The Wisconsin men’s hockey team is just oozing with talent. With players like Bernd Brückler, Robbie Earl and Ryan MacMurchy out on the ice, the Badgers have the skill to compete with anyone in college hockey; and, most nights, they do. Wisconsin can be as good as it wants to be; but too often this year, it has been just as bad.
With any Jekyll and Hyde scenario — like the one the Badgers are dealing with — there is a reason: for Wisconsin, it seems that it is just the inconsistencies of youth. While only time will tell, at this early juncture of the season, there is still plenty of time for the Badgers to show that they can in fact bring the kind of effort necessary night in and night out.
Perhaps the best example of Wisconsin’s up-and-down start was this past weekend at the College Hockey Showcase.
In Friday night’s game, Wisconsin took on a sub-.500 club in Michigan State. Sure the Spartans have historically been a very strong program. But, this season, they have been just shy of mediocre.
With a buildup like that, one would expect Wisconsin to turn in a workmanlike effort in an easy victory, not get shut out 4-0. The Badgers were so flat in that game that it never even seemed plausible they would creep back into the game. The fact that they were shut out for the first time in their last 57 games shouldn’t have been a surprise, as the Spartans were that much better than the Badgers.
There was no real explanation for the way the Badgers came out in that game. Maybe they were looking ahead to the big matchup the next night. Perhaps they were still feeling the effects of their long trip to Alaska the previous weekend. It’s even plausible that not having their human highlight film, Robbie Earl, out on the ice for the first 10 minutes left the team too deflated to recover. More than likely it was a combination of those things.
The problem is, if Wisconsin wants to be considered one of the best, it has to be able to fight through some of that adversity and still find a way to win.
Of course the following night, Wisconsin was as good as it was bad Friday. Facing the No. 1 team in the country, Michigan, the focus returned and Wisconsin proved the better team.
From the drop of the first puck to the sound of the final horn, the Badgers seemed to be in high gear, while the Wolverines looked to be skating on melting ice. Wisconsin won nearly every loose puck, created chances on the offensive end and never let Michigan get any kind of offensive flow going.
It was the kind of game that inspires any observer of Wisconsin hockey to believe that great things can be in store for this team. Of course, the observer would have to have a short memory, because the game before that would cause most people to worry that the Badgers were a second-rate team.
While this past weekend is perhaps the best example of Wisconsin’s bipolar play, it certainly isn’t the only example.
After starting the season off with four easy wins against fairly weak opponents, the Badgers got their first real test of the season against the Pioneers of Denver. One would expect that Wisconsin would be out to prove that its start was no fluke.
In the Friday game, the Badgers did just that, beating the Pioneers 6-3. The most impressive aspect of that game was the way the Badgers absolutely dominated the third period, scoring three unanswered goals after playing a fairly even first two periods.
After the game, the Badgers’ coaches and players all wanted to talk about how hard they had worked, how all the offseason conditioning was paying off and how this team was showing a maturity beyond its years.
They should have held off on the praise because they came out in the second game of that series and let Denver dictate the tempo throughout most of the game. While Wisconsin made the game competitive, unlike the Michigan State game, it never quite picked up the pace like it had the night before.
After that game, all the Badgers could talk about was how disappointed they were that they didn’t respond better.
The up and down ride has been in full affect ever since that Denver series. Wisconsin went to Minnesota and looked like they didn’t belong in college hockey. The Badgers followed that up with a sweep of the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota the following weekend. It was hard to judge which version of the Wisconsin Badgers would show up from one night to the next.
Wisconsin has shown that they have a ton of talent on this roster. When all of those skilled players are going in the same direction, it can be a thing of beauty — see the games against North Dakota and Michigan — however, when they aren’t on the same page, they can look just as bad.
The Badgers can be as good as they want to be; even a national title isn’t out of the question. Only one thing stands between the Badgers and greatness, and that is themselves. If Wisconsin can get everyone on the same page on a consistent basis, this will be a special season.
