Oct. 5, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin men's hockey head coach Mike Eaves made his season debut at the UW's weekly Monday news conference in anticipation of the Badgers' season-opening contest Friday against Boston University.
Eaves spoke about the team's influx of new freshmen, the plan for the two returning senior goaltenders, and expectations for the coming season.
A full transcript is below.
QUESTION #1: Mike, I'm not sure if you have, whether you do or not, but do you have a blueprint to follow, to guide you through the transition with all the new faces, both on the ice and on the bench this year?
EAVES: History becomes a part of the answer to that in the fact that when we won in '06, we lost ten young men, some to being seniors, some to the pros, and this year is very similar. We lose 11. And so we go back and, it's kind of the cycle of college hockey right now in terms of we got here, we built our way up in four years to get to Milwaukee and were fortunate enough to win. And then we had a lot of, we had exodus of players. And now we're back last year to the final game had a chance to win it all, and had an exodus. So now we're starting all over.
We can take a look at what we did back then, the ups and downs that we had, the process that we went through. And the big part is just, you know, looking to continue to have good growth as we go along here, look for those little signs that indicate that we're going in the right direction.
QUESTION #2: Because you have that experience, is there anything that you did in hindsight that you know you can do better this time or approach it differently?
EAVES: I sure hope so. We like to think that we're intelligent people in the hockey world. And the fact is we've got a new staff, so we're going to grow together. And that's a big thing. And I think one of the big things that comes to mind, where we've learned in those four years since that happened, is the amount of patience that we need to have. And again, looking for those signs of growth that indicate we're going in the right direction.
We're not going to sprout out from the ground right away and be a three-foot high stalk of corn. We're going to plant seeds, and we're going to grow, and we're going to water them, and we're going to weed it, and we're going to nurture it, all those things a farmer would do. And hopefully, as I said, find good growth every week.
QUESTION #3: Mike, from your inter-squad game, what lessons, what moments of enlightenment did you get out of that?
EAVES: To be real honest, it's really hard to judge that game because the guys are going every other shift, and they're very tired. It's more of an exercise of conditioning than anything else. I think the one thing that does happen early on is they get the rust off their sticks and their skates in terms of playing in a competitive situation. And, as the game went on, especially in the second period, I thought guys, you know, they were used to playing again, and they had enough energy to make plays and to the things that we had talked about. So other than that, we don't even sit back and watch that game because it just, it's more of an exercise and conditioning than anything else.
QUESTION #4: Mike, along the lines of patience, with all the new faces, I imagine you're probably going to end up doing some shuffling and juggling as the season goes on. I mean, you're prepared to do that so you can get a feel for the personnel?
EAVES: Well, we're talking about that already as a staff. I think we've got to get people in and out of the lineup to see what they can do. A great amount of our time here is going to be finding roles for young people in terms of what can they offer.
Right away, we know a guy like Zengerle and Barnes, they're going to be given the role of being point producers, pretty much people that we feel can produce points for us. But the rest of the game, we're going to kind of have to feel our way around and see where they fit in and what roles they can play that's going to help this team be successful.
QUESTION #5: How big of a test is this weekend against some good competition, and just trying to figure that out?
EAVES: Yeah, we go in there with our eyes going to be wide open. BU is a good team, all the teams are good. They're older than us, that's for sure. And I think being on the road and being able to take everybody on this trip because it's a tournament is huge. A lot of times, it helps the growth of a team coming together by being on the road. So that will be good. And we'll give kids an exercise or an opportunity to play, change the lineup from night to night probably.
I mean, quite honestly, with this team that we have right now, the scrimmage kind of, we were talking to Brian a little after the game a little bit, it might even be an indication of this year. You know, our goaltending has to be good, which it was in that game. And we have to play close to the collar, keep games close, and find a way to win. And that may be a microcosm of what we might see this year.
QUESTION #6: Mike, you've been at this a long time, but I'm just curious with all the new faces, whether that gives you personally a little of a jump.
EAVES: Well, no question, no question. Having a relationship with Jackie Parker and Jerry York, you know, guys who have been around for a long time, one of the things I asked them a couple summers ago, how do you regenerate your energy? And he says, well, it kind of happens natural a little bit when you get young people, and when you have a new staff. And we have both this year.
And it is because I've come through the exodus of Coach Patrick and Coach Os (Mark Osiecki). I've come to appreciate what they did a lot more, because for a while there Mike Cerniglia and I were doing three coaching jobs. So I've come to appreciate that, but having Shuey (Gary Shuchuk) and Billy (Bill Butters) in now, there's a little bit of a transition in trying to show them what I'm about as a coach and how we want to carry on as a new staff together. So that in itself is invigorating, and it's a challenge, and one that's kind of been fun so far.
QUESTION #7: You've talked about this team has to be more defensive minded, basically without the scoring that you had back. That requires a mindset, a tenacious mindset. Do you think you have that? I would think that the grid has to be there perhaps more so than it was a year ago in terms of grinding out those one-goal wins. Have you seen enough to think it's there?
EAVES: Well, and in our basic plan of being successful, play hard has always been a part of that. So that's not going to change. The relentlessness of what we, how we want to play is not going to change. Based on what Jim Snider, who has spent a lot more time with these young men this summer than I did, he thinks that we have a group that will do that. So we're just seeing that now, and finding that out now on the ice, but I think that will be there for us.
QUESTION #8: Last year, you started the season with conference games, and knowing how important the WCHA is, being able to play four non-conference games with this young team before conference play begins, I don't know if that's a benefit, but maybe it could be?
EAVES: It could be. Certainly you would think by the time we start our conference schedule that we've got some lessons under our belt, and we can move forward and put our best foot as we go into those conference games. But it's, the schedule is kind of what it is. You have to deal with it whether you're an old team, a young team, whether it's conference right away or non-conference. But I think, one would think with a young team, we could get some lessons done before we open up in the WCHA.
QUESTION #9: Last year you started the season with two goalies trying to compete to replace Shane, and it kind of went all the way through the year. This year both of those goalies are back. How different are they with that battle this time around and you as a coaching staff in reviewing the goaltending situation?
EAVES: Any coach will tell you, and Bret was just talking about it before we got up here, the fact that anytime you have a competitive situation within your team, it creates a good scenario. And we have two senior goaltenders, and they push each other. Last year, even before they got here, I know that Guddy (Scott Gudmanson) was thinking, there's a young man coming in here that has a pretty good background. I better be ready to go. And he was. And they pushed each other. And in the end, Brett hurt his shoulder and such.
But going into this first weekend, Guddy's going to start that first game. You know, he's deserved that. He's got the history there. And if Brett's shoulder shores up well this week, and he plays pretty well, then more than likely we'll give him the nod on Saturday. And that's how we're going to start the season. We'll go from there.
QUESTION #10: Would you say the competition throughout the club is something that could really spark this team along the way?
EAVES: No question. The fact is that nobody knows where they're playing, how much they're going to play, where they're going to be playing. And if I was in their shoes, I would make sure I would come to practice every day ready to go.
QUESTION #11: Mike, you've had some distinctive captains during your time here. What is it about Sean Dolan that I guess excites you, that maybe defines him at this point?
EAVES: One word, growth. There's been tremendous growth by Sean over his course of time here at Wisconsin. From a freshman to sophomore, he's definitely tripped in the mud, fallen a couple times, and picked himself up, learned some hard lessons. But his growth into the type of young man he is right now indicates that he's ready for this challenge, and I'm excited for him.
I think it's going to, there's a fine balance as a captain to want to go out and be superman and lead the team in points. And we've already talked about the fact that's not his role. His role is to be a very solid two-way player, contribute offensively, shut people down, be great face-offs, penalty killing. And in the same mode, lead by example. And I think that he's going to grow into that as this year goes on. And I'm excited to see how much further he gro
