Over the course of the Wisconsin men’s hockey season, the team’s nine-member 2011-’12 freshmen class has grown up before our eyes, but maybe none more so than freshman forward Brendan Woods.
In terms of measuring hockey growth, it is easy to solely reference on-ice stats and numbers, but to Woods’ head coach Mike Eaves, it has been the maturation of the Farifax, Va. native’s on-ice demeanor that has impressed him the most and allowed Woods to fully develop as a player.
According to Eaves, Woods had the habit of hanging his head earlier this season when things didn’t go well, which would affect his performance on ensuing shifts. But as he has advanced in his growth as a player, Woods hasn’t let things get to him, allowing him to open up his game and play with increasing confidence.
“My body language was a little bad. I’d get down on myself and my game would change and it would bring me down,” Woods said. “So just teaching myself little tips and stuff to cool myself down and stay positive is the biggest thing.”
For Woods, playing hockey was just a matter of getting into the family business. His father, Bob Woods, is the assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks and played hockey at the junior and professional levels for 21 seasons. However, despite his father’s rich hockey background, a younger Woods had his eyes set on making it as a professional baseball player in the major leagues.
“I almost made it to the Little League World Series,” Woods said. “But sooner or later hockey became more serious and took up most of my time and I had to give up something and stay serious about something else and I picked hockey.”
Once his Little League career came to an end, Woods embraced his hockey destiny and said to this day, his father has helped him along every step of the way.
“I talk to him almost every night. If he’s playing a game or I’m playing a game I’ll give him a call after,” Woods said of his father. “Sometimes he’s able to watch [my games] on TV. He’s pretty good about it, but, he’ll give me tips and stuff. I’ll ask him what he thought and what he saw. He’s not too personal about it so it’s good.”
Woods—who has five goals and ten points in 31 games this season for Wisconsin—has the potential to be a very good power forward for the Badgers. He describes himself as a grinder that is able to use his size to create space for more skilled line mates and a “work hard guy” near the crease who will score most of his goals banging home rebounds. Needless to say, Woods doesn’t characterize himself as the flashiest player on the ice, but you wouldn’t believe that having seen the first goal he scored as a Badger.
Woods introduced himself to the crease creatures back on Oct. 21 against North Dakota with a highlight-reel goal worthy of SportsCenter Top-10 consideration. On the play, Woods dangled his way past a UND defenseman, walked in and made a nice move to backhand the puck past goaltender Aaron Dell.
“I don’t know what I drank before that game, but it gave me something,” Woods joked. “I think it was more luck than anything. I just got lucky there.”
This past weekend Eaves moved Woods up the line chart and had him centering Wisconsin’s second forward unit, and indication of just how far the coach believes Woods has come this season.
“Right now the way he’s playing, the confidence that he’s playing with, he deserves to be there,” Eaves said. “He’s a big body, but right now with a young guy like Woodsy, it’s game to game.”
One advantage that Eaves said the 6-foot 3-inch, 200-pound Woods has as a center is his size, which makes Woods an imposing presence for opponents.
“It’s tough to play against mass, especially when you’re a center ice-man,” Eaves said. “It helps on face-offs, he’s been doing a good job there. He’s been making plays when he’s had the opportunity, so having that big body down the middle gives us a different element.”
Eaves foresees Woods becoming a very valuable player for the Badgers, but that the young forward’s game is still evolving, meaning his full potential cannot yet be truly measured.
“I think he could become a real good, shut-down center ice-man,” Eaves said of Woods. “He’s got a big time shot, he moves well for a big man and he’s hard to play against because of his size.”
“I think on a real good team he could become an unbelievably good third line, shut-down guy. Could he become a second line guy someday? That depends on how his offensive prowess comes along,” he added.
With Woods and the rest of this year’s freshman class providing the Wisconsin men’s hockey program with a young, talented core, the future looks bright in Madison. Next season Wisconsin’s roster will boast 20 sophomores and juniors, and Woods believes with a season of experience now under their belts, the Badgers will be a force to be reckoned with.
“We’re going to be a pretty good-looking team,” he said.
