The Wisconsin Badger men's hockey team will be leaving the Kohl Center for more than one month. By any measure, its departure was not on a good note.
A sweep at home, where attendance is on pace to break a national record, seemed unthinkable two weeks ago. But the reality is that the Badgers have now lost four straight in Madison, and are just 9-6-1 on home ice after Minnesota took two from UW this weekend.
'It's not the most pleasing thing, that's for sure,' head coach Mike Eaves said of the recent home woes after Saturday night's loss.
'It just seemed that we didn't have that extra emotion,' Eaves continued. 'It's hard to figure out. You're playing Minnesota, in home, sell-out building, big game in the standings, what's missing'?
Perhaps it will help the Badgers (13-5-2 WCHA, 18-6-2) to take to the road for their next seven games, including one in neutral setting. UW has yet to drop a game away from home this year, going 9-0-1.
For now, a team that just weeks ago was riding high with a 14-game unbeaten streak is left to figure out the home-road discrepancy, and what has gone wrong the previous two weekends. Eaves offered his take on the Badgers lapses in their own building.
'On the road, we play a little simpler,' he said. 'On the road, you don't have to meet the expectations of 15,000. I think that's an extra added emotional weight. They want to play so well for these people here and have wins, and I think they put pressure on themselves.'
Junior forward Andrew Joudrey, who had an assist in Friday night's game, shared the opinion of his coach. 'It's just one of those things ... we get so excited to play for the fans. Sometimes you try and almost do too much.'
At times that appeared to be the case this weekend. The Badgers tallied five unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the series, and there were numerous confrontations among the two teams, who extended a rivalry that stretches to more than 200 games.
'It's a most-interesting thing for young athletes to play in a big-time game like this with emotion and the talk and everything,' Eaves said.
Whether it is a coincidence that the Badgers' first four-game losing streak since 2002-'03 spans junior goaltender Brian Elliott's absence, is an interesting question. What is known is that UW eagerly awaits the return from a left leg injury of the WCHA's top goalie.
'When you lose a key player, there's adjustments that need to be made,' Eaves said. You're going into new territory. I think with the trust that the team had built up in Brian, there's a sense of confidence back there.'
It is that confidence that the Badgers seek as they try to maintain a hold on first place in the conference standings. The Gophers, by virtue of their sweep, are now tied atop with the Badgers and Denver.
'We've dug ourselves a little hole,' junior Robbie Earl said. 'But you look at the bright side ... it's tied. It's still in our hands. It's up to us what we want to do with it.'
Added Joudrey: 'We need to have some strong weekends on the road, come together as a team and right this ship and get ready for the end run.'
Somehow, it might be a good thing that ship is leaving Madison.
