Feb. 17, 2012
Recap | Final Stats
Head Coach Mike Eaves
On what he saw in the first period coming off a bye week:
“Well we wanted to be even or better, and it was even after the first period. I think you take that with a grain of salt. We were a little rusty but we came out of the period at 0-0. That was the kind of start that we wanted. We talked to the team about that. There were mistakes in the first because of our rust, but they didn’t cost us so it was a good way to start.”
On playing toe-to-toe with title contender Denver:
“Shots were even. I’m sure when I go back and look at the tape the scoring chances are going to be even. They capitalized on two turnovers which was the difference. In the third period we had about four unbelievable chances to tie the game and get the crowd into it and we didn’t. I think offensively we’re really challenged right now. I thought that our skill players—Mark Zengerle and Jake McCabe particularly—pressed a little. We talked about that a little. There’s a flow and an ebb that goes with offense and creativity, and right now we’re in a little bit of a downtrend and we have been here. Against Saint Cloud we had scoring chances but we didn’t score. And when people press it gets worse. We pressed. I thought in the third period we relaxed and we created more scoring chances but didn’t get that timely goal that would’ve changed the course of the game, perhaps, by tying it up and getting the crowd into it. But right now we’re offensively-challenged and we need to pick up where we left off in the third period, creating those types of chances. Hopefully we put them in when we play again tomorrow.”
On Mark Zengerle’s missed open-goal shot:
“He had two chances. He got the rebound and he pulled it backhand. He was right there where he wanted to be, and just slid it by. That won’t happen too often. A guy like Mark, who’s an offensive guy and takes great pride in that, he’s kicking himself in the pants. I told him to go home and dream about that, seeing that open net and putting it in there. Let your body see yourself doing that.”
On how Justin Schultz and Zengerle are handling their slumps:
“I thought in the third they were very good because they relaxed. We told them all to just relax a little bit. We were pressing and squeezing, and it’s a lesson for every athlete, even at the pro level. You watch these guys and if things don’t go the right way they beat themselves up. What happens is they just make things worse. You have to get to that place where you get out of your head and just let your talents flow.
On Joel Rumpel’s status:
“Well just now I walked in there and the doctor are looking at his leg—he’s got a nasty cut. They’re trying to determine whether they can sew it up here or whether they have to go elsewhere. As of right now I don’t know what his status will be for tomorrow.”
On Sam Brittain’s play tonight:
“He was a young man that we recruited pretty heavily and I thought that he was very square to the puck tonight. He doesn’t have a lot of wasted motion, and that’s one of the things that we liked about him when we were recruiting him. He’s a big lad, not a lot of wasted motion, pretty calm in there. So he was pretty square to the puck tonight and did a nice job for them. Again, one of our challenges is to get more traffic there in front of him. Because as good as he is, it’s tougher to see that puck when you don’t see it.”
On whether Wisconsin’s power-play struggles are due to the team pressing:
“Yes, exactly, especially in that second period.”
On whether Justin Schultz is pressing:
“I would say all of our offensive guys recently have been pressing. That’s one of the things we’ve been talking about is just relaxing and letting their natural abilities come through.”
On car-crash survivor Kirk Daubenspeck’s return to the Kohl Center:
“It meant an awful low. As a coaching staff we had the opportunity to go to the hospital and see Kirk when he was in a coma, and as disappointed as we are about the outcome of the game tonight, it kind of puts it in perspective a little bit. He talks about it himself, what a spiritual awakening it was. He spoke to the guys before the game and told them to enjoy every day, enjoy every game because you’ll never know when something like this will happen. He went around the room and shook everybody’s hand, looked them in the eye, and everybody introduced themselves. He didn’t know the freshmen. Last year the guys who were here knew Kirk through Mike Strobel and Jamie Spencer. So knowing where he was last year and where he is today, it’s a modern day miracle in our eyes.”
Wisconsin Players
Sophomore Forward Mark Zengerle
On Justin [Schultz] and his struggles right now:
“It’s terrible. We’re trying, obviously. We want to help out and score for our team. We’ve have chances they just haven’t gone in. Coach was just saying when things are good you’re kind of flying with it and when things aren’t so hot it’s tough to get out of.”
On if he puts that third period shot in 999 out of 1,000:
“Yeah, I’d say that number that you said.”
On the number of chances they had in the third period:
“It wasn’t our play that was so bad. We played a pretty good game. It was things like that, like you said, I don’t know how I missed that shot. It usually goes in. We had chances. Yes, we’re offensively challenged, but we also have had chances and just didn’t finish them.”
On having Kirk Daubenspeck at the game and talking with them before the game:
“It was pretty cool, for a miracle like that to happen and to see where he’s at now. He came into the locker room and gave us a little talk and I think everyone had goosebumps, especially when he dropped the puck and everyone was cheering for him. It was definitely good to see and we were all pretty excited for it. It was nice.”
Junior Forward Ryan Little
On if they had the right mindset going into the game:
“I wouldn’t necessarily say loosey-goosey. We’ve got one option right now and that’s to keep going and stick together as a group of 20 guys out there. I think for the most part we did that. That was the preaching from coach all week, that you’ve got one option right now and that’s to keep going. If you give up now, we might as well go home and forfeit the rest of the games. I think all of the guys have bought into that. Like you said, we’re a little challenged right now offensively, but as soon as one of those goes in I think they’ll start coming for us. We just need to stick together and keep going out there.”
On setting his brother up for a great scoring chance:
“Yeah. I know. I feel bad for the kid. I ride him pretty hard out there. I gave him a good pass, he made a pretty good move and the goalie made a pretty good save. He’s just a little snake-bitten right now, but one of these days he’ll put one in.”
On having Kirk Daubenspeck at the game and talking with them before the game:
“It definitely does put things in perspective. We’re here trying to win hockey games everyday. We have a lot of pressure on us, but at the same time you look at things like that and we’re losing hockey games but there’s a little more to life. Yes, we’ve got to get back to work and win some games, but it definitely put things in perspective.”
Junior Defenseman Justin Schultz
On if he agrees the team is offensively challenged right now:
“I definitely agree with that. We haven’t been scoring. We haven’t been putting the puck in the net. Mark [Zengerle] and I are the guys that are supposed to put points up and put goals in and they haven’t been going in. Like Mark said, we’ve had our chances. Hopefully we’ll get a greasy one tomorrow and they’ll start going in.”
On having Kirk Daubenspeck at the game and talking with them before the game:
“Like they both said, it was pretty cool. It definitely makes you think there’s more than hockey out there. I had goosebumps when he was walking out there and dropped the puck. I think it got the boys going pretty good. It’s just too bad we couldn’t get him the win tonight.”
On how he fights the urge to be discouraged right now:
“I just keep going. Like we’ve all said, there’s nothing else I can do. If I hang my head and feel sorry for myself it’s not going to get any better. Like Mark [Zengerle] said, we’re getting the chances and they’ll start going in one of these games. Hopefully it’ll start tomorrow.”
