|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 17, 2014Mike EavesCOACH EAVES: Take couple weeks off you guys don't have questions? Q. I was going to ask you about the break, was it good? Bad, given the timing. What did you use the time off for? COACH EAVES: I think one of the measurements of whether it's good or bad will be how we play this weekend. From a coaching standpoint we thought it was good we got to see some things from our first six games and get repetition in those areas. This kind of coaching is a challenge because of so much time that you have and how to keep it interesting and how to keep their focus. How to keep it fun while you're mixing in the hard, how hard do you push each other physically in practice where you don't wear each other out and guys get; isn't that truly at each other, so there is a lot of balances going o but it was a good challenge for us as coaches because we had to be creative and in tune with what's going on and a lot of times day‑to‑day, the practice, we call them audibles, the guys call 'em Omahas at the line of scrimmage but we had to change things through practice based on what we saw and how they worked but we think they were beneficial. Go back to the original statement that will depend on how we play this weekend. Q. You mentioned at the top that there were issues you wanted to address, what were those? COACH EAVES: Those issues dealt with fundamental things, our ability to play without the puck was a big focus in terms of being able to shut people down one‑on‑one. We can have a great defensive zone coverage system but if we can't do the job one‑on‑one then it's going to fall apart, so we spent a lot of time on that both in the fore‑check defenses on coverage, we spent time in that front presence both on offense and on defense, so building blocks of playing good systems are the things that we worked on. Q. You said a challenge for the coaches, same with the players I would assume for them to find a rhythm? Yes, you have practice but as you know it's not a game. COACH EAVES: It was a challenge for them. They worked their fannies off, between the "cleansing" skate and the "Ono" skate and the "reaction" skate and bumping into‑‑ you get tired of pounding each other in practice, so it was a challenge. Being former players, we want to keep it fun for them, too, so what is that element of fun that you throw in there? You can throw in a competitive game, whether there is a winner or loser in this, red versus white so you create those situations. Inning as a coach it's a challenge because you want to keep it fresh and you have to be innovative and I think our staff likes that. Q. Is it more difficult and or complicated to play two different locations on the same weekend? COACH EAVES: Two different locations in two different sizes of sheets of ice. Colorado plays on a pond! It could be the Pacific ocean it's so big, then we will go to NHL 200 by 85 on Saturday. That will be a challenge. The first period in Denver on Saturday will be an interesting one. Q. With the young club that you have and even for the veterans, speaking of challenges, not trying to get back to where you would like to be in one fell swoop? It's going to take time? COACH EAVES: Funny, we talk about this openly. We come to work every day and we made the comment to our kids, if I look at the standings right now and I see us 0‑6 I'm shocked because they don't feel like an 0‑6 team. I feel like we played some decent hockey, we're going in the right direction, we recognize that we're a young group and if you walk in the locker room and you talk to our kids, they're not down, they're excited about coming to the rink. They know the direction in which they're going. Yes, we have to get a win because that will solidify what we have done in practice but right now the team is very upbeat. Q. What do you know about Mike Haviland and the CC Tigers, obviously a different group and for that matter Coach Montgomery and Denver? COACH EAVES: We watched Jim Montgomery's team play in Dubuque so we have a little bit of an idea, for Mike and CC, I'm the wrong guy to ask that question. I know Shuchuk has already broken it down on video, to try to give us an indication of what they try to do. Seems to me without talking specifically, Mike is probably trying to get his system of play in there and get‑goin'. That will be another challenge, the fact that we don't know the systems they play or the style they play, and we're going to have to adapt on go, probably. Q. Couple of years ago you guys got off to a really slow start and ended up winning the Conference Tournament and going to the NCAA Tournament. Inevitably after losses there are going to be guys with their heads down and guys that are disappointed. Are there guys on this team that rally the troops after a couple of losses? COACH EAVES: It's definitely a factor. I think guys like Chase Drake and Brad Navin can speak to that. The difference is we were a veteran team then, an upper class team that got off to a bad start the befuddled us. Now we're off to a similar start, but we're a young team, so it's for different reasons, but guys having been there and seeing the things that you said, are able to say, been here done that. The message comes down to controlling things you can control on a day‑to‑day basis. We have that choice as individuals and as a coaching staff and as a team. That's the culture that's in the locker room right now and that's a good one to get for these young people to learn and understand that. Through these hard times we're going to come out the other side and be better for it and it's going to make us stronger. We hope it's sooner rather than later, though. Q. I don't know if you followed college hockey over the weekend or the weekend before, it's a crazy start to the season, isn't it? COACH EAVES: We walked downstairs this morning and Nate LaPoint, our equipment manager, updates the standings, and there it was, 10‑0, Michigan Tech. Every year there is some kinda surprise. And good for Mel Pearson. He's a terrific gentleman and obviously a good coach, and he's got that team going. For us it's a matter of taking care of business and working our way back into that mix, that's where we are now but, yeah, there have been surprises and for me that's the biggest one. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|