Sauer Named to Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame
August 02, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Former Badger hockey coach Jeff Sauer has been selected for induction to the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame. He and his family will be the guests of honor at ceremonies to be held in Eagle River, Wis., Sept. 18.
Sauer was born in Fort Atkinson, Wis., and played his high school hockey at Washington High School in St. Paul, Minn. After a collegiate playing career at Colorado College, Sauer became assistant coach for the Tigers to the legendary Bob Johnson. Sauer followed Johnson to Wisconsin when 'Badger Bob' became the head coach in Madison, and was the assistant coach when the Badgers made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1970. In 1971, Sauer left Madison to become the head coach at Colorado College, where he served for 11 years, compiling 166 wins and twice being named WCHA Coach of the Year.
Sauer became the head coach at the University of Wisconsin in 1982, and over the next 20 years became the 'Dean of WCHA Coaches,' racking up 489 wins and two national championships. His Badger teams appeared in three NCAA Frozen Fours and 12 NCAA tournaments, and won the WCHA title twice, while winning the WCHA playoff title five times. Sauer became the first coach in college history to win a national championship in his inaugural season at a school when the 1982-83 Badgers won the school 's fourth NCAA championship. Sauer recorded four 30-win seasons, the most of any UW coach. Sauer won his 600th career game in December 1999, and is the only UW coach to reach that mark in any sport.
Many of Sauer's former players have received national honors and gone onto successful careers in professional hockey. Seventeen earned All-America honors, including first-team picks Steve Reinprecht, Jeff Dessner and Dany Heatley. Names like Chelios, Driver, Flatley, Granato, Joseph, Mellanby, and Richter have adorned NHL jerseys after playing collegiate hockey for Sauer at Wisconsin.
One of the most respected coaches in the game, Sauer continues to be a consummate diplomat for the game of hockey. Sauer remains involved at all levels of hockey, from instructing kids at summer camps, to speaking at high school assemblies to coaching international-level athletes in world tournaments. Sauer is a member of the USA Hockey International Council, and has served USA Hockey many times over the years, coaching select teams competing across the world stage. In 1998, Sauer served as head coach for the inaugural WCHA All-Star Team that competed against elite teams from Germany and Switzerland in the Kolin Cup tournament in Switzerland. Sauer has been an assistant coach for numerous international teams, and was the head coach for Team USA in the 1990 Goodwill Games. Sauer coached at the 1987 Olympic Festival, served on the U.S. Olympic Hockey Committee in 1984 and has also been a member of the NCAA rules committee.
Since his days as an assistant at Wisconsin, Sauer has been involved with his Wisconsin Hockey Schools in Madison, Milwaukee and St. Louis, Mo., and has assisted at the Bob Johnson Hockey School in Aspen, Colo. He was worked as a counselor for Stan Mikita's hockey camp for the hearing impaired in Chicago for nearly 30 years, and in 1997 was honored by the Stan Mikita Hockey Schools for his service and dedication.
In the summer of 2000, Sauer was honored by USA Hockey when he received the JOFA/USA Hockey Distinguished Achievement Award. The award is given annually to a U.S. citizen who has made hockey his or her profession and has made outstanding contributions, on or off the ice, to the sport in the United States.
Sauer and his wife Jamie live in Madison and have two children, son Chip and daughter Beth.
Mike Sertich, the former head hockey coach at Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan Tech, will serve as the presenter for Sauer at the induction ceremony.
Guest speaker at the banquet will be USA Hockey Chairman of the Board, Walter L. Bush, Jr. Bush has been involved with USA Hockey for nearly a half-century as a player, coach, manager, administrator and team owner. Bush is also a vice president of the International Ice Hockey Federation and has been a member of the board of directors of the United States Olympic Committee. Bush was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980, serves as a governor and vice chairman for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and is a director and member of the selection committee for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1975 and is housed in the Eagle River Sports Arena. The hall was established to honor outstanding individuals responsible for the development, growth and success of amateur ice hockey in the State of Wisconsin.
The ceremony in Eagle River, Wis., includes a golf tournament, banquet and the induction ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 18. All events are open to the public. For tickets, call Joe Boxrucker at (715) 479-9772 or Don Kohlman at (866) 479-9242.
