After a successful trip to Anchorage over the weekend — where the Ice Badgers handled the Seawolves 4-1 both nights — Wisconsin returned home this week to find itself in first place in the WCHA and garnering a No. 4 ranking in both the USCHO.com and USA Today polls.
With a particularly young squad taking the ice, head coach Mike Eaves and his staff couldn’t be happier with the consistently sound playing his team has exhibited over the first month of the season.
“Without a doubt, I am happy where we are,” Eaves said. “I think that winning five out of six games at home and getting a couple wins on the road, for a young group, we have the starting of a good team confidence now and we need to continue doing that.”
Eaves continued to say that the holiday weekend — with tough non-conference foes No. 2 Michigan and Michigan State scheduled to travel to Madison — will be a good measuring stick for how his team stacks up.
“This will be a good test this weekend, to play these quality teams that we don’t see very often to see where we rank with them,” he said.
Hollywood nights: In Friday’s contest, Wisconsin forward Robbie “Hollywood” Earl collected his second career hat trick. Earl scored the Badgers’ first three goals in the game — with all three coming in the second period. With the performance, Earl now leads the Ice Badgers with 18 points on 7 goals and 11 assists.
Earl has also led the Badgers to a 22.1 percent success rate on power plays — the second highest percentage in the WCHA. Eaves says he sees a more mature player in Earl in his second season of collegiate hockey, and that as a result, he has become a more consistent force on the ice.
“The thing with Robert (Earl) is his biggest task was consistency when we saw him as a freshman,” Eaves said. “At times, there were moments of brilliance. It seemed that in big games he would arise to the occasion. Like against Minnesota and North Dakota last season, he had his bigger games so you knew it was there. As he matured over the summer and has matured as a young man, the consistency is there and we’re seeing that this year with the [scoring] numbers he has.”
Badgers showcased: This weekend, Wisconsin hosts the 12th annual College Hockey Showcase with Michigan and Michigan State in town. Last season, the Badgers were extremely successful in the showcase, sweeping their two games. They beat the Wolverines 3-1 and the Spartans 2-1 in overtime.
While the Ice Badgers only get the opportunity to play Michigan and Michigan State once a year on the ice, the rivalry has a long-standing history.
“[The College Hockey Showcase] keeps alive a little bit of a rivalry that was there back in the day when our era played,” Eaves said. “[Michigan and Michigan State] were part of our league and I think that was why they brought [the showcase] back, because they didn’t want to see the rivalry disappear all together. I was surprised last year when we played Notre Dame and how full the building was because people wanted to see Notre Dame play.”
While it may serve as a rare and exciting event for coaches, fans and players, the Badgers aren’t taking the games themselves lightly.
“This is another test and opportunity for us, as a team,” Eaves explained. “I think all our guys — just looking at their eyes last night, realizing they are playing Michigan and Michigan State — I think they are excited to have this challenge.”
