Eaves Address the Media
November 26, 2007 | Men's Hockey
Head men's hockey coach Mike Eaves made his weekly appearance at the UW's Monday news conference at the Kohl Center. Eaves answered questions regarding his most consistent forward, the UW's top line, and the team's recent success against this week's opponent St. Cloud State, among other topics. A full transcript follows.
To view archived video of the news conference, click on the Audio/Video link on the left.
QUESTION #1: Mike, who in your mind would stand out as your most consistent forward over these 12 games you've played'
MIKE EAVES: Oh, you know, over the, in terms of his role and his ability to get things done in that role, one of the guys that comes to mind is Ben Grotting. I think that Ben 's strengths lie in the fact that he's a tremendously powerful skater, can get there and can create turnovers and create hits with his speed, and I think, for the most part, that he has done that for us. So he comes to mind right away as one of the guys that has been the most consistent.
QUESTION #2: With how you're, you've tried to look at different guys on your line with Kyle [Turris] and Ben [Street]. Do you think the answer is in the pool of guys that you've used'
EAVES: Without question. I mean, we just sat as a group and watched the game yesterday. If Podge Turnbull can play with that energy and with his abilities like he did Saturday night, that could be a real good line for us. And so that was very encouraging.
QUESTION #3: With Podge is it, you know, Turnbull, is it just a matter of getting comfortable and realizing what he has and what his strengths and weaknesses are '
EAVES: You know, he's a freshman, and yeah, he's getting used to this level, but again, I think the thing that he brought to the table was his energy. And if he plays with that energy, his skill and such will take over for him. The times that he has been ineffective, he's not played with that energy, and as a result, he's not involved. But with that energy that he had Saturday night, boy, that really gives us a nice look.
QUESTION #4: Mike, I know it's maybe a week or two away, but are you prepared for the possibility of losing three, four, five guys to the junior team'
EAVES: We've talked about it. Yeah, I mean, it could be as many as six and probably three. So it's something that, you know what' And the way I look at it, if a young man has an opportunity to represent his country, that is an unbelievable event in the big picture of things, and so I hope for all of them that they have a realistic chance of doing that because it is very special.
QUESTION #5: I know, I think I understand your feelings about that. How do you weigh that against the needs of what, I would assume, is your number priority, this team, getting it to win, versus their priority of representing their countries'
EAVES: Well, I think that, what that does is it opens up opportunities for other people. And we went out to Denver last year with a lineup and, you know, we played pretty well out there, and I think people will grasp that opportunity and go with it. So history has proven that, when you're put in this type of situation, that people do respond.
QUESTION #6: Your power play had so much success earlier in the season. Obviously, the caliber of teams you've played has gone up and the penalty killers. What 's the different, though, X's and O's maybe from your guys, what they're doing on the power play or not doing as opposed to maybe what they did earlier in the year'
EAVES: Real basically, it's just taking what's given and executing against lack of time and space. When we were being successful, we were playing against teams that gave us a little bit more time and space, and now we're dealing with teams that are really taking that away. The nice thing is, we are getting chances. And, you know, the goals will come.
It's just kind of mirroring some of our players right now in that, well, I mean, you take Kyle, for instance, because he's at the top of the list in terms of goal scoring, he is, it's dropped off for him a little bit because the level of play has stepped up, the competition has stepped up. But in that happening, I'd be a lot more concerned now if he wasn't getting opportunities. The fact that he is, both on the power play and five-on-five, that things are going to turn around for him here. That's just what history tells us.
QUESTION #7: I don't know if you'd be surprised to know that you haven 't lost to St. Cloud in 11 meetings'
EAVES: Yeah, I was just reading that. I am surprised by that. I know that... Capo I don 't know where you come up with this stuff, but that's his job, I guess. But I know that we have played some decent hockey against them, and, you know, we 're at a point where, we don't look at that as anything other than, you know, we played well Saturday night. We need a good week of practice, and we need to do well here Friday/Saturday.
QUESTION #8: Back to Ben Grotting for a second. Do you get a sense that he's all right in the skin he's in right now' I mean, that's, his role is, I mean, he maybe is kind of suited to play it the way he's playing right now, isn't it'
EAVES: Well, if he tries to do any more than that, then he's going to be in trouble. You know, and again, it's, as a player, you are caught between playing to your strengths and trying to improve, where do you draw that line, and that's a really tough line to draw. I think you, what you try to tell a young man like Ben Grotting is you need to build on your strengths, be careful of what weaknesses you work out because the chances of improving to any great degree are not awesome.
I remember reading about John Wooden. He would not let guys shoot except from one certain spot because that was their sweet spot. They got outside that, they were on the bench beside him because they got outside their strengths. That's how detailed he was in that. So for a young guy like Ben, you know, these are the things you do well, continue to grow in those areas. Don't worry so much about those other areas because your chance of improving aren't tremendous.
