Eaves Addresses Media Monday
December 02, 2002 | Men's Hockey
Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Eaves spoke to the media on Monday during UW 's weekly news conference. Eaves talked about his team's progress this season and this weekend's match-up with rival Minnesota.
A transcript of the news conference follows.
Do you think your team is still on a roller coaster ride and do you feel you are getting better each game' 'We're still on a roller coaster ride. Within the games we have been on roller coaster rides. This last game on Saturday ' our third period was as energetic, we created as many scoring chances, as we have any period this season so far. We're still on the ride and we will continue to be on that ride for a little while longer.'
Do you feel your team has gotten better' 'Yes. I would say so. As a coaching staff we sit down and we all watch the video and see what we need to work on this week and where we have gotten stronger. If you were to sit down with us and watch film and take a look at our defensive zone coverage, we 're not giving up a lot of chances in our own zone. Our shots against, except for the North Dakota game, have been good. I think we have some strengths in our defensive zone coverage, which is a good place to start. Now as we expand down to the rest of the ice, we have to create more chances and some more goals.'
Has your progress this season been more difficult or slower ' 'Slower. I think when you come into a situation, we all have expectations that we want things to change, which were probably unrealistic in the time frame. We'd all like things to happen yesterday, but that's not the case and as we get older we understand that change takes time. Coming in here, obviously you want to get things going, but it's been a little slower than even I thought. But not knowing the college game or the situation here or the players, I've had to readjust on a personal level my thinking there. We're going in the right direction. It's just not going along at a pace that I hoped it would. '
Is this season's progress slower on the ice or off the ice' 'It's been all across the board, in all of those areas ' in terms of our conditioning, our work, our smarts ' it 's just gone along a little slower.'
How would you compare your situation to other coaches taking over at strong programs in the WCHA' 'Talking to Dean [Blais] up at North Dakota, he said they were 1-8 at one time and people called it the worst team they ever had and then they went and won a bunch of games. I happened to be in Fairbault, Minnesota when Don Lucia took over the team at Minnesota and we caught a lot of games on TV. I remember thinking while watching Don on TV and his team was playing and he would just hold his head up and praying for strength'I see a little bit of that in me now. It 's a process. We would all like change to happen in a moment, but it doesn 't.'
What does it say about Don Lucia that he has been in this position twice, taking over big time programs' 'It says two things. Number one, he is a very good recruiter or the people he surrounds himself with are good recruiters. And secondly, he is a solid coach because once he gets the talent he is able to ride that talent.'
How do you plan on going about creating more scoring chances ' 'That's about hard issues'getting screens, battling your way to the front of the net. I don't think we have had a goal go off anybody's shin pad or fanny yet. Those kinds of things are how you manufacture goals. We addressed that on Saturday night about how many natural goal scorers we have 'we don't have a lot. That is one good example of how you manufacture goals.'
Does Minnesota coming in as the national champion add anything to the rivalry between the teams' 'Having played the game, I know as a player when you are playing against a team that is the defending national champions or defending Stanley Cup champions, there is a natural elevation of emotion 'you don't have to work as hard to play. The kids are going to be naturally excited. Number one, it is a huge rivalry. Number two, they are the national champs. So getting the kids excited to play won't be an issue. Probably to harness that emotion and making sure they are using their energy in a wise fashion will be the task of the coaching staff this week. The building will probably be packed. But we'll just carry on and use this weekend as another measuring stick of where we are at. '
How is your situation unique compared to Dean Blais or Don Lucia when taking over a program' 'You know, right off the top of my head, I don't know if I can answer that question. I would have to sit back and probably talk to them a little bit more. Maybe what is unique is that I am coming back to my alma mater. I would have to do some historical work to really answer that question. You exposed me really well there.'
Are the players still having problems adjusting to the new systems' 'There was a question here on Saturday night after the game about that. I think to a great degree, we are still left-brained in the way we play. We are still too logical because we have instilled a new thoughts and systems for the kids. We're probably going through a natural process and we'll probably go through it a little longer. We talk about the roller coaster ride. That might be adding to it. They're good kids, they want to do the right thing so they're probably thinking which doesn't allow their natural creative juices offensive abilities to flow as much as it will. In the long run, we will be better off because we will be better as a team.'
Did you hear any boos from the crowd on Friday night ' 'No. No boos. When we come off the ice, we walk right through the people and they were all jacked. They kept telling me, `Coach, you got Minnesota next week. Good luck.' And they were telling the boys the same thing. If there were boos, I didn't hear them.'
How important is it to get points this weekend going into the long break' 'Ultimately, winning and getting points is a great reward for all of the hard work. For us to be able to get points here before the break would send the kids home with their step being lighter. They would be more active at home and they would come back and be ready to go again. It's important in many ways, but for us to play well is the first step. You have two teams coming in and there are no guarantees and our first step is to play well and if we do, we will have a chance of getting points.'
