After watching the first month and a half of the season, I really can't figure out what to make of this season's Wisconsin men's hockey team.
The Badgers have played 12 games and have a overall record of 5-6-1 this year, and find themselves sitting in a tie for fourth place in the WCHA-pretty respectable for a team made up of 20 freshmen and sophomores that came into this season with limited expectations.
With an inexperienced team you knew that this year would be a roller coaster-esque series of ups and downs, but it has been the altitude of those peaks and depth of those valleys that has left me wondering just what type of team Wisconsin has this year.
The Badgers have been consistently inconsistent. They've swept a then-No. 5 ranked North Dakota team, and they've been blown out, 7-2, by a mediocre St. Cloud State team. They've come out strong on Friday and faltered Saturday, and they've rebounded on Saturdays after tough starts on Fridays.
This past weekend against No. 1 Minnesota may have been the perfect microcosm of the Badgers season thus far. On Friday they looked brilliant. They displayed a dangerous, quick-strike offense and the ability to make things happen with the puck by using crisp, tape-to-tape passes in transition and cycling in the offensive zone. The Wisconsin defense frustrated a Gopher offense that has had its way with opponents this season. The Badgers skated right past the top-ranked team in the country -it was the type of win you want to build on if you're head coach Mike Eaves.
But that all disappeared Saturday as the Badgers were dominated by Minnesota, who controlled the game from start to finish. Wisconsin was sloppy on offense, throwing wayward passes and falling short on a number of golden opportunities on the Gopher net. The Badgers committed sloppy turnovers in their own zone, which led to goals for Minnesota, and a 4-1 loss.
Those types of ups and downs have defined this season for Wisconsin. Just when you think they've turned a corner, they come out and lay an egg, and just when you're down on them, they do something that leaves you awestruck.
But, that's what you have to expect from an inexperienced team. Each weekend we are watching the Badgers growing as a team before our eyes. 2011-12 will be a season-long learning process for Wisconsin, but along the way, there have been plenty of encouraging bright spots.
On the top line, sophomore forwards Mark Zengerle and Tyler Barnes have turned themselves into Wisconsin's dynamic duo on offense. Combining all of last season, the two players had a total of 11 goals between them. This season through 12 games they are 1-2 on the team with five and six goals, respectively, and both Zengerle and Barnes currently find themselves on 11-game point streaks.
Sophomore forward Keegan Meuer has stepped in valiantly as the Badgers' second line center since the injury to junior Derek Lee. Meuer provided the game-winning goal Friday against the Gophers.
Maybe the biggest question coming into this season was the Badgers' goaltending situation of relying on two freshman goalies. Both goaltenders have played well this season, specifically Joel Rumpel, who boasts 2.83 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Anyone who watched the series with Minnesota this past weekend knows how important Rumpel was. His play kept Wisconsin competitive all weekend and gave it a chance to win both nights, especially on Saturday when Rumpel faced a 60-minute long barrage of Gopher shots, yet the Badgers still had a chance to win the game heading into the third period.
Freshman forwards Brendan Woods, Matt Paape, Joseph LaBate and Brad Navin have all received plenty of ice time and they've all shown flashes of the talent that brought each of them to Madison.
The challenge now for the Badgers is to translate the talent they've put on display this season into complete on-ice efforts, each game, every weekend.
As Eaves will tell you, it is a season-long process with this young Wisconsin team. This team has a lot of growing and learning yet to do, but the Badgers have the talent to be competitive in the WCHA-and we have seen that this season. Wisconsin has proven it can skate with some of the top teams in the country, but the challenge now is to put it all together on a consistent basis.
The talent is clearly there for Wisconsin, and while it may not pay immediate dividends this year, if this group can continue to grow together, they will be a dangerous team in the not-so-distant future.
What have been your impressions of the Wisconsin men's hockey team this season? E-mail Ryan your thoughts at HYPERLINK "mailto:rmevans2@dailycardinal.com" rmevans2@dailycardinal.com.
