Riddle, Falcons lean on hard work, character in Men's Hockey turnaround effort

Story written for Dec. 5-6 game program against Finlandia University

When a coach is looking to build a team he looks for the players that fit his scheme and the University's philosophy. Student-athletes with a winning mentality, the right mindset and high character individuals who will work hard and together for the betterment of the team.

The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Hockey Team is built with many of those players. Individuals who go out and work hard every day to constantly improve themselves and the team. So it was a surprise, despite the strength of the early season schedule, to see the Falcons start of 0-6-0.

Some teams may point fingers at one another and the effort may lessen when early season struggles happen. Not this Falcons team, however, who have won three of their past four games, thanks in large part to a unit that kept working hard each and every day. High character players, ones like junior defensman Eli Riddle, who knows the talent is there to start winning hockey games.

"I think our team knows how talented we are and that we have the guys in the locker room to win games," said Riddle, a player now in his second season as assistant captain. "We were obviously frustrated with the start of the season, but we also have a lot of good character guys that have kept their nose to the grind and worked through it. There's not a lot of quit in our locker room."

Riddle is one player who you can tell talking to represents exactly what coaches are looking for in a hockey player, and there are several more players just like him on the Falcons roster. He, along with three-year captain Buster Hebda and assistant captain Matt Gates, take it upon themselves to lead. After all, they are the leaders the players want guiding them on the ice as the team votes on who will captain the squad.

It is that leadership the rest of the team looks to all season, whether it be when things are going wrong, such as the first six games, or when things are looking up, such as three wins in the last four. One thing those leaders stress, perhaps more than anything, is having the winning mentality.

"Buster, Matt and myself have had conversations with the guys about the winning mentality," Riddle says. "One thing I had to do was examine myself and my approach to the game and ask myself: Do I expect to win today and what am I coming here to do? There were parts of my own game I had to take care of and try and push the other guys to do the same."

For those who have watched Riddle in his three seasons at CUW, they know his own game has been pretty impressive. He has totaled 35 career assists and is sure to set the program record soon, as he is just one back of the 36 assists Jari Sanders had from 2007-2011. This season Riddle has 10 points, and ranks inside the top 10 in the nation in points per game by a defenseman.

The numbers are nice, and Riddle even admits he may check statistics from time to time, as they can be a good indicator of how he is playing. However, as with every player on the team he realized the wins are most important. Wins he hopes he and the Falcons can start piling up the rest of the way.

"In hockey, so much of the game is mental," Riddle said. "A lot of our early season struggles were not with the physical effort, but more with confidence and expectations. Now that we've won a few, we have those winning expectations that can make a huge difference."

It will be fun to watch as Riddle and the Falcons attempt to turn their season in the right direction. Remember it was at this point last season when CUW rattled off six in a row. With the types of players and individuals this team has, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them do the same this winter.

More from the Eli Riddle interview (Dec. 3, 2014)

On stats and records (tied for most career assists currently)

I don't think I realized anything about the numbers until going into this year as some people had mentioned it and I saw it in some articles. I think stats are a good indicator to how you're playing, but they can also be misleading at times. I think right now it is more important that we focus on making the playoffs and continue to try and win games. I think the attitude of the guys is not to focus on individual stats but rather the team success.

On the Falcons early power play success

We do power play every week and spend a lot of time on it with a whole day devoted to power play. Coach (Wise) definitely knows games are won and lost on special teams. It's hard during practice to score on our own team as they know what we are doing, but when we get in games we find we have more space, a little more time and you know where other guys on the ice are going to be. The practice time has translated to success in games.

On what needs to be done to improve on penalty kills

A big part of it is really working as a unit out there and being on the same page. We've had some bad luck with bad bounces and things like that but you can't chalk it up to that. We need to continue working on it and focusing on being all together and rotating together. Things like having active sticks and working on puck blocking are things we are focusing on more.

On being voted an assistant captain by his teammates for the second straight year

It is an honor and means a lot to have your teammates want you to be in that position. It makes you want to be a servant to the guys on the team and be an example of character on and off the ice. The decisions I make aren't just about me but have an effect on the guys on the team.

On the team's success in the classroom (led all NCHA teams with number of Scholar Athletes last season)

It is a combination of guys working hard individually and our team making the classroom success a focus. Coach Gaynor does a really good job of helping with holding study halls each week and by helping anyone who is struggling with anything. It is a team emphasis and we have a higher GPA standard than the NCAA in order to play. A combination of the guys pushing each other and guys taking similar classes helps with that success.

On the Falcons fan base and impressive turnouts so far this season

We all appreciate the fans so much and that they have been coming out in strong numbers. Right now we need to translate the energy of not being in awe of having so many fans, but rather harness that energy and embrace it as something that can be a driving force in the game. Sometimes we've had lackluster performances in front of a huge crowd and instead it will be something we will draw from, the energy the crowd brings.