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Eaves' young team ready for Border Battle LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM M ike Eaves still remembers his first shift on the ice in the old Mariucci Arena. "My eyes had to be as big as sau- cers,'' he said. In 1974, Eaves was an impres- sionable UW freshman who had no idea what he was skating into; an understandable reaction for any first-timer to the Minnesota-Wis- consin rivalry. "I had never seen a more com- petitive situation in my brief 18 years than I did that weekend (in Minneapolis),'' Eaves said. "I thought, 'Oh, my goodness.''' Eaves went on to play in the Na- tional Hockey League for the Min- nesota North Stars and the Calgary Flames, which brought him even more context on the Border Battle. "It reminded me of my first NHL playoff game,'' said Eaves. "When you go from the regular season to the playoffs, it's like, 'Who turned up the volume?' It's unbelievable.'' The Gophers and the Badgers will write another chapter to their hockey rivalry this weekend at the Kohl Center. Eaves doesn't have to remind his players about the history between the programs. "We have guys who live (in Minnesota) and they kind of do that in the locker room,'' he said. It shouldn't take long to embrace that reality. "That first shift you learn quickly,'' Eaves said. Such a measuring stick can prove to be invaluable. "Hey, this is a part of being a really good hockey player – learning how to play in these situ- 10 » VARSITY NOVEMBER 10, 2011 "It reminded me of my first NHL playoff game,'' Eaves said of the rivalry between UW and Min- nesota. "It's like, 'Who turned up the volume?' It's unbelievable.'' ations,'' Eaves said. No pep talk, no build-up is nec- essary, either. "There's no need to get worked up emotionally, it's going to hap- pen naturally,'' Eaves said. "Our challenge is to keep them at a place where they can play with poise and confidence.'' Through the first 10 games, the Badgers have shown resiliency in their play. That was particularly the case after they lost a couple of overtime games at Michigan Tech the second weekend. "I'm sure they were looking for answers being such a young group,'' Eaves conceded. "And there aren't many juniors and seniors who are going to say to them, 'Hey, we're going to be all right.' "So it was a matter of us not beating them down and holding their hopes up that we're going in the right direction. We're kind of providing the leadership right now because we're so young. "We've been resilient when we've been behind in games and fought back. And we've been resilient in close games we've lost and re- sponded by coming back and play- ing hard the next game.'' There are still some areas that Eaves wants to clean up; namely penalty-killing. "It's not where it needs to be or where we want it to be, but things are coming.'' That ongoing development is also true of the biggest question mark coming into the season. "Goaltending has given us, for the most part, a chance to win every night,'' Eaves said. If only he could accelerate the learning curve. "In retrospect,'' he said, "we wish they were first- semester juniors rather than first- semester freshmen. But there are moments.'' Like the rapid growth of Matt Paape, a 5-foot-9 freshman from Appleton. "Perfect example,'' Eaves said. "He keeps getting more comfort- able and more solid every weekend. He just had his first multiple point game last Saturday (at St. Cloud). "The one thing about Mr. Paape, he's a tough little nut. He's been hammered and hammered hard and gotten up and just keeps play- ing. You like that about a little guy.'' In general, Eaves likes what he has been seeing. "We like this team,'' he said. "We like their work ethic and we like the glimpses of skill and brilliance that we see at times from our young guys.'' Now he gets to find out how ready they are for their first test in Border Battle, 101.