BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Seamus Malone is having an impactful debut season for the Wisconsin men's hockey team, but it requires close examination to fully appreciate.
A freshman center, Malone has 21 points in 28 appearances, an average of 0.75 per game that ranks outside the top 100 scorers in the nation.
In a word, modest.
Then you look at his four goals: two are game-winners and the other two pulled the Badgers even.
Then you look at his 17 assists: 10 are primary feeds and five of those factored into game-deciding sequences.
Then you look at the statistics of some of his celebrated rookie predecessors at UW: Kyle Turris and Derek Stepan, both current NHL front-liners, had 24 assists in 2007-08 and '08-09, respectively.
You have to go back six seasons, to 2009-10, to find the last freshman forward that topped 20 points for the Badgers. That was another present-day NHL mainstay, Craig Smith, who finished with 33.
So, if he'd like, Malone could take refuge in data that suggests he's a future go-to guy.
"Real skilled, poised player," is how fellow rookie Luke Kunin describes Malone.
"He's pretty crafty," another freshman front-liner, Matthew Freytag, said of Malone.
But with six Big Ten Conference regular-season games and one guaranteed playoff contest remaining, Malone is focused on the whole product and how it can be improved.
The Badgers (6-15-7 overall, 1-10-3 in league play) are in the muck of a four-game winless streak heading into their Big Ten series Friday and Saturday at Ohio State (9-17-2, 4-8-2).
Earlier this week, UW coach Mike Eaves was asked how his players were handling the emotional tumult of a season in which so many winnable games — the Badgers have had the lead or been tied in the third period in 21 of them — have ended in painful fashion. Specifically, is it different for the seven upperclassmen compared to the 10 first-year freshmen?
"I think it depends on the maturity of the player you're talking about," he said.
In that case, Malone, a 19-year-old from Naperville, Illinois, who's been on his own playing hockey since he was 16, seems in good stead.
"Seamus has always been that way ever since he left home," his father, Pat, said. "They mature quickly in junior hockey it seems like, but he's always been a mature kid."
Seamus spent the previous three seasons with Dubuque of the U.S. Hockey League, winning a Clark Cup title and twice leading the Fighting Saints in scoring.
Now he's in line to experience the first losing season of his young career, but the self-described optimist said he isn't focused on the negative.
"You've got to keep to your game plan," he said. "You have to keep working hard.
"Good things will come. That's how I've always played games. If you're going through tough times you just have to go through it.
"Times like these, when the bounces aren't going your way, you have to come to the rink with a good attitude and ready to work," Malone said
It's an approach Malone shares with his roommates, Kunin and Freytag. All three have made important on-ice contributions this season. Kunin, a left winger, has a team-best 13 goals. Freytag, a left winger, has six conversions.
"Obviously we want to have a winning record at this point and that's tough, but in that locker room there's a lot of positive energy," Kunin said.
"As a young player coming in you have to listen to what the older guys tell us," Freytag said. "They've been through all the ups and downs, with winning teams and losing teams. You have to build off what they show to us."
Age shouldn't be a factor at this juncture of the season.
"When it comes down to games, it doesn't matter if you're a senior or freshman, everyone has to come together and find a way to win," Malone said.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, Malone is a natural playmaking center, but he's played some left wing while being a part of 11 different line combinations this season.
The latest pairing, Malone between sophomore Adam Rockwood and junior Jedd Soleway, is the only one Eaves didn't tinker with at practice this week following a Big Ten series sweep at the hands of Michigan State.
The Malone line was noticeable throughout the series, but especially during a 3-1 loss on Saturday. The trio drew penalties, forced turnovers and generated what was the tying goal by Malone in the third period.
"Very dynamic," is how Eaves described the line's work from that night.
Maintaining the right attitude is a challenge for those in the UW dressing room, but it's a necessity if they are to maximize the rest of the season. Eaves harps on the process, that hard work, good habits and attention to detail will pay off eventually.
"Keep with the positives and take the good things from the weekend," Kunin said.
That's not always easy.
"It's a tough thing to go through," Pat Malone said of his son. "He's never been on a losing team. That in itself has been difficult for him because he's never been in that situation before."
But if there are UW players wearing down mentally, it doesn't sound like Seamus is on that list.
"My favorite part of the day is coming to the rink and working with my teammates," he said. "It's a nice couple hours in the day where you don't have to worry about school and not worry about life."
Away from the rink, Malone, Kunin and Freytag say they have regular conversations about improving the product, short term and long term.
"We talk about it all the time," Freytag said. "We just have to keep getting better every day and pushing everybody to get better.
"As a team, we're almost there. We're knocking on the door."
More often than not, all that knocking has been met with maddening silence. To wit, there have been 10 games this season where UW has erased a third-period deficit only to come up short of victory (0-4-6).
"Since the start of the year we've come a long way," Malone said. "I think it will show in the next couple weeks and in the next year that our young guys are ready to play.
"What's carrying me is I know this team and we're way better than our record shows. We've been in so many games where it's come down to the wire and we couldn't get the right bounce or pull it out."
That trend has to change if the Badgers are to make any noise down the stretch. Their only avenue to fulfillment is to win the Big Ten Conference playoff title, which would give them an automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA tournament field.
"What's getting me through this is that we do have that chance at the end," Malone said. "We have to have that mindset that we'll be playing our best hockey at the end of the year. That's all that matters."
