Head coach Mike Eaves said, even before the season started, that his hockey team would be riding a roller coaster until Christmas. However, UW’s ride has not seen many inclines recently. Scheduled amidst a brutal stretch, the Badgers (5-9-0 overall, 1-5-0 WCHA) have seen six of their nine losses come from hockey squads ranked in the national top ten.

Facing the defending NCAA champions and currently ninth-ranked Minnesota this weekend, a Wisconsin victory would end the current four-game losing streak at home, avoiding an infamous entry into the record books. A loss Friday would signify the first time in over twenty-five years that UW has dropped five straight home contests tying four other squads, with the last unit being the 1975-76 team, for the second place mark.

The current plunge has been a direct effect of the team’s lack of offensive firepower that has been on a roller coaster itself. In the last six games Wisconsin’s scoring attack has taken a turn for the lethargic, netting only seven goals (1.17 goals a game) after getting twenty-five goals in the first eight contests (3.12gg).

“Within the games we went on rides,” noted Eaves, UW’s career leader in points. “Last Saturday our third period was probably as energetic, we created more scoring chances, than we had this season so far. We will continue to be on (the roller coaster) ride for a little while longer.”

The progress of Eaves’ new system within the program seemed to be taking form after the Badgers started the season 4-2. Since the end of October UW’s skaters have seen only one victory in the past eight contests. Given the competition and the goal differential, Wisconsin is on the right track. In the past seven losses, two goals or fewer have decided five of those games and three times opponents have added an empty netter in the last minute of play for the final tally.

“When you come into a situation (you) have expectations that are probably unrealistic,” said Eaves, who was a member of the 1975-76 team. “I’ve had to readjust on a personal level. We’re doing the right things, we are going in the right directions, it’s just not [going] at a pace that I hoped it would. We all like change to happen in a moment but it doesn’t.”

Streak Broken:

The Badger’s power play was lost throughout the month of November. On the man-advantage, UW failed to net a single goal going 0-33 until the last contest of the month. Junior winger Rene Bourque found the net Saturday against Michigan State and ended the goose egg that began against Denver Nov. 2.

Bourque leads the team with six goals through fourteen games and is on pace to break his sophomore total of twelve goals in 38 contents.

Freshman Phenom:

Freshman defenseman Tom Gilbert has always succeeded, no matter what the level of play. Gilbert has not been intimidated by the collegiate hockey scene and is tied nationally among freshman blue liners — with Ferris State’s Jeremy Scherlinck — with a pair of goals and nine assists for eleven points. Gilbert is tied for thirty-second nationally with an average of .79 points-per-game.

Around the WCHA:

North Dakota, Colorado College and Denver are all vying for the best starts in their respective school histories and for the coveted number one spot in the national rankings. UND (12-1-1) is ranked second with Denver (12-2-2) and CC (11-1-2) sharing the nation’s fifth spot.

All three schools are trailing top-ranked Boston College Eagles who have UW head coach Mike Eaves’ two sons leading the way.