Check In with Coach Eaves
Apr 9, 2020The Cleveland Monsters were returning from a pair of away games in Charlotte as concerns regarding COVID-19 began to swell and eventually led to the suspension of the American Hockey League season. During these unprecedented times, Head Coach Mike Eaves changed his perspective regarding his first season with the Monsters and learned to adapt to the new challenges presented by the global pandemic.
Eaves recently took some time to talk about what his day-to-day life now consists of, what he is reading and who is winning the card games at home.
On how he works from home:
I think not only for myself but in talking to [Steve McCarthy] and [Trent Vogelhuber], we all have projects on a weekly and day-to-day basis. We have broken down all our games from the year as one of the things that we are doing for projects. We are finding the best clips on certain parts of our game to create a teaching tape. [It will allow us to] talk about how we played in our own zone defensively and have clips of it, for example, as well as clips of our year when we were at our best. That is something we would have been doing in the summertime, but it accelerates our process that we are able to do it right now.
On talking to the players:
It has been minimal talking to the players. The coaching and Monsters staff have all been in constant contact, but it is almost like ‘what do you tell the guys?’. [The players] are getting their information from [Monsters General Manager] Chris Clark as we are getting it, so I have [been staying] in touch with some of the guys that have remained here in town just see how they are doing. We are all in limbo and this is unprecedented times. We do not have a book on how to go through something like this, but I have stayed in touch with the boys as much as I can.
On the daily schedule in the Eaves’ house:
I think my wife and I have worked ourselves into a little bit of a pattern. We find days where we have goals and routines that it all goes by faster. This is such an old-fashioned answer, but I remember seeing a video from an armed forces commander saying that the simplest thing to do to get yourself off on the right foot is to make your bed. I mean, you kind of laugh but there is truth to that! You get up, make your bed and go on to check your list of what else there is to do.
Our list usually consists of making the bed, exercising of some sort, walk the dog, eating, watching a video and reading a book. We have been doing day trips in and around Cleveland in terms of going to different parks to take the dog for a walk. We have been able to discover more about Cleveland this way and even went up to Sandusky and Oberlin College for some day trips. We try to give ourselves tasks where we can be able to go out and explore but be socially responsible at the same time.
On how quarantining is going:
I taught my wife Cribbage, but the student is slowly becoming the teacher which is not very much fun but that happens. We have done some puzzles and exhausted all the movies on Netflix and Prime Video. One of the things that I think helps is that I am an early morning person, so I get up before my bride and read or [take advantage of] my quiet time. She likes to stay up a little later, so she will put the house to bed while I go up and read. We are trying to create some “me time” while we are in this quarantine which has been a challenge… 98% of the time we are getting along and that is a good thing!
On what he’s reading:
There are a couple books I have been able to get into and one is The Captain Class by Sam Walker. It is a theory of leadership and, as a coach, has really been a good read. I have also been reading Legacy by James W. Kerr… That has been a great one as well. I think when you have this extra time, not only can you read but you can make notes in the book to go back and do a self-book report almost. That process actually helps some people understand the book better and lets it get into your DNA.