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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 15, 2016

Mike Eaves

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Men's Head Hockey Coach Mike Eaves is here and will answer questions.

Q. Mike, the way your team played in Ann Arbor and this past weekend against Michigan, did you get the feeling of maybe we would see a game like we saw on Saturday, the 4-4 overtime?
COACH EAVES: In Michigan we talked about the term flirting with victory, and we did that there, losing 6-4 and 6-6. On Saturday night, you know, it's happened several times, we've come off the bench and shaken the other coaches' hands, and they're very complimentary to our group, but that and 90 cents will get you a cup of coffee, not a "W", so the way we played, 44 shots by our count, we outchanced them.

Again, we're not where we want to be, but we're forging to that point, and we have to keep pounding it in terms of how we're improving and the areas that we're improving.

I think Friday night was disappointing that we didn't make it closer, but I think the fact was we hadn't played in a couple of weeks and played against a very good Michigan team that was rolling -- but Saturday was more us and we got going and now it's nice, we're playing every weekend and we got Eddie back in the lineup, and we can keep rolling and keep pushing to get to the play we want to get to.

Q. Mike, with regards to Matt Jurusik, can you go back to when he came in and analyze the challenges that he faced in terms of coming in and not only coming to school as late as he did but then being -- carrying the load that he's had to carry for your team?
COACH EAVES: It's daunting. We don't talk about it because I think if you analyze it, you will be "whoa" that's an awful lot for a young man to, handle but when we lost the other young goaltender, Major Junior, it was a matter of trying to find the next best goalie, and Matty was on top of that list, and everybody we talked to talked about him, but it was late, much like Brian Elliot was, so we had to go out and get him in academically and housing and everything like that, and then you've got the load of getting used to college for the first time and the social aspects and the work load, and it's a lot.

Plus as we've talked about, he's the youngest goaltender in the NCAA at this time, starting goalie so, yeah, if you break it down and go, oh, man, probably it's too much for this young fella, but he's stayed with it.

He continues to have a pretty mature approach to all that's going on. His work ethic continues -- he continues to believe in what he can do, he continues to work with Coach Sanger in terms of what's going on, how can I get better. So like the rest of our team he's forging ahead in the right direction.

Q. Do those numbers reflect the challenges? Can you address the fact that some of his numbers may not be impressive but given what he's been through they actually reflect a pretty good effort?
COACH EAVES: Absolutely. I couldn't have said it better. You're absolutely right in what you said. You take all that's gone on in his life, if you're just a pure hockey person, you're thinking those numbers aren't very good, but if you look at the whole picture, those numbers are darn good.

Q. Mike, you mentioned the schedule, getting you in a groove and playing every week and forging ahead. What is the next level for this team or potential level for this team, as we look forward the rest of the season?
COACH EAVES: I think it would be, Jeff, hard to paint a picture of what it is without limiting us or selling us short. I mean, the fact that what we did against Michigan both there and here is a clear indicator of that. Again, we're flirting -- we're knocking on that door. I think it's still part of our maturation process to do more things better, the mistakes that we've made continue to be really big ones, but we continue to make better plays with the puck.

So, again, I sound like I'm a broken record in terms of we keep forging ahead in the direction we're going, but to paint a picture of what that maximum is, I would want to say something goofy like we could do something really special, but that might be reaching, or if I limit it, that's not fair either to our group. If we keep getting better and doing the things that we are and pushing each other -- it's amazing how this group in all that we've been through -- when you're not winning, it's real easy to get negative and despondent in the locker room, and this group has gone the other way.

They've got better, closer as a group and the way you can tell is because they're holding each other accountable but they're able to accept that accountability challenge because they know the guy is telling them for the right reasons. So they become closer as a team, and from an inside-out standpoint what you folks might not see, watching the game, that's really healthy.

Q. Mike, have you reached that point in your lineup where this is pretty much what you're going to go with, or are you still looking at combinations and the roles guys can play?
COACH EAVES: It's interesting you can say that, because today going after practice, we're going to have different combinations. I think we are still pushing, I still think that guys are inconsistent in their play, and we want more out of them, and if they're not playing the way we want, then we're going to change things around and, so, yeah, we're still tinkering, for sure.

Q. Related to that, your top line hadn't -- Friday night did not have a great night, came back Saturday and played with the best line in the country. Are you seeing something that's evolving there?
COACH EAVES: Well, again, I think Friday night was a little bit of a misdemeanor in the fact that we hadn't played in a couple of weeks, so I think it took them a game to get going, and that was more like them on Saturday, to your point, and they competed and went head-to-head, and probably -- they were plus against that line, they had a bunch of points against that line, and that's a clear indicator that they're going in the right direction, and we hope that continues.

Q. I don't know if you go through prior to the season and say this young man can give me this, this, this and --
COACH EAVES: No.

Q. Did you see Ryan Wagner 10 goals, 21 points, at this point?
COACH EAVES: No. I think you do it in your head, I don't think you write it down. We talked about Wags in terms of what he did what he wasn't here. He was a goal scorer in AAA Midget Hockey; He helped his team win a National Championship. He was the go-to guy, and we've already documented how he didn't get off to a great start last year, had scoring chances, wasn't able to get on a roll, and this year he's come back and gotten that roll. He's feeling it again like he did when he was a Midget player; that's nice for us.

THE MODERATOR: Specifically about Michigan State and the series that you played with them there, thought it may be a turning point or galvanizing force for your club at the time. That was an important weekend, wasn't it?

COACH EAVES: It was. Friday night was a night that we did not enough to win. It was 3-3 with less than 10 minutes to go, and one of our young defenseman hit a crack in the ice and took a header, and their guy went in on a break-away and scored and that was the game, and Saturday after a real good heart-to-heart talk that night we came out and shut them out in their own building, and we got on a roll and then we got a break again, but it was an important win for us because we responded. We showed the resilience that this group has shown all year long, and so that was why it looked like it could be a real galvanizing point of the season, but now we've got them back in here and the key to their team is a young goaltender, Hildebrand, he's one of the best around, and he gives them a chance to win every night, and we're going to have to make it difficult for him.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Mike.

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