Eaves Selected USOC Ice Hockey National Coach of the Year
March 23, 2005 | Men's Hockey
Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves has been selected as the Ice Hockey National Coach of the Year for the United States Olympic Committee's Coach Recognition program, covering the dates of Jan. 1'Dec. 31, 2004.
Each Olympic/Pan American sport's national governing body was invited to recognize three coaches ' a National, Developmental and Volunteer Coach of the Year ' for its respective sport. Forty-three Olympic and Pan American sports organizations selected their 2004 National, Developmental and/or Volunteer Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Program. USA Hockey chose Mike Eaves for its National Coach of the Year.
Eaves opened 2004 as head coach of the 2004 U.S. National Junior Team that won gold at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship. The tournament was held in Finland. For the United States, the gold medal was the first for the country in the history of the tournament, which began in 1977. The event, which ran Dec. 26, 2003'Jan. 5, 2004, also marked the Americans' fourth medal in tournament history and first since earning silver in 1997.
Eaves was helped by a trio of Badgers as then-freshman forward Jake Dowell, and then-freshman defensemen Ryan Suter and Jeff Likens all helped Eaves and their teammates skate to the gold.
Wisconsin's current head coach was named the USCHO.com Coach of the Year for the 2003'04 college hockey season. He also earned the 2004 USA Hockey Distinguished Achievement Award last summer and was named the 2002 USA Hockey National Junior Coach of the Year for his time as head coach of the U.S. National Development Program, based out of Ann Arbor, Mich.
