Matt Doman talks like a defenseman.

He's not.

Matt Doman talks like a captain.

He is.

Matt Doman looks like Matt Doman.

He doesn't.

Senior Matt Doman is a forward assistant captain for the University of Wisconsin hockey team, his trademark long, curly blond hair now gone, except for photographs and memories.

His sheared head, now with a week or two's worth of stubble, is just Doman's latest incarnation.

"I did it a few weeks ago," he said. "Needed to be done. It's refreshing. You know, start over, a new start."

The new start for Doman began this past summer when he followed a conditioning program suited specifically for hockey players.

"I've been somewhat successful in the past, but my physical condition this year will allow me to do more and to play a bigger role this year," he said. "Paul Goodman put us through a great workout program this summer and he really helped me out personally. I wouldn't be where I'm at physically if it wasn't for him."

Bigger muscles, better endurance and less hair. The 6-foot-0, 210-pound Doman hopes that adds up to a successful senior campaign.

"It's my last chance to produce more of what I feel I should have been doing my previous three years and to step up and make an impact on this team," he said, sounding like the captain he is.

"I want to make my presence known, both on the score sheet and in the opponent's locker room, to let them know that I'm coming for them. I feel like with my size and speed I need to get in there and get the puck and get on their 'D' and start the play out right."

That's Doman sounding like the defenseman he isn't.

"He's one of the guys in a critical situation where somewhere along the line you need something to jumpstart us or get us going, or a check to rattle the boards," UW coach Jeff Sauer said. "He's one of the guys we look to do that."

And Doman is happy to oblige.

"When we need something, whether it's a big hit or if it's just good forechecking to try to swing the momentum back, that's my job," he said. "Hockey's a game of momentum, you can really see it out there. The other team will be in your zone a few shifts and all it takes is one good shift with a good forecheck and a few good shots on goals and you just get that momentum back going your way."

But sometimes Doman can get a little too involved in turning things around, as evidenced by his 175 penalty minutes in three seasons. And that's after missing 19 games as a sophomore with a torn Achilles tendon he suffered when a Colorado College player skated over his foot. And not only did he miss those Badger games, he also missed out on playing for the 2000 U.S. Junior National Team.

"Coming back from the injury he had, he's come a long way," Sauer said. "That's a real credit to him to get himself back to this point. Each week he gets a little better in terms of his conditioning and strength, even a confidence standpoint because that's a tough injury for a hockey player. A real tough injury."

Since the injury, Doman has been one of the Badgers' iron men, playing in each of the team's past 47 games.

"The biggest thing for Matt Doman is the way he comes to the rink every day and the consistency he gives us in a game situation," Sauer said. "You know what you're going to get every shift out of him. He doesn't let you down. He goes out and gives you 150 percent every shift."

Drafted by the Calgary Flames in 1999, the two-year assistant captain has 17 goals (including two in the Badgers' first two games this season) and 27 assists in 99 career games for Wisconsin. His best series came against Minnesota-Duluth last season when he scored both game-winning goals in the series sweep and had two assists as well.

"Obviously this year we need goals from everybody, so I need to get my fair share, just like the other guys in the room," Doman said. "The past few years when we had Reino (Steve Reinprecht) and (Dany) Heatley and (Jeff) Dessner, we relied on them for points. This year we don't have those guys so it's on everyone to pull up their sleeves, go to work and get it done for ourselves."

There's that captain in him talking again.

"I've always said (being a captain) is just a letter on your jersey," he said. "It does mean something to me because the guys did vote for it, but other than that it's just a letter on your jersey. It shouldn't dictate how you play your game."

Sauer said Doman's personality is part of what makes him so important to the team.

"He's an interesting personality," Sauer said. "I don't want to say he's on his own program, because he's not. He's a team person and thinks of the team first. He's a guy who comes to the rink every day with a little different switch to things and he keeps you on your toes. I think that keeps the players on their toes, as well. I think all teams have people like that, and in our case it's not a hindrance to our team at all."

Doman said there's nothing wrong with being a little off-center.

"It's important to have personality on a team, and I think everyone does bring a little something different to the plate," he said. "So if I bring some lightheartedness to the team in times we need it, or if I bring some kick-ass attitude sometimes, then that's what we need. That's really my goal this year: to be team-oriented and do what's best for the team and what's going to help us do the best this year."

Doman said he got his personality from his father Mark, a former Notre Dame hockey player.

"I attribute a lot of my personality traits to my dad," he said. "But as for (hockey) genes, I don't know. My dad's 5-8, 160 pounds, so I don't think I got those genes from him. But my work ethic and love of the game I sure did."

Doman said he first began skating when he was 2 and first played hockey when he was 4.

"So I got a jump start on things, he said. "I guess I played up all the time, playing with kids older than me. It was always a challenge for me."

He lived in Crystal Lake, Ill., during his school years, at least until late high school, when his family moved to Sartell, Minn.

Doman then got a spot on the roster of the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League, which led to a spot on USA Hockey's National Development Team in Ann Arbor, Mich.

And that led to Madison.

"It's just the way the cards fell for me," he said. "I came for a visit, it's close to where I had grown up, close to where my parents were. I came on a visit and committed right away. There wasn't a doubt once I got here."

Doman's only goal now is to win a national championship. In fact, Doman already has been part of a national championship team, although it was back in the eighth grade.

"It was Bantam Majors for Team Illinois, so I have a taste for that. That's what drives you every day."

And as a senior, the drive is stronger than ever.

"I want to win. I want to win our last game," he said. "I want a ring for my last year. That's most important to me right now."