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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Despite much different roster, Eaves optimistic about 2010

As his team prepares to open the season on Friday in St. Louis, head coach Mike Eaves is confident that the winning tradition of men's hockey at Wisconsin will continue into the 2010-'11 campaign, despite the loss of 11 players and arival of new faces on the coaching staff.

""We won in '06 when we lost ten,"" Eaves said. ""We can take a look at what we did back then, the ups and downs we had, the process that we went through.""

Despite prior success at the helm of similarly inexperienced teams, Eaves knows that the turnover that happened over the offseason will present a challenge, especially in the early going. ""We have a new staff, so we're going to grow together,"" Eaves said. ""Looking for those signs of growth that we are moving in the right direction.""

While the focus in the early going may be more on the on-ice maturity process, winning still remains the goal. Without the past offensive firepower, defense will be key this season.

""In our basic plan of being successful, playing hard has always been a part of that,"" Eaves noted. ""The relentlessness of how we want to play is not going to change.""

With grit being a necessity and adversity a certainty, senior leadership will inevitably be as important as ever. Senior forward Sean Dolan will take the reins of the captaincy, but Eaves stressed to Dolan that this doesn't mean he needs to get out of his element on the ice.

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""There's a fine balance as a captain to want to go out like Superman and lead the team in points,"" Eaves said. ""We've already talked about the fact that's not his role. His role is to be a very solid two-way player.""

In addition to the need for leadership out of Dolan and Assistant Captains junior Jake Gardiner and sophomore Craig Smith, the young Badger squad will need to rely on quality goaltending. Fortunately, Eaves feels that the position will be a strength, as the competition between seniors Scott Gudmandson and Brett Bennett has pushed both goaltenders to a very high level of play.

""Any time you have a competitive situation within your team, it creates a good scenario,"" Eaves said.

The Badgers will open the season on Friday night with Gudmandson in goal against Boston University as part of the Ice Breaker Tournament in St. Louis. Although the instant challenge of an opponent as formidable as BU is certainly difficult on a young team, Eaves feels the challenges of opening on the road will benefit his young squad in the long run.

""BU is a good team. All the teams there are good,"" Eaves said. ""A lot of times it helps the growth of a team by being on the road.""

While there is no lack of uncertainties within the men's hockey program coming into the 2010-'11 season, there also remains much reason for optimism. Although the program welcomes ten freshmen this year, the most since 2003-'04, Eaves sees no reason why the Badgers cannot repeat their past successes and make yet another run to a WCHA and even an NCAA title.

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