Jeff Sauer

Jeff Sauer
	Sauer in 2015
Biographical details
Born	March 10, 1943; Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	February 2, 2017 (aged 73); Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
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)
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
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing the USA
Winter Paralympics

Jeffrey Sauer (March 10, 1943 – February 2, 2017) was an American ice hockey player and coach. Sauer was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin from 1982 to 2002 and Colorado College from 1971 to 1982. While at Wisconsin, he led the Badgers to two NCAA men's ice hockey championships. He was the special assistant to the commissioner of the WCHA prior to his death.

Career

Playing

Jeff Sauer accepted an athletic scholarship from Colorado College and began attending the school in 1961.^[1] After sitting out the Tigers' disastrous 0-23 season in 1961-62 Sauer became part of the rebuild under first Tony Frasca and then Bob Johnson. Despite his efforts, Sauer couldn't help Colorado College reach the WCHA playoffs in any of his three seasons before graduating in 1965.^[2]

Coaching

After graduating Sauer signed on as an assistant under Johnson at CC and then followed his former coach to Wisconsin, staying with the program until just after the Badgers joined the WCHA before he received his shot behind the bench at his alma mater.^[3] Sauer took over for a rather moribund program that had seen only two winning seasons in their past 13 campaigns^[4] and slowly brought the team back to respectability. It took Sauer 4 years to build a winning team, finishing 1974-75 3rd place in the conference, but his biggest achievement came three years later when the 5th-place Tigers upset a 33-win Denver team to capture a share of the WCHA tournament, the only conference tournament title in team history. (as of 2014) All told, however, Sauer didn't have much more success than his predecessors as he could only provide Colorado College with 2 winning seasons in 11 years as head coach.

When his former boss Johnson left Wisconsin after 1981–82 to pursue an NHL coaching career, Sauer returned to Madison to replace him and immediately found the success that had eluded him at Colorado College when the Badgers won the national title in 1983.^[5] Throughout the 1980s Wisconsin remained one of the top programs in the country, routinely winning 20 games a year and in 1990 Sauer proved that not only could he coach a national champion, but he could build one as well when he captured his second NCAA title.^[6] In Sauer's 20 seasons with Wisconsin he provided 2 conference regular season titles, 5 conference tournament titles, 4 30-win seasons and 11 NCAA tournament berths in addition to winning two national titles. He retired as head coach after the 2001–02 season, turning the program over to Badger alumnus Mike Eaves. He retired as the winningest coach in Wisconsin history. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Badgers Hall of Fame in September 2016.

Administration

After stepping down Sauer agreed to serve as the assistant commissioner for the WCHA for several years and in 2010 he returned as head coach for the US sled hockey team at the 2010 Winter Paralympics. He helped the Americans to their second gold medal in the event and four years later returned for a repeat performance in Sochi.^[7] He died on February 2, 2017, from pancreatic cancer.^[8]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Colorado College Tigers (WCHA) (1972–1982)
1971-72	Colorado College	13-19-0	11-17-0	9th
1972-73	Colorado College	10-24-0	5-23-0	9th
1973-74	Colorado College	13-17-2	10-16-2	9th
1974-75	Colorado College	23-16-0	21-11-0	3rd	WCHA first round
1975-76	Colorado College	15-22-1	15-16-1	6th	WCHA first round
1976-77	Colorado College	13-25-2	11-20-1	8th	WCHA first round
1977-78	Colorado College	18-22-1	13-19-0	5th	NCAA quarterfinals
1978-79	Colorado College	12-24-2	11-19-2	8th	WCHA first round
1979-80	Colorado College	21-17-1	13-16-1	3rd	WCHA second round
1980-81	Colorado College	17-19-0	12-16-0	7th	WCHA second round
1981-82	Colorado College	11-23-2	16-18-2	6th	WCHA first round
Colorado College:		166-228-11	138-191-9
Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA) (1982–2002)
1982-83	Wisconsin	33-10-4	15-9-2	3rd	NCAA national champion
1983-84	Wisconsin	21-17-1	11-14-1	4th	WCHA semifinals
1984-85	Wisconsin	25-17-0	20-14-0	3rd	WCHA semifinals
1985-86	Wisconsin	27-15-0	23-11-0	3rd	WCHA semifinals
1986-87	Wisconsin	23-18-1	17-17-1	4th	WCHA semifinals
1987-88	Wisconsin	30-13-2	22-12-1	2nd	NCAA East Regional semifinals
1988-89	Wisconsin	25-16-5	17-13-5	t-3rd	NCAA quarterfinals
1989-90	Wisconsin	36-9-1	19-8-1	1st	NCAA national champion
1990-91	Wisconsin	26-15-3	19-11-2	3rd	NCAA first round
1991-92	Wisconsin	27-14-2	19-11-2	2nd	NCAA runner-up†
1992-93	Wisconsin	24-15-3	18-11-3	t-2nd	NCAA West Regional semifinals
1993-94	Wisconsin	26-15-1	19-12-1	3rd	NCAA East Regional semifinals
1994-95	Wisconsin	24-15-4	17-11-4	t-2nd	NCAA West Regional semifinals
1995-96	Wisconsin	17-20-3	14-15-3	6th	WCHA third-place game (loss)
1996-97	Wisconsin	15-21-2	15-15-2	7th	WCHA first round
1997-98	Wisconsin	26-14-1	17-10-1	2nd	NCAA East Regional Quarterfinals
1998-99	Wisconsin	15-19-4	13-12-4	4th	WCHA first round
1999-00	Wisconsin	31-9-1	23-5-0	1st	NCAA West Regional semifinals
2000-01	Wisconsin	22-15-4	14-10-4	5th	NCAA West Regional semifinals
2001-02	Wisconsin	16-19-4	12-13-3	5th	WCHA Quarterfinal
Wisconsin:		489-306-46	344-234-40
Total:		655-534-57
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

† Wisconsin's participation in the 1992 Tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions References:^[9]^[10]

References

^ "Peak Profile: Jeff Sauer '65". Colorado College. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
^ "Jeff Sauer - 2013 Legend of College Hockey". HobeyBaker.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ "Colorado College Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ "Jeff Sauer Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ "Jeff Sauer". USA Hockey. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ Milewski, Todd D. "Badgers men's hockey: Former Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer dies at 73". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
^ "2013-14 Colorado College Media Guide" (PDF). Colorado College Tigers. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
^ "2013-14 Wisconsin Badgers Media Guide" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-07-19.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
Wisconsin bio

Awards and achievements
Preceded by John MacInnes Herb Brooks	WCHA Coach of the Year 1971–72 1974–75	Succeeded by Lefty Smith John MacInnes
Preceded by Fernie Flaman	Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award 2013	Succeeded by Jack Parker

[1] "Peak Profile: Jeff Sauer '65". Colorado College. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[2] "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-01.

[3] "Jeff Sauer - 2013 Legend of College Hockey". HobeyBaker.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[4] "Colorado College Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[5] "Jeff Sauer Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[6] "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[7] "Jeff Sauer". USA Hockey. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[8] Milewski, Todd D. "Badgers men's hockey: Former Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer dies at 73". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 3 February 2017.

[9] "2013-14 Colorado College Media Guide" (PDF). Colorado College Tigers. Retrieved 2014-07-19.

[10] "2013-14 Wisconsin Badgers Media Guide" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-07-19.

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v t e Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Broadmoor World Arena I (1938–1994) Cadet Ice Arena (1994–1998) Broadmoor World Arena II (1998–2021) Ed Robson Arena (2021–present)
Head coaches	John Atwood (1937–1938) Garrett Livingston (1938–1942) C.E. Moore (1944–1945) Cheddy Thompson (1945–1955) Tom Bedecki (1955–1958) Tony Frasca (1958–1963) Bob Johnson (1963–1966) John Matchefts (1966–1971) Jeff Sauer (1971–1982) Mike Bertsch (1982–1988) Brad Buetow (1988–1993) Don Lucia (1993–1999) Scott Owens (1999–2014) Mike Haviland (2014–2021) Kris Mayotte (2021–Present)
Seasons	1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) (1951–1958, 1959–2013) National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) (2013–present)
Rivalries	Air Force Falcons Battle for Pikes Peak Denver Pioneers Battle for the Gold Pan
All-time leaders	Dave Delich (285 Points) Ron Hartwell (112 Goals) Jeff Sanger (76 Wins)
National championships	1950 1957
Frozen Four appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1955 1957 1996 1997 2005
NCAA Tournament appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1955 1957 1978 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2008 2011
Conference Tournament titles	WCHA: 1978
Hobey Baker winners	Peter Sejna (2003) Marty Sertich (2005)
Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO

v t e Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Hartmeyer Ice Arena (1963–1967) Dane County Coliseum (1967–1998) Kohl Center (1998–present)
Head coaches	A. C. Viner (1921–1923) Robert Blodgett (1923–1924) Kay Iverson (1924–1926) Rube Brandow (1926–1927) John Farquhar (1927–1930) Spike Carlson (1930–1931) Art Thomasen (1931–1935) John Riley (1963–1966) Bob Johnson (1966–1975, 1976–1982) Bill Rothwell (1975–1976) Jeff Sauer (1982–2002) Mike Eaves (2002–2016) Tony Granato (2016–2023) Mike Hastings (2023–Present)
Seasons	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	WCHA (1970–2013) Big Ten (1968–1981, 2013–present)
Culture & lore	Badger Showdown Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic
Rivalries	Minnesota
All-time leaders	Mike Eaves (267 Points) Mark Johnson (125 Goals) Graham Melanson (81 Wins)
National championships	1973 1977 1981 1983 1990 2006
Frozen Four appearances	1970 1972 1973 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 1990 1992* 2006 2010
NCAA Tournament appearances	1970 1972 1973 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992* 1993 1994 1995 1998 2000 2001 2004 2005 2006 2008 2010 2013 2014 2021 2024
Conference Tournament titles	WCHA: 1970 1972 1973 1977 1978 1982 1983 1988 1990 1995 1998 2013 Big Ten: 2014
Hobey Baker winners	Blake Geoffrion (2010)
Notable players	Adam Burish Jake Dowell Mike Eaves Brian Elliott Jake Gardiner Paul Houck Dany Heatley Mark Johnson Ryan McDonagh Craig Norwich Steven Reinprecht Craig Smith Derek Stepan Brad Winchester
University of Wisconsin Madison, WI