The upcoming month for Wisconsin hockey looks a tad daunting. After playing host in six of their first eight games, UW will get to experience the role of the invitee. Following last week’s bye, the Badgers will not see the familiar and consoling surroundings of the Kohl Center until after Thanksgiving.
The two upcoming WCHA series see the Badgers traveling to Duluth and Grand Forks before returning home for the College Hockey Showcase (Nov. 29-30). The only other road trip the Badgers have seen was to Boston, resulting in a split, but was extremely beneficial in the maturing of head coach Mike Eaves’ team.
Upon returning, UW faced highly touted Denver (Nov. 1-2) and seemed to take the next step in understanding the Eaves scheme, outplaying the Pioneers for much of the series even though they lost both games 5-3.
The Badgers look at the trips as another chance for “bonding time” that will result in a tighter-knit team, creating more united and heightened play, echoing the Boston tour.
“The more we play games together,” Eaves said, “And the more we forge our ability to play in game situations, the better off we’ll be.”
The road trip is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The College Hockey Showcase features two ranked opponents in 6th ranked Michigan and 13th ranked Michigan State. Ensuing that affair is the border-state rivalry with defending national champions and third ranked Minnesota. Not to mention that the excursion to Grand Forks is against fifth-ranked North Dakota. The road does not get any easier for Wisconsin.
Facing six games against top-15 opponents in the next eight is, as the Badgers will find out, a daunting task for any team.
Rookie mistake: Following Friday night’s game against Denver (Nov. 1), head coach Mike Eaves left the UW bench in what seemed to be a gruff. Staring at DU’s head coach George Gwozdecky through the Plexiglas as the final second ticked off the clock, it appeared that Eaves had a few parting words for his ex-UW teammate. However, actions can be deceiving.
“I wasn’t sure if we were suppose to shake hands or not,” smirked Eaves. “I’m new to this. I guess we weren’t suppose to shake hands.”
In his first year as head coach, Eaves hasn’t learned all the etiquette quite yet; the official handshake takes place after both games of the series have been completed.
Rookie appreciation: Wisconsin has been fortunate to land a healthy batch of newcomers. The UW freshmen have aided the team offense significantly through the first eight games, having netted eight of the team’s 25 goals (32 percent) and have tallied 17 of the 45 assists (38 percent).
Leading the way is Tom Gilbert, who is also the WCHA’s top-scoring first-year defenseman, scoring once and assisting seven times. Forward Ryan MacMurchy scored in both games versus Denver, bringing his goal total to three. He also has three assists.
Miscellaneous: On the UW power play, junior winger Rene Bourque has been the go-to-guy, scoring three goals on a mere six shots.
Of the 27 goals scored on UW, nine goals (33 percent) have come when down a man.
The game captains for the weekend will be John Eichelberger (C), Bourque (A) and Jon Krall (A).
