Oct. 19, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -
Head coach Mike Eaves answered questions from the media at UW's weekly Monday news conference. A full transcript follows.
QUESTION #1: After looking at the weekend on film, just I guess your thoughts on how things went this past weekend.
EAVES: Well, in the big picture, we would, first of all, say that we were disappointed in only getting one point. Expectations were such that we wanted to get more. Friday night was a game that we very easily could have won, didn't score much. And on Saturday, we were very poor in the first period, but got back in the saddle and played it out hard, and got a hard-fought tie.
In saying that, we went back and looked at videotape. We figure over the course of the weekend, we hit eight or nine goal posts. And we were talking about it after the game on Saturday about offense, and we just happened to start the season off in a little bit of a downtrend in terms of some of those pucks coulda/shoulda gone in. We were close, but those are the things you have to overcome through the course of a game.
And except for that first period and how disappointed we were Saturday, we did some good things and we'll get back to the drawing board. We know where we are. We have a start, and we will look to get better.
QUESTION #2: Did anything about the opening weekend and what you saw from your players surprise you at all or what's the message to your team about, as you say, kind of getting back to work again?
EAVES: Well, I think the biggest surprise is the fact that there was so much talk going on about our young goaltenders, and they were a pleasant surprise. They both played most excellently. And so we can kind of put that to bed rest right now. We know we've got two young goaltenders, and it will be the decision of the coaches how do we start this weekend? Do we keep the same rotation? Do we let one play? You know, that will be decided as we go, but we saw two pretty good performances by our young goaltenders.
I think that, other than that, I think on Saturday night, we had guys that played below their potential for one reason or another. Was it the rhythm of getting back to back games that we hadn't done yet this year or such, but we had some guys that played sub-par, and we need to get them that feedback here this week and make sure that we get up to speed and are getting the things that we think we can get from these young men.
QUESTION #3: Do you have any updates on if Blake and Brendan will play this coming weekend?
EAVES: Brendan will be back in the lineup. Blake is right now day to day, and so we will continue to monitor that. But Brendan, we'll get him back in rotation. We had a terrific talk this morning, talked about the weekend, talked about the things that came out of this weekend, and looking forward to getting him back in there.
QUESTION #4: Wondering if you could comment on Ben Street's performance this weekend.
EAVES: Well, it looked like a guy that hadn't played in over a year. He, I thought he was one of our better performers. I think he had as many scoring chances as anybody that we had and, you know, ultimately got that big goal on Saturday. Played strong, determined, played like a guy who has missed a lot of games and really missed playing. I think that, I'll relate a story about our son, Ben, who had to retire and then was, had the good fortune to be able to come back and play. When you've been out that long, like Ben was out for two years, our Ben, and then this Ben was out for a year, when you have a chance to come back and play, there's not a bad day. You're just happy to be back, and you want to take the opportunity to make it count, to make every moment worth it's while, and I think that's what we see in Ben, Ben Street.
QUESTION #5: Mike, it's no secret Brendan Smith has a lot of God given talent. Is it more of a challenge with some than others to harness that talent and make that individual a player and a good team players as well?
EAVES: Well, Brian, I'll throw this name out there, because you lived through it as we did, but take a look at Ryan MacMurchy and what type of play he was, very physical, gifted, emotional, young hockey player. And Mac and, Mac and I, we worked through a lot of things together. And I think that Brendan, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and I think that he's got to learn to control that, to direct it in the right areas, and he's making those strides.
And we just have to continue to, you know, hold him accountable and give him feedback and help him grow in those areas that allows his strengths to remain his strengths rather than have those become vices for him. You know, sometimes your virtue can become your vice. And he's a terrific kid. I would want him in my foxhole any day. But at the same time, how do we help him become the most effective athlete and all the . . . person that he can become? And that was part of what we did this weekend.
QUESTION #6: This isn't an excuse for you, but with Blake out of the lineup, I mean, that shuffled everything around on all units, didn't it?
EAVES: It really did. I mean, Blake is a guy that we count on a lot for a lot of minutes. We lived through a little bit of it last year, where we had to at times, but we didn't expect to do it so quickly right out of the gate. You know, we talked about on this journey that we're on to do the things that we want, that you're going to run into a storm, well, we ran into a storm the very first night by getting Blake dinged up a little bit, so we'll have to deal with it.
QUESTION #7: Coach, you have a handful of freshmen on your roster this year. Can you comment on the freshmen's progression so far?
EAVES: As we talked about the young goaltenders being a pleasant surprise, I'd have to say that the freshmen that played this weekend were also. It was fun to watch them kind of get their feet wet. I guess kind of like a, you know, a duckling getting into the water first time, realize he's not going to sink, and see I can move my feet and get going here pretty quick. I think a Justin Schultz, like he looked a little tentative, then all the sudden he got in the flow of the game, he's breaking the puck out, and he looks like an upperclassmen at times.
So I thought John Ramage played strong. He's going to bring that element to our team, which is really fun to see. Who am I missing here? Craig Smith, again, strong. We gave him a lot of minutes this weekend as well, and I think he would, you know, a forward wants to score. I think he might be a little disappointed in that. He had the one point, but I think that he's going to be a dandy as well.
QUESTION #8: A little more on Craig Smith. It seemed like he took Blake's role in the slot on the power play unit. Do you like what you got from him in that role?
EAVES: I think he can grow even to a higher level, and he'll tell you the same thing, and he missed some passes, saw things a little bit late. But you know, when you thrust him in there like that, that sometimes is going to happen. But he's going to be a fine player, and he gives us a combination of physical strength and skill, which is nice to have as a player.
QUESTION #9: I guess when you're looking for more goal scoring, one person a lot of people might look to is a Michael Davies. He obviously did not play this weekend. Where, on the outside . . . kind of a head scratcher at the beginning of the year to be in that situation. Where are you at with all of this with Michael Davies development and trying to get him in the lineup?
EAVES: Well, Michael Davies is going to have to get himself in the lineup. And you know, I'm anxious to see what he comes back with us this week. It's a matter of earning time and getting in there. Michael is a very talented young guy, but for the things that we want to get done, we just don't want a part-time guy, we want a guy that's going to contribute not just in the power play but five-on-five, and he's shown that he can do that, but he's got to do that all the time.
QUESTION #10: You've been asked this before, but Mankato's rank is not like Engelstad or Mariucci or the Kohl Center, but it's downright crazy. But is it the rink, is it the fans, the team itself, or a combination of all that makes it so difficult to play there?
EAVES: It's a combination. I was talking to Michael Cerniglia, our Director of Hockey Operations, aka DOHO, and it is an amazing type of rink. Like he said, well, it's a tough rink to play in because it's a small rink. I said, no, Mike, it's Olympic size, but you don't realize that until you get there. And then the way they play, the shape of the building makes it seem smaller because they're right on top of you, then the fans. It's like a junior rink, and it's a tough building to play and win in, as we know firsthand.
QUESTION #11: The genesis behind DOHO?
EAVES: Director of Hockey Operations.
QUESTION #11: Oh, DOHO. Thank you so much. Duh.
