DETROIT – Mike Eaves put it best when he said it just wasn’t UW’s night.
The Wisconsin head coach did most of the talking during the postgame press conference. The Badgers just got thoroughly dominated in their 5-0 loss to Boston College.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a group of guys look as hollow as Ben Street, Blake Geoffrion and Ryan McDonagh did up there. Eaves seemed to have taken it well. The guys cleared out of their locker room like it was infested with smallpox, and I can’t blame them.
It was just the third time all season UW was shut out. For a team that scored eight goals two nights before against RIT, and that averaged four per game for the season, it was a surprise to see the Badgers struggle so badly on offense.
BC’s players seemed to be in front of every puck the Badgers put on net. Most of UW’s possessions involved dumping the puck into the BC zone, fighting for 30 seconds on the end boards, then watching BC get it out of the zone, or mount a counterattack in transition.
Michael Davies must hate himself right now. He had probably all of UW’s best chances to score in the game. A 1-1 game in the first or second is completely different than going into the third being down 1-0 like UW was. The Badgers finished the season winless when trailing after two periods.
John Mitchell got kind of screwed. He was called for contact to the head penalties a couple times, mainly because with his 6-foot-5 frame, his elbows are right where the tiny BC forwards’ heads are.
But man. It really just wasn’t the Badgers’ night. The defense did a good job of dealing with the Eagles’ speedy forwards, but by pressing for offense, turnovers at the blue line really killed UW.
Remember that: it was turnovers at the blue line. Not just speed. UW’s defensemen skate just as well or better than anyone in the country.
With all the talk about destiny and similarities to the 2006 team, it just goes to show that storylines and fate don’t mean a thing when it comes down to playing the actual game. Just ask the 2007 Patriots.
One way to look at it is UW didn’t win the regular season title in the WCHA, the conference title, or a national title.
But loss in the title game aside, it was still a great season.
