After the emotional high of a victory in the first ever Camp Randall Hockey Classic, men's hockey head coach Mike Eaves said he is not worried about a letdown as his team prepares to face struggling Minnesota State this weekend. According to Eaves, the No. 3 Badgers will have plenty of motivation because of their high ranking and chances for postseason success.
""With so much at stake, I don't think it's going to be hard,"" he said. ""My hope and [the] hope of our staff is the fact that what's at stake will be enough motivation for them to stay on course, and it will be part of [my] task as a coach to make sure that happens.""
Not only will the excitement of Camp Randall Stadium be hard to match, but Wisconsin will also have to keep playing its best hockey against a weaker opponent. The last time the Badgers had a series against an unranked opponent was Dec. 4 and 5 against Michigan Tech.
Minnesota State comes into the series having floundered in WCHA play up to this point. The Mavericks are 6-13-1 against conference opponents this season, though they did manage to split their earlier series with Wisconsin when the Badgers went to Mankato.
Sophomore Minnesota State goalie Austin Lee will face a tough test from Wisconsin's scoring attack. Lee already has one of the highest goals-against averages in the conference and does not fare much better in save percentage.
Lee hasn't had much help from his offense either, as the Mavericks' offense has the third-lowest goals per game average in the WCHA. Compared to Wisconsin, whose 3.75 goals per game is highest in the conference, Minnesota State could be outgunned in the matchup.
The Badgers will look for a good showing this weekend not just to build momentum going into the postseason, but also because of the tight race for the WCHA's regular-season crown. Four points separate the WCHA's top five teams—Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State, Denver, Wisconsin and Colorado College—heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
With so many teams in the hunt for the MacNaughton Cup, Eaves said he was reminded of his playing days under former head coach ""Badger"" Bob Johnson.
""I remember as a player, coach Johnson talking about that he thought winning the MacNaughton was harder than winning the national championship because it's a yearlong endeavor,"" Eaves said. ""You've got to get through a lot of bumps and bruises and grinds and stuff. We look at it as one of our intermediate goals.""
Wisconsin will also look to stay disciplined against the Mavericks. After taking 13 penalties in their series finale against Minnesota-Duluth, the Badgers committted just two against Michigan Saturday. Eaves said that was partially because of refereeing and the team playing smarter thanks to what he called some ""subtle motivation"" leading up to the Camp Randall game.
""If you had been at practice last week you would have seen us stop practice and break up the flow of practice and have the young man who did an infraction during practice drop and give us 25 push-ups,"" he said. ""They are intelligent young guys, and hopefully they get sick of doing push-ups and they'll keep their sticks and have the right body position so we don't have to do that.""
Wisconsin will face off against Minnesota State at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center.
