The UW hockey team knew it would need to rely on new faces its year after losing their top five scorers from last year's title team. They just didn't realize how much they would need to rely on those new faces.
During last Friday's game against North Dakota, Wisconsin lost its three top-returning scorers in sophomore Jack Skille, junior Kyle Klubertanz and senior Ross Carlson. Fortunately, the Badgers have plenty of freshmen who can fill their shoes.
This group of freshman includes forwards Michael Davies, John Mitchell, Ben Grotting, Andy Bohmbach and defenseman Jamie McBain.
""Obviously, the whole year they won't get as many chances as they are going to get right now,"" senior goaltender Brian Elliott said of the freshman. ""I think it is going to benefit us a lot in the long run if anyone else goes down.""
In their three lost veterans the Badgers will miss players who scored 69 points and 28 goals last season. Their replacements have a combined five points and two goals in their combined college careers.
Davies hails from Marquette High School in Milwaukee. Last year he played for the Lincoln Stars in the USHL and his 71 points were good enough for third in the league. He has already made an impact this season with two goals in a 3-0 win over Northern Michigan and a WCHA Rookie of the Week award.
McBain led the U.S. under-18 team to a World Championship with 30 points and 21 assists. He has skated for the North American Hockey League and his NHL rights are held by the Carolina Hurricanes. He has already assisted on three goals this season.
Grotting played alongside Davies on the Lincoln Stars last season and was team assistant captain. He also played with Eaves' younger brother Murray at Shattuck-St. Mary's high school in Minnesota.
""Inconsistent"" is the way Eaves described his freshmen, ""[it] is something that we expect. We have some good scorers, and we have some guys that are looking at us like ‘oh I better get my fanny going here, I better get my effectiveness up as a player.'""
Bohmbach led Hudson High School to the 2004 Wisconsin State High School hockey title and made All-State first team that year. He has spent his last two hockey seasons in Waterloo playing for the USHL.
John Mitchell is a 6'5' forward from Neenah, Ind. He played four sports in high school and spent the 2005-'06 season in the USHL with the Indiana Ice.
Last season Skille showed the impact a freshman could have on a Badger season. He had 13 goals including two game winners in overtime, one of which gave UW a 1-0 win over Cornell, sending them to the frozen four.
These freshmen all played extensive time in Wisconsin's 1-0 win over North Dakota on Saturday.
""It was huge. To be able to get that done against North Dakota with the lineup we had,"" senior forward Andrew Joudrey said, ""It is definitely something that we can build on.""
Skille suffered an injury to his right elbow, Klubertanz hurt his lower body and Carlson banged up his right knee. None of them suited up on Saturday and their status for this weekend is uncertain.
""This whole year is going to be by committee with all that we do, and it won't be just one or two guys,"" Joudrey said about the pressure that these injuries put on the team, ""we need the next guys to step in line. We will all do it as a group at the same time, we all need to step up and push ahead and just chip in and hopefully that will accumulate into some goals.""
Kyle Klubertanz has been part of the WCHA all-rookie team and made the Final Five all-tournament team last season. Saturday was the first game in his Badger career which he missed. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks are the NHL team who hold the rights to him.
Carlson is the oldest player on the team and has put up double-digit goals in the last two seasons. In UW's frozen four semi-final game against Maine, Carlson scored the go-ahead goal.
The UMD Bulldogs should prove a good test for the new-look younger line up that Eaves will send out on the ice this week.
