[media-credit name=’RAY PFEIFFER/Herald file photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]It's been a trying year for the UW men's hockey seniors, especially for captain Andrew Joudrey and assistants Jake Dowell and Jeff Likens.

Luckily for the trio, they received some guidance from an old Badger who knows a little something about leading the troops: Adam Burish, Wisconsin's captain from last year's championship squad.

"It's interesting; Adam Burish was back in town, and Adam stopped by the rink a couple days, watched us practice," UW head coach Mike Eaves said at his Monday press conference.

Eaves said he sat down after that practice and chatted with Burish, who was a fan favorite along with his sister, Nikki, when they each won hockey championships for Wisconsin in the spring of 2006. The fifth-year head coach said Burish responded with some "interesting feedback."

"One of the things that he encouraged the captains to do is … go talk to Coach, he's not going to bite your head off if you've got ideas," Eaves said. "Before even Adam said those things, the guys actually came in and said, 'Hey, Coach, you know, could we try doing this. We've been working on it in practice, and we think we're ready for it in the games.'"

Eaves conducts weekly meetings with his captain and two assistants — three seniors who have become increasingly vocal in passing weeks (most commonly, it's been captain Joudrey). Eaves attributed that to a coach-player relationship that improves with each week of games and practices.

"As the year goes on, I think they become more comfortable in bringing up things that are on their mind," Eaves said. "It's something that we work on every week. We sit down and we talk about the state of the union, how this team is doing, where we're at, what are their thoughts and feelings about where we're going and how the young kids are doing.

"So I think by doing that, you stay on top of that and you keep everything together."

Street-wise play

The Badgers (11-15-2, 8-11-1 WCHA) have taken baby steps when it comes to scoring goals — and there have been some growing pains with such a young team, sitting in last place in the WCHA with 61 goals. Wisconsin's not particularly close, either; UW has eight fewer goals than any other team in the conference (Michigan Tech has 69).

Of the pleasant surprises this season, freshman Mike Davies has shown he has the capabilities to be a great player for a long time to come, jumping quickly to the second line and first power-play unit. But quietly, sophomore Ben Street has become another head turner, ranking second on the team with seven goals.

"I think that, in watching Ben on the ice and watching him in practice, it's a slow growth but very steady," Eaves said. "[It's] in a good way that'll make him an even more effective hockey player. I think he's coming along very nicely."

Street hasn't been particularly flashy in his goal scoring, as he has yet to score twice in one series and hasn't had back-to-back games with a goal. But according to Eaves, Street has simply gone about his business and has been a solid contributor when he has his chances.
"One of the hardest things I think for athletes to figure out is find[ing] that balance between understanding what their strengths are and playing to them and then always pushing to get better, but always coming back to your strengths," Eaves said. "We see that growth, as a staff, in Ben right now. It's going in that direction."

Mixed emotions

After a pair of losses to Colorado College, a couple of the leaders — Joudrey and Dowell — insisted the Badgers were running out of time and needed to pick up their play instantly. While few would disagree with that assessment, sophomore defenseman Davis Drewiske didn't seem as stressed about the Badgers' season potentially slipping away. Rather, Drewiske said casually he was "excited to come down the backstretch" of this 2006-07 campaign.

Eaves agreed with both points of view, as long as his players are able to mesh those two emotions together.

"Well, I think there's a balance that needs to be struck there," Eaves said. "If you get too overanxious, then you're going to take yourself out of your ability to play the best you can. This is the most exciting time of the year, and I think that's the way most guys would look at it."

Eighth place in the WCHA or not, the Badgers not only know how fun it can be to participate in these late season games, but have a great opportunity to prepare themselves for the WCHA tournament in March.

"Yes, there is urgency," Eaves said, "but this is the fun time of year because we're trying to finish strong, trying to climb back up higher in the standings. Plus we're getting ready for the playoffs.

"So it's an exciting time."