Minnesota men’s hockey head coach Don Lucia knows the flavors that first year Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves currently tastes. Lucia has been there.
“I remember watching Don on TV (in 1999),” recalled Eaves, whose team finishes the first half of the WCHA season this weekend. “His team was playing and he would just hold his head up and pray for strength — I see a little bit of that in me now.”
Amidst a rough inaugural season, Eaves has seen his team through times of both harmony and distress. Currently UW (5-9-0 overall, 1-5-0 WCHA) is weathering the latter. Tonight the Badgers face Minnesota (7-4-4, 4-2-2), and normally facing just an archrival is enough. Add a top 10 ranking and “defending NCAA champions” to the mix, and you have yourself a monumental showdown.
The No. 10 Golden Gophers enter tonight’s game without the key components that fueled last year’s run to the title. Gone is the nation’s top player in Jordan Leopold and absent is the nation’s top scorer in John Pohl. Departed is four-year goaltender Adam Hauser. Jeff Taffe, the nation’s second-leading goal scorer, has left for the NHL.
Minnesota now relies upon forwards Thomas Vanek, a freshman, and junior Troy Riddle, who have both notched 12 goals.
U of M also depends on the contribution from any of the other nine players who have netted two goals or more. (The Badgers have eight of their own with over two goals. However, none have more than six scores.)
“We lost a great deal in terms of leadership,” Lucia said, who has 19-23 record against UW. “I’m not worried about our players or coaches being satisfied (after winning the national title last season). Even by last May, our players were already looking ahead to this season”
Who ever said that the number 13 was unlucky never conferred with UW.
The Badgers have suffered a hex thanks to the number four. In the past four games, UW has gone zero for four. The Badgers are current owners of four straight losses at the Kohl Center and have scored only four times in as many contests. And are now on the verge of dropping their fourth straight to the Gophers.
Turn the clock to a year ago and the situation looks similar. Hosting North Dakota in the final home stand before Christmas break, UW had dropped four of their last six. A miraculous overtime victory the first night led to a rare series sweep over UND, sending the Badgers to the holidays with an extra shot in their eggnog.
If history has taught us anything, it is that events often repeat themselves. Wisconsin’s overall record is bit of a misnomer with the three of the last four home losses, for all intents and purposes, decided by one score (Denver netted two empty netter with less than one minute to play and Michigan State stealing an overtime game).
However, all of the statistics and rankings in the world do not mean a thing when the Gophers and Badgers do battle. In the past three seasons Wisconsin and Minnesota have fought to a draw, each winning six times.
“There are no guarantees,” said Eaves of the teams’ historic backgrounds. “Our first step is to play well and if we do, we will have a chance of getting points.”
The most important aspect of the weekend for UW is competing in a competitive and well-played series with an end result netting at least one point. If the current skid extends to five or even six straight losses, the Badgers could dig themselves an insurmountable hole, kissing the season good-bye for good. But, don’t tell Mike Eaves that.
“Winning and getting points … is important in many ways but for us to play well is the first step,” said Eaves.
