The most dangerous team to face at the end of the season is one that has nothing to lose.
During February, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team seemed poised to throw the season away. And who could argue after the Badgers had lost five games in a row coming into the month by a difference of 20 goals, dropping their conference record to 2-13-3.
UW head coach Mike Eaves, who planned to have his team playing their best hockey at the end of the season, looked tired and sounded more frustrated than Ed Rooney trying to nab Ferris Bueller on his ninth sick day. His notion, at the time, seemed laughable.
There was the unmotivated series (which followed a UW sweep of Alaska-Anchorage) against Minnesota in which UW, seeming to care less, allowed 13 goals in just two games.
There was Alex Leavitt, aloof after being a healthy scratch for three straight games, who came forward nearly three months after the fact with claims that Eaves had physically and verbally confronted him.
Then Wisconsin, which could have folded like a poker player who had just lost the farm, came out with their most impressive series of the season against then 14th ranked St. Cloud State, taking three points.
There was the arrest of senior captain Brad Winchester for assaulting Madison’s finest only hours after the series, and SCSU was quickly forgotten.
Eaves, who was out of town on a recruiting trip at the time, left the future of Leavitt and Winchester (and the rest of the team for that matter) in limbo. Upon his return, Winchester was suspended for two games, a day before the Michigan Tech series. Three days later (March 1) Leavitt was told he would be removed from the team for the remainder of the season.
Regardless of the new look, UW was still able to pull a sweep out of their hats.
Retreating to the on-ice sanctuary has allowed the Badgers to put everything else out of their heads and focus on one thing: hockey.
Eaves, whose team is now 5-2-1 in February, finds that with all the recent happenings, “it’s a breath of fresh air to finally go out onto the rink.”
Wisconsin has experienced the hardships in February and now knows what they have to lose: nothing.
Tough Choices: This weekend marks the final home series for the Badger seniors, including goaltender Scott Kabotoff, who has fallen behind sophomore Bernd Bruckler on the depth chart in the past few weeks. With a ceremony planned Saturday to honor the seniors, head coach Mike Eaves does not have tentative plans to give Kabotoff his final start on home ice.
“You know, we want to win,” said Eaves of the weekend that has playoff seeding implications for UW. “If Scotty is deserving of playing here because of his efforts this week, then we’ll get him in.”
Bruckler is expected to start Friday evening.
Tough Love
Senior forward Erik Jensen has responded following his three-game disciplinary benching from Feb. 8-21. Tabbing the hiatus as “tough love,” Eaves says that Jensen, who has climbed his way back after being demoted to the fourth line upon his return, has learned his lesson.
“He disagreed with being sat out,” Eaves said. “He’s in our top [two lines] because he’s taking the adverse situation [and using it to his advantage].”
Since Feb. 21 Jensen, known to be the team’s on-ice enforcer, not an offensive threat, has tallied three goals in the past three games.
Jottings
UW currently is on a four-game winning streak (3-0-1) . . . The once pitiful power play has rung up ten goals in the past eight games after failing to score more than two goals in 52 opportunities . . . A victory is almost guaranteed if the Badgers score four or more goals going 7-0-1 thus far . . . Eight players tallied a goal against Michigan Tech last weekend.
