It’s not often Minnesota hockey fans take pride in cheering for our border rivals, but with three Minnesota natives forming the core of the Wisconsin Badgers’ leadership group, this may be one of the years when it’s acceptable.

Senior co-captains Kevin Schulze (Hill-Murray) and Eddie Wittchow (Burnsville) are anchoring the blue line for the Badgers this season, and 2013 Mr. Hockey Grant Besse (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) is leading the team in scoring while serving as an assistant captain.

Together, the three high school hockey graduates are working to help Wisconsin rebound from a down year in 2014-15 and lead an extremely young Badgers team back into college hockey’s elite.  While the results haven’t been exactly what they’d hoped for, they’ve nearly matched last year’s win total already and got everyone’s attention with a 3-1 win over then top-ranked North Dakota in Grand Forks.

We connected with Wittchow and Besse to get their thoughts on how leadership has helped their team both on and off the ice and how young hockey players in Minnesota can become leaders as well.

Setting the Tone

“First and foremost, I like to lead by example,” said junior forward Besse.  “If you’re not doing what you’re preaching, then what’s going to make the other guys want to follow your lead?”

Many times in youth hockey there’s a perception that your best players should always be your captains, but that’s not always the case. Coaches need captains who will model the behavior they want to emphasize. Whether it’s being a good teammate, following team rules or putting in extra time on individual skills, setting a proper example is much more important for leaders than being the most skilled player.

“Try your hardest at all times,” said Besse. “If guys see you going all out 100% of the time, they don’t want to be left behind so they’re going to go all out a 100% of the time.”

By setting a high standard for how hard you work every single day, leaders can help their entire team improve significantly over the course of the season.

The Trust Factor

Another key part of being a leader is being dependable. When players and coaches are looking for a leader, they want someone who they can count on regardless of the situation.

“I’m the same person on the ice as I am off the ice, in the class room, all the above,” said Wittchow, who played in Burnsville from first year mites through his senior year of high school.  “Our coach says it all of the time, ‘The way you do one thing is the way you do everything,’ so I try to embody that in the best way I can.”

The consistency Wittchow describes helps create a sense of trust among teammates because everyone knows who they can turn to when adversity strikes. It doesn’t come easily though. Leaders have to earn their team’s trust by following through on their commitments every single day.

“If you say you’re going to be at a team meeting at a certain time, you better show up at that time,” said Wittchow.  “You gain trust that way and you can lose trust real fast if you’re not a man of your word. I think that’s huge as far as [being a leader for] your peers and your coaching staff.”

A Servant’s Mentality

Sometimes young players can be confused about what it means to be a leader. They may think it means they get to score all of the goals and be the superstar, but true leaders always make the team a priority over any individual statistics or achievements.

“One thing is being selfless, putting other guys before yourself and you know kind of being a servant,” said Besse. “Doing things that you may not want to do on a day-to-day basis.”

Another way for leaders to serve their teammates is by maintaining a positive atmosphere and working to keep the team’s morale up even when things aren’t going your way.

“If it’s a bad practice, you pick them up,” said Besse.  “If a guy has a bad shift in a game, you know you have to pick him up and tell him to get back out there. Usually, if you do that, good things will come.”

Respect the Coaches

To Wittchow, there’s one other area that’s particularly important for young players when it comes to setting a good example, and that’s helping to limit distractions when coaches are talking.

“One of the best ways to show that you have that leadership ability is showing respect to your coaching staff because at that age you’re still learning the game of hockey,” said Wittchow.  “If you’re kind of mouthing off, talking to your teammates, when the coaches are trying to explain something to you, you’re not going to learn anything.”

“When our coaches were talking, my eyes were on their eyes and respecting what they have to say.”

Separately, these details may seem insignificant to young hockey players, but together, they form the core of what being a leader on their hockey team is all about.