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Wiconsin ‘hungry’ for win versus Minnesota
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Also by Kevin Hagstrom:
- Wiconsin 'hungry' for win versus Minnesota (January 25, 2008)
- Wisconsin's sign off (February 8, 2007)
- UW, UT face off on New Year's (December 13, 2007)
- Family comes 1st for ex-Badger WR (December 11, 2007)
- Nothing special about UW power play (December 10, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Badgers enter home stretch (January 23, 2007)
- Hockey hosts Showdown (December 12, 2001)
- Hockey looks to rebound from recent losses, get healthy (December 5, 2001)
- Badgers face month off (December 11, 2003)
- Hockey inconsistent at midpoint (January 22, 2002)
by Kevin Hagstrom
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Badgers do things last-minute. They exchanged “Secret Santa” gifts following practice Wednesday — just days shy of a month after the Christmas holiday itself. They’ve won or tied five games this year when trailing heading into the third period. And they’ve put together a nice stretch of games in WCHA play — more than two months after the conference slate began.
Of course, that’s just how they roll, says forward Kyle Turris.
“I think it just shows the team character that we have. It shows that we’re not going to give up,” Turris said. “The game’s never over, and we’re going to compete until the final buzzer sounds.”
While head coach Mike Eaves agrees it’s better late than never, he also believes that isn’t always the best approach.
Despite the team’s uncanny ability to come from behind, Eaves understands that the formula for winning doesn’t have to live up to the team’s “never say die” mantra. Instead, it’s about getting off to fast starts.
“All things taken equally, I’d rather have and establish the lead early in the game,” Eaves said.
At 10-10-4 (6-8-2 WCHA), the Wisconsin men’s hockey team is comfortably saddled right in the thick of the conference standings. But the ramifications of leveling with WCHA-leading Colorado College hold much to be desired.
Like Oliver Twist, the Badgers are hungry for more; they want to be among the league’s elite.
If years past held any sway, Wisconsin would have gotten that chance this weekend against Minnesota. Alas, the Gophers are having an uncharacteristically down season (12-10-4) — they were predicted to finish second in the standings — and are, in fact, tied with the Badgers.
Still, this first of two meetings between the two teams will give the Badgers a chance to slingshot themselves up in the WCHA standings and Pairwise rankings as the season heads to a close. Given Minnesota’s tendency to give up leads in the third period — the Gophers have allowed 24 third period goals in WCHA play while scoring just seven times — Wisconsin may also get a few more opportunities to put its come-from-behind nature to the test.
“It’s a big opportunity for us; we can’t let it slip away,” UW forward Ben Street said.
“Because of the position we’re in, every weekend represents something significant,” Eaves added. “It’s almost like every game will become the most important game of the season because we don’t have a lot of wiggle room, and we have to get points here in order to be where we want to be.”
Despite being riddled with inconsistencies throughout, both Wisconsin and Minnesota are playing well of late. Minnesota is currently riding a three-game unbeaten streak and has just one loss during the month of January, going 3-1-2 over that time.
Meanwhile, the Badgers, thanks to a two-goal effort by sophomore Michael Davies against Alaska-Anchorage last Saturday, capped a 2-1-1 road stretch — their first road win this season — and are riding a three game unbeaten streak of their own.
“You can certainly be encouraged by the way that we played and the points that we got in two tough environments,” Eaves said.
However, to Eaves, nothing signifies that his team is coming together more than its performance over the past two weekends.
“The best team-building experience you can have is going on the road and winning together,” he said. “You can climb ropes courses or camp out together, but winning on the road together brings you as close together as anything that you can do.”
What’s more, the power play finally paid off with the Badgers scoring three times in six opportunities after a 15-game stretch in which the main advantage netted a mere three goals in 59 chances.
“We made a couple of adjustments and got a little more freedom in what we can do, and I think that’s helped us a lot,” Street said.
But the team doesn’t want to get too comfortable. Turris is approaching the series with the mentality that Wisconsin lost its last time out.
“We don’t want to overdo ourselves so that we’re making stupid plays,” he said. “We need to play within our system.”
Contrary to the offensive-minded hockey both teams have grown accustomed to playing — Wisconsin this year and Minnesota historically — the games between these two border rivals have been low scoring. In their five contests last year UW and Minnesota combined for a mere 17 goals — meaning this series could come down to goaltending.
Shane Connelly has been rocky at times in the net for Wisconsin but nothing compared to Minnesota’s opening day starter Jeff Frazee who, after allowing nearly three goals per game, was benched in favor of freshman Alex Kangas.
In order for Wisconsin to continue its recent success, Eaves stressed the importance of putting pressure on the young goalie.
“Like all young goaltenders it’s about rebounds. It’s about getting used to the pace of the game,” he said. “So one of our tasks will be to get a lot of pucks on this young man and see how he handles them.”
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