Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/189804
BADGERING JAKE MCCABE ยป JUNIOR, MEN'S HOCKEY After captaining Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championships and then contributing to Wisconsin's late-season surge to the Broadmoor Trophy and an NCAA tournament berth as a sophomore last season, defenseman Jake McCabe serves as an assistant captain for UW in 2013-14. The Buffalo Sabres draft pick returned to his roots when the Badgers held their Red-White Scrimmage in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wis., last Saturday and is focused on helping the No. 3-ranked Badgers get off to a fast start when they open the season Friday and Saturday by hosting Northern Michigan at the Kohl Center. "Any time you go back to your home rink, it's really exciting. Playing in a competitive game like that brought back memories for sure. It was nice that Jefferson (Dahl) and I could get a goal. I think the hometown fans enjoyed that. Overall, it was an awesome experience. My family was there; my brother, sister. The (UW-Eau Claire) Blugolds have been pretty important to me the past couple years. My brother has been the captain of that team the past couple years, and last year they won a national championship. So it was extra special for me to give that extra nod to them and be able to help them raise money to continue their program's success." What was it like playing in your hometown last weekend? You were captain of the team that won gold at World Juniors last year. What is your role as an assistant captain at UW this season? "I think consistent play is the biggest thing. I'm going to be relied upon in every situation, so I have to bring my best every single game. I'm a teamfirst guy, so whatever it takes to help the team win, whether it's blocking shots, contributing to the power play, or just being in that 'plus' category every night. With Frankie (Simonelli) as my D partner, we have a big, veteran group of guys, a lot of upperclassmen. There are so many leaders on this team that you've really got to find your role and play your role." "We don't need polls to understand how good we are. If anything, they show that we have the potential to be that top team and that we have the guys to do it, but I think the biggest focus in our locker room is having a good start. The way we started last year wasn't acceptable, so we're going to defend our home ice better this year and hopefuly start out with four points. (Expectations) make it easy to come to the rink excited to get better, excited to take that next step in whatever Coach Eaves has planned for that day. I know that I couldn't be more excited and I'm speaking for my teammates, as well." How is the team handling this year's high expectations? Your musical skills were on display at last year's Buckinghams awards show. When did you pick up the guitar? 24 "My senior year of high school I took a semester of it, so I learned the basic chords there and kept a couple songs in my back pocket and brought my guitar here to school my freshman year. Morgan (Zulinick) came in last year, and he's unbelievable. He'd teach me all these new songs, and of course he lured me into the Buckinghams, so I'm sure we'll be back there this year. Before that, I'd never performed, ever. It was something else. I was way more nervous than I am playing hockey. Luckily, I had Morgan with me, so that made it a lot easier." // VARSITY October 10, 2013