Because Blackhawks chose Mark Eaton to drive Icehogs without any coaching experience

Rockford, Illinois – The players could perceive that the clip videos were going too long. Mark Eaton also started grabbing him.

Eaton had just been moved to his work as deputy general examination of the development of Blackhawks players to be the head of Rockford Icehogs coach in the HL. He had a lot of experience with many Icehogs players from his past position, but he was entering his new job with zero experience. There would be a learning curve for many things, like showing video clips before a game.

“I don’t think he realized how long some clips took, so we were looking at the clips for some time before the game,” said the defender of Blackhawks Ethan del Mastro, who was with the ice during the first days of Eaton. “And then, it’s like,” enough. We will cut it there. “It was fun because he had all these clips that he wanted to show and talk about it, but he was going too long before the game.

Eaton had been happy and happy in his previous role with the organization. He had a development staff under him and kept under control on the development of each perspective of near and far blackhawks. The general manager of Blackhawks Kyle Davidson had a huge trust in Eaton to ensure that the players were developing correctly.

And it was that level of trust that led Davidson to offer to Eaton what he considered an even more important role this season. When Davidson decided to let Luke Richardson go as head of Blackhawkskks coach in early December and promote Anders Sörensen, who had been the head of the coach Icehogs, Davidson needed someone to replace Sörensen. With the ICEHOGS roster including Kevin Korchinski (an overall choice of 2022 n. 7), Frank Nazar (n. 13 in 2022), Arthyom Livshunov (n. 2 in 2024) and a number of other promising prospects of Blackhawks, Davidson has considered development to Rockford in this season to be paramount to the future success.

“Everything dates back to how important the development of our young players here is,” said Davidson recently. “And to have Someone like Mark Eaton that was around Rockford a Ton, he was around all the Those Players a ton the last coupe of Years, but specifically this year, and Hew What Was Being Done, How Things Were Executed in Terms of Practices, Game Planning, Development, Development, Planning. and So to Have Someone That Was So Intimtely Involved and Intimatelo Understanding of the day-to-day in Rockford, that was Something that was important to make up there was some continuity for Those Players, Because we did feel like on sucha with good trace.

“Mark being a highly capable and truly intelligent person, and he had no coaching experience at that point, but I had no doubts that he would have been able to manage it and be able to make that transition without continuity and continue the positive steps that our players took this year.”

Eaton was surprised when Davidson offered him his position. It was intrigued by the opportunity and has always been ready to do what is best for the organization, but there have been some family conversations to have first. Although Eaton traveled in the role of development of his player, he had still come home often with his wife and daughter on the eastern coast. Icehogs work would mean being much more.

“My wife, during my player career, the career in the development and management of the players, was super favor,” Eaton said. “It is the rock, the glue of the family. He told me he is fine, but it is better that he asks my sixteen year old, and he immediately said, you know, what a beautiful opportunity, he certainly takes advantage of it. And you know, my wife will make it work for what we see each other, so they have been out this times. And I can’t say that it seems normal, but it seems that it does it as normally possible.”

So Eaton accepted the job. He knew there was a lot of learning in front of him. He had worked a lot with individual players and a number of icehogs, but this was different. This was bringing back his attention on a wider group, despite being careful of individual development. This was implementing systems, managing the time of ice, considering lines and combinations, thinking about matches and much more.

Eaton has made a lot of coaches on coaches Rob Klinkhammer and Josh Macnevin, goalkeeper’s development coach Matt Smith and almost all the others around Icehogs from the beginning.

“A part of me feels bad, as if they had to teach me some things because in development you have to do more with individuals and the type of habits within their game and what they have to do individually to be successful,” Eaton said. “While coaching, it is a lot of the team and systems, the different scenarios within a game that I had not thought of my days of play. And also in my days of play, I knew what my job was as a defender, but I did not know what F1 on the APUTECK or on the trackers had to do or what were the responsibilities of the other positions. So it is a kind of learning to the fly.”

One day after being hired, Icehogs had their next game.

“It happens quickly,” Eaton said about how he was on the bench for that first. “It is also how the number one priority is to make sure that the next line knows who is standing. And if you are thinking about the matchups, many times what is really happening in the game takes a rear seat, which certainly should not be the case. But yes, once again, they are still a few months later.

After losing 4-1 in his coaching debut, Icehogs had another game the next day and lost 2-1 in the extraordinary. Eaton was raised when Icehogs finally broke their four-games losing series the following week with a 5-1 victory.

Despite the rocky beginning, Eaton and Icehogs have made progress since then. From the team’s point of view, Icehogs passed 19-18-1 under Eaton and are having the best month of the season with a 6-2-1-0 record in March. Icehogs are in place for another playoff place.

Mark Eaton is very home on ice after a 13 -year -old NHL career, but there is a new challenge behind the bench. (Kristin Ostrowski / Rockford Icehogs)

The Blackhawks defender Wyatt Kaiser played for Eaton for a lot of January and February. Kaiser always liked to work with Eaton in his previous role and discovered a new respect for the way Eaton participated in his responsibilities as head coach.

“I think you can say that it is very caring and it is very well informed, but then the next step to try to teach and explain it in a very clear message and speak constantly on this and make sense for many different people who have different ideas of hockey,” said Kaiser. “It is difficult to train. You have many different personalities, the way each player thinks that the game is a little different. But I think he really does a good job in teaching. He is able to teach what he thinks in his message and to be able to resonate with all the players so far.”

Del Mastro noticed that Eaton also had a better management of those sessions and video meetings.

“I am just entering meetings and things like that, it is difficult to understand the times, for how long to speak, when not talking and things like that,” said Del Mastro. “In the end, he was realizing where to speak, for how long for the meetings, where to add things, (take) stuff. He was improving over time, every game.”

From a personal point of view, Eaton can recognize his growth as a coach, but also in the way he sees and includes hockey in a different way with his coaching experience. He forced him to look at the players and the game from a new perspective.

“It was only a test with the fire and look at the games obviously live from behind the bench, but then she saw me again shortly after and seeing things you did not see live, and in a certain sense change the way you watch the games or watch the games in video,” Eaton said. “In a sense I went to the top, more from the systematic approach and then by individuals within the system and therefore to the habits within the individual. Sometimes I have to review periods or games of games to collect certain things. But yes, it is the best way to learn.”

Eaton and Sörensen were often in communication in their previous roles and this did not change much. Sörensen said he speaks at least a few times a week.

“I think many things we are doing here, they do it there, so it’s a regular transition in this way,” said Sörensen. “Klinkhammer was with me a couple of years and helped him. But we have constantly spoke of a few challenges, on how to structure things, if it is video or practical. He is an intelligent hockey person, so he knows what he wants, but it was really good.”

Eaton was not sure if he would return his old job or where Davidson imagined him for the future. But whatever the role of Eaton, this season will influence the way it approaches the game.

“It wasn’t my thought that entered us,” Eaton said. “It was more, you know, I have always been a team player, loyal. And for a situation that Kyle thought that I would be better served in filling, I was more than happy to do it. But now having been in this role for three months, there is no doubt that it has helped me to grow in all the individual areas, my approach to development, if it is what I go back.

“He gave me a new perspective on Hockey, a way to see the game. And in the end, whatever happens from here, I will definitely be better for this.”

(Photo above: Kristin Ostrowski / Rockford Icehogs)