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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Five takeaways on the Wisconsin men's hockey team following its non-conference series with Omaha:
One: UW closed out the non-league portion of its schedule with a 3-3 overtime draw and 7-4 loss to the Mavericks. The best news from the first 14 games is a winning record (7-6-1), an elite power play (.233 conversion ratio) and penalty kill (.889 success rate), as well as a strong shots-on-goal rate (plus-9.93 per game). The bothersome elements from the first 14 games is that UW has allowed 3.50 goals per game, been outscored in the first period 18-11, and lost three times when scoring four or more goals.
Two: The Badgers open their Big Ten slate with a series at Michigan (6-7-1 overall, 0-2-0 in league play) on Friday and Saturday. They do so having already registered as many true road wins — St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Colorado College — than they had all of last season. UW had one road win in 2014-15.
Three: First-year UW associate head coach Mark Osiecki said there was a lot to like about the first 14 games, including the collective work ethic under new head coach Tony Granato. "We're ahead of where I thought we'd be," Osiecki said. "I think they're still grasping some of the concepts that we're talking about and certainly the style of play that we're talking about. Sometimes it's there quite often. Sometimes it's lacking." Osiecki has an idea where that inconsistency comes from. "They are still in search of their overall confidence," he said of the players.
Four: If you invest all your analysis in the score sheet, you might think freshman goaltender Jack Berry has struggled to close out the last two weekends. He followed up a 2-1 win at Colorado College with a 6-5 loss at Denver. Against Omaha he allowed six goals one night after playing well in the draw. "People may look at the numbers and think goaltending is (an issue)," Osiecki said. "Actually he gave us an opportunity to win both those games much like he did in Denver." Berry, working without much of a net because sophomore incumbent Matt Jurusik is out with a knee injury, is 3-2-1 with a 2.49 goals against average and .895 save ratio. "Our overall defense just has to continue to improve," Osiecki said.
Five: After playing at Michigan, the Badgers will have roughly a month off for semester exams and the holidays before resuming play. It remains to be seen if standout freshman center Trent Frederic (hand) will be available to go against the Wolverines, but it might be best if he gets the break to heal fully and come back strong for the second half.
