For the young No. 18 Wisconsin men's hockey team (0-0 WCHA, 1-1 overall), this season is a series of challenges. This weekend is no different, as the Badgers will play their first road series of the year against Michigan Tech (0-0 WCHA, 2-0 overall) to open WCHA conference play.
Every weekend is a growing opportunity for UW's inexperienced roster, and the Badgers will get their first taste of playing on the road in Houghton, Mich. this weekend.
""I think getting on the road for the first series is a blessing in disguise,"" Eaves said. ""I don't look at it so much as a challenge. I think it's good to get on the road; it's simpler. Sometimes if the pressure [of playing in front of your home crowd] is off, we can play a simpler game and just go have at it.""
""It's going to be a good learning experience going on the road like this,"" freshman forward Joseph LaBate added.
One area that the Badgers will have to improve on as they start conference play is their power play. Wisconsin was a woeful 2-for-19 with the man advantage last weekend against Northern Michigan. Eaves suggested that poor ice quality may have been to blame for the team's below par performance, but the players aren't going to defer blame.
""I'm not going to give any excuses,"" sophomore forward Tyler Barnes said. ""You could say it was bad ice or we didn't practice enough, but in the end we didn't get the job done.""
""It's early,"" sophomore forward Mark Zengerle added. ""I don't think anyone is doing a bad job. We're still gelling as a unit and feeling each other out, it just takes time. We've had more practice [on the power play] this week, so that will help us out this weekend.""
The Badgers' top line of Zengerle, Barnes and sophomore forward Michael Mersch will have a big say in the success of both the power play and Wisconsin's offense as a whole this season. The line was a combined -7 in last Friday's loss, and was understandably disappointed with that effort.
""We had a long talk after Friday's game,"" Barnes said. ""We're all roommates and we all had a long talk sitting on the couch about how embarrassed we were for ourselves and how we let the team down. We didn't want to feel like that again.""
The Mersch-Zengerle-Barnes line will be the Badgers' top offensive line this season and serve as the number one power play unit. They want to be ""the guys"" offensively for Wisconsin this season.
""We get all the ice time and the power play opportunities,"" Zengerle said. ""We're excited to try and be a big line for our team and get the goals when we need them. We definitely want to be that line.""
Wisconsin's top line will look to build on their success from last Saturday as they open conference play against Michigan Tech. According to Zengerle, the Badgers can't afford to start off on the wrong foot because every point in the WCHA is crucial.
""These points are huge,"" Zengerle said. ""If you drop points in the WCHA they are really hard to pick up later in the year when everyone is bearing down.""
