Robbie Earl brought something to Madison this weekend that the town has not seen in quite a long time, if ever. Hailing from Los Angeles, Calif., it is only fitting that it was “Hollywood” Earl who Friday night reintroduced Madison to flash.
Generally regarded as one of the most intimidating stadiums in college hockey, and certainly one of the loudest, the Kohl Center has never heard the decibel levels that were produced as Earl spun, juked and deked his way into history books with the first ever Kohl Center hat trick.
Since arriving in Madison, Earl has shown brief glimpses of the player he revealed fully this weekend. But with only eight goals and eight assists in 29 games going into the weekend, head coach Mike Eaves said he was concerned that his talented winger was moving in the wrong direction.
“He’s one of those players that’s offensively very gifted — high-risk and high-reward.” Eaves said. “But we kind of put up with some turnovers.”
The wrap on Earl has been that he does not bring his A-game to the ice consistently, one shift showing up as a dangerous scoring threat and the next looking like a non-factor. He at times appears to coast around and disappear into the fray.
Fellow freshman standout Ryan Suter, who played with Earl formerly in the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“When Robbie shows up and plays, he’s an unbelievable player,” the defenseman said. “You saw that tonight.”
With Earl sitting just a seat away from Suter, one might think he would resent the insinuation that he often doesn’t “show up” to play. Instead, when asked, Earl agreed with his teammate.
“He has a good point,” Earl said. “When I show up, I can be a positive force for this team; when I don’t, I’m just another player in the WCHA.”
Eaves said after Friday night’s game that he had been worried that his enigmatic freshman was being held back by his reliance on talent and was not working hard enough to become truly great. The problem came to a head after the Minnesota series, and Eaves sat down with Earl to have a “heart-to-heart.”
“I don’t want to go too deeply in to it,” Earl said of his coach’s advice. “He just said I can be a great player if I want to be.”
The talk obviously paid dividends. Earl scored four goals against the most talented and respected team in the country as the Badgers pulled off a surprising sweep.
Every goal Earl netted seemed to have more flare than the last Friday night — capped by a stunning overtime goal that no one in Madison is likely to forget anytime soon. Earl’s fourth goal of the weekend Saturday night came after a separation-creating move that looked impossible.
Whether Earl will fade back into the fray over the next month is yet to be decided, but one thing is for sure. Friday night “Hollywood” arrived in Madison.
