Michael Gordon Eaves (born June 10, 1956) is an American former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(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 A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, 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 The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team based in Cleveland. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Monsters play home games at Rocket Mortgage F ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(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 The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

ice hockey and football player and later became a professor and hockey coach at

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

and the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

. Eaves is also the father of former NHL forward Patrick Eaves, and former

SM-Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in ...

forward Ben Eaves (who is currently part of his father's coaching staff with the Monsters as

strength and conditioning coach A strength and conditioning coach (also known as an S&C coach) is a physical performance professional who uses exercise prescription to improve the performance of competitive Athlete, athletes or Sports club, athletic teams. This is achieved throug ...

), and brother of former NHL player Murray Eaves.

Playing career

Amateur

Born in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, Eaves spent his early childhood in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

before moving to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

as a fifth and sixth grader in 1964-66 as his father Cecil was earning his doctorate at

. The family eventually settled in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

where Mike played junior hockey for the Nepean Raiders. From 1974 to 1978 he played for the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

hockey team, where he was a two-time All-American and a member of Coach Bob Johnson's 1977

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

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 The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

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 The 1981 Labatt Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union defeated Canada in a s ...

tournament), before being dealt to the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

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 The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

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 The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers Bachelor's degree, bachelor's and ...

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 The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

as an assistant coach in 1988, and was named head coach of the Flyers'

affiliate

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

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 HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

in the Finnish

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

in 1996 and coached there for the following season. He quit and joined the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

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 The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

, 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 The United States men's national junior ice hockey team represents the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship. The team has won seven times World Junior Championships (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2024, 2025). Many NHL prospects, ...

, which won their first-ever

2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2004 WJHC'') was held between December 26, 2003, and January 5, 2004, in Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, Finland. The United States won their first ever gold medal, defeating Canada 4–3 in the final. ...

. 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 The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event ...

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 The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

named Eaves the head coach of the team's

affiliate, the

. On April 30, 2022, Eaves resigned after three seasons.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

*
Eaves' profile at Hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaves, Mike 1956 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey centers Olympic coaches for the United States Calgary Flames coaches Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey centres Hershey Bears coaches Ice hockey people from Denver Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey player-coaches Minnesota North Stars players Nepean Raiders players Oklahoma City Stars players Philadelphia Flyers coaches Pittsburgh Penguins coaches St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey coaches St. Louis Blues draft picks Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey coaches Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugolds men's ice hockey coaches NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Ice hockey people from Colorado 20th-century American sportsmen