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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 30, 2015

Mike Eaves

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Head coach Mike Eaves is here and will take questions.

Q. You've had an extra week to prepare for these, then you have two trips to Michigan. Any focus on your approach over the two-week span here?
COACH EAVES: Well, last week for sure we went back and looked at some real -- broke the game down into small pieces, going into one-on-one situations and made sure we were doing a good job there, because ultimately the game comes down to that, our ability to be successful in one-on-one situations whether we control the puck or don't have the puck and trying to get it back, so we spent a lot of time grinding it out in those areas.

And then going back into this week, we will focus back on us getting ready to play going up and down the ice playing a tempo. Michigan has a team that skates and has good skills, so we need to be able to fast, and we will get back to that tempo this week.

Q. Coming off those back-to-back series against top-10 teams, did you like the fact that you had a week after or would you rather your guys had been able to get out there and play right away?
COACH EAVES: I think with the age group, where we are with our age and the number of underclassmen, I think it was really beneficial for us to play top-end teams and then -- because you really get exposed to what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are, and being able to look at that and video and go right back on the ice and hammer those things out, so -- and this past week we went all six days, and the last three days we went early in the morning, got 'em up and got at it, and they had the rest of the day to recover. In looking at it, really a beneficial week. I think we will see the benefits of what we did, because we were able to watch practice, break it down, give it back it them, show them, hey, we are now better in these areas than we were a week ago.

So I think it was a good thing for this young group to be able to go back and really hammer out some detail work of how we can become better.

Q. Mike, Michigan and Michigan State offer different -- vastly different approaches to things. One would think that getting a taste of that -- you probably had a little bit of the up-tempo with North Dakota to a degree, Denver to a degree, but do you think those contrasts will give you a good idea what you have going into the rest of the Big Ten season?
COACH EAVES: Haven't even thought about Michigan State yet, but I recognize what your statement is because they are two very contrasting styles of play, and Michigan State will kinda hunker back and block shots until the cows come home, where Michigan will want to get up and down the ice.

Right now we're just focused on Michigan and knowing what's coming at us. It's kind of interesting that we end of the first part of our season, before we go into break, playing those contrasts of teams, because, to your point, that will help us in terms of covering the spectrum of how teams play throughout hockey, so that will be a good thing for us. That will be another chapter in our book. If I was writing a book, this chapter would be contrasting styles, how to play both, because we're going to have to do that.

Q. What's the biggest difference in this team today compared to a month ago?
COACH EAVES: First, I'm going to answer this question by going outside the box and say the one thing that I know about this team that's been consistent, before I answer your question, is the fact that this team is pretty resilient. We have been down at times, but we've fought back in the games. So that is where I would like to start with answering your question. What I do know now that is different from this team is that our attention to detail is better, in all facets of our system, whether it's breaking out, forecheck, neutral zone, our penalty killing, our power play, that we have come a long way. We have made progress in those areas, so from a month ago to this date, I would answer that question by saying that our ability to play with better detail, and that's what makes us better.

Q. Mike, what insight can you share with us about your two assistant coaches? You've had almost a half a season to really -- more than that, obviously since they have been hired to get to know them. Are you where you want to be, where you thought you would be with how these guys have been folded into your approach with things?
COACH EAVES: The process of getting to know your coaches is one much like your players, it takes time. It started this summer. We went on a little retreat, so to speak, spent three days, the three of us, talking hockey for about 72 straight hours, and that was a good way to start.

In trying to find out where you are our natural strengths are, how we blend together as a staff, and we are well along that road. Coach Luke is a head coach, and his -- his understanding of the game, his verbiage, we are lucky that we have a common denominator in Kevin Constantine, because we talk the same language. A lot of the drills that we do have the same names. So it's been very easy transition in terms of being on the ice. If you watch our practices, Luke on some days runs the whole practice, and that's been fun for me to sit back and be able to watch.

When we have been able to delegate Luke at one end and J.B. at the other, I can sit back and watch both ends, and you can tell the guys have been around the game a long time. They are excellent in their teaching and their delivery of the message to the team, and that's a really good thing for our staff. What's been most impressive about J.B. is two fold, the fact that he's so good on the is ice, and the fact that as a recruiter, he's a dog on a bone. He gets after it, he enjoys that challenge, and he knows the kids, and his follow-through with these young people has been really fun to watch, so I think our growth has been on a very good pace and we're on a very good path as a group.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thanks, Mike.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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