Sauer in 2015
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Sport(s) | Ice hockey |
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Biographical details | |
Born |
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, United States |
March 10, 1943
Died | February 2, 2017 Madison, Wisconsin, United States |
(aged 73)
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 | |
1978 WCHA Tournament Champion 1983 WCHA Tournament Champion 1983 NCAA National Champion 1988 WCHA Tournament Champion 1990 WCHA Regular Season Champion 1990 WCHA Tournament Champion 1990 NCAA National Champion 1995 WCHA Tournament Champion 1998 WCHA Tournament Champion 2000 WCHA Regular Season Champion |
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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 |
Medal record | ||
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Men's ice hockey | ||
Representing the USA | ||
Winter Paralympics | ||
2010 Vancouver | (Coach) | |
2014 Sochi | (Coach) |
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.
Jeff Sauer accepted an athletic scholarship from Colorado College and began attending the school in 1961. 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.
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. Sauer took over for a rather moribund program that had seen only two winning seasons in their past 13 campaigns 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.