[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Entering this weekend’s WCHA playoffs, head coach Mike Eaves knew his Wisconsin Badgers needed a spark of some sort after consecutive winless road weekends. Eaves’ squad discovered a little surprise when they reported to Veterans Memorial Coliseum this past Tuesday for a normal day of practice.

“We knew we had to do something,” Eaves said. “We knew that we needed to formulate something that would energize them a little bit because it’s been such a grind the last five weeks. Coming into the playoffs we needed an energizer and it seemed to serve its purpose, at least we hope.”

What Eaves did was take a page out of none other than Samuel L. Jackson’s book, star of the recent film “Coach Carter.” In the film, Jackson’s character chains the gymnasium door shut and cancels practices and games until his basketball team improves its academic performance.

“We all came in together and it was definitely a nice surprise,” senior goaltender Bernd Bruckler said. “As captains, we had talked to Coach Eaves before about it actually being done and stuff. He asked us what we think about it and we thought it was a great idea.”

After a bowling game on their day off, the Badgers responded with what Eaves and several players characterized as an energetic and invigorating day of practice, a refreshing sign from a team that has won just one of its last nine games.

“We’re pulling the trigger more often in practice, which I think is a sign that we’re leaning toward getting some offense going,” Eaves said. “I like where we’re going in terms of getting that confidence.”

Wisconsin will be looking to rebound from its recent skid against Alaska Anchorage, the same team that bounced UW at home from the conference playoffs in last year’s first round. This season, the fourth-seeded Badgers welcome the seventh-seeded Seawolves to Madison with revenge on their minds.

“It’s big,” captain Adam Burish said of this weekend’s revenge factor. “Guys realize that; it’s not that we’re going to blow it out of proportion and make it something bigger than it is, but right away, as soon as we found out it was them, we said we would have liked to finish in third place in the league, but maybe this is the way it was supposed to be.”

The similarities leading up to this WCHA first round series from a year ago are bountiful. Last season, the Badgers entered the two teams’ playoff matchup having defeated the Seawolves in their only two regular season games. This year, Wisconsin once again has dominated Anchorage, sweeping the season series by a combined score of 17 to five in the four UW victories.

“That’s the only thing we take from the four wins that we have is we know we can beat this team and we also know their tendencies and where they’re good and where their downfalls are,” Bruckler said. “And I think that’s going to play to our advantage.”

Anchorage used the hot goaltending of Chris King last season in its upset of Wisconsin. King made 74 saves while only allowing three goals in UAA’s two wins, propelling the Seawolves to their first WCHA Final Five appearance in school history. This season, Anchorage’s netminding duo of freshman Nathan Lawson and junior John DeCaro have shown a similar ability to carry their team. DeCaro stopped a combined 108 shots in a win and tie at Minnesota earlier this season, while Lawson averages more than 30 saves per game.

“Obviously in the playoffs, that’s one of the most important things is if you have a hot goalie, you can ride him through the playoffs as we saw with Alaska last year in the WCHA tournament,” Burish said. “So, it’s just going to be a matter of getting pucks and getting bodies to the net and not letting them see the puck and making it a difficult night for them.”

This season’s series, however, will be played at the Coliseum, home to the Badgers for more than 30 years and where Eaves and UW assistant coach Mark Osiecki skated during their collegiate careers.

“I’ve been telling guys the last couple of weeks how crazy this place can get,” said Burish, a Madison native who attended UW games as a youngster. “Obviously, it’s not the big scoreboard, it doesn’t have the ring beam, but at the same time the fans are just right on top of you.”

Playing in the Coliseum also means UW will be skating on a smaller ice sheet than the Kohl Center’s Olympic-sized surface for the third straight weekend. The Badgers have struggled recently, but beat Notre Dame in a smaller rink earlier this season.

“It’s a faster game,” said defenseman Tom Gilbert. “You’ve got to be more physical, you can’t let anyone by you and you’ve got to make things simple because turnovers, it’s in the back of the net in like a second.”

Wisconsin has yet to advance past the first round of the conference playoffs in Eaves’ first two seasons as head coach, and will be looking to punch a ticket to the WCHA Final Five for the first time since 2002. The event is held at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

“I haven’t played there yet and I really want to play there pretty bad and it’s our seniors’ last chance too, so it’s a big deal for them,” Gilbert said.