The morning after Wisconsin dropped its Big Ten semifinal to Penn State, Athletic Director fired long-time Head Coach Mike Eaves.
Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves. Photo from uwbadgers.com.
“I told Mike I appreciated the work he’s done here,” Alvarez said, according to uwbadgers.com. “I also told him that we have great tradition and standards here in hockey. He’s the gate-keeper of hockey. I’m the gate-keeper of the department. We both have a responsibility.”
Eaves had coached for 14 years at Wisconsin, winning the NCAA title in 2006 and finishing runner-up in 2010. However, after winning the inaugural Big Ten Tournament title in 2014, the program’s fortunes dipped dramatically, finishing with a losing record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1995-97.
The team finished 4-26-5 in 2014-15 and 18-19-8 this year.
“After last season, because of the success we’ve had in the past, we felt that Mike had earned a chance to get the ship righted. But now, after back-to-back seasons like the last two we’ve had, I feel we need a change.
“Our fans and everyone expect more,” Alvarez said. “With our facilities and what we have to sell, we feel we should be at a championship level.”
Eaves, the father of Dallas Stars forward Patrick Eaves, is the all-time leading scorer in Wisconsin hockey history, a three-time captain and two-time MVP. He was on the Wisconsin team that won the NCAA title in 1977.
Penn State 5, Wisconsin 2
Eaves’ final game as coach was in the Big Ten Tournament’s opening game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul as the Nittany Lions advanced to play second-seeded Michigan on Friday. Minnesota native Eric Scheid returned to his home state and scored twice and added an assist in the win.
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, Luke Kunin got Wisconsin back into the game with his 19th goal of the season, only to see Penn State score twice in a 1 minute 35 second span later in the second period to take a 4-1 lead.
Eamon McAdam made 35 saves to earn the win, as Wisconsin outshot the Nittany Lions 35-29.
Ohio State 4, Michigan State 3 (OT)
After playing a pair of overtime games last weekend in East Lansing, the Buckeyes and Spartans need extra hockey again with freshman Mason Jobst scoring the game-winning goal with 6:13 left in overtime. Ohio State advances to take on top-seeded Minnesota in the second semifinal Friday night.
Ohio State was all over the Spartans in the first period, taking a 2-0 lead to the first intermission on goals from freshmen John Wiitala and Tommy Parran and outshooting Michigan State 19-4. Wiitala’s goal at 38 seconds of the first period was the fastest in a Big Ten Tournament game.
The Spartans bounced back in the second with power-play goals from Joe Cox, Matt DeBlouw and Michael Ferrantino to take a 3-2. Matthew Weis restored parity at 3:17 of the third period before Jobst won it in overtime.
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