DAVID STLUKA
W
isconsin men���s hockey coach
Mike Eaves threw the equivalent of a pop quiz at his players
Monday in the form of ���Get to
Know Your Opponent��� trivia.
There were seven questions on UMass Lowell, the
Hockey East representative that the Badgers have
drawn in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament���s
Northeast Regional.
The players were not graded, but they were rewarded.
Sounding a bit disappointed, freshman Nic Kerdiles reported, ���No Skittles. Coach said, ���We���re going to keep it healthy. We���ve got these nut bars if
you get the question right.���������
The degree of difficulty ranged from obvious to
not-so-obvious.
���There was a little hesitation on some (questions),������ Eaves said.
Not on the early ones.
Where is UMass Lowell located? (Lowell, Mass.,
is 25 miles outside of Boston).
What���s their nickname? (The River Hawks).
���They knew that,������ Eaves said. ���So they���ve been
paying attention.���
What are Lowell���s school colors?
���Jake McCabe goes, ���Red, white and (long pause)
blue,������ Eaves said. ���He got it right.������
True or false: Lowell is located north of Boston
24 �� VARSITY
MAR CH 28, 2013
and south of Manchester, N.H.?
���True, it���s right in the middle,������ Eaves said. ���And
they knew that.������
Is Lowell���s record: A) 26-10-2; B) 38-4; or C) 2012-7?
���They got that one wrong,������ said Eaves. ���It���s not
38-4 but 26-10-2.������
Who is Norm Bazin?
���One guy knew that answer,������ Eaves said. ���Derek
Lee.������
Bazin is Lowell���s second-year head coach.
���Then we asked a question about Norm,������ Eaves
added.
Bazin was A) a Lowell assistant; B) a Colorado
College assistant; C) the coach who took a team that
was 5-25-4 when he arrived at Lowell and went 2413-1 his first year; or E) all of the above?
���Mike Mersch guessed,������ Eaves recounted with a
wry grin, ���and said ���E.���������
Give that man a health bar.
���We���re drawing them in a little bit,������ Eaves said of
the purpose of the exercise. ���We just played three
games in three days and we got home at 4 in the
morning Sunday.������
On Monday morning, the players went through
a light stretch, worked up a little sweat and tackled
the Lowell trivia. ���What this was about,������ Eaves explained, ���was turning our heads.������
��� ��� ��� ���
