In the third installment of Herald Sports’ lengthy Q&A with Wisconsin men’s hockey head coach Mike Eaves, the discussion turns toward Eaves’ younger Badgers and the growth he’s seen in them over the season.
Kelly Erickson: Now focusing on your younger guys. We’ll start with your sophomore class. As a whole they put up great numbers this year. Is that mostly because it’s such a big class?
Mike Eaves: I think it’s opportunity and responsibility. It’s a big class, and we were an awful young team. As compared to their freshman year, we were going to have a lot more responsibility and we were hoping their numbers would jump, and they did. I think about [Michael Mersch] and [Tyler Barnes], their goal totals numbered, their total points grew, their plus/minus went up. There was definite growth by that group. To me, and you talk to the other coaches, the biggest growth in a collegiate career is between your sophomore and junior year, so we’re really hopeful that they go that next jump up and they are even able because of their experience, their growth physically, mentally and emotionally, that they’re able to take that next quantum leap to a level that will really make the difference in our team.
KE: What did you see from the freshman class?
ME: You know what we saw? We saw moments of brilliance and moments where they looked like freshmen. I think that because of their experiences that we had to play them, we needed to play them or they deserved play, they will have exponential growth as well because they were thrown in the fire probably a little bit earlier than they needed to or wanted to be because it’s a big jump. But I think the experiences they got this year will serve them well next year.
KE: Was there anyone in particular besides Justin or Mark that really stood out to you this year?
ME: Let me go by position. I think that at the end of the year, Joel Rumpel really established himself as a guy that wants to be the man. The way he played at the end of the year was really exciting to watch. I think that he’s that “ice in his veins” kind of athlete. At the same time, he became more detailed in his positional play … and he can get better at that. I think he came to understand that, and that’s what helped him grow as a goalie as the year went along. I think [volunteer assistant coach] Jeff Sanger did a nice job with that. I think that Landon [Peterson], a little bit of hard luck for Landon. At moments, for two periods in many games he was brilliant and then it always seemed that there was that one kind of leaker of a goal that was just, ‘how the heck did that go in?’ And I want to talk to Landon about it, we haven’t got to our individual meetings yet, but he is hard working, he has ability. I don’t know if it was a mental thing, but it’s something we’re going to address. But having him in practice really pushed Joel, they pushed each other and it was fun to watch. To have a situation like that … it’s the best case scenario as a coach.
To transfer up to defensemen, I thought that [Frankie] Simonelli, I though that [Joe] Faust really made another step. They played together last year when we played Colorado out there and that was a breakthrough series for them. They had some chemistry, they believed in each other and they played well. Well, they went to another level this year. I think Frankie playing with Justin at the end and most of the season really elevated his confidence and defined his game because Justin could do his thing and Frankie was going to do his. And he’s such a tremendous competitor and leads by example now that he’s starting to fill that role. Faust is a really nice young man whose confidence really started to grow, and you can see that on the ice. And I think he needs to take that to another – not just compete but dictate, dictate on the ice what’s happening. … Those two guys being sophomores really did a nice job. Did I miss someone there?
KE: Maybe McCabe?
ME: Well, it’s too bad he got hurt because that put his growth pattern a little bit behind the eight ball, because at the end of the year he was damn good for us … he competed, he was physical. The thing about Jake that we’re trying to get him to understand is his virtue is his vice. He has poise and confidence in his veins but there’s time when you need to realize, ‘I need to do things a second ago.’ And he started to play like that … he had moments where he was shot from a cannon and he played at a pace that he needs to play regularly at. That learning curve is still going up at the end of the year for Jake, but nice things at the end for him.
Check back Thursday for the final portion of Eaves season wrap-up.
