Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

[bucky15]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Just curious... Is it anything like this?


<img style="-webkit-user-select: none" src="http://www.atypicallyrelevant.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/lawn-chair-drunk.jpg">

The only thing missing is the snow bank.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Does anyone know why tomorrow's game is at 1 PM?

 

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Does anyone know why tomorrow's game is at 1 PM?

I don't know, but usually it's TV related? Does make for a pretty quick turnaround.

Last time out against PSU we got pushed around on Friday night. We will have Eddie in the lineup which hopefully does make a difference vs. last time on that front. PSU has a lot to play for right now and have been very good at home all year. A win for Bucky on the weekend will go a ways toward validating they are really an improving team. Might as well get that job out of the way tonight.

Let's Go Red!!!

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

It takes a lot of courage to try to go into PSU and make a stand.

I'm referring to using the showers on campus, of course, because I'm cautiously optimistic that our squad's ready to turn a corner of some sort.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/AndyJohnsonB5Q">@AndyJohnsonB5Q</a> Penn St has only been D-1 for 3 years yet have more wins vs the Badgers (3) this year than the Badgers have total wins (2)</p>— Andy Zimdars (@A_Zimz) <a href="https://twitter.com/A_Zimz/status/563879503374475264">February 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[nappyvalley]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Does anyone know why tomorrow's game is at 1 PM?

Thought maybe it was because of our basketball team playing at home, but that's at 4 so it's not like they're trying to spread that out. Weird move for sure, both teams deserve a little more recup time

 

[burd]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/AndyJohnsonB5Q">@AndyJohnsonB5Q</a> Penn St has only been D-1 for 3 years yet have more wins vs the Badgers (3) this year than the Badgers have total wins (2)</p>— Andy Zimdars (@A_Zimz) <a href="https://twitter.com/A_Zimz/status/563879503374475264">February 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

If you had told me at any time last year or at the beginning of this year (or ever) that the Wisconsin Badgers would have only two wins by the fist week of February, I'd have told you you were farking nuts. Just not possible.

 

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Frankly I thought a good portion of tonight's loss was that Musico was just better than Rumpel. Rumps coughed up a couple of rebounds right into the slot that ended up behind him. Musico didn't give up much at all, especially on the PP when the Badgers were pressuring. Sure, we made mistakes, leaving Bailey uncovered in the slot, etc. but the Badgers played pretty well over all and had good pressure and puck possession throughout the game. Hated the no call on Besse in front of the net, and one in the first where Hughes got run over from behind along the near boards. Speaking of Hughes, he didn't return after going into the end boards... hope he's going to be ok. That was a couple of sweet goals he had in the first. The kid can really play, he just needs a summer in the weight room, as do most of the freshmen.

 

[WiscTJK]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Per the radio it is an upper body injury. Want sure if he can play tomorrow.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Wisconsin did some nice things but once again the defensive breakdowns were too much to overcome. Pretty much the status quo this year.

 

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Per the radio it is an upper body injury. Want sure if he can play tomorrow.

Thanks, I thought at first he was ok, then the camera caught him grimacing as he went to the bench and I thought, "That's not good."

 

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Wisconsin did some nice things but once again the defensive breakdowns were too much to overcome. Pretty much the status quo this year.

What drives me nuts is the number of defensive miscues that come from guys like Drake and Navin. I don't like it but I can (barely) live with Linhart blowing it on occasion even at this point in the season, but how can those two seniors possibly make some of the poor defensive plays they do?

Actually Navin is a mystery to me all around. He's a good skater, big, strong, has a decent shot, is a good all around athlete, and has a big heart. Why isn't he a just a better hockey player in general?

 

[UWisco]

What drives me nuts is the number of defensive miscues that come from guys like Drake and Navin. I don't like it but I can (barely) live with Linhart blowing it on occasion even at this point in the season, but how can those two seniors possibly make some of the poor defensive plays they do?

Actually Navin is a mystery to me all around. He's a good skater, big, strong, has a decent shot, is a good all around athlete, and has a big heart. Why isn't he a just a better hockey player in general?

To be honest, I have thought Drake has been the sixth best defensemen for a majority of the year. Dunb mistakes like turnovers and penalties.

I hate it when the forwards cycle the puck back into the defensive zone, makes me grimace. Navin is especially bad with it.

Rockwood needs to stop trying to be cute with the puck, doesn't work for him. His skating need some tuning as well.

For being the smallest guy on the team, Ryan Wagner is a truck. Probably stronger than a guy like Ustaski.

 

[Innova]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Drake is from my hometown, and a really great guy...but I do think he has taken a step back this year. Seems like his confidence has dropped for some reason.

 

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

Drake is from my hometown, and a really great guy...but I do think he has taken a step back this year. Seems like his confidence has dropped for some reason.

Drake and Navin are both fantastic individuals and the kind of guys any parent would be very proud of but they both seem to have lost their mojo. I think you nailed it on the head though as it seems like Drake hasn't been at all the same since that own goal fiasco against Sue. Prior, I thought he was playing pretty well this year.
And maybe Navin has just never really had the chance to get it going in his career since coming in early. He seemingly has all the tools and has been given chances, but he might just be the kind of guy that needs to be given time to play in a top spot without feeling like he's going to lose it as soon as he makes a mistake. Unfortunately that's just not a luxury available very much at D-1.

The top line was stuck in a stalemate for a good portion of the game against an excellent PSU top line. Unfortunately losing Hughes really scrambled things up when obviously his line was making things happen early. It's frustrating that when you're not winning, things just tend to keep going against you. Kudo's to these guys though for continuing to work hard and trying to get better despite all the frustration. We had a ton of shots on with guys in front, it just didn't bounce our way. Back to work Badgers.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

A year in the USHL would have done Navin so much good, but he came in early due to an early departure. I really do feel kinda bad for him. Has any former Badger ever come right from WI HS hockey to UW or any program and been an impact player by their Sr year? If I were him I would have declined to come in early if given the option.

I did not watch all the game, I was at the gal's game, but on the 2nd goal Zullinick needs to tie his guy up better, he was in the right position, he just wasn't lifting/tying his stick up. The 3rd goal Rumps get tied up in front and they poke it in. I get the feeling that for all that is going wrong this year, it will all go right next year, like the even-steven Seindfeld episode, except we have wait a whole year for it to even out. Or it evens out at the b6 tourney and they win the hardware, and win a couple in the ncaa's. I really have no idea why I am feeling so darn positive this AM, but I kinda like it.

 

[burd]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

I'm going to throw something out there for Badger fans who know a lot more about Eaves and the program than I do. Tom Thibodeau is catching a lot of criticism in Chicago, not because he is not a good basketball coach, but because some say that in his system there just is not a lot of room for players to enjoy the game. Sounds like whining for pros, but I suppose even they need to enjoy the game to perform at a high level thoughout a long season.

I'm not a Dean Blais worshiper, but that guy has always had a way of getting players to buy into his system and still create an atmosphere where they have some fun doing it. I think that is part of why he has had success in the big games--his teams see it as an opportunity to pull off something cool, not as a situation where they have to do everything right in order to win.

I'm sure Eaves is a different man to his players in practice and off the ice than the person many of see on game day or hear in media quotes, and I know the assistants are often called upon to play the good cop. But is his stern disciplinarian style making it hard for his team to pull out of the doldrums it is in? Losing is never fun, and that affects everything, but there's losing and there's Losing.

 

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

I'm going to throw something out there for Badger fans who know a lot more about Eaves and the program than I do. Tom Thibodeau is catching a lot of criticism in Chicago, not because he is not a good basketball coach, but because some say that in his system there just is not a lot of room for players to enjoy the game. Sounds like whining for pros, but I suppose even they need to enjoy the game to perform at a high level thoughout a long season.

I'm not a Dean Blais worshiper, but that guy has always had a way of getting players to buy into his system and still create an atmosphere where they have some fun doing it. I think that is part of why he has had success in the big games--his teams see it as an opportunity to pull off something cool, not as a situation where they have to do everything right in order to win.

I'm sure Eaves is a different man to his players in practice and off the ice than the person many of see on game day or hear in media quotes, and I know the assistants are often called upon to play the good cop. But is his stern disciplinarian style making it hard for his team to pull out of the doldrums it is in? Losing is never fun, and that affects everything, but there's losing and there's Losing.

I'm guessing you'll get plenty of agreement just on the basis alone that anything that reflects negatively on Eaves must be right. I think Eaves is demanding, but it seems to me he's exhibited a lot of patience with the young players. Maybe even to a fault as perhaps the "line" should have been "drawn in the sand" sooner, but that's also a pretty hard thing to gauge with a team like this. Maybe he's been overly demanding of the veterans behind the scenes and that's been a negative as the seniors just aren't that skilled or confident as a group. Maybe not demanding enough... I don't know, none of that is really the vibe you get from players, especially since the break. Eaves doesn't appear to have lost these guys and it seems to me they are considerably better now than two months ago. By a long ways.

Folks that point to PWR and think it's disastrous (it is) need to keep in mind though that there's really no mechanism in it for measuring any Badger growth from early on until now. 12 of their last 13 losses have all come against top 20 teams. There's no way to know if they are right now playing at the level of the 55th best team or the 25th best team by looking at PWR or record. (For example: If you are the 11th best team in a 30 team field but start 0-10 against the top 10, at that point you are going to be 29 or 30 in PWR.) They aren't a top 16 team, but beyond that it's mostly just all on judgement. I only saw part of OSU/MN last night, but if a person could only watch two games to date, last week UW/MN and this week OSU/MN, (unless things really turned around later) I can't fathom anybody thinking UW isn't considerably better than OSU judging on only that basis.

I don't know, maybe Bucky is actually the 55th best team in college hockey.

One thing I still wonder about is the effect Keegan Ford had on the locker room early on. Not at all saying that anything is Keegan's fault, but when you have even one guy so unhappy in the locker room that he leaves before mid season, it has to have a negative effect on the rest of the guys. Especially when things aren't going well and it's so paramount that attitudes remain positive and guys remain mentally tough. Hard to say what, but something was really wrong there.

This season has been one gigantic challenge after another. I feel a little like Tim though. At some point the wheel is going to turn and it's all going to come around.

 

[oldicecoach]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

A year in the USHL would have done Navin so much good, but he came in early due to an early departure. I really do feel kinda bad for him. Has any former Badger ever come right from WI HS hockey to UW or any program and been an impact player by their Sr year? If I were him I would have declined to come in early if given the option.

Don’t you think 3 ½ years practicing with, playing against and being coached at D1 would have overcome any early departure drawbacks by now?

Some players develop their physical size and athletic skills early and we anticipate they will continue to develop at that same pace. Navin is one of those players, his point production has been very stable over 4 years at UW and I don’t think a year in the USHL would have changed him into an “impact player” by his senior year.

You feel bad for him? A Wisconsin kid who is captain of his team and a decent college hockey player graduating from a great university, we should all have it this bad.

 

[Innova]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!

So besides the early start, is anyone able to watch the game today? I see it is on ASN, but searching my (DirecTV) guide didn't find anything. Not sure if ASN is not on DirecTV or I just don't get it...