[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]In the early stages of the 2006-07 season, Mike Eaves has put nine freshmen on the ice, has dealt with the loss of his five leading scorers from Wisconsin's 2005-06 championship team, and fought with meaningful injuries affecting three key players.

With all this early adversity, Eaves has desperately needed his slightly more experienced players to step in. Captain Andrew Joudrey and assistant captain Jake Dowell have done more than their part to answer the bell.

Dowell has lit the lamp five times already in this young season for the Badgers (3-1-2, 2-1-1 WCHA), which Eaves attributed to Dowell's work ethic over the summer as well as his growth in the mental game between the ears.

"A lot of things have come together for Jake," Eaves said at a press conference Monday. "I think that the foundation of things coming together has been his natural maturation as a young man."

Dowell has recently dealt with his father's illness, but according to Eaves he has taken some positives out of personal adversity.

"That's been a real roller-coaster ride," Eaves said. "Over the years, he has come to understand, 'You know what, I just need to control the things I can control.' I think the way his father has dealt with his illness has really helped Jake understand that."

Joudrey is tied with Dowell, sophomore forward Tom Gorowsky and freshman defenseman Jamie McBain for the team lead in points with five — Joudrey, Gorowsky and McBain all have a goal and four assists — but Joudrey's largest contribution has been his first month's performance with the "C" on his jersey.

"Based on the fact that we're so young, I think Andrew probably inherited a lot more work than even Adam (Burish, UW's 2005-06 captain) had to deal with," Eaves said. "But his maturity — he's a little bit of an old soul in terms of the way he looks at life. He has a direction in his own mind and the type of person he is, so the challenge that he has in front of him, he's adapted to very well."

During the weekend, before the third period of Saturday's game, Eaves was pleasantly surprised to see his captain take charge in the locker room of the troops and said he left the area to allow Joudrey to do his job.

"I walked in the locker room, and I was going to say a few things," Eaves said. "I just walked right out because Andrew was up and about to say something, and I listened, after his emotional surge with his team, I was able as a head guy to go on back there and settle things down.

"It was nice, I didn't have to be the bad guy," Eaves joked. "This time, it was Andrew's turn."

Friendly competition

It would be an understatement to say Eaves has a shred of respect for Boston College head coach Jerry York. Though Eaves came out the victor in the 2006 Frozen Four championship game last April, the fifth-year Badger coach defeated a 35-year veteran hockey coach. York has won 751 games, 284 of which have come in his 13 years at the Boston College helm.

York isn't just known for his win total, which surpasses that of all other head coaches in Division I history, or for his two national championships, including his first with Boston College in 2001.

Eaves recalled the class York showed after the Badgers won the national title game 2-1, as York had his distraught players come back on to the ice to pay their respects to the Eagles fans who had made the trek to Milwaukee.

"Jerry's greatest quality is the type of man he is, he's a tremendous man, people like to play for Jerry York," Eaves said. "He teaches life lessons; we talked about the fact how they conducted themselves when they lost that game. They started to go off the ice, he made them come back on in a very rough moment and salute their fans and thank them for coming. That's the type of gentleman he is."

Eaves said he and York chatted after the national championship game in April for a long time, about a few different topics.

"We spoke in the hallway after the game for quite a while," Eaves said. "We talked about the game, we talked about the boys, talked about this summer, talked about this upcoming series. We've already made contact, and we have plans to get together after the game on Saturday."

Klubertanz makes progress

Junior defenseman Kyle Klubertanz suffered a thigh injury when he was upended against North Dakota two weekends ago, and has made strides toward getting back on the ice for the Badgers.

According to Eaves, the preseason all-American will attempt to skate with the team in practice and will be evaluated on his progress without much physical contact.

"We don't know how he's going to go on the ice and go on the ice as he did on Saturday," Eaves said. "Depending on how he feels, if we can get him in to some skill drills today without any contact and he does well, that would be the intermediate step."