After his team opened the 2010-2011 campaign with a weekend split at the Ice Breaker Tournament in St. Louis, head coach Mike Eaves seems encouraged by the progress his young squad is making.
Although the 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Boston University Terriers was not the ideal start, the lessons learned in that close defeat as well as in the 6-0 win over Holy Cross in Sunday's consolation match are sure to aid in the growth process this young team faces.
""There's lots that we learned, to be quite frank,"" Eaves said. ""When the rubber hits the road I think we were pleasantly surprised with the amount of production we got.""
Still, the lack of experience has forced the coaching staff into rotating personnel early and often in order to get a feel for what this year's group has to offer. With nine players making their Badger debuts last weekend and 17 of the team's 26 players being in their first two years of eligibility, the lines are certainly going to be fluid in the early going.
""The rotation will continue through this weekend,"" said the ninth year coach. ""Then we'll probably take a look at what we're gonna have going into the WCHA.""
Trying to address the inexperience up front, the coaching staff has moved redshirt sophomore Ryan Little to forward, a departure from Little's first two seasons as a Badger in which he was positioned as a defenseman.
""That move was made on a thought that how could we keep our forward group, as such a young group, get them to be a little older,"" Eaves said. ""And I think moving Ryan up there was an attempt to get him to a role that we thought he could help our team.""
Little let his coach know he made the right move, chipping in his first two career goals, one in each game.
Still to be determined is the competition in goal. Although senior Brett Bennett turned in a shutout in Sunday's victory over Holy Cross, Eaves made sure to note that the starting role will be won on more than pure statistics.
""I'd have to say quite honestly that [Scott Gudmandson] has an edge. He's earned that edge,"" Eaves noted.
Whoever tends the nets during the meat of the season, the goaltending position will be crucial not only to the win-loss portion of the team's results, but more importantly in the growth process of the younger players that dominate the roster.
""I think that the two senior goaltenders can buy us some time for us to grow without paying a great price for some of the mistakes we that we do,"" Eaves said. ""It's easier to learn when you're winning.""
Coming off a weekend that certainly provided a stern test for the inexperienced Badger squad, the team looks to continue their growth process in this weekend's home opening series against Alabama-Huntsville. With the brunt of the WCHA schedule set to begin in just over a week's time at Denver, this team is sure to find out a lot about itself in the early days of a long season.
