ST. LOUIS PARK, MINN., Recruiting is a hit or miss type of game. Coaches really have to rely on hope, trying to find the right kid who fits what the program is about and hope the player finds success. For Wisconsin hockey head coach Mike Eaves, this means finding players of good character and players who are ready to come to Madison and give him their best efforts, leaving it all on the ice.
Wisconsin's most recent commitment came from Patrick Daly, a 6'0"" 185 lb. senior prep defenseman from Benilde-St. Margaret's high school in Minnesota. Daly is expected to arrive in Madison next fall for the 2011-'12 season as a true freshman, and by all accounts he is exactly the type of kid that Coach Eaves and the Badgers are looking for, both as a player, and as an individual.
Benilde's head coach Ken Pauly is definitely impressed with Daly both as a player and a man off the ice.
""He is a good character kid,"" Pauly said. ""He goes to school, he is good with his teammates and his classmates, and he's not full of himself at all. He really fits the bill for what Wisconsin is looking for.""
""You won't have problems with Mike Eaves if you work your butt off and go to school, and I don't think Patrick Daly will have any problem with that,"" he added.
In Pauly's eyes, one of the true showings of Daly's character came last year during his junior season when Daly suffered a broken leg, forcing him to miss all but the last 10 games of the season. Pauly said that it was a real testament to Daly's work ethic that he was able to return for those final ten games.
""He went about his rehab religiously but never once complained,"" Pauly said. ""He was at practice everyday, and was never a downer about the situation he was in.""
Pauly's also praised the type of player Patrick has become, comparing his game to that of Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Paul Martin.
""He's not a real offensive guy and he's not overly physical, but can ride people off the puck,"" Pauly said. ""He takes time and space away and has great skating ability, and uses that to run people down and rarely gets beat one on one.""
Daly describes himself as a ""puck-moving defenseman that can get the puck onto the forwards stick, while playing solid defense as well,"" a model of recent Badger blue liners like Jake Gardiner, Justin Schultz and Brendan Smith. On the season so far Daly has three goals and 22 assists, and leads the team with a +36 rating.
In BSM's 12-0 win over St. Louis Park on Jan. 13, Daly proved himself as a solid defensive defenseman who is not afraid to jump into the play, and he is confident with the puck on his stick. He possesses great vision on the ice as well, as evidenced by two of his four assists on the night when he was able to make crisp, tape-to-tape passes to teammates through traffic. That night, he led his team with a +6 rating for the game.
Daly made his decision to attend Wisconsin following a campus visit a few weekends ago. He turned down scholarship offers from Nebraska-Omaha and Minnesota-Duluth in favor of becoming a Badger. For a player who is interested in pursuing medical school one day, academics played just as big of a role as hockey in Daly's decision.
""You have to go to school for both of them,"" Daly said.
During his visit to Madison, Daly was blown away by the passion for the program that he witnessed from everyone involved with Wisconsin hockey, something he said reaffirmed that he was making the right decision to play for the Badgers.
""Everybody is just so dedicated at Wisconsin,"" he said. ""You can tell that their heart and soul is in Badger hockey and that really mattered to me when I was trying to pick a place.""
As a true freshman next season, Daly will go straight from playing high school hockey to playing in the tough WCHA, a transition that Daly is looking forward to making.
""It will probably be a bumpy start but I think that I can make the jump,"" Daly said. ""I will obviously have to earn playing time, but I want to be in that top core of defenseman and help the team succeed the best that I can.""
According to Pauly, when it comes to recruiting, it is a matter of fitting a player with a coaching staff. He believes that Patrick Daly is just the type of player that Coach Eaves and the rest of the Wisconsin coaches are looking for every year. From what I saw, I have to agree. Daly should be a great addition to the team, and Badger hockey fans should be excited about what this kid will bring to the Kohl Center next fall.
