Has Eaves Turned UW Into NHL-University?

I've been joking around with the term NHL-University in reference to Wisconsin for a while now, using it as a thread title on the USCHO boards, and using it as a twitter hash tag whenever a former Badger has a big night in the NHL. But is the term really that far from the truth?

This season alone, 20 former Badgers have played in the National Hockey League, including 17 who are currently on an NHL roster. Think about that for a second, only 20 players suit up for an NHL roster per night. The Badgers could have their own NHL team this season. As always, don't forget to check BetUS’ hockey lines, the #1 place online for all your NHL wagering needs.

Obviously other NCAA squads have been putting people in the NHL but the run that Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves and the Badgers are on is nothing short of impressive. Fifteen of those twenty players in the NHL this season played for Mike Eaves at Wisconsin. Off last seasons roster alone, Wisconsin has put three players into the show who have made significant contributions.

Derek Stepan out of Hastings, Minnesota shocked many when he decided to sign with the New York Rangers this summer after his sophomore season in Madison. Checking out the rookie leaders on NHL.com, the young forward has put himself in the discussion for rookie of the year with his 41 points in 77 games which is good for sixth in the NHL amongst all rookies.

Getting the call to the NHL after half a season in the American League, Ryan McDonagh has had a seamless transition to the big apple. The Rangers rookie blueliner is playing in a top 4 role and is an amazing +17 in only 35 games this season.

The third player off last seasons Badger squad who has drawn attention in the NHL this season has been Blake Geoffrion. The 2010 Hobey Baker Award winner has 6 goals and 7 points in just 15 games for Nashville this season.

But those three aren't the only players that have played on the worlds biggest stage after studying with Mike Eaves in Madison. Guys like Joe Pavelski, Ryan Suter, Tom Gilbert, and Rene Bourque have all become stars in the NHL after their careers in Madison. Young guys like Jamie McBain, Kyle Turris, and Jack Skille all possess the ability to join the previous four I mentioned in that star class.

But it's not just the stars that Eaves is developing in Mad-Town. He's taught guys like Adam Burrish, Jake Dowell, Davis Drewiske, and to a lesser extent Brian Elliott and Robbie Earl what it takes to make it at the NHL level without All-World ability.

The next wave of Wisconsin NHL stars is on the horizon. Jake Gardiner, who just signed an NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs should see time in the NHL next season. Same goes for guys like Brendan Smith (Detroit) and Cody Goloubef (Columbus) who are both knocking on the NHL doorstep.

The talent doesn't end there, Justin Schultz and Craig Smith who are both expected back for the Badgers next season both have the NHL in their futures. Numerous other players on the current roster also will have an opportunity at some time to play in the show.

The pipeline isn't bare either. Incoming freshman forward Joseph LaBate is expected to be a second round pick in the upcoming NHL draft this spring and incoming freshman defenseman Jake McCabe (who isn't eligible until the 2012 draft) is also looked at as a top 4 round kid. Additionally NTDP forward and 2012 recruit Nicolas Kerdiles and Salmon Arm (BCHL) forward Morgan Zulinick are expected to be top prospects for the 2012 draft.

So while other schools are taking criticism for their ability (or lack there of) to develop players these days, don't forget what Mike Eaves is doing for the Badgers.

chuckschwartz(at)live.com
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Reaction to Coach Eaves and Alvarez's Comments

Lord knows that I've never been afraid to call out Barry Alvarez or otherwise claim that he's the puppet-master trying to mess with hockey for his own amusement. Sometimes I've done so fairly. Sometimes quite unreasonably and childishly. And sometimes to portray him as the Frankenstein about to turn the freshly deceased College Hockey Showcase into the lumbering reanimated undead corpse that we will soon call the Big Ten Hockey Conference.

The bottom line with Barry is the bottom line. He's the athletic director at our school, and if he wants to make his first priority to be to make sure that UW still manages to have an athletic department that stays in the black, then I don't know that any of us can really argue with that.

And if you were to get in touch with the cold, hard capitalist inside of you, it would only be fair to ask if it really is UWs job to prop up the smaller schools, or if it is Michigan's job to do the same to the CCHA schools. If the BTHC ends up destroying a program like Bowling Green, Minnesota State or Lake Superior State... well... who's to say that they were on stable enough grounds to last anyway? It's a harsh question, and it does divert our attention away from what a landscape-changer the BTHC will be, but isn't that a fair question to ask?

But even with that in mind, there are some things Barry says that probably reinforce the image many non-UW people have of Barry The Dictator Who Hates Hockey And Wants To Anally Rape It Whilst Pouring Sugar In Its Gas Tank.

Looking at his comments from the On Wisconsin show with Brian Posick, I end up with more questions than answers:

• When you say that our fans will "recognize" teams like Ohio State and Penn State in hockey... are you aware that we don't have a rivalry with one and that the other doesn't exist yet?
• When you say that "our fans" will choose that over WCHA rivals like Denver and North Dakota, are you talking about Badger Hockey fans or Badger Football fans?
• What exactly do you mean by "regionalizing" hockey? You said it to Posick and to Baggot. Did you know that it's roughly the same amount of time to drive to Denver as it is to Happy Valley? That drives to Ann Arbor and Grand Forks are quite comparable? That its quicker to drive to Bemidji or Omaha than it is to go to Columbus?
• The only travel distance that exists in the WCHA and not in the B1G Ten is Anchorage, Alaska, and UAA pays for part/most of that PLUS we get two extra home games out of that deal. Is that really an issue for us?
• Let's assume that your comments about "regionalization" have more to do with college hockey as a whole. How does the BTHC help the WCHA and CCHA schools deal with it? Don't they now have more frequent trips to Colorado and Alaska? How are we helping them, if this is truly a move that is good for "all of college hockey"?

Honestly, I feel like Alvarez is just giving us the run around when he tries to explain how this is good for college hockey as a whole. I'm not buying this trumped up excuse that the travel budget is better off in the BTHC, and I don't believe a word that he's saying about "regionalization". Sure, his principle is correct: bus rides are cheaper than flights, but that doesn't really come into play when we start talking WCHA vs. Big Ten. He's better off being honest with us and just saying that its about money, because at least I can believe him when he says that.

When Alvarez talks about B1G Ten rivalries, I don't think he's talking about hockey at all. He's talking about the kind of fan who doesn't go to hockey games, specifically the kind of ignorant fool that would list the WCHA as the reason he doesn't go to hockey games. (How do you spot this person? They might think that Ohio State hockey is more important and relevant than Denver hockey)

To this end, I have to admit that Alvarez is most likely right: there are probably more people that will come to Badger hockey games because it's a Big Ten thing than there are hockey fans who will stop coming to games because they hate this move. In that regard, we might see even better attendance figures in the B1G Ten. Sure, that's speculative drivel, but it wouldn't surprise me.

And then there's this:

"Plus the BTN has committed to about 40 games right off the bat. so i think that it sells and it promotes college hockey and maybe educates a lot of people in areas where there isn't hockey about college hockey"

It is here that I can't argue with the man. For a network that once pre-empted a Minnesota-Wisconsin game with a press conference for Indiana basketball, the BTN is showing a commitment to put more eggs into hockey's basket. That specific element of the BTHC can do nothing but good for college hockey. No one should be complaining about being on TV more.

As for Mike Eaves' comments on the issue? I was mostly amused by them. Mike Eaves has that weird way about him where he just sort of rambles on and on. I still have no idea what he meant by "speak the same language". You can tell that he never rehearses what he's going to say, and even though it makes his comments harder to understand and not very well thought out, I like how honest he comes off when he does it. If you boil down the rambling to two thoughts, it's this: This was inevitable, and we really don't have any idea how this will turn out.

For all the questions that Barry Alvarez makes me wonder about, perhaps Coach Eaves is right. It's going to happen, we can't change it, and we can't possibly predict what will happen.

But it's not too early for us to lobby the Big Ten to make sure that they don't do shootouts, right?

Some BTHC Talk (and more) From Coach Eaves and Barry Alvarez

For those of you who live in Madison, the On Wisconsin radio show/podcast featuring Brian "The Voice of Badger Hockey" Posick from The Big 1070 (Madison) might be a major part of your sports radio experience*.

Last Wednesday's edition of On Wisconsin featured some quality discussion about the two biggest stories to strike Badger Hockey in the last few weeks: the Big Ten Hockey Conference and the Lady Badgers' newest title. Coach Mike Eaves and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez both had some chances to comment on those stories.

* Disclaimer: OR if you live in the suburbs of Milwaukee, have a normal 9-5 type job, and are an amateur blogger (in more ways than one), then you might find out about Coach Eaves and Alvarez's comments when you ask someone from the athletic department if they have made any formal statements about the BTHC, and he kindly respond to you with an e-mail linking to this podcast...

The link to the audio is here, you can also access the podcast for download here.

A general timeline for those who want to skim the podcast:

00:56-2:32 Brian Posick mentions the women's hockey title.
2:46 - 3:17 BP introduces the BTHC news
3:17 - 5:43 Coach Eaves' comments on the BTHC
18:03 BP's interview with Barry Alvarez begins
19:33 - 22:05 They discuss the women's hockey team, Megan Duggan, and Coach Johnson
22:06 - 24:18 They discuss the BTHC
26:02 - 28:26 The issue of the facility improvements at Camp Randall

Now, I'm a total hack of a journalist (you know... because I'm not one and this is an occasional hobby for me), but here's my lame-duck attempt at transcribing the comments:

Mike Eaves on the BTHC:

"In the first place, Brian, it needs to be said there's a lot of work to be done. This is just the first step ... getting the presidents and the ADs to get on board and back this. This thought process is real powerful. And I think that... in lieu of the BTN going into effect... it was just a matter of time before this type of thing happened.

"In my mind, a lot of things in our society are driven by dollars and cents and this is one of those things. The Big Ten, once they got up and running and the money they are providing to each institution... the Big Ten is big time bucks. And once they got football and basketball going, the next revenue or income sport is hockey, men's ice hockey. And I think it was just a matter of time before they were looking to get them on there. And with that being the case right now, and Penn State getting finances to get the men's and women's program there, this was a natural progression in my mind, it was just a matter of time.

"The positives of it I think are the fact that you are going to create an unbelievable conference in men's ice hockey. It's going to be on TV. People, if they want to watch college hockey, are going to know where to go to watch it on a regular basis so i think that exposure to college hockey will be tremendous. I think that will be a great thing.

"I think the conference itself, having at our league meetings everybody speaking the same language in terms of what their needs are, and the things they have to deal with i think will be very much a positive because we all speak the same language.

"The negatives... you know, people can speculate as to what some of those might be, they could say that its either going to hurt college hockey and that we're gonna lose some programs, or because of the stimulation of what's going could create some programs. So i only think that time will tell if that's going to become an issue and *laughs* time will tell what other positives and what other negatives are going to come up."

Barry Alvarez on Mark Johnson:

"Well Mark, what a... just a tremendous leader he is. Just the way he manages his team, how he builds the team. And how... you know, he's so consistent. And that's the thing I see about him. His players know exactly what he wants. He's never too high, never too low. The consistency that he shows and the great job that he does teaching and building a team is very impressive"

Barry on Meghan Duggan:

"There are certain people that have a presence, and she's one of them. She walks into a room, and she has a presence. She steps on the ice, she has a presence. Every great team has a leader, someone just like her. And you can just sense that and you can feel that. When she speaks... you can look at the people in the crowd last night and everyone listened to her and every one of her teammates that spoke mentioned her by name. And [she's a] very impressive lady"

Barry after Brian Posick noted that some places, like Penn State for their men's program, might be interested in Coach Johnson:

"Absolutely. You've got the best women's coach in the country. What he's accomplished speaks for itself. You certainly don't want to lose him. But anytime you have a successful coach, there are always people that are looking at him, you know, and people that will try to get them to move and come and run their program. that's part of the business that we're in."

Barry when asked if he thinks Coach Johnson could have the same level of success in men's hockey:

"You know Brian, I'm not a hockey guy. But I mean... I'm sure the fundamentals... he coached men's hockey before he took over the head job at the women's program." (BP: "Assistant with Jeff Sauer, yeah...") "Absolutely. And I don't see why he wouldn't be successful."

Barry on the BTHC:

"I think everyone looks at their own situation. Everyone is concerned about their own situation. I think for a number of years now, people have been concerned by us having a league it will hurt college hockey. I don't agree with that.

"I think hockey needs to be regionalized. Hockey is a very expensive sport, and when you're traveling, criss-crossing the country playing your schedule, it gets more expensive and it limits how many people can play. You take a look at the east coast schools, it's basically a bus league, they can bus to everything they don't have to fly so its less expensive.

"What the Big Ten will do for our fans... it's name recognition now. You're playing teams that you recognize. You're more aware of a Michigan, Ohio State, you have a built in tradition and rivalry already. Plus the BTN has committed to about 40 games right off the bat. so i think that it sells and it promotes college hockey and maybe educates a lot of people in areas where there isn't hockey about college hockey"

(Brian Posick: And, no disrespect to other schools in the WCHA or the CCHA, but it also, these six schools in the Big Ten, it puts them on the same academic standing as the other schools. There's no doubt that theres a disparity in the WCHA.)

Barry Alvarez's response:

"There's no question.. You're dealing with DIII schools in some cases and some DI schools and standards are a little bit different, what you're accustomed to is a little bit different, I sensed that in the meetings that i've gone to that its much different than sitting in a Big Ten meeting."

Baggot: Michael Davies Status Update

Andy Baggot has an update for us this morning on senior forward Michael Davies who was a healthy scratch last weekend against Colorado College. If you read the blog you probably saw that I had steam coming out of my ears over the decision to sit Davies.

Mike Eaves claims that he has seen some progress from Davies in two practices since the decision to sit his top returning goal scorer. "He's just got to keep building on that and then we need to make a decision,'' Eaves said.

Eaves was asked if he'd previously settled for less than the maximum effort from Davies. "We've always battled it,'' Eaves said. "This is another attempt on our part to make that happen in terms of reaching his potential.''

Let me state this for the record again, I understand why Eaves sat Davies last weekend. I understand why he has sat him in the past. I still disagree with it. We have seen two years in a row how thin of a line it is to get into the NCAA tournament. We CANNOT afford to be sitting our top goal scorers because of Eaves thinks he's this bad ass disciplinarian. Last season all we needed was one, ONE more win or tie and we would have been in the NCAA tournament. Eaves needs to find better ways to motivate his players, especially players that are proven goal scorers.

Friday night we had plenty of chances to score goals, but we didn't because there is, and has been a severe lack of goal scorers on our roster since Joe Pavelski went to the NHL. Realistically, the only proven goal scorers on our roster this season are Michael Davies and Derek Stepan. Do you honestly trust ANYONE else to put up goals on a consistent basis? Other top teams in the country have 4-5 big time producers. Players like Bohmbach and Street and Geoffrion and Mitchell are very nice forwards don't get me wrong. But those players are not top end point producers at this level.

After a game where we put up 40 plus shots and lost, and a game where we only scored one goal, it would be an absolute travesty if Michael Davies is not in the lineup this weekend at Mankato. I find it funny how after our anemic performance offensively last weekend all of a sudden Eaves says that Davies is starting to "get it." What a cop out. Eaves realizes this team is going no where offensively without Davies.

Eaves did the same thing with Tom Gorowsky up until his senior season. I realize that Tommy wasn't the greatest skater but he proved throughout his hockey career that he was a big time point producer at every single level. Eaves continued to sit him. What did Goro do with extended playing time? He produced at a high level.

The fact remains that this team is absolutely loaded and there is no question that at a big time program like Wisconsin, the "what have you done for me lately" attitude applies. Yes Eaves won a championship, but a ton of the players that led them to the title were Sauer recruits. Since the title all we've done is crap in our pants. This is a HUGE season in terms of Eaves job status.

Go Badgers

Photo by Melody Hasse

chuckschwartz@live.com

Wisconsin Hockey Hour Radio Show

I've really only gotten into Sports Radio in the past year or so, so outside of listening to Badger hockey games that I can't find on TV (of which there are too many), I'm not too familiar with any Badger Radio programs. Nonetheless, this report from UWBadgers.com caught my eye. Of note is the creation of a new weekly coach's radio show with Mike Eaves this season:

The Great Dane Pub & Brewery is now the official host of all three University of Wisconsin Badgers Coaches’ Radio Shows. The hour-long Bret Bielema Radio Show will be held at the Fitchburg location on Thursday nights from 7-8 p.m. for 13 weeks this fall. The Hilldale location will continue to host the Bo Ryan Radio Show for the second year and will also be the home of the new Wisconsin Hockey Hour Radio Show featuring head coach Mike Eaves. These hour-long shows will be held on Monday and Tuesday nights, respectively, from 7-8 p.m. throughout the season.

I'm trying to find some more information on when exactly the Wisconsin Hockey Hour Radio Show will begin, and whether it will also be available on other stations in the Wisconsin Badgers Radio Network. I'll update as I find out more.

Eaves Still Man For The Job

After the 2006 championship, I would be lying to you if I said I planned on having to write this article a mere 3 seasons later. After missing the tournament completely in 2007, barely sneaking into it last season, and virtually needing to win the WCHA Final Five to gain entrance this season, Mike Eaves job security has been put in question by many.

It's funny how fast people forget the good but can recall the bad so quick. In "Confessions of a Winning Poker Player," Jack King said, "Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career." The same applies to the Wisconsin Badger hockey team. A mere 3 weeks ago the Badgers were in Minneapolis, finishing off sweeping the Gophers. After that, most fan's were planning on the guys in red making a play for the WCHA title, as well as hoping for more in the NCAA tournament. 3 straight loses later, and the fans are riding Eaves HARD.

Don't get me wrong, if you think I'm ignorant and haven't questioned Eaves at times, your wrong. I've disagreed with some of Eaves recruiting tactics and targets at times, and I've called him out about it on here as well as message boards. The fact still remains the same, Mike Eaves is the best option for the University of Wisconsin.

It's funny sometimes you forget the impeccable resume that Mike Eaves dons. Have we all forgotten the gold medal that Eaves brought home from the 2004 World Junior Championship in Finland? It still stands as the United States only gold medal in the 28 year history of the prestigious tournament. Have we forgotten that we were an OT goal away from a frozen 4 birth in Eaves second season? Have we forgotten that Zach Parise has said publicly that not only would he have possibly gone to Wisconsin had Wisconsin had Eaves in place when he committed, but that Eaves was the best coach he's EVER played for. Have we forgot about about the 2006 National Championship? Have we forgotten that the Anaheim Ducks drafted 3 future badgers in the 2008 draft because of the development that players get in Eaves pro style systems? Have we forgotten that we were an OT goal away from getting to the frozen four last season?

The fact still remains, that if you replace Mike Eaves, you will not find a replacement that is better than him. You will not find a replacement that is going to garner the respect from his players that he receives. You are not going to find a replacement that hits the recruiting trail as hard as they currently do. You are not going to find a replacement with the NHL connections that Eaves has. You will not find a replacement that can fill his shoes.

Every team has rough patches. It's bound to happen. Am I pissed that Wisconsin put it self in this position this season? Of course I am. If those two OT games against Maine and North Dakota in the regionals fall our way, and Eaves goes to 3 frozen fours in 6 years, and wins a title, are we still having this discussion? Yeah, we probably still are, because people are greedy. People don't realize how good they have it sometimes.

Mike Eaves is in his 7th season at Wisconsin, do you guys realize that Red Berenson at Michigan didn't even make the NCAA tournament until his 7th season? (Yeah obviously there are more teams in the tournament now) Do you realize that it took Berenson 11 years to win a championship? I can do this all day...who else do you think are the best coaches in the nation? It took Gwoz at Denver 10 years to win a title. Jerry York, it took him 7 seasons to win a title at BC. Jackie Parker won a title in his 5th sason, and it took him 17 seasons after that to gain another. I still think Parker is a pretty good coach and I bet you do as well. You guys remember how long it took Eaves to win a title...4 years.

Mike Eaves is going no where and thats a good thing. He's one of the best coaches in college hockey and we are lucky to have him coaching for us. I'm not jumping off this bandwagon and I hope you aren't either. This team has the potential to do great things. There is still time left in this season to make things happen. Will it be the easy road? Obviously not. But I've seen greater miracles in the world. Let's take care of business tonight, take care of business next weekend when the Sioux come to town, and we'll see where we are at.

Photo by AJ Maclean

Friday Afternoon Alumni Catch-up

There have been a few interesting alumni items that I we haven't post yet:

• Joe Pavelski is featured as USA Hockey Magazine's Next American Star. Really nice article.

• Mike Eaves and Ryan Suter are featured in USA Hockey Magazine's look back at the 2004 World Junior Championships in which the US took home Gold. Mike Eaves, of course, was the head coach. In addition to Ryan Suter, Badgers Jake Dowell and Jeff Likens also played for Team USA.

• Melissa Wade has some pictures of Cody Goloubef with Team Canada after winning the Gold at this year's WJC. Thanks for sharing, Melissa! (Ok, it's not alumni, but I gotta put it somewhere.)
  

• Bernd Bruckler has been listed as a player to watch in the Championship Hockey League (CHL). Brucker plays for the Espoo Blues of SM-liiga, the top Finnish league. The CHL, which includes the top European teams, is a new league this year that replaces the IIHF European Champions Cup. (Props to EODS for pointing this out.)


• Despite getting under 9 minutes of ice time, Adam Burish was named the #1 Star of the Game the Hawks 6-0 victory over the Coyotes on Tuesday. Burish had 1 goal and 1 assist. (Thanks again, EODS).
  

A couple of random items

• Mike Eaves participated in a pro camp with a whole slew of Badger (and a few non-Badger) alumni.


• Brian Rafalski is a nice guy and donated part of his first day with the Stanley Cup to participate in a charity fundraiser in Iola, WI. The lucky winner won half an hour with Rafalski and the Cup.
  

Eaves Rumor Mill

Earlier this month, Mike Eaves was rumored to be up for the LA Kings head coaching position. Eaves, however, said he had not been contacted by the Kings and was not interested in that positon. And, as you may already be aware, the Kings hired Terry Murray.

In the Badger Blog today, Baggot has a bit more of the story. Apparently, several UW officials said that they had heard Mike Eaves would be announced as the Kings' new head coach at a press conference in LA. Nice. *rolleyes*

It's somewhat interesting that 2 days prior, "nearly a dozen NHL types had approached UW assistant coach Mark Osiecki, on a recruiting trip in Calgary, to say they had heard varying versions of the rumor". Of course, I'd imagine that Eaves' name is one that will come up pretty much every time there's an NHL head coaching vacancy, so I suppose that isn't all that surprising.

Badger Hockey Paddle and Portage Team

Coaches Mike Eaves and Mark Osiecki will be part of a team in Madison's annual Paddle and Portage across Lake Mendota, portaging past the Capital, and then finishing across Lake Monona. The event takes place tomorrow. GL to both coaches and make sure to stretch out, don't want the kids laughing at you for pulling a hamstring or something.

Eaves Perplexed about Wiercioch

Andy Baggot has a piece about this recruiting "fiasco".

Baggot also mentions that there are rumors about Eaves being considered for the LA Kings head coaching job, but Eaves has not been contacted.

Edit: Todd at TCT has more about Wiercioch and Coach Eaves.

Another Edit: Mike Chambers at the Denver Post further clarifies the Wiercioch situation.

Thursday morning Badger links

It's getting kind of late but the Badger Hockey Golf Outing is June 26th. Thanks to Todd Milewkski for the link.

Coach Osiecki will be on hand at the NHL draft this weekend while head coach Mike Eaves will be at a prospect camp put on by Anaheim Ducks GM Brain Burke. Link from Andy Bagott.

uwbadgers.com did a sweet Q&A with Josh Engel and Davis Drewiske.

uwbadgers.com also has another video uploaded this time with a stuff on the upcoming NHL draft, and featuring Cody Goloubef.

Minneapolis Star Tribune put out a nice article on Jake Gardiner. Thanks to D-Playa for the link.

This has nothing to do with hockey, but Minnesota football coach Punky Brewster's kid decided to transfer. I love seeing turmoil in the Gopher Nation.

In case you missed it

I have a few items from the past several days that we haven't linked here on the blog yet. You may already have seen these items, but I just thought I'd post the links just in case.

• Uwbadgers.com has the second installment of the 2008 Men's Hockey Preview Videos: The 2008 Recruiting Class. I won't bore you with my thoughts, but I wouldn't be surprised if Gandalf and/or Chuck share some thoughts about this at some point. (Thankfully, their thoughts tend to be more interesting than mine.)

• WCH has a fun post on the NHL draft combine, and HIW has a bit on how Badgers at the combine performed. I gotta tell ya, I'm pretty fired-up to see Jake Gardiner play and also to see how Goloubef's play progesses his sophomore season.

• Baggot had a follow-up article in Saturday's WSJ about recent commits Simonellis and Mersch.

• Apparently Mike Eaves was one of the more entertaining coaches at the recent Badger Days stops. Or more accurately, on the bus rides to and from the Badger Days stops.

Eau Claire: We won’t leave till all the coaches are on the bus. Coach Eaves, attending to his always-busy schedule, was the last one on the bus as we loaded in front of Camp Randall Stadium. There was talk of fining him or making him sing, but he served his “punishment” by grabbing the mic telling some really good jokes on the bus on the way home.

Green Bay: I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Coach Eaves an “A” for effort on our return trips home. His seemingly endless array of jokes (most of them good) has kept us all entertained, but women’s soccer coach Paula Wilkins made a serious run at Eaves’ title last night on the way home from Lambeau. Good times.

Wausau: We had been a little pressed for time prior to the start of our Badger Days events in Milwaukee and Green Bay, so we moved up our departure for Wausau on Thursday to 1 p.m., which meant we left around 1:10 p.m. By 1:12, men’s hockey Coach Mike Eaves was deadpanning: “I wonder what they’ll have for us to eat tonight?” Laughter filled the bus. Each of the four Badger Days events featured identical meals: brats, chicken, hot dogs, potato salad and cookies.

Funniest UW coaches: Eaves (for his four days of jokes and commentary; he’s as relentless as the team he coaches) and women’s soccer coach Paula Wilkins (her comedic performance on the way back from Green Bay has already attained
mythic status)

Time to Renew Season Tickets

Today is the first day to renew season tickets for the 2008/2009 Men's Hockey Season! I'll be requesting to move my friday tickets to the location of my NCAA Regional seats, though I doubt I have any chance of getting them.

http://www.uwbadgers.com/ has a series of links regarding this. They include a little article about renewing tickets, and similar to last year there will be a series of conservations w/ Coach Eaves about the upcoming season.

The first video is already out. Coach Eaves talks about next season's schedule, its difficulty and the Badger Hockey Showdown, among other things. Coach Eaves is solo this season, last year he was joined by Brian Posiack, who interviewed him. I like the format this season, and it appears in the backdrop that UW will feature slightly different uniforms this season w/ solid lettering, I could be wrong though.

They don't tell you what the other video in the series will be, but if its like last year, there will be discussions about departing seniors, returning players and incoming freshman. I like hearing about the team directly from the Coach.

If you are looking to obtain Season Tickets, you can begin applying tomorrow.

Eaves' and Johnson's contracts extended

Per Milewski, the UW has extended the contracts for Coach Mike Eaves and Coach Mark Johnson until June 2013.