{"id":18779,"date":"2025-03-26T12:55:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18779"},"modified":"2025-03-26T12:55:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:55:03","slug":"why-blackhawks-chose-mark-eaton-to-lead-icehogs-without-any-coaching-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18779","title":{"rendered":"Why Blackhawks chose Mark Eaton to lead IceHogs without any coaching experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ROCKFORD, Ill. \u2014 The players could sense the video clips were going on too long. Mark Eaton began to grasp that, too.<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/p>\n

Eaton had just been moved over from his job as Blackhawks assistant general manager of player development to be the Rockford IceHogs head coach in the AHL. He had a ton of experience with a lot of the IceHogs players from his past position, but he was entering his new job with zero experience. There would be a learning curve to a lot of things, like showing video clips before a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he realized how long some of the clips took, so we were watching clips for quite a while before the game,\u201d said Blackhawks defenseman Ethan Del Mastro, who was with the IceHogs during Eaton\u2019s early days on the job. \u201cAnd then, he\u2019s like, \u2018That\u2019s enough. We\u2019ll cut it there.\u2019 It was funny because he had all these clips he wanted to show and talk about it, but it was getting too long before the game. He obviously knows as a (past) player he doesn\u2019t want us sitting there too long, eventually start losing attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eaton had been happy and content in his previous role with the organization. He had a development staff under him and they kept tabs on the development of every Blackhawks prospect near and far. Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson had an immense amount of trust in Eaton to ensure players were developing properly.<\/p>\n

And it was that level of trust that led Davidson to offer Eaton what he considered an even more important role this season. When Davidson decided to let Luke Richardson go as Blackhawks head coach in early December and promote Anders S\u00f6rensen, who had been the IceHogs head coach, Davidson needed someone to replace S\u00f6rensen. With the IceHogs\u2019 roster including Kevin Korchinski (a 2022 No. 7 overall pick), Frank Nazar (No. 13 in 2022), Artyom Levshunov (No. 2 in 2024) and a number of other promising Blackhawks prospects, Davidson deemed the development in Rockford this season to be paramount to future NHL success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all goes back to how important the development of our young players is in the big picture here,\u201d Davidson said recently. \u201cAnd to have someone like Mark Eaton that was around Rockford a ton, he was around all those players a ton the last couple of years, but specifically this year, and he saw what was being done, how things were being executed in terms of practices, game planning, development planning. And so to have someone that was so intimately involved and intimately understanding of the day-to-day in Rockford, that was something that was important to make sure there was some continuity for those players, because we did feel like they were on such a good track.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark being a highly capable person and really smart, and he didn\u2019t have any coaching experience going into that spot, but I had no doubt that he would be able to handle it and be able to make that transition seamless and continue the positive strides that our players have made there this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eaton was surprised when Davidson offered him the position. He was intrigued by the opportunity and has always been up to do what\u2019s best for the organization, but there were some family conversations to be had first. As much as Eaton did travel in his player development role, he was still back home often with his wife and daughter on the East Coast. The IceHogs job would mean being gone a lot more.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife, throughout my playing career, career in player development and management, has been super supportive,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cShe\u2019s the rock, the glue of the family. She told me she\u2019s fine with it, but better ask my 16-year-old, and she instantly said, you know, what a cool opportunity, certainly take advantage of it. And, you know, my wife will make it work as far as us seeing each other, so they\u2019ve been out a few times. And I can\u2019t say it feels normal, but she\u2019s making it seem as normal as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Eaton accepted the job. He knew there was plenty of learning ahead of him. He had worked a lot with individual players and a number of the IceHogs, but this was different. This was pulling back his focus to a larger group while also being attentive to individual development. This was implementing systems, managing ice time, considering lines and pairings, thinking about matchups and so much more.<\/p>\n

\"33<\/p>\n

Eaton has relied heavily on assistant coaches Rob Klinkhammer and Josh MacNevin, goalie development coach Matt Smith and nearly everyone else around the IceHogs since the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of me feels bad, like they\u2019ve had to teach me some things because in development you\u2019re dealing more with the individuals and the kind of the habits within their game and what they need to do individually to be successful,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cWhereas coaching, it\u2019s a lot about the team and systems, the different scenarios within a game that I hadn\u2019t thought about since my playing days. And even in my playing days, I knew what my job was as a defenseman, but I didn\u2019t know what F1 on the forecheck or trackers needed to do or what other positions\u2019 responsibilities were. So that\u2019s kind of what I\u2019ve been learning on the fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day after he was hired, the IceHogs had their next game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens fast,\u201d Eaton said of what it was like being on the bench for that first one. \u201cIt\u2019s even still like the number one priority is making sure the next line knows who\u2019s up. And if you\u2019re thinking about matchups, a lot of times what\u2019s actually happening in the game takes a back seat, which definitely shouldn\u2019t be the case. But yeah, again, it\u2019s still a few months in and still a lot to learn about.\u201d<\/p>\n

After losing 4-1 in his coaching debut, the IceHogs had another game the next day and lost 2-1 in overtime. Eaton was relieved when the IceHogs finally broke their losing streak at four games the following week with a 5-1 win.<\/p>\n

Despite the rocky start, Eaton and the IceHogs have made progress since then. From a team perspective, the IceHogs have gone 19-18-4-1 under Eaton and are having their best month of the season with a 6-2-1-0 record in March. The IceHogs are in position for another playoff berth.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Why<\/p>\n

\n

Mark Eaton is very at home on the ice after a 13-year NHL career, but behind the bench is a new challenge. (Kristin Ostrowski \/ Rockford IceHogs)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser played for Eaton for a lot of January and February. Kaiser always liked working with Eaton in his previous role and discovered a new respect for how Eaton went about his responsibilities as head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you can tell he\u2019s very thoughtful and he\u2019s very knowledgeable, but then the next step of trying to teach that and explain that in a very clear message and consistently speaking on that and having that make sense to a lot of different people who have different ideas of hockey,\u201d Kaiser said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to coach. You have a lot of different personalities, the way each player thinks the game is a little different. But I think he does a really good job of teaching. He\u2019s able to teach what he thinks in his message and being able to resonate with all the players so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Del Mastro noticed Eaton also got a better handle of those video sessions and meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust coming into meetings and stuff like that, it\u2019s hard to figure out timing, how long to talk for, when not to talk to and stuff like that,\u201d Del Mastro said. \u201cBy the end of it, he was realizing where to talk, how long for meetings, where to add stuff in, (take) stuff away. He was getting better with time, each game.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a personal standpoint, Eaton can recognize his own growth as a coach but also in how he sees and understands hockey differently with his coaching experience. It forced him to look at players and the game from a new perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a trial by fire and watching the games obviously live from behind the bench, but then rewatching them shortly after and seeing things that you didn\u2019t see live, and kind of just changing the way you look at games or watch games on video,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cI kind of went top down, more from the systematic approach and then the individuals within the system and then the habits within the individual. I have to sometimes rewatch periods or spans of games to pick up on certain things. But yeah, it\u2019s the best way to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eaton and S\u00f6rensen were often in communication in their previous roles, and that hasn\u2019t changed much. S\u00f6rensen said they talk at least a few times every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the things we\u2019re doing here, they do there, so it\u2019s a smooth transition that way,\u201d S\u00f6rensen said. \u201cKlinkhammer\u2019s been with me a couple of years and helped him out. But we\u2019ve talked constantly about little challenges, how to structure things, if it\u2019s video or practice. He\u2019s a smart hockey person so he knows what he wants, but it\u2019s been really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eaton was unsure whether he\u2019d return his old job or where Davidson envisioned him for the future. But whatever role Eaton is in, this season will affect how he approaches the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t really my thought going into it,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cIt was more, you know, always been a team player, loyal. And to a situation Kyle thought I\u2019d be best served in filling, I was more than happy to do that. But now having been in this role for three months, there\u2019s no question that it\u2019s helped me grow in all areas \u2014 as an individual, my approach to development, if that\u2019s what I go back to. Just viewing hockey and kind of what goes into the day to day of coaching has been very eye-opening and enlightening and very constructive for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s given me a new perspective on hockey, a way of seeing the game. And ultimately, whatever happens from here, I\u2019m definitely going to be better off for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Anders S\u00f6rensen was promoted to Blackhawks head coach in December, his replacement on the IceHogs came from an unusual background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-18779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicago-blackhawks"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Blackhawks chose Mark Eaton to lead IceHogs without any coaching experience - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18779\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Blackhawks chose Mark Eaton to lead IceHogs without any coaching experience - 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