Flames Alumni Krahnicles: Mike Eaves Part 2!

All right, welcome aboard. It is time for another edition of the Coming and Gillespie LLP.

Plains alumni chronicles. Thanks for being along with us. It's Pat Steinberg and this

program is brought to you as always by Coming and Gillespie LLP personal injury and medical

malpractice lawyers committed to getting maximum compensation for the injured and their

families visit coming Gillespie dot com and this week on the program we're finishing our

conversation with former flames forward Mike Eves as he'll be chatting with Brent Cron and Colin

Patterson you're outstanding hosts. Eves played parts of three seasons with the flames in the mid

1980s to finish off his NHL career 117 games in total with the flames and we will kick off the

conversation momentarily but first it's time for another edition of this week in flames history

brought to you by village Honda and this week we're going back 18 years ago this week to April 5th of

2008. Here comes the captain again coming on with Wayne Pimo is what they're all different line

combination these at this period of the long the other right winners are getting a nice

best tonight. Jerome McGillan nice good looking for a gill all the way nice to McGillan scores there is

number 50 for Jerome McGillan and Calgary bass for us. Just a great celebration on the Calgary

band. It's not just by the players with the coaches and Mike Keenan Jim play fair just exuberant

for the captain. Yep Jerome McGillan hit the 50 goal mark for the second time in his career as

the flames beat Vancouver 7-1 on April 5th of 2008 it was Calgary's final regular season game

and again the score to 1235 of the third period to hit 50 goals something he also did in April

of 2002 again the remains the last of eight players in team history to hit the 50 goal milestone

along with Geesh Winard Lanning MacDonald, Gary Roberts, Joe Nguyen Dyke, Joe Mullen,

Theo Flurry and Hoken Lube again the would finish the 0708 season with a career high 98 points

he'd finished third in heart trophy voting that year behind Alex Ovechkin who won it and

Evgeny Malkin and there you go that is another edition of this week and flames history brought to you

by Village Honda drive further and save more with the 2026 Honda CRV hybrid smart hybrid performance

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does it all visit village Honda dot com for details okay it's time to jump in and chat with former

flame Mike Eves he's in conversation with your host Brent Cron and Colin Patterson let's get into it

right now I want to talk about an experience that we had together in 1986 oh yeah with with with

the flames and you know like so much about it is about becoming a team and we we had some great

we had a Christmas party that was out Brad Creek and everybody went out there we took a big school

bus out and then and there you know there was gifts and stuff and then on the way home we're

we're coming home in the bus to go to our park cars and there's a car in the ditch yes yes it

was down in the ditch and Lanny or one of the older guys stop stop the bus so we all pile out the

bus and we've got these little red snow shones that were gag gifts and there's a 17 or 18 year old

kid outside and he looks at us he goes he starts recognizing all these guys Lanny, Riser,

McGinnis, Patterson, so we shoveled this kid it was a small car kind of lifted it out kind of

going he was down he didn't say word other things oh my gosh it was unbelievable

but you know stuff like that is what you talk about and then later that year

Ardell he was Lanny's wife Steve Bozak's wife Patricia my wife Beth they were they kind of

forwarded this triad and they they did a charity and they made a cookbook and they had we had

a charity that year to raise money for the was it the hospital yeah for the burn you yeah and so

it was we used to go out to max house and we were practiced we were doing a skit yeah it was joel auto

oh that that was the uh fashion show a fascist they did that cookbook like in the fashion shop shot

so so we decided we were gonna we were gonna lip sync the temptation song my girl we got

joel auto to be the lead singer six foot three joel could dance with a half a pack of beer in them

yeah yeah he had to have have beer in them to do that and then there was Perry Bears in myself

Mac and Steve Bozak so we were the backup singers so we were lip sync in this and and

the night we did the performance we had touches on with red cumber buns and joel it was unbelievable

you got this women screaming in the crowd he did a spirit drop to a hurdle stretch pop back up

and did a spinner rounds i mean they were growing crazy and so and we're doing the background

stuff but the thing the background singers were the best we provided that comedy relief mac

mac you're gonna kill me for this when you hear this but mac he's a hall of fanwagi player five

hundred goals thousand points won the Stanley Cup in his last game can you imagine yeah i know

and and i'm gonna say this he's a dancer he's got no rhythm no we cannot hear the beat he would walk

around with this headset on my girl my my my girl so we get up the night we do this and we're all

going my girl and we're all going to the right back's going to the left he almost falls off the

stage i gotta grab his cone to pull him back on but but we howled and laughed and we would go

all to max of practice it brought us together as a team that's what you know brings teams together

right doing stuff well because we've also played on teams that don't have that and yet you

recognize it very quickly when you don't have it's rare it's rare to like i remember in my my

career there's probably about twice and ten years i i enjoyed most of the guys i played with

but there were two years where you're like oh we have something here like that just just everybody's

getting along things feel good guys are getting along you know and if there's problems it's hammered

out right away right there's no lingering back talking gossiping none of that shit by way i said

you know when mike and i started in eighty three together with the flames i thought we had it then

and we're so close so close and then you're you just advance right and just the friendships

and the relationships and the camaraderie you get you know maybe even it is you know when you

when you look back on your current you you can relate to this too brand there's a fact that

those are the things you remember yes those are the things you bring home in your heart

that make everything so worthwhile you know like to remember a one game but it's the people that

you are with yeah yeah and it is the it is the people it's a team it's everybody i go out yeah it's

so good yeah it's you know we went right from the Stanley Cup finals to living in a dorm on the

University of Wisconsin oh Claire and it was like i wanted i wanted to be a head coach right away

because i wanted to know if if if this is what i wanted to do you know i didn't want an assistant

job and i want it i knew i'd have to go to a lower level that's okay but i when i went there we

lived in the dorm and what there was just magical for the kids because we had to run at the house

you know they had a gymnastic gym that the kids and i would go over every day and play for hours

not their trampoline in the sponge rubber you know it was great but but you're gonna laugh when

i tell you this so the ranked that we played and we didn't have a permanent locker room so the

ranked gave a space up top to make one i had pictures of the Calgary flame locker room

we made the same stalls out of plywood no way yeah we cut we got seven thousand dollars in five

volunteers and we cut the wood so then look just like the Calgary flame but we were the

old-clair blue gold so we had paint a little different color but we made a locker room up there

didn't have showers you had to come downstairs a shower but we had our own space i learned how to

shop in skates i learned how to drive this em bony i learned how to drive a bus because we

would go to games and i sometimes i have to take the bus and so but i loved it but that's what

prepares you like i mean you're always a guy just get in grassroots and figure it out yeah

and that's what you do you figure it out you know we we didn't get that much ice time so on the

wintertime over break we would practice on the indoor ice and then we go outdoor ice in the afternoon

you know what i'm like i love that because i go that's what the game is about right to adapt

him that's changing oh because not every ice server is going to be the same not everything is

going to be perfect for you all right great story about my first curtsy job so as i was just

saying we came from Stanley Cup to being a head coach at a division three school and so we had

our triodes we're evaluating kids sitting up above watching him we post the list okay we're going

to have our first practice so the kids are getting ready the zambones going around i'm going to lead

him on the ice so i step on the ice thing here here we go you know that my skateguards on

oh for sure that's over tea kettle yeah now i try to get up that's over tea kettle again now i

got a crawl back to the to the bench and i'm looking at the kids they don't know whether the

laugh or not fry or go poop in their pants because they just came from the Stanley Cup he's just

stepped on the edge of his guts and i got up and i said you know what that's probably not the

last time that's going to happen and that broke the ice and he went what a way to start huh

oh i was classic it was but you know what that's what it is it's like you get you get knocked down

you get back on again yeah Glenn Sumner was the coach for Minnesota right yeah you were there

yes my day what was your relationship with him oh good he he liked me because i worked hard

yeah he was a guy that liked guys that worked hard and you know Glenn Glenn didn't have a lot of

Savofer with X's and O's but if you worked hard for him you were going to get a chance

so i really i appreciated Glenn yeah i got to know Glenn like you know you know he only had one i

you know he had lost his eye and and and playing in the minor leagues was he left to the right

a lot say left to right would have been it was left okay good because he's lost you know that

okay here's why i know i mean a couple times he dropped it on the bench and we have to reach down

and give it to him he put it in his mouth and pop it back in his eye but it was it was legit it like

a glass eye it was a glass that you can't make that up but we were playing Calgary in the semi-finals

when i was in Minnesota and it was a great series it was a great series i was in the corral yes

in the corral we're we're in we're in the met center and and Glenn is just giving it to Willie

Platt as he's going by the bench just giving it to him and Glenn or Willie stops he puts his hand

over his left eye he goes hey Glenn is that you we're on the bench we're all put on his own

because they don't want Glenn to see his checklist you can't make that up right and then Willie

was my teammate the next day he got trained to do us oh yo Willie was it got kind of like what was

your first taste of the NHL playoffs like I'm so glad you asked this I'm so glad you asked this

because it was a March day or maybe April it's April my first year and we're coming to

rake it's nice out I'm excited we get to play in the playoffs you know I walk over to the bunch

of guys and I'm all excited and they're pretty solemn like you know they're pretty quiet and

you know I get on the ice and I'm lining up against Darryl Sutter like this in this grade you

know I get to play they drop the puck and it's like who turned the volume up I'm yeah like every

time he went to the puck he tried to chop my arm off and like you cannot describe to anybody

the change in persona when the playoffs start it's something that you definitely have to get

used to what was what was it like playing the Chicago stadium in the playoffs I heard your story

about that oh my gosh I think the funniest thing about the Chicano Chicago stadium was when they

would start European defenseman they don't the fucking their corner and they would go back for it

and it was just like I hope they got the pins on yeah do you remember the name Tommy Reed I do

okay so Tommy Reed tells a great he's a color commentator right so Tommy's one of the

funniest human beings on the face of the planet so he tells the story with back in the day they

only had five defenders so he was like the fifth guy they went to throw him in there once about

he hadn't played much they're playing Detroit in Detroit and they throw they say Tommy get out

there he looks and he's playing against Gordy Hollywood all geez puck gets chipped into his corner

Gordy comes in and just hammer some all I say I can't see like I'm blind I'm I gotta go along

the boards you get back to the ace I can't see I don't know if it's my eyes or what's going on

he gets back to the bench and the coach says Reed what the fudge are you doing back here

it's just coach I can't see I can't see he goes over and he turns his helmet around

that's Tommy Reed right there to a team you know are you know Chicago stadium you know played against

you know I remember my first face off against Gordy I got the plate on when he was against him

when he was a hard ferd your center iceman got kicked out so he comes into the face off all I

can think it's gonna cut me he's gonna cut me yeah I know he's gonna cut you know but I'll be good

it'll be a good start I can't just start yeah I got a nick in the Picasso I'll be able to tell my

kids I'll be able to sell my kids oh my god what was that anthem like in Chicago too would you

sit there you know my my cousin and her husband were here they actually went to Chicago at the

old stadium no way right live because they had heard that it was that special and they were not

disappointed it was to a point you you almost could not hear yourself think because it was so

deafening and you know and and Minnesota Chicago there was a fierce rivalry and they would throw

whiskey bottles from the upper deck onto the ice not four lines no no that'd be a waste but I

remember Donnie Bo Frey and Jill Malash having to go in the net to hide because they would be

throwing them down wow oh yeah it was you know in that area is not the best part of town anyway but

yeah those are things that were crazy I'll never forget I was playing for the Chicago Wolves in

the American Hockey League yep and Wayne Mesmer was singing the National Anthem and so Wayne

Mesmer was the original well I don't know if he was original but he was one of the guys that sang

the National Anthem at the old Chicago stadium yeah and they remember you got shot in the neck and

that was big it was big new big news like it was like early 90s or I can't remember what it was

and so they have a great at National Anthem singer right now that it's replaced okay West Mesmer

over the years but Wayne Mesmer used to sing the National Anthem for the Chicago Wolves when I

was playing the American Hockey League and I grew up way watching the old Chicago you know watching

games in the old Chicago on TV never been there in my life all year in stories okay I remember

here in that Oregon play and then you'd sing the National Anthem and it would give me goosebumps

sitting in my in my living room with the old wooden TV with the tube television on the ground

there's about 700 pounds and I'll never forget playing my very frequent one I'm very first game

Wayne sang the National Anthem I'm in net and it's all state arena in Chicago and there's

about 12 15 thousand people that they've done and he sings the National Anthem I get goosebumps

that I had never played in the Chicago stadium but listening to that National Anthem

listening to him sing it it's an iconic building like it is just it was such a steep

thing oh yeah oh godly and what you guys were saying too like you had to go down stairs or

upstairs to go to the upstairs up down depending what way we're going yeah you want to go up

yeah you should go up down you're going down it was it was this hard classic that made no sense at

long no because you guys would slip all the way down it was brutal it was it it wasn't it wasn't even

steps right and they did it on purpose it was yeah sons of bitches who did you play in the second

round that year because you played Chicago you said you lined up against it was it was in Chicago

the first round who do you remember who you played in the second round because it was Toronto the

first round oh Toronto over my first by first playoffs it was Toronto and then my car was vicious

but I don't remember the second round I really don't like we got beat though we didn't we didn't

we didn't get passed that round that first year okay but we were we were in the air when Dino

Siserelli hardspurg was there we we had a talented group you know I wanted to share this with you

guys one of one of my thrills like somebody asked me what was what was one of your most memorable games

in in one of the years there we played the Canadians we beat them twice in Montreal to open the

series in the form in the forum we came back to many day beat us twice we went home they beat us

we came back to many one a game I thought the roof was going to come off the med center so we had

to play game seven in Montreal we beat them four three in the old forum game seven the ghosts of

the forum and Almic Adam score I can remember two minutes and 32 seconds left to go in the game

his buddy puts in a rebound and we beat them in the forum like it was iconic that building that's

game seven you know how many guys can see that only the guys in that team that's unbelievable yeah so

and then we got on a plane and went to Philly had to play Philly right away oh that go not well we

won the first game last the next four thanks for coming yeah yeah you're all the high for game

wide and that's exactly yeah yeah wow yeah they think I want if it's okay if I may reach something

you can talk the the this you talked about with calling the series with St. Louis the year we went

to the finals and we heard beat them like four one long it going into the third and we experienced

something that is very rare it was a tsunami of momentum it was you you it was like

we were just ready to get stabbed it was it we couldn't fight it yeah every time they took a shot

it went to somebody was in the net you know and we were trying to play that way but then it started

to build and build and then he tied it up and it was just it was like the first shift of

overtime yeah it was done but that's that that game took us out of it for the finals and

trained us and everyone of you guys said that yeah yeah over and and and now I'm being a bit cheeky

but did we had Jamie McCowan on and and didn't he say he had a cut well maybe you called

them out on a couple of giveaways behind the netter or maybe we're calling it because you

watch the video we we we evaluate the game tape we we we somehow tracked down the game tape

in 1980 just one of those things that did it just as you said this tsunami just it was unbelievable

to an experience it was like I wish we were on the other side of it because we have been in our

career probably where we've had that moment of but the fact that they came back and and and did

that but that you know and then we we we we play them and we beat them in game one at home yeah

we lost the next four by a goal two of them were in overtime and every game had a brawl at the end

I think that's a pepper bit Claude Leneuve do you remember that bit is cheek yeah and it was like

it was that this mall is a lower part of his year than really count didn't really count

yeah it was not feeling in that anyway it's not even a real part of your body oh but it was yeah

that so so we've kind of talked about iconic buildings we've talked about the Chicago stadium

talk with Montreal for yeah where was the favorite where was the best place for you to play hockey

when you would I mean maybe any like Xadoloma's great I get it but is there a place that you

would walk in you know like Maple Leaf Gardens or or for me growing up in Windsor when I was

that pressnable agent high school it was it was Detroit it was Toronto it was Montreal so Detroit

would be the Olympia or would that be Joel yeah yeah and you know you talked about Ronnie Ellis

oh yeah you know Normie Almond was my favorite oh my god love Normie Almond too you know and he

wasn't a superstar but but but I could relate to the way he played you know he wasn't a he

wasn't a big goal scorer but he was smart and he worked hard yeah so you know what I never

asked you your favorite player was would would it be Ronnie Almond Normie Almond oh here's

was Ronnie Almond Normie Almond Normie Almond Normie Almond Normie Almond Normie Almond was a guy

that because we live in Windsor and he was you know right across the river and and but we the high

school that we play that in in Windsor was called assumption college high school it was run by

bazillion priests father column was our coach and he he was six foot five two hundred sixty pounds

big respect like every man coach wise and he would that he knew somebody at the Olympia he could

get us practices there at six o'clock at Sunday morning we would get there at five like we

wanted to get out there it was like oh you know it was like holy ground you know I kind of holy

girl oh he was was there fog on the ice doing that early the morning early the morning layer

fog on the movie side yeah and as you skate on that the smoke kind of comes around your skates and

then it lifts yeah the lifts is like you yeah there was it was iconic you know so it was actually

those rinks are like holy lamb and then at the Toronto Maple Leaf the gardens you know like

my first game there mom and dad were living in Windsor and they they drove up for the game and

honestly honestly for some reason they selected me as a second star of the game I got the

to wait in the area oh yeah like the balls and you know you know you're kidding me

that is freaking great so why would you get for being like I and I'll tell a quick story here so

my my my first year with the hitman in the western hockey league if you were you were one of the

first three stars yeah you get a boss and pizza gift card and the and the first you know if you

were first star you get 35 bucks if you were the second star you get 20 bucks and if you're

a third star you get 10 bucks and I'll never forget I was first star quite a bit back in junior

and and and he got just coach Peter Mars on Jeff Mark okay okay and he raised it so Jeff

come to me after the game he's like hey what do you got there kiddo and I didn't and I would

open up the envelope I don't even know I open it up like oh my god it's a 35 dollar gift card

to Boston Pete jackpot this will go so far and he goes well why don't I take that from you

because we have the Boston pizza that we buy the meals from like that that lasagna is this

beginning so so all the boys of it get first star you did get the you get jack for the for the

BP's gift card so yeah and so I after a while I was like you know what these gift cards don't

mean anything to me anymore I'm not seeing the benefit I may as well just do my job and not

accept any credit for it on the ice so when you're the moles and cup we know one two three was

there was there any monetary value for you guys no I'm gonna let Mike take this you know I'll take

it out so rarely I didn't even notice you know what a lot of people don't know about me it's

through my career I you know garnished 1,500 moles and cup points wow yeah and where did you learn

that we're garnished garnished right instead of from a cup I'm virtually yeah unfortunately

for me a lot of those points came from the underneath the bottle tap

yeah

what do you need to get anything we got nothing but you but but there would be like a monthly

bit banquet right like you get the balls to come banquet you know and you didn't get a bunch

real too and you did that one anyway yeah there's nothing it didn't really it wasn't a factor

like I never thought about yeah if they gave me something that night I don't remember

I was just glad to skate off the ice for a moment where we got

and I was so happy to wave at Mike's mom and dad all right we are just getting started it is part

two of our conversation with former flame Mike eaves on this week's episode he's chatting once

again with your host Brent Cron and Colin Patterson we'll get you back to it in just a few minutes

but right now it is time for this week's edition of flames trivia brought to you by OSY rentals

make the best use of your oil field production budget OSY's vapor tight package comes with

everything required downstream of the wellhead call one eight five five OSY tank and your question

this week is Mike eaves themed so Mike was a part of Calgary's team that went to the Stanley Cup

final in 1986 eventually losing out to the Montreal Canadians he had two points in eight playoff

games that year with the flames on their run to the 86 Stanley Cup final I need to know in

the 1986 postseason who led the flames in scoring who led the flames and scoring during the 1986

postseason will give you a few seconds to come up with the answer

okay a bit of a trick question on this one because it wasn't just one player it was two

players who co led the flames in scoring during the 1986 postseason Joe Mullin and Al McKinnis

each had 19 points in 21 games that postseason and that is your correct answer and that is

another edition of flames trivia brought to you by OSY rentals okay thanks for being with us this

is another edition of the coming and Gillespie LLP flames alumni chronicles coming in Gillespie LLP

personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers helping families affected by cerebral palsy

pursue maximum compensation visit coming Gillespie dot com and we continue our chat with Mike eaves

around the corner

all right welcome back as we continue along on this week's edition of the coming in Gillespie LLP

flames alumni chronicles coming in Gillespie LLP personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers

committed to getting maximum compensation for the injured and their families visit coming Gillespie dot

com my name is Pat Steinberg you can get this program wherever you get your podcasts on the flames

talk podcast speed apple Spotify Amazon and more thanks for being along with us and this week

we're continuing our conversation it's part two of our chat with former flame Mike eaves and let's

get back into it right now Mike chatting with Colin Patterson and Brent Cron let's get back to it

so let's get into world juniors okay we were coaching at the national development program

in Ann Argers so this is a program that's designed to bring the best 17 and 18 year old they leave

home they come in we skate together we train you know and so we're in Ann Arbor and the group

that we had actually won the under 18-year-old championship with like Parisa and Souter and Patrick

was on that team and guys like that so this team that we have for the world juniors we knew

at that age group that 84 group was a pretty good team so we had over to Finland and

I think we were one of the favorites Canada was one of the favorites we went through the pre-limbs

and both teams did very well so we had over there we played really well in the preliminaries I

got to tell you a funny story though so we show up to Finland we they have their training center

north of Helsinki in a place called Hamiltonina so it's our first practice in there and the

Swedes are watching us the Russians are watching us they're in our division and so you ever heard

of a game called opposite two puck no so opposite hand two puck is a great way to warm up the

goalies but there's there's sticks on the net and every every other defense where the fours

got to switch sticks so they play opposite hand and there's two pucks at the same time on the ice

when you're trying to move up and down the ice and score well you look like you're a squirt when

you do this because nobody if you're right hand playing so the fans are the Swedes and the

Russians are watching us that I could just see them looking at us like these guys aren't very good

so right from day one we had them like what the hell are you doing what a great program we know

we know yeah yeah yeah who are these guys so we get so that the semis and the finals are in

Helsinki funny story about this is that the rink that we played the finals is is the same rink

that I coached him when I was in Finland it's like a home rinked us yeah so we were there we

played Finland in the semifinals in Finland I went back and watched that game about two months ago

it was one of the most physical hockey games I've ever seen like this is the the pride of their

country is riding on the line and we ended up beating them two one like it was such a physical game

our captain was Mark Stewart who was the first round pick of the Boston Bruins and he's an

assistant coach down in Edmonton do yeah and he separated his shoulder going in the corner hit a

guy the last minute of the game well so we ended up winning the game and then now we're playing

Canada in the in the gold medal game in Finland and and it was three to one after two period

Canada was the better team we had not played our best hockey but we went in there and we said

fellas it's it's really interesting when like you guys are Canadian I'm an American American coach

and when you play the Canadians it's a hurdle you have to get over there's a mental block

there these are the Canadians they have the reputation of being the best in the world and you

you you you have to play well to beat them well we didn't put our best football

so at the end of the second period it was like guys you know they haven't seen our best hockey

let's just go out there and play our best we made a couple switches in the lines

we make it three two we make it three three nine minutes to go Patrick Sullivan gets a stretch pass

he goes in and he loses a puck or he says I got hook coach and the puck ends up going to

flurry in the net flurry's playing he takes the puck and he tries a quick pop it up

third of the ice oh I remember this hits the defenseman right in the fanny and it goes in the net

it's like it's like an enmity with us and it's an omen and that ended up being the winning goal

four three they had nine minutes to get to tie it up and it was it was the first gold medal for

the U.S. and you know it was very special because my mom was there my life was there I got to coach

Patrick on the team our youngest son and and we got to do it together you know what's the

pattern sorry I'm going to cut you off for this quick second you talk about momentum and we

talked about the St. Louis game and you you wonder how it comes back because usually they always

tell you right when you play it's it's law of averages usually you can hear that through and

throughout your hockey career you or any professional athlete or in life when you're kind of going

through a bit of a spurt and you get kicked in the teeth and you kind of then as you evaluate your

life on the back side you wonder where you got it back and not saying that that's the case but

you can you can you weigh it on both sides I want to share something with you guys that

longtime coaching sometimes it's your time to win and there's an ex I call it an ex-factor you

could have a team of you could have a great team skill card leadership coaching sometimes it's

not your turn we played in the 2006 national championship game in college I was a coach now

we're playing Boston College you know walkie we're winning two to one with four seconds ago they

take a shot it hits the post and kicks out Brian Elliott is our goalie you know it hits the post

and kicks out we win the game this goal against Canada hits the guy in the fan he goes in the net

four years later we're in Detroit we're playing again in the national championship game against

Boston College again we're losing two nothing after two but we're starting to come on in a second

actually we played it where the lines play they played the game in Ford Field are you serious

it was bad bad event but anyway we're going in our best score is on a breakaway in the first

part of the second period he goes to make a shot the puck jumped eight inches away and I've

talked to people to confirm this I've watched it and you know what we lost four nothing it wasn't

meant to be that night it wasn't our turn so I believe in this X factor and I think young coaches

if they're listening like yes you want to win but don't squeeze that sand too hard because your

screws it out faster you got to hold it in your hand I hope that makes sense here well it totally

does hand you don't too like you remember Patrick Stefan when he's playing Dallas wide open net

just goes to backhand just gonna roll it in rolls over is that Dallas end of winning that game

regardless but you you talk about moments that are unexplainable that you just have to just swallow

and just move forward right it's like nothing wrong here it just the way it's gonna go pick your

socks up and let's get back to work it's a but it's easier said than done much much easy so how

neat was it for you and Patrick to win my god you know I don't know it's on yeah oh yeah I don't know

if you could ever truly put it into words I see pictures of us yeah with our arms are on each

other in Finland and there's a there's just a a deep sense of satisfaction that we could share

that together when we won there was no jumping on the bench with the coaches it was a hug in the

sense of of accomplishment like a glow of satisfaction and I think for Patrick and I

yeah that was that was the kind of way it was it wasn't an elusive thing it was just this is pretty

cool you know what I have to tell you this so you know when you win in only last 24 hours as

soon as you go to sleep it's done it's the next day you're on to other things you're at the clock

I stayed up all night with those kids in the hallways they went out they had their celebration

but the coaching staff was up with them in the hallways until four or five in the morning until

I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore because I didn't want it to end I wanted to share that with

those kids but the next morning it was done you guys have an anniversary of it or not not of that

not yet like yeah it's funny you ask that because this coming up in January here we're going

back to Madison for the old 16 yeah that won a national championship but they should do that

they should because you know what you're going to enjoy it even more oh you know I mean yeah I

want to I this this story like as as an interviewee but like to ask guys what do you remember about

that event has got to be your your most used question yeah because everybody we've shared

things that we saw different yeah and it's just the best part it's that's it's great right you

see things so different where I go from you and and Ben or Patrick getting me you go my god

what a tremendous opportunity yeah because you don't you don't get to win the first gold medal of

the junior you know will show the US yeah for the US with your son yeah I mean the bond that you

create to winning a championship is very rare and special you know I mean I think of you guys in

89 I mean I heard the stories that you guys coming back from Montreal I got over Winnipeg

there's no more beer on the plane they wanted to stop in Winnipeg but it was closed

why would you want to stop in Winnipeg well I'm talking to you guys you might want to

always want to make a pit stop in Winnipeg yeah but the same for you with the junior championship

for the NCAA it's the same thing any championship is so special right so let's talk about your time

that Wisconsin you okay you know I will he went there you end of coaching there that's to me

college prior it's very special yeah it's extremely special you know to coaches you're on the

monitor is unique to have that opportunity you know we got to win a championship as a player and a

coach there and that that is W unique so my wife is born and raised in Madison you know I was a

no man growing up no man as a coach one of my wife rarely she became a no man and you know she is

she's a low-flying angel what bethe is you know she might be a high-flying angel my guy so

but we went back there we were in an armor with a national program and we went to Wisconsin

and the program needed a change that that's why I was hired me that's what causes changes so we

went in there and and in four years we were able to turn it from a team that wasn't competing for

national championship we were in the national championship game and wanted so and it was not

an easy we had to change the culture I brought John Heinzen John was our assistant coach with

the Ann Arbor program yeah and he came we went we had him come and now he's coached in Minnesota so

we get the seeds otherwise it's kind of cool but he brought in when it was a process about changing

the culture and getting it to a point where we could win and to me that that word culture

is is a very sensitive word because people use it too much it's very important

and it's hard to change it is like when you you can tell when there's a bad culture right away

oh my god right like you know when you walk into a dressing room oh boy there's a problem here

and you can kind of pretty much quickly pinpoint where it's coming from right and it's not easy

gets and and that's that that's what I mean is you come in your new guy your your player you've won

you come in as a coach you're trying to change culture that's the number one things that coach

is saying when they come in as we're going to change a culture around here how do you do that

if I could jump in I just want to say in the college hockey it takes you four years to change

the culture because of the cycle of see upper classmen yeah and underclassmen yeah because you've

got scholarships going you've got you know freshman juniors you know sophomore you know seniors

takes a while so we've come in our first year so we're trying to change things so we've got a

group of guys that do not want to change we've got a group of guys that are kind of on the fence

with we've got a young guys that are like well we're all in they're like puppy dogs we've got

we'll do it every shake coach so that was that first year is tough the second year guys move out

you bring your own kids in I mean actually it was a perfect design in four years that we could

do what we did but it was it was it it's hard it's hard it's painful the some of the things

that we went through were life altering it's not only for us as coaches but it's the players

that we had to deal with and it changed their lives but we were able to do that in four years

with a national championship heart conversations oh my gosh life changing and then four

years later we were back in the national championship again you know because we recycled through

and then and then we went four years and we we lost in the regionals we lost in the regionals

the the North Dakota and over time and then we lost 10 seniors and our two best players

returning turn pro oh yeah so we lost 12 kids and we were miserable for two years you can't

replace that right if you don't know that's coming that's tough right so there we were I

described as we had a bunch of puppies in a box and we're jumping on in a box but we only

won four games one year eight games the next and all of a sudden there's rumblings yeah we're done

they decided to make a change and I told coach Alvarez Barry Alvarez was our athleticist coach

if you'll give me one more years this team will win because we're an upper classmate team for the

first time in three years they went twenty to fifteen but it was done they they they had and this

is a thing about college is that calling human I don't know what it's like at Clarkson but

alumni have a voice huge voice they have a voice in this because they donate the money

so of enough alumni are in there saying some donate the money if they're gonna hey you know let's

look if you do this I'll give you x y and z things change and so that may have been a part of it

I don't know because I think we that they left the alone I think we would have been fine

but in the long run isn't it interesting how sometimes life works out like you know what

getting getting let go at that time with the portal coming in oh yeah this is the wild wild west

right now a college hockey it's unbelievable yeah I don't know that I could have handled it yeah

that I don't know what's going to happen with it either you know I go there's so many things that

could transform that plus the you know the Canadian junior star oh what's the trip yes

but that McKinna the Gavin McKinna boy that went to went to Penn State yeah like that old was

up a whole can of worms like this is this is the top guy in the CHL leaves to go to college

yeah but you know for pro teams it's a good thing yeah because these kids are playing college

are older stronger faster than the kids playing junior go to junior play a couple of years

test yourself and then go to college get your degree or whatever but you're playing against

older kids you'll be better prepared to go to the NHL rather than go to the minors you know and

that's that's quick just I'm I'm a I'm a CHL guy for us to lead guys yes has that always been the

case that no great no no just recently because it's a change because I because I played in the era

where where guys from college were coming to the westward are coming to the CHL to get drafted

and like and you know what and it's more like the pro game battle and then the travel and all

this stuff and so like it's funny how it shifts because you can see the difference like

we're we're going to talk about McKinna here for a quick second but he dominated the Western

Hockey League the kids that even dropped elbow at that time yes he goes and plays against men

in the college where work met men ish right yep and he's doing he's doing fine he's doing fine but

he's not great he's not good enough right he's not dominant yes and so and I've noticed that

difference and I played hockey over the years the ton of college guys right and and you know like

like Bobby nice from his boy Eric right the nowhere and well and and and and not Eric was he's such a

good person and he was one of those guys too was a hydrafic but he walked into a situation where

he would do whatever it takes to make the national hockey league right when he when he went he was

over you they drafted him for his skill but he ended up being a hard guy to play against a physical

player he'd fight if he had to and he didn't have that in his toolbox when he was prepared to do

it which is probably 95 percent of the battle right if you're prepared to do what it takes

the rest kind of sorts itself out if you have that foundation and that skill set right and so

he was one of those players where like you know David Moss was another guy I played with right

yes I recognize his they yeah right and and so college guys bigger guys and it's like

early 2000s or mid 2000s you're playing in the American league and and from from like the

western league he's a western league perspective right you're you're always a battle it's college

guys it's western league it's you know like you know like they how how tough everybody thinks

they are how much better both sides think they are and and and and you can just see the shift

in my opinion now where you go to college this is what the western league the CHL you

used to be a very physical yes physically dominating league and now you don't see that the

physicality is kind of leaving the game really and I don't it's it's a lot less than what I mean

it's just my opinion once again if you disagree I don't see it right don't know right but

you you see the the the college game and their their men they work out they have chance to work

on their body they have chance to work on their skills and it's a lot more strategic stronger

game because they have that extra two or three years on guys I would inject on this because

I've seen some some college games on TV with Wisconsin Michigan I think the physicality in college

has gone oh I'm saying I'm saying I'm saying the physicality in the what in this CHL has gone

down and I'm talking about the physicality is it's raising in the college in the game they are

on TV right now so you see and I've started to see a bit more more more heavier game yep and

and they're and that's just like once again I that's that's my opinion for what I've watched yeah

I've you seen that calling yeah I have you know I go where's it gonna like where the teams

gonna draft from are they drafting from college or they're drafting from you know CHL

you know I don't know why but it's 18 years old they got to try to make a project

we got to figure out yeah right like I'll never forget I think I think the junior like the

tier two junior is gone from drafting from there's all those kids are either going to go western

hockey they go or can you not get eight and then universally or beyond for me I mean in this

whole this whole is conversations where we're in a we're in a real heater right now because it's

where we're trying to talk about you with all this stuff but I like where this is going oh no this

is all right yeah because I want to get over here Mike I want to hear your version then Mike's

yes yes because I there was no doubt for me I was going to the western hockey league not a doubt

in my mind I was a gold tenor I'm not I'm not fighting guys I'm not fighting my way there we just

had Paul Cruz on right he's a western league guy Camlos Blazer and it was always the pride of

the league that it was heavy hockey yes right it was especially the western you oh my gosh I went

to world junior camps in the summertime evaluation camps and it was the west the old and the cute

and there was there was a separation right and and the western league guys were tough rock piles the

OHL were kind of more cocky skilled guys that thought they were down the queue was all skilled

right is it still that way and and and I'm generalizing that's fair but and and so as you work

your way through it I go to a lot of junior games now I love it I love going driving up to red

deer I love going to watch the rebels play smaller junior barns I go to the kippen games I love

watching you've seen the junior game evolved into a more skill game when you watch the world

juniors the Canadians don't have that heavy presence anymore they're not and and they're not

physically intimidating and they're not going to beat you physically and they're going to try

to beat you at a skill game which is more of a European way of playing hockey to me in my yep

yeah I hear you say as the skill has evolved the Canadians have kind of lost their physical edge

so then when you translate that to the CHL and you're looking at the college game you watch

college games now and it's like oh these guys are they're mean but look at the national hockey

over time with the influence of European players oh yeah this is skilled game I know

we used to dress three or four goons again yes now I mean do we do we even dress a goon

you better be able to you don't know you can't afford to the fourth line they can play they don't

make mistakes I mean yeah so it's evolved as of the point for after we're looking at and and

you're yours due to the game you've coached like you said you played pro for eight years I think

you said you have coached for 36 36 and so when you're on the other side of the spectrum what

what what what do what did you like more did you like playing more or did you do like coaching

more or you you can't compare the two no they're different I will say this

coaching is the next best thing to play yeah because you're you're you are invested in your players

you're as close as you can be to being a player through your players and then that is a unique

thing but but if you can look back you go I wish you could have played more but if I'm coaching

now I'm good now I you know what people ask me if I miss coaching I don't I look back on

and now what a coach does the the coaching profession is absolutely goofy it's crazy the demands

that it makes on you your family your wife is absolutely astronomical I loved it but I'm married

a woman that understood I mean I'm up at five in the morning and and I would work to eleven at

night making calls watching video get up the next day and do the same thing you know but I

loved it but looking back on and now from a different perspective like that's crazy but I

wouldn't I wouldn't have changed the thing but yeah but you were so fortunate you had a great

fight oh my gosh if I hadn't married a different woman I would be divorced you're what you're

good looking guy though too right you gotta give her a man you're not you're not you're not all

breaks right but but you go if you don't have the wife to back you up I mean you're you're nothing

much done again she's a low flying agent yeah I said that before I'll say it again it's just

it's special thank you so much for this thanks the comment yeah all right friends there you have it

that is part two of our conversation with former flame Mike eaves part one of the conversation

last week as well thanks for being along with us this week thanks to Mike for stopping by thanks to

our host Brent Cron and Colin Patterson thanks to the garrison pub for providing an outstanding

recording location and as always thank you to you for listening that'll wrap us up on the coming

in Gillespie LLP flames alumni chronicles personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers helping

families affected by cerebral palsy pursue maximum compensation visit coming gillespie.com my name

is Pat Steinberg and we will talk to you on the next episode