After the Badgers’ loss to Omaha, head coach Tony Granato said he thought freshman goalie Jack Berry played a great game. Sophomore Luke Kunin echoed his coach's comments, saying, “He battled hard for us tonight. He was our best player.”
Both the coach and the captain were right—Berry played exceptionally well. But with high praise like that, you would think that Berry had a near shutout performance.
Instead, Berry let in six goals and posted only a .769 save percentage. Looking at those numbers without context, it would seem like a terrible night. But what the numbers miss out on is the fact that Berry is often put in a tough position backstopping his team.
The men’s hockey team has drastically improved from last year’s squad, which finished with an 8-19-8 record. In fact, the Badgers are a pretty good team. They’ve just been wildly inconsistent, especially on the defensive end of the ice.
The Badgers go through stretches where they simply cannot play transition defense, leaving Berry with the task of trying to stop multiple breakaways and wide open shots from the slot each night—and he usually comes up with the save.
In that 7-4 loss against Omaha, almost every goal was a result of a notable defensive lapse, and not just a couple of unlucky bounces. Berry gave up a goal on a breakaway just 55 seconds into the game, and was left hanging out to dry as a result of ill-advised defensive pinches or a lack of hustle on the back check from the forwards for most of the night.
Though Berry let in six goals on only 26 shots, those 26 shots were primarily “grade-A” chances. And most impressively, Berry made most of them look nonthreatening. Despite being peppered with cross-ice one-timers and back-door opportunities, he consistently remains cool in the net and lets the puck come to him rather than fighting it off, a remarkable strength under the adverse defensive circumstances he’s been placed in.
Moreover, the defensive lapses against Omaha were not just a one-time deal. Although that game featured some of the worst defense the Badgers have played this season, there have been other games where Wisconsin has given up consistent top-notch chances.
Going forward, especially against strong Big Ten competition, the Badgers will likely continue to get exploited defensively if they don’t improve both their transition and in-zone play. When they match up against offensive powerhouses like Penn State, Berry’s job will likely remain difficult.
Still, Berry has already proven that even with a lack of help in front of him, he is one of the best players on this Badgers team, even if his stats don’t reflect his success.
