Ben Street doesn’t get too upset about things. His coach sees him as a calming presence, and Street even admits he doesn’t tend to be overly emotional. Even season-ending injuries can’t derail him.
Street is a fifth-year senior on the Wisconsin men’s hockey team, but only because he suffered a season-ending ACL tear just four games into the 2008-09 season. Characteristically, Street took the injury with calm acceptance.
“It was just one of those things where I was pretty sure my season was over,” he said. “The only thing on my mind was how I was going to get myself back and ready to go the next year.”
Now that he’s back, the UW tri-captain is doing what he does best — shooting the puck. Street scored a game-clinching goal with just under two minutes left Friday night and leads the team with 33 shots on goal. Although it’s early in the season, the forward is content with how he’s played so far.
“Pretty good, I obviously had to get a little rust off to start with. I think in some aspects, I’m still getting my timing back a little bit,” Street said. “But so far I’ve been able to contribute every once in a while and I haven’t been making a lot of mistakes defensively, so at least I’m not hurting the team.”
The loss of Street last year meant the Badgers faced a big void in offense. Although players like Tom Gorowsky and John Mitchell picked up the scoring slack, Street’s contribution was sorely missed. Entering his fourth year, he had scored at least 10 goals in each of his first three full seasons.
Coming off of the 2007-08 season, he had posted career bests with 13 goals and 17 assists. Street also led the team with four game-winning goals that season.
And though his offensive presence was missed, head coach Mike Eaves didn’t understate how Street’s calm demeanor and experience were missed. He even went as far as to compare the senior to a four-time Stanley Cup winner.
“It’s interesting, when you talk to older guys in the National Hockey League, when people talk about a captain like (Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas) Lidstrom, they talk about how calm he is,” Eaves said. “And during a storm, [he says] ‘Hey, it’s OK, we’re a good team, things are going to be all right. We’ve got to continue to work hard and stay the course.’
“And that’s the kind of personality Ben has anyways, and with his experiences, he brings that.”
When Street went down, co-captain Blake Geoffrion and the two assistant captains stepped up to provide on-ice leadership. But Geoffrion said he didn’t feel any additional pressure to lead, as Street was still active with the team.
“He was around, getting to know the freshmen, getting to know [guys], closer to guys that weren’t playing as much and being able to talk to him and help them through their adversity,” Geoffrion said. “It was definitely helpful.”
And though he wasn’t on the ice with the team, Street made himself available to his teammates to talk. He also watched games as a spectator and said he learned a lot being able to break down the play from above.
With Geoffrion and Co. taking care of things in the rink, Street could focus on his rehab and being a mentor.
“So I kind of let those guys take the game by game stuff, [and] I tried to just be an outlet, be an away from hockey type of thing,” Street said. “I kind of had a bird’s-eye view of the games, so guys could come and ask me, ‘What’d you think, maybe coach saw it this way, but what do you think?'”
Despite accepting his new role on the team and feeling confident about his rehab, even the ever-placid Street admitted the injury was mentally taxing.
“I mean, it was — probably frustrating is be best word. It was one of those things where there’s not much you can do about it, I couldn’t play, I kind of accepted that pretty early,” he said. “It was tough, watching your teammates go out there and compete and not being able to help them. That part was frustrating.”
Adding to the frustration, the Badgers missed the NCAA tournament by just 0.0002 of a point in the Ratings Percentage Index. The Badgers also lost 10 games last season by one goal — or about one game for each goal Street has averaged per season.
But having the forward back for a fifth year can only help on a largely veteran squad.
“We kind of have the same fold as he did when it was ’06 and they won the national championship, and that’s kind of what we’ve got now,” Geoffrion said. “He’s been able to help us through and give us different ideas of what their team and their culture was when they won in ’06.”
And though Street’s production so far this season has been pedestrian — his three points (two goals, one assist) are tied for 11th on the team — he leads the team in shots on goal and is a respectable plus-2 for the season. His coach calls him “a shooter” and acknowledges how tough it is to return from injury. And after knowing Street for more than four years, Eaves is confident he’ll see a return to form.
“It’s always tough to come back after a long layoff. And I know Ben’s somewhat frustrated in his point production, but as we’ve talked about, it’s going to take time,” Eaves said. “He’s getting shots, he’s getting chances — he’s clearly getting chances.
“It’s just a matter of time. His best is yet to come, that’s for sure. That’s exciting.”