Baggot: Making it their turn
October 25, 2015 | Men's Hockey, Andy Baggot
"Mindset has to be geared toward positive outcomes."
BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. --Â Some lessons take years to evolve. Others require but a few moments.
For members of the Wisconsin men's hockey team, 19 seconds was all it took for them to be enlightened Saturday night.
Unfortunately that teaching moment was at the heart of a 2-1 non-conference loss to Ferris State at Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids, Michigan.
The Badgers had just tied the game at 1-all thanks to a power-play conversion by freshman left winger Luke Kunin. It came 29 seconds into the third period and should have translated to a surge of positive energy.
It did not.
"It's got to be a winning characteristic about what you do," Wisconsin associate head coach Luke Strand said Sunday. "The shift after a goal, for or against, is probably the largest that there is."
But instead of seizing the momentum, it was lost.
A breakdown on the rush led to a scramble in front of freshman goaltender Matt Jurusik. The Bulldogs got the eventual winning goal when right winger Chad McDonald converted the rebound chance. That left Wisconsin to contemplate another frustrating weekend.
"The personnel that go over the boards in those situations have to realize that because it's not a time to take a breath," Strand said. "It's time to dig deeper and balance the pressure back to their end and not play in our zone as we did."
As a result, the Badgers (0-3-3 overall) remain winless on the season heading into a non-conference series with NCAA Division I independent Arizona State (1-4) Friday and Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
The one-goal loss came one night after Wisconsin failed to hold onto a two-goal lead in the third period, but overcame a late one-goal deficit to settle for a 5-5 overtime draw.
The last time the Badgers celebrated a victory was Feb. 20 of last season when they knocked off Michigan State in a Big Ten Conference match.
There are 10 freshmen who have no memories of last season, but what about the 18 veterans who lived through the 4-26-5 nightmare of 2014-15?
Strand said frustration and disappointment are natural reactions at this juncture, but the mindset has to be geared toward positive outcomes.
"You gain a lot of momentum by doing things in a process correctly," he said. "Everyone's got to believe that it's our turn. We've got to make our turn."
Strand said positives from the series include the power play, which was 3-for-10 and is clicking at 22.2 percent on the season (6-for-27). Another was seeing Jurusik rebound from a rough outing in the opener with a solid showing in the second game.
But while the push for a more up-tempo attack continues to show signs of life, the defense continues to have issues managing its zone.
The series with Ferris State marked the first college appearance of defenseman Patrick Sexton, a freshman from Ottawa, Ontario, whose debut was delayed by administrative issues. He showed some rough edges, but good instincts for the game.
Strand said the Badgers will continue to push toward a confident, more cohesive attack. That learning curve needs to become more manageable and fast. After hosting the upstart Sun Devils they play at North Dakota (4-0-2), host Denver (3-1) and open the Big Ten Conference season at Michigan (3-0-1).
"At the end of the day you've got to get everybody on the same page doing it all the time," he said.
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. --Â Some lessons take years to evolve. Others require but a few moments.
For members of the Wisconsin men's hockey team, 19 seconds was all it took for them to be enlightened Saturday night.
Unfortunately that teaching moment was at the heart of a 2-1 non-conference loss to Ferris State at Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids, Michigan.
The Badgers had just tied the game at 1-all thanks to a power-play conversion by freshman left winger Luke Kunin. It came 29 seconds into the third period and should have translated to a surge of positive energy.
It did not.
"It's got to be a winning characteristic about what you do," Wisconsin associate head coach Luke Strand said Sunday. "The shift after a goal, for or against, is probably the largest that there is."
But instead of seizing the momentum, it was lost.
A breakdown on the rush led to a scramble in front of freshman goaltender Matt Jurusik. The Bulldogs got the eventual winning goal when right winger Chad McDonald converted the rebound chance. That left Wisconsin to contemplate another frustrating weekend.
"The personnel that go over the boards in those situations have to realize that because it's not a time to take a breath," Strand said. "It's time to dig deeper and balance the pressure back to their end and not play in our zone as we did."
As a result, the Badgers (0-3-3 overall) remain winless on the season heading into a non-conference series with NCAA Division I independent Arizona State (1-4) Friday and Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
The one-goal loss came one night after Wisconsin failed to hold onto a two-goal lead in the third period, but overcame a late one-goal deficit to settle for a 5-5 overtime draw.
The last time the Badgers celebrated a victory was Feb. 20 of last season when they knocked off Michigan State in a Big Ten Conference match.
There are 10 freshmen who have no memories of last season, but what about the 18 veterans who lived through the 4-26-5 nightmare of 2014-15?
Strand said frustration and disappointment are natural reactions at this juncture, but the mindset has to be geared toward positive outcomes.
"You gain a lot of momentum by doing things in a process correctly," he said. "Everyone's got to believe that it's our turn. We've got to make our turn."
Strand said positives from the series include the power play, which was 3-for-10 and is clicking at 22.2 percent on the season (6-for-27). Another was seeing Jurusik rebound from a rough outing in the opener with a solid showing in the second game.
But while the push for a more up-tempo attack continues to show signs of life, the defense continues to have issues managing its zone.
The series with Ferris State marked the first college appearance of defenseman Patrick Sexton, a freshman from Ottawa, Ontario, whose debut was delayed by administrative issues. He showed some rough edges, but good instincts for the game.
Strand said the Badgers will continue to push toward a confident, more cohesive attack. That learning curve needs to become more manageable and fast. After hosting the upstart Sun Devils they play at North Dakota (4-0-2), host Denver (3-1) and open the Big Ten Conference season at Michigan (3-0-1).
"At the end of the day you've got to get everybody on the same page doing it all the time," he said.
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