Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves was in a jovial mood Wednesday, offering words of congratulations (spiked with a barely-detectable touch of envy) to his once-and-future WCHA rival, Dean Blais. Less than 24 hours earlier, Blais became just the second coach to lead Team USA to a gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championships. You’ll recall that in 2004, Eaves became the first American coach to bring the top prize home.
But the Badgers skipper gave Blais full credit, noting that in the 2004 gold medal game, when the U.S. beat Canada in overtime, it was done before a mostly neutral crowd in Helsinki, Finland. Eaves noted that for Blais to coax a win out of his charges in overtime, versus Canada, before a hotly partisan audience in Saskatoon, was quite a different accomplishment.
Of course Eaves knows a thing or two about accomplishments, with the Badgers losing just once since Thanksgiving, and scoring goals like it’s going out of style. For years, Eaves has bristled at the notion that his coaching style favors a “defense-first” system. That rep has taken a beating thus far in 2009-10, with Wisconsin scoring 80 goals in 20 games.
“A lot of it has to do with the players you have,” Eaves said. “We always talked about our reputation for playing without the puck, but we’re certainly also doing some good things when we have the puck.”
Sophomore star Derek Stepan will return from Saskatoon with a gold medal and a target on his back, but junior defenseman Brendan Smith and senior forward Blake Geoffrion have led the offensive charge for Wisconsin. Smith stands tied for second overall among WCHA players with 27 points, while Geoffrion is second in goals with 14, but has posted just four assists. You’ll get no complaints about Geoffrion’s supposed one-dimensional play from his coach.
“Blake’s not what you’d normally call a natural goal scorer, so he went into this season with a focus on trying to become an overall better scorer and the puck has just been going in the net for him,” Eaves said.
As for Smith, and the surprise some express that a blueliner has provided so much offense, Eaves says the 6-foot-2 rearguard from Mimico, Ontario, is doing exactly what his natural abilities dictate, despite the D next to his name on the roster.
“He’s a forward playing defense,” Eaves said. “Brendan has always had a lot of offensive things that compliment his game, like a tremendous shot with a lot of zip on it. He’s got offensive skills you just can’t teach.”
After winning the 21st and final Badger Hockey Showdown with a 5-4 defeat of Merrimack and a 2-2 tie with Yale (Wisconsin won the ensuing shootout), the Badgers have a relatively light weekend ahead. They host the USA U-18 Team this weekend. Then it gets really interesting.
Sitting just two points behind Denver in the race for the WCHA’s lead, the Badgers close out January with a trip to second-place Colorado College, a home series with the Pioneers, and a visit to Minnesota Duluth (the Bulldogs are currently just a point behind Wisconsin).
“Those will be some incredibly huge games,” Eaves said, “and a chance for us to put some hay in the barn and points on the board.”
Making hay by putting points on the board seems like a skill the Badgers have already mastered.
DEPARTURES, RETURNS AT THE RALPH
Those concourse hawkers who yell “you can’t tell the players without a program” may be offering more solid advice than sales pitch at Fighting Sioux games this weekend. Talk about a lineup shuffle in North Dakota, thanks in large part to an injury bug that’s hung around longer than the winter weather.
First, it’s looking more and more like star defenseman Chay Genoway may have played his last shift of the season on Nov. 13 when a check from behind versus St. Cloud State led to a concussion and many lingering side effects. His return to the ice is nowhere in site, and sources close to the team tell INCH that the prospect of a medical redshirt is being discussed.
Add to that bad news the loss of forward Brett Hextall for at least a month after the top-line right wing suffered an undisclosed lower body injury during NoDak’s 3-3 tie with Notre Dame in the final game of their holiday tournament in suburban Chicago. Hextall has a dozen points in 19 games and was named to the all-tournament team despite the injury.
The good news is a pair of returns. Our friend Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reported this week that Darcy Zajac will be back on the ice this weekend when the Sioux host Minnesota State. Just three weeks after hernia surgery. Due to the light holiday schedule, Zajac missed just two games.
And there will be a familiar face and name on the ice of the Ralph again this weekend, when Matt Frattin makes a kind of homecoming in Grand Forks. You’ll recall that the junior from Edmonton was tossed from the team last summer after a few notable off-ice troubles. He’d been home in Alberta since then, thinking his college hockey days were over. But Sioux coach Dave Hakstol gave Frattin another chance, allowing him to re-enroll in school and return to the team.
Frattin played in both games in Chiacgo without recording a point, skating at right wing on a line centered by David Toews. Frattin had 13 goals in 42 games last season and was tied for second on the Sioux scoring chart with three game-winners.
REST BEATS REUNIONS IN MADISON
With the US NTDP Under-18s playing at Wisconsin this weekend, one of the storylines mentioned during the World Junior gold medal game was the prospect of five USA teammates facing off against one another just a few days following Saskatoon.
Badgers John Ramage, Jake Gardiner and Derek Stepan are indeed back in Madison, and could be in uniform for Bucky against Team USAers Jack Campbell and Jason Zucker on Saturday, but the Badgers coach thinks rest might trump the idea of a reunion.
As of Thursday, Eaves was leaning toward giving his three players the weekend off, honoring them for their gold medals, but keeping them in street clothes for the exhibition game. With a potentially grueling second-half WCHA schedule looming, that would seem to be the smart, if unsentimental, move.
