A friend of mine asked me this past weekend about the hockey team, Why are we so bad?"" Despite the obvious misuse of ""we"", he was also incorrect in that this team is far from bad.
The Badgers had fans excited after they knocked off Robert Morris by a combined score of 15-4 to improve to 3-1-0 on the season in October. But after a month of playing some actual college hockey teams, Wisconsin has begun to struggle. It makes sense: tougher competition leads to tougher games.
Wisconsin had success against Robert Morris because it was simply better than the Colonials. Robert Morris failed to do a couple of things the WCHA teams Wisconsin has faced so far have succeeded in doing: stationing men in front of their own net to prevent Badger centering opportunities and focusing on preventing Kyle Turris - Wisconsin's soon-to-be juggernaut freshman center - from being able to move with the puck.
The Colonials' failure to do these things led us to get a little too excited about the Badgers' potential. It seemed that Wisconsin could not be stopped, as the offense we were used to last season seemed gone and replacing it was the ""firewagon"" offense head coach Mike Eaves referred to before this season.
WCHA play has proven otherwise for Wisconsin. Heading into the Michigan Tech series, one person said to me, ""Man, Michigan Tech is going to be so amazed at Wisconsin's offense this weekend."" But like George Bush's ""shock and awe"" proclamation in 2003, things did not go to plan.
Teams began clogging up the low slot, and Turris was not able to get the scoring chances he had early on when he scored 12 points in his first four games. When North Dakota came to town, they bullied the freshman around and held him to just one point, certainly a big success for the Fighting Sioux.
These struggles, however, should be expected for Wisconsin. The Badgers are not the team they were against Robert Morris, and they also are not the team that is now 0-4-1 in its last five, including a sweep at the hands of Colorado College two weekends ago.
One reason to be hopeful is this is a very young team. After 10 games, head coach Mike Eaves is still shifting his lines around to try and find that potent combination he had in '05-'06 on that top line with Joe Pavelski, Robbie Earl and Adam Burish. The good thing is that the Badgers might be as talented on the top line with Turris, junior forward Ben Street, and freshman forward Podge Turnbull.
The Badgers are also better than last year's young bunch. Last season's team began the year 4-9-2, and they had an easier schedule throughout the first part compared to this season's schedule. When the '06-'07 Badgers amassed .500 in their final game against St. Cloud State in the WCHA Tournament, it ended a season-long bout with a losing record. Despite the team's struggles, Wisconsin ended the season one win away from qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
And then there's Shane Connelly. The junior goalie has shown signs of being able to successfully follow in the line of Badger goalies, like Bernd Bruckler and Brian Elliott. Connelly's 43 save shutout against North Dakota a few weeks back was awesome. He has struggled a bit this season, but give him time, and the first year full-time starter will be playing each night similar to the way his predecessors performed.
It's not time to jump off the 300 level at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin is a better team than it was last season and the first half of the season is not going to be easy. It certainly is not as bad as the start Wisconsin got off to last season. The Badgers are a second half team because they are so young, yet so talented. They are not dissimilar to the Boston College teams the past few years that have battled back in the second half to make it to the Frozen Four. I'm not saying that Wisconsin is going to do just that, but early season indications often mask how good or bad a team actually is, causing fans to jump to conclusions. The wagon of fire will arrive in town after winter break.
Email Eric at elevine@wisc.edu
