Mike Eaves

Mike Eaves
Born	(1956-06-10) June 10, 1956 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Minnesota North Stars Calgary Flames
National team	United States
NHL draft	113th overall, 1976 St. Louis Blues
Playing career	1978–1986

Michael Gordon Eaves (born June 10, 1956) is an American former National Hockey League (NHL) player and the former head coach of the St. Olaf College men's hockey team and for his alma mater the University of Wisconsin, where he was part of two NCAA National Championship teams with the Badgers (as a player in 1977, and as head coach in 2006). In 2019, he was named the head coach of the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL), a role he held until 2022.

Eaves appeared in 324 NHL regular-season games between 1978 and 1985, and has coached since 1985. His father, Cecil Eaves, is a Canadian former University of Denver ice hockey and football player and later became a professor and hockey coach at Ohio State and the University of Windsor. Eaves is also the father of former NHL forward Patrick Eaves, and former SM-Liiga Jokerit forward Ben Eaves (who is currently part of his father's coaching staff with the Monsters as strength and conditioning coach), and brother of former NHL player Murray Eaves.

Playing career

Amateur

Born in Colorado, Eaves spent his early childhood in Denver and Calgary before moving to Cleveland, Ohio as a fifth and sixth grader in 1964-66 as his father Cecil was earning his doctorate at Ohio State. The family eventually settled in Ontario where Mike played junior hockey for the Nepean Raiders.

From 1974 to 1978 he played for the University of Wisconsin–Madison hockey team, where he was a two-time All-American and a member of Coach Bob Johnson's 1977 NCAA championship team. Eaves remains the Badgers' all-time leading career scorer with 267 points (94 goals, 173 assists) in 160 games. He was also a member of the United States national team at the 1976 and 1978 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments.

He was selected 113th overall in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft by St. Louis, who traded his rights to the Cleveland Barons for Len Frig in 1977. Eaves ended up on the Minnesota North Stars roster after the Barons and North Stars were merged in 1978.

NHL years

Eaves turned professional following the 1977–78 season, initially joining the CHL Oklahoma City Stars, and also played 3 games with the North Stars during the year. The following year he moved up to be an NHL regular for 56 games. He then played three more consecutive seasons with Minnesota (he was also a member of Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup tournament), before being dealt to the Calgary Flames with Keith Hanson for Steve Christoff. Chronically injury-prone, Eaves played for the Flames from 1983 to 1985, deciding to end his career at the age of 28 after sustaining a head injury at the hands of Quebec Nordiques defenseman Pat Price. Eaves was appointed to an assistant coach position with the Flames, joining Bob Johnson, his former head coach at the University of Wisconsin, behind the bench.

However, in the midst of the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs Flames forward Carey Wilson sustained an injury, forcing him out of the lineup. Eaves was persuaded to end his retirement in order to shore up the Flames' player roster. With his family's permission he rejoined the Flames, playing 8 of their final 11 games in the playoffs. After the Flames lost in the Stanley Cup finals he ended his playing career permanently.

Coaching career

Eaves took a head coaching position at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1986, a position he held for one season. The following season he was an assistant coach with St. Cloud State University. He joined the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach in 1988, and was named head coach of the Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate Hershey Bears in 1990. He held the position for three years until the 1993–94 season, when he rejoined the Flyers as an assistant coach.

He took the head coach position at HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga in 1996 and coached there for the following season. He quit and joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach from 1997 to 2000. The following year he was named head coach of the United States National Junior Team. In the 2002–2003 season Eaves joined his old college team, the Wisconsin Badgers, as their head coach. He had a physical confrontation with Alex Leavitt in November 2002 that led to the university reprimanding Eaves, and Leavitt suing Eaves and the university. The suit was settled by paying Leavitt the value of his lost scholarship, $55,000. In 2003–2004, Eaves brought the Badgers just short of the Frozen Four, falling in overtime to Maine. Eaves was also the head coach of the United States men's national junior ice hockey team, which won their first-ever 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

After a disappointing finish to the 2004–2005 season, the Badgers won the 2006 NCAA championship held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After the NCAA season, Eaves was named head coach of the U.S. national team for the 2006 IIHF World Championship in Riga, Latvia. Eaves' 2010 squad returned to the Frozen Four, Wisconsin's 11th appearance there, losing in a bid for their seventh NCAA title. The 2014–15 season saw the team finish the season with a record of 4–26–5, the worst overall record in modern school history. After finishing 8–19–8–0 in the following season, Eaves was fired as coach on March 18, 2016. On May 27, 2016 Eaves was named head coach of the Division III St. Olaf College men's hockey team.

On June 18, 2019, the Columbus Blue Jackets named Eaves the head coach of the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. On April 30, 2022, Eaves resigned after three seasons.

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA) (2002–2013)
2002–03	Wisconsin	13–23–4	7–17–4	8th	WCHA First Round
2003–04	Wisconsin	22–13–8	14–7–7	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2004–05	Wisconsin	23–14–4	16–9–3	T–3rd	NCAA First Round
2005–06	Wisconsin	30–10–3	17–8–3	T–2nd	NCAA Champions
2006–07	Wisconsin	19–18–4	12–13–3	T–6th	WCHA Third Place Game (Win)
2007–08	Wisconsin	16–17–7	11–12–5	6th	NCAA Second Round
2008–09	Wisconsin	20–16–4	14–11–3	T–3rd	WCHA Third Place Game (Win)
2009–10	Wisconsin	28–11–4	17–8–3	2nd	NCAA Runner Up
2010–11	Wisconsin	21–16–4	12–13–3	7th	WCHA First Round
2011–12	Wisconsin	17–18–2	11–15–2	10th	WCHA First Round
2012–13	Wisconsin	22–13–7	13–8–7	T–4th	NCAA First Round
Wisconsin:		231–169–51	144–121–43
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten) (2013–2016)
2013–14	Wisconsin	24–11–2	13–6–1	2nd	NCAA First Round
2014–15	Wisconsin	4–26–5	2–15–3	6th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
2015–16	Wisconsin	8–19–8	3–13–4	6th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
Wisconsin:		36–56–15	18–34–8
St. Olaf Oles (MIAC) (2016–2019)
2016–17	St. Olaf	7–15–3	5–9–2	7th
2017–18	St. Olaf	9–12–3	6–8–2	7th
2018–19	St. Olaf	5–17–2	3–11–2	9th
St. Olaf:		21–44–8	14–28–6
Total:		288–269–74
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1973–74	Nepean Raiders	CJHL		54	54	48	102	—		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		38	17	37	54	12		—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		34	18	25	43	22		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		45	28	53	81	18		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		43	31	58	89	16		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Oklahoma City Stars	CHL		68	26	61	87	21		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Oklahoma City Stars	CHL		12	9	8	17	2		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		56	18	28	46	11		15	2	5	7	4
1980–81	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		48	10	24	34	18		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		25	11	10	21	0		—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		75	16	16	32	21		9	0	0	0	0
1983–84	Calgary Flames	NHL		61	14	36	50	20		11	4	4	8	2
1984–85	Calgary Flames	NHL		56	14	29	43	10		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Calgary Flames	NHL		—	—	—	—	—		8	1	1	2	8
NHL totals				324	83	143	226	80		43	7	10	17	14

Awards and honors

Award	Year
AHCA West All-American	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78
All-WCHA Second Team	1976–77
All-WCHA First Team	1977–78
CHL Second All-Star Team	1979
Ken McKenzie Trophy (CHL Rookie of the Year)	1979

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Eaves' profile at Hockeydraftcentral.com