ health this season.
Aside from senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion missing a game early in the season and a two-game series at Michigan Tech at the end of February, Wisconsin has been lucky to avoid the injury bug. The fact he was able to return from the concussion with no ill effects is a big reason the Badgers are one of the last four college hockey teams standing, as the Brentwood, Tenn. native had two goals and three assists in Wisconsin’s two West Regional games.
“Any coach will tell you that you need a little bit of lady luck on your side, and having good travel and having people that are healthy makes a big difference,” Eaves, UW’s head coach said.
“The biggest thing I think is people not getting hurt,” Smith said. “That comes along in the season when your top players go down and it really affects — because somebody else has to step up and maybe they don’t do the exact same job.”
WCHA tournament champion North Dakota knows the pain of injury — the Sioux lost former All-WCHA defenseman Chay Genoway to head injury in November and UND struggled until a second-half surge.
In addition to staying injury free, the Badgers have also stayed, well, for lack of a better term, the same team. UW’s seven-man senior class is the Badgers’ biggest since the groups that won it all in 2006 and fell one overtime goal short of the Frozen Four in 2007.
Lets hope the Badgers can win another National Championship. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike Eaves May be the Coach of the Year

Mike Eaves of the University of Wisconsin has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award, given annually to the top coach in NCAA Division I men's hockey.
The list of finalists for the award, presented by the American Hockey Coaches Association, includes the coaches of all four teams at the Frozen Four: Eaves, Enrico Blasi of Miami (Ohio), Wayne Wilson of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Jerry York of Boston College.
Eaves was runner-up to Blasi in 2006 for the award, marking the only other time he was nominated. No UW coach has ever won the award, which is celebrating its 60th year.
To be a finalist for the award, a coaches must either be voted Coach of the Year in his conference or take his team to the NCAA Frozen Four.
The Spencer Penrose Award is named in honor of the former Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA hockey championships.
The 2010 winner will be announced after the Frozen Four and presented at the American Hockey Coaches Association banquet on May 1 in Naples, Fla.
If he wins the award it will be great for Wisconsin. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!