Each week throughout the season, the Wisconsin men's hockey team looks to a choosen quote to rally around in preparation for upcoming action.
Not often has one been as apt as this week's entry.
Head coach Mike Eaves has chosen a quote about learning from each experience, improving and moving forward'exactly what the Badgers (13-3-2 WCHA, 18-4-2 overall) will be trying to do after playing through a weekend sweep at the hands of two-time defending champion Denver.
The two losses, in which the Badgers managed only two total goals, played a role in dropping UW down a rung to the second-ranked team in the country. The release of yesterday's poll marks the end of seven straight featuring the Badgers on top.
At his weekly press conference Monday, Eaves said missed opportunities were the primary reason for the disappointment in front of two capacity crowds.
'Breaking down the film over the last couple of days, we out-chanced that team both nights,' Eaves said of his team, who had more shots on goal in both games. 'There were some little areas of the game we felt we could've been better at.'
Wisconsin was simply the victim of sensational goaltending in a 1-0 game Friday night as Denver junior goaltender Glenn Fisher turned away all of the Badgers' 28 shots, including five on a power play.
'It was one of those games where they played a great road game. They got excellent goaltending,' Eaves said.
Saturday night, however, UW allowed four goals, three of which came on the power play. By his count, Eaves noted only five scoring chances for Denver all game when the teams were at even strength.
Asked if the team wanted to just purge last weekend's performance from its collective mind, Eaves responded by saying, 'By no means do we want to drop what happened last weekend. We want to learn our lessons.'
If history means anything, the Badgers should be successful in doing so, according to Eaves.
'If I took a quick inventory of the lessons that we've learned and being able to move forward, I would say this is a pretty good group for that,' he said.
'I think because we're an upperclassmen team, that applies to their ability to take the lessons and put them into action pretty quickly,' Eaves continued.
They get their chance this weekend against Minnesota at the Kohl Center, which will once again be sold out as the two teams play out their border rivalry.
UW took two games against the Gophers in early December in a highly anticipated series.
'I'm sure there's a level of confidence going into this weekend that will be good for us,' Eaves said.
