The Wisconsin men's hockey team has raised a lot of questions after last weekend's series at Michigan Tech, and head coach Mike Eaves tried to answer them at his Monday press conference.
""The whole weekend was kind of odd. Right away we miss our flight and then Andrew is out, and then we have the snow storm and pucks are going off of us,"" Eaves said. ""It was just one of those weekends where we didn't get things aligned. But I give the kids credit because they left it on the ice.""
Wisconsin was unable to overcome a variety of obstacles last weekend, as they lost their two-game series to Michigan Tech by scores of 2-0 and 4-2. The most prevalent of obstacles was the sudden departure of senior captain Andrew Joudrey, who left Friday's match with lung trouble. It is now known that Joudrey is suffering from Bio Bronchitis, and Eaves commented on how hard it was to lose the Badgers team leader.
""The bottom line is that we missed him. Really on Friday, we really didn't have Andrew either,"" Eaves said. ""He was going 20 to 30 second shifts, and then come to find out he has Bio Bronchitis. It was a tall order, and unfortunately we didn't get it done.""
The one bright spot during the weekend sweep was the play of freshman forward Michael Davies, who tallied both UW goals for his ninth and 10th of the season. Davies has been a cornerstone of the Badgers' offense late in the season and Eaves was quick to point out how Davies has grown as the season has gone on.
""Michael is a battler. I think he is learning how to battle. I don't think that it was asked of him at other levels. He has always been a gifted point-getter and goal scorer,"" Eaves commented. ""He is a freshman who has double-digit goals his first year. But what is enlightening to us as coaches is that in other areas of the game he is working on getting better.""
Davies and the rest of the Badgers will have to step up if Joudrey is unable to play this upcoming weekend at Minnesota-Duluth. Wisconsin has gone with a seven defensemen rotation late in the season, which has worked to their advantage.
Whether there is a lineup shake will depend on Joudrey's availability, but Eaves was quick to point out the advantages to having more defensemen in the rotation.
""With Andrew, if we went with seven defensemen we have the ability to double-shift a guy like Jack [Skille] or Ross [Carlson] so we can get them into the game more often,"" Eaves said. ""It gives us the option of having another left defenseman, i.e. Josh Engel, during the power play situation.""
Whether Wisconsin could sweep Minnesota Duluth this upcoming weekend and possibly secure a home playoff series is uncertain, so all Eaves can ask is for his players to put it all on the line.
""That's all you can ask at the end of the day. Did you leave it all on the ice? Yes? OK then,"" Eaves said. ""Let's go back, collect where we are, and get back to work.""
