by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@chn-adam-wodon)
Wisconsin didn’t come into this season with the same kind of flashy, blue-chip (and in some cases nowadays, expensive) players that go high on draft boards. Instead, it chose to attempt a turnaround from last year’s disappointing 13-win season the more traditional way — straightforward recruiting. When the doors opened to major junior players, coach Mike Hastings and his staff stuck with the players they had already committed, and believed in them.
Sure there are 11 new faces on the roster, but this year, that’s kinda low, comparitively.
The kind of loyalty they hope for from the players, can pay off handsomely when the players get it from the coaches.
The results so far have been rewarding, and after wins of 5-4 and 2-1 (in overtime) at Michigan State last weekend, the Badgers are 10-2-2 and sitting No. 2 in the NPI.
Last year’s team collectively fell short of expectations. But forward Christian Fitzgerald is just one player of many who has symbolized the turnaround. A player who came from Hastings from Minnesota State to Wisconsin three seasons ago, things went well in year one, then he, and everyone else, hit a wall. But he’s been rejuvenated this year, and a position change had something to do with it.
“Confidence is a big thing, and the best way to find confidence is putting the work in,” Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings said. “It’s not that he wasn’t prior. But it’s (about) getting off to a good start. These guys have to go through a lot. Prior to (last) year, he was sitting down with multiple potential opportunities (to go pro). That can become cumbersome and stressful. And I think he flushed that this summer. … I think that poured into his confidence the first weekend, and since then hasn’t looked back.
“He’s back to playing on the wall, which is something him and I talked about this summer. His best year offensively has been when he’s been on the wall. He made the move to center to show some versatility he definitely has in his game. (But) him having success offensively since moving (back to wing) has freed him up. One of his greatest assets is his ability to skate, so that frees him up a bit in the neutral zone and it’s poured into his confidence.”
Fitzgerald has a regular center now in Gavin Morrissey, and the combo has exceled.Â
“He’s trying to become more of a shot-first guy, especially playing with a guy like Gavin, who is more of a distributor,” Hastings said.
The goaltending also wasn’t where it needed to be last season, but really, it was everything.
“We didn’t score enough, we gave up too much (last year),” Hastings said. “There’s a lot that goes into that, it’s not just that simple.”
On the goaltending front, Hastings and his staff brought in freshman Daniel Hauser, and a transfer from Minnesota State, Eli Pulver. Though Pulver never played for Hastings’ staff at Minnesota State, they had started to recruit him there. Last year, he was behind All-American Alex Tracy. And with Tracy not going anywhere, Pulver decided to head East to Madison for an opportunity.
Hauser, however, ran with his chance.
“I’m looking to probably split (time) the first weekend, and (Hauser) pitches a shutout, and I’m going to try not to over-coach. So he goes out the next night and is good again, and you saw the run he had over the first eight games. It gave our team, with eight freshmen and two transfers, and opportunity to make mistakes without costing games.”
Against Michigan, Hauser finally had one rough game, then rebounded the next night in a strong performance for a win. The next weekend was a split against Ohio State.
So Pulver stepped in last weekend to get the opportunity, and he outplayed Michigan State blue chipper Trey Augustine to earn the two wins.
“I figured it was time to give a guy who was working his tail off an opportunity, and he took advantage of it,” Hastings said.
“He has a freshman coming in that has a pretty good resume, but he wasn’t afraid to say, ‘Yeah I’ll put my hat in the ring there.’ He’s a quiet kid, doesn’t say a lot, just goes to work every day. And he was very much prepared for the opportunity when it presented itself.”
After the Badgers’ hot start, then two weekend splits, no one was quite sure where they stood going into Michigan State for two games, a team considered Frozen Four favorites.
Friday’s game didn’t start out great, and it seemed like the Badgers would be a respectable victim of the Spartans’ strength in front of their raucous crowd. But after falling behind 2-0, Wisconsin turned things around with a four-goal second period, three of which came at even strength.
“It’s probably not the best recipe to spot a two-goal lead and take three penalties, but I like how we responded after that,” Hastings said.
As the game turned wide open, it got even more chaotic in the third period. But even when Michigan State got back within one, the Badgers proved their mettle, scoring 16 seconds later to make it a two-goal game again. Once Spartans phenom Porter Martone scored his second of the game to draw back to within one again, Wisconsin battened down the hatches over the final 10 minutes to secure the win.
“Against Michigan that Friday, we went up with 10 minutes left, and they stress you in a lot of ways and we didn’t manage the puck well,” Hastings said. “That was handled in a much more calm manner (this past) Friday to give us the opportunity that we did, and we didn’t fold in that situation.”
Saturday was a bit more traditional a battle. Though each team had plenty of chances. Hastings was more comfortable in a game that was 1-0 for his team almost the whole way. But Martone scored again with the extra attacker to send the game to OT.
“He’s a ballplayer, he’s a competitor, he’s talented,” Hastings said. “Him and (Charlie) Stramel, they’re a line to deal with. They play both ends of the rink.”
In OT, though, Wisconsin defenseman Ben Dexheimer knocked in the game winner, with Martone draped on his back, to send the Badgers home with a pair of wins.
“I thought we were a little irresponsible with our third forward and trying to create offense (Friday), and I thought we did a better job with that on Saturday. But I thought the difference Saturday was, both goaltenders were outstanding. … We knew they were going to be better, so we needed to be.”
Wisconsin has the upcoming weekend off, then plays a pair at Notre Dame before taking a break until after Christmas.
“We’ll take a deep breath physically, you talk to your leadership group and see where you’re at that,” Hastings said. “Guys can get some things off their plate academically. We’re going to go into a place that’s difficult to play. Then we can look at our first half, but not until those games are done.”