A new era has begun for UW hockey. Tuesday, UW Athletics Director Pat Richter announced Mike Eaves as the new leader of the UW men's hockey team, succeeding the retired Jeff Sauer.
Eaves, a former all-American for the Badgers should bring a certain flair and level of familiarity to the program.
Eaves' resume includes both personal accolades, such as his three years as team captain for the Badgers, and substantial team accomplishments, like the 1977 Wisconsin squad's national title.
Wherever he has gone, success has followed Eaves like a lost puppy. Upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Eaves was drafted by the then-Minnesota North Stars. He played for a total of eight seasons in the NHL for both the North Stars as well as the Calgary Flames.
Upon retiring from playing in the NHL, Eaves began his coaching career as an assistant for the Calgary Flames.
After one season with the Flames, Eaves returned back to the state of Wisconsin and began coaching as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. While coaching at St. Cloud State, Eaves got his first touch of Western Collegiate Hockey Association hockey and the responsibilities that come with it.
\When I was at St. Cloud, I saw first hand the time and energy it takes to draw athletes to your school,"" Eaves said ""What I look forward to doing is showing players a certain skill, breaking it down, giving it to them in parts and letting them take those parts and make the improvements.""
Aside from the NHL and collegiate ranks, Eaves has substantial international coaching experience. He spent a season in Europe coaching for the Helsinki Finnish Elite League, and for the past few seasons, Eaves has spent his time as the head coach for the U.S. National Development Team. Eaves will continue to coach the Development Team through the World Championships in April and will formally sign a contract with the Badgers in early May.
Richter, who hand-selected Eaves from a short list of candidates, said he feels that Eaves is the right man for the job.
""Any one of the coaches would have been fine for the job. However, Mike brought more to the table, I feel, with his international experience,"" Richter said when asked what separated Eaves from the rest of the field of candidates.
Eaves said he has high hopes for the hockey team and himself and it starts with the recruiting. ""First of all I would like to go north of the border and try to attain more talent from there,"" Eaves said.
Wisconsin has, over the past decade, recruited heavily in the U.S. and may begin to look north to Canada for recruits. When addressing the media, Eaves also pointed out that UW has established itself as a large and physical squad that always puts it together by the time the playoffs roll around.
""When a team plays hard, smart and as a team, you have everything you need and those are the three requirements I ask and want out
of a team,"" he said. Citing his father, high school coach, priest and legendary UW coach Bob Johnson as influences in his life, Eaves said he feels that he brings unmatched passion
to a hockey game. The standard that Eaves will have to live up to is daunting, considering the fact that the Badgers have had two coaches and five national titles in the past 35 years.
""I think we should set the bar as high as
possible, and if you ask the players, they feel the same way. Whether we reach those goals is my job,"" Eaves said, when asked about the sort of standards he has for Wisconsin hockey.
""I'm totally immersed in coming here to Madison,"" Eaves said when asked about his level of commitment. ""If I get job offers somewhere else, it only means that I did a very good job here.""
