LetsGoDU

Eaves Holds Press Conference

(left) Wisconsin Coach Mike Eaves won it all last year

Going through the Wisconsin Press Conference Transcript this week was a painful experience. Wisconsin Coach Mike Eaves is one of the best coaches in the business, but his answers to some basic questions left me dizzy. I could have resorted to leaving some smartass comments next to his quotes, but I'm really trying to clean up my act and not be so sophomoric. So far the results have been mixed.

Eaves started off with a little self deprecating humor to loosen up the press. Usually not a bad idea, but it fell flat on an unresponsive Wisconsin press corp...

EAVES: Actually, I have a question. What was that word that Coach Ryan used at the beginning of the press conference, proclivity, or anybody pick that up? What’s Bo (UW Mens BB Coach Bo Ryan) been reading lately? The coaches in the back didn’t know what it was. And that was Dr. Doolittle that had that study about obsessive-compulsive behavior with the text messaging.

Rather than go through the whole transcript here are the edited highlights...

Question: Will Senior Forward Ross Carlson Play this weekend?

Eaves: Most likely.

Question: How was the trip back from Alaska?

Eaves: We left Anchorage at 6 AM and got back at 9 PM.

Question: Will Jack Skille play this weekend against Denver

Eaves: No, probably not until the following week

Eventually they got around to some Denver questions...

Question: How similar or dissimilar would you say your coaching style, your team’s philosophy is with that of George Gwozdecky in Denver?

Eaves: Well, George has won a couple national championships, and I think that if you were to talk to George about what his plan is that it would be similar. You’ve got to have a group of people that have ability, and they have to play hard. They have to play intelligently, and they have to play together as a team. I don’t think there’s any secret to that. And I think if you went and talked to him about it, that, those thought processes would be solidified by going through a couple of national championship runs.

Question: Last season was such a big time series with Denver coming to the Kohl Center, and they got the sweep. Does that matter to the players at all, or is there anything personal, or is it just another big series?

Eaves: It’s just another big series. I mean, if you remember correctly, we had young goaltender Shane Connelly in the net. That was part of his induction to college hockey by not, just dropping him in the deep end, like the Pacific Ocean. And, you know, it was part of his induction. So it was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter that it’s a new year. It’s Denver. They’re always a quality opponent. They will bring their A game. They like playing in this building, like most teams, so it will be another great challenge for us.