Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXXII: No Where To Go But Up!
Here is the text of Andy Baggots article from this link
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"EAST LANSING, Mich. — One morning a couple of weeks back, Mike Eaves arrived at his Kohl Center office and found himself the focus of a lot of sympathetic attention.
Friends and colleagues reached out to the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey coach. There were calls from Boston College coach Jerry York and UW men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan. There were visits from Barry Davis and Whitney Hite, the wrestling and swimming coaches at UW, respectively.
“Just checking in, making sure I’m not near a window ledge,” Eaves said with a chuckle.
The Badgers are careening toward the worst season in program history, the volume on public criticism has been cranked up to an all-time high, and fans wonder — despite an emphatic statement of support from UW athletic director Barry Alvarez — if Eaves might lose his job as a result.
Eaves appreciated the calls and visits, but, no, he’s not thinking desperate thoughts.
“It’s awesome, though, that they do that,” he said of his coaching peers. “Those are the guys that have been around the business that know. I think it’s pretty neat.”
The Badgers are in desperate straits, however. Entering a Big Ten Conference series with Michigan State at Munn Arena here tonight and Saturday night, they are on the verge of some dubious outcomes.
Last-place UW (4-22-4, 2-12-2-2 Big Ten) is nearing the program mark for losses (24 in 1975-76) and fewest road victories (two in 1965-66) in a season. A per-game average of 1.87 goals is on pace to easily eclipse the previous low of 2.27 (2006-07).
Despite separate winless streaks of nine and 10 games, the latter setting a school record, UW players maintain they’ve been drawn closer by the struggles. Eaves has repeatedly lauded his six seniors for keeping an extremely young roster —13 first-year players — on task.
Have the coaches — Eaves and assistants Gary Shuchuk and Matt Walsh are all UW alums who played on NCAA championship teams — bonded as well?
“You have three coaches that care about the program, care about the tradition and care about these kids,” said Shuchuk, who’s in his fourth season overall and second as top assistant. “There’s been no issues with the coaches.”
Walsh, who’s in his second full season overseeing defensemen, echoed that.
“We’re all on the same page,” he said. “Every day we come in, we’re like, ‘How can we improve?’ ”
Eaves said he “can’t wait for those guys to get (to the office)” each day so they can prepare for the moment when things finally click.
“We don’t know when this thing is going to turn around,” Eaves said. “We don’t know what second, what shift that we’re going to get that big-time goal that’s going to help us win a game against a quality team and project us to a higher level.”
Frustration is a natural companion with losing, but outside of a brief, one-sided exchange between Eaves and Walsh during an early January practice, there have been no outward disagreements.
“From a coaching standpoint, it’s been tough because we know what these guys are capable of doing,” Shuchuk said of a roster that includes 17 underclassmen. “We know how good these players are and they’re not getting rewarded for stuff.
“You want to say it’s been trying — it’s been a trying season — but in hindsight, every day we come to practice, our goal is to win.”
How do you explain 4-22-4 to the masses? UW is coming off back-to-back championship-winning seasons — playoff titles in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 2013 and the Big Ten in ’14 — but lost nine seniors and two underclassmen to the pros after last year.
“Real hockey people know what’s going on,” said Shuchuk, who oversees recruiting and academics. “The idiot fans out there that just care about the wins and losses and all that stuff, they don’t understand what’s happening.”
Instead of newcomers being eased into key roles, true freshmen such as defenseman Jack Dougherty and centers Cameron Hughes, Adam Rockwood and Ryan Wagner have been lineup fixtures.
Meanwhile, the Badgers have gotten 13 goals from their four most veteran forwards, including six conversions from senior center/winger Joseph LaBate.
“The issue at hand, if you’ve been watching us play the whole year, you haven’t seen 20 kids out there quit,” Shuchuk said.
All three coaches say they’re driven to have UW playing its best when the Big Ten tournament rolls around March 19 to 21 in Detroit.
“I don’t think we’ve lost anybody,” Walsh said.
“Deep down in my heart, I know as a staff we’re doing everything we can right now to make these kids better,” Shuchuk said."
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