Jeff Sauer facts for kids
Sauer in 2015
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| Biographical details | |||||||||||||||||
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| Born | March 10, 1943 Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, U.S. |
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| Died | February 2, 2017 (aged 73) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
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| Playing career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1965 | Colorado College | ||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1965–1966 | Colorado College (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1966–1971 | Wisconsin (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971–1982 | Colorado College | ||||||||||||||||
| 1982–2002 | Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | US National Team (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | US National Team (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | US Paralympic Sled Hockey Team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | US National Sled Hockey Team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | US Paralympic Sled Hockey Team | ||||||||||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||||
| Overall | 655-534-57 | ||||||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | |||||||||||||||||
| Championships | |||||||||||||||||
| 2x NCAA national champion (1983, 1990) 2x WCHA regular season champion (1990, 2000) 6x WCHA tournament champion (1978, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1998) |
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| Awards | |||||||||||||||||
| 1972 WCHA Coach of the Year 1975 WCHA Coach of the Year 2003 John "Snooks" Kelley Founders Award 2004 Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame 2011 Lester Patrick Award 2013 Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame 2013 Hobey Baker Legend of College Hockey Award |
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Medal record
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Jeffrey Sauer (born March 10, 1943 – died February 2, 2017) was an amazing American ice hockey player and coach. He was best known for coaching the University of Wisconsin's ice hockey team from 1982 to 2002. Before that, he coached at Colorado College from 1971 to 1982.
While coaching at Wisconsin, he led the Badgers to win two national championships in college ice hockey. Later in his life, he also helped coach the US Paralympic Sled Hockey Team to two gold medals!
Contents
Jeff Sauer's Hockey Journey
Playing College Hockey
Jeff Sauer earned a sports scholarship to Colorado College. He started attending the school in 1961. After sitting out his first year, he joined the team.
He played under coaches Tony Frasca and then Bob Johnson. Even with his hard work, Colorado College didn't make it to the playoffs during his three years. He graduated in 1965.
Becoming a Coach
After college, Sauer became an assistant coach under Bob Johnson at Colorado College. He then followed Johnson to Wisconsin.
Coaching Colorado College
In 1971, Sauer got his first big chance to be a head coach at his old school, Colorado College. The team hadn't been doing very well, with only two winning seasons in the previous 13 years. Sauer slowly helped the team get better.
It took him four years to build a winning team. In the 1974-75 season, they finished third in their conference. His biggest success there came three years later. His team, which was in fifth place, surprised everyone by beating a strong Denver team. They won a share of the WCHA tournament title. This was the only conference tournament title in Colorado College's history (as of 2014).
Overall, Sauer led Colorado College to two winning seasons during his 11 years as head coach.
Coaching Wisconsin's Badgers
In 1982, Bob Johnson left Wisconsin to coach in the NHL. Sauer returned to Madison to take over as head coach. He found success right away! The Badgers won the national title in 1983.
Throughout the 1980s, Wisconsin was one of the best college hockey teams. They often won 20 games or more each year. In 1990, Sauer showed he could not only coach a national champion but also build one. He won his second NCAA title that year.
During his 20 seasons at Wisconsin, Sauer's teams won:
- 2 conference regular season titles
- 5 conference tournament titles
- 4 seasons with 30 or more wins
- 11 trips to the NCAA tournament
- 2 national championships
He retired as head coach after the 2001-02 season. He was the winningest coach in Wisconsin's history. In September 2016, he was added to the Wisconsin Badgers Hall of Fame.
Helping US Sled Hockey
After retiring from college coaching, Sauer became an assistant commissioner for the WCHA. In 2010, he returned to coaching to lead the US sled hockey team at the 2010 Winter Paralympics. He helped the American team win their second gold medal in the event. Four years later, he coached them to another gold medal at the Sochi Paralympics.
Jeff Sauer passed away on February 2, 2017, from pancreatic cancer.
Coaching Records
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado College Tigers (WCHA) (1972–1982) | |||||||||
| Colorado College: | 166-228-11 | 138-191-9 | |||||||
| Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA) (1982–2002) | |||||||||
| Wisconsin: | 489-306-46 | 344-234-40 | |||||||
| Total: | 655-534-57 | ||||||||
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National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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