Approachable, likeable, appreciative, energetic, involved, patient, forgiving, trusting, patriarch, fatherly, communicator, caring, loving, encouraging, respectful, respectable, EARNed respect, class act, role model, example, professional, giving, kind, generous, selfless, gracious, humble, honest, passionate, players’ coach, great moral compass, consistent, tremendous character, LEADER, and friend.

In Summary:  Jeff Sauer

Coach Sauer was my friend of nearly 20 years.  He was a brilliant hockey mind and, most of all, a tremendous human being.  All the aforementioned adjectives, no matter how superlative in nature, still cannot do him true justice.  Tragically, pancreatic cancer cut his life far too short on February 2nd of this year.  The news came highly unexpected, shockingly and devastatingly so…and I was not even blessed with half the experience with Coach as the gentlemen I had the true pleasure of speaking with over the last couple of weeks.  I called Jeff “Coach” out of respect; but, they called him “Coach” because he was their coach at the University of Wisconsin.  He coached and mentored them, most critically, as they navigated the transition from teenage hockey players into young men – heroes and role models themselves.  While Coach Sauer, “The Dean of College Hockey,” probably forgot more about hockey than most of us will ever learn (even those involved in the sport on a daily basis), the deep hole left by his passing extends far beyond the pond.

Speaking with several of Coach’s players spanning two decades, I delightfully learned the Jeff Sauer I considered beyond an honour to count as a friend was exactly the same gentleman who coached and mentored my Badger Brethren. To know Coach as I did was a true gift.  However, to learn these excellent men knew (at a much deeper and more intimate level) and were guided by the very same person I met in the basement of the Dane County Coliseum is something much more precious.  Many of these men even considered Coach to be like a “second father” to them.  Mark Strobel relayed he and Coach grew even closer after his graduation and referred to Coach as “The Patriarch” of the men’s hockey program at Wisconsin.  Knowing Coach as I did makes me even more thankful my “brothers” enjoyed such an intimate, and daily, relationship with him both on and off the ice.

Mike Valley (echoed by all other Badgers I interviewed) conveyed how Coach connected with his players both as hockey players and as students, caring as much about them as people as he did as hockey players.  Mike went on to say, “You wanted to play for the guy…you didn’t want to let him down.”  Tony Granato, who was recruited by “Badger Bob” Johnson (a legend in his own right), yet played his entire college career under Coach Sauer offered these same sentiments. Such a connection with his players hallmarked Coach Sauer.  He truly cared for and loved his “sons” by taking an interest in their on ice performance and growth, classroom education, futures in hockey, futures in life, and the development of each one as respectful and respectable future leaders.  Mark Strobel, Gary Suter, John Byce (whose first interaction with Coach was at a hockey school in Aspen, CO at the age of 9), Tony Granato and several others emphasized how Coach not only allowed the team captains and upperclassmen to lead the team on the ice (in fact, relying on them to do so) but also how Coach was such a unique leader by giving all his players (in the words of Mark Strobel) “the rope to find themselves and each other” both as hockey players and as people.  Perhaps, this was the greatest legacy of Jeff Sauer:  the solid citizens, young men, and leaders he developed through his leadership and daily example he set of how to treat those around you…everyone around you.

Coach Sauer was not only a true leader but a tremendous human being through his honesty, humility, and graciousness.  As an example, the very first time I encountered Coach, I simply walked up to him completely unannounced and unknown.  He had just finished a practice. Very nervous, a bit awestruck, and fearing I would be intruding, I was fully prepared to be summarily dismissed.  Clearly, I did not know Coach.  As I learned over the next nearly 20 years, Coach was as gracious and welcoming a man as anyone could ever hope to meet.  Not only did he not shoo me away, we ended up instead, leaning against a wall for the next 45 minutes talking about hockey (passionately, of course) and my efforts to retain the Madison Monsters (of the then UHL) in Madison, the reason I approached Coach in the first place.  From that day on, Coach’s door permanently remained, very graciously, open to me, something that fills me with humble pride and honour to this very day.

Coach became a treasured, and outstanding, friend to me.  He aided in obtaining auction items for charity functions, always delivering more than promised, advised me on how to make hockey my career (still working on this), referenced for me in the hockey world, and simply managed to be a tremendously encouraging mentor and friend.  In fact, very interested in my endeavors to establish an NHL franchise in Seattle, Coach often made time to chat with me about my progress, such as what I was learning and what roadblocks I was encountering.  Never once did Coach cause me to feel like I bothered him with all my updates, or as if I should cease communicating about this with him.  Regretfully, I never informed Coach of my goal to request he serve as the first GM of Seattle’s NHL franchise.  He would have made a perfect GM and ambassador for hockey in Seattle; he served as such a fantastic ambassador for hockey throughout his life.

Coach was not only gracious, but supremely humble.  Always encouraging my shared passion for hockey and encouraging me to continue chasing my dreams, he never caused me to feel beneath him.   This gracious, humble, and encouraging attitude was all too well known, and spoken of, by his Badgers, several who graciously granted me interviews.  Specifically, Joe Bianchi spoke of how Coach never dressed a player down in front of others; never dwelt on the negative aspect of mistakes, rather he focused on the positives, using the incident as a coaching point; and how forgiving Coach was of mistakes made by young hockey players and young men as well.  Just as he forgave shortcomings, he was also quick to deflect praise for himself onto his players, giving them credit for the victories he amassed as a head coach.  Once, he even extended a scouting trip in order to watch a goalie pulled the night before after one period, simply to evaluate how he bounced back.  Coach later explained to the goalie he had not gained interest in him through just one game, so he was not about to lose interest over a single game either.  It came as no surprise to my interviewees the final text I received from Coach was in response to my congratulations on his most recent TEAM USA Sled Hockey international championship.  True to form, he gave his players the accolades, writing “Thanks.  Good group of players.”  So very Coach.

Through conversations over the last few years with my close friend, Mark Strobel, and through interviews I conducted for this tribute, I happily learned my experience with Coach was far from unique.  Coach was Coach, day in and day out…with everyone.  He was consistently and genuinely that gracious, giving, and humble.  To a man, everyone I interviewed (thanks to all of you):  Joe Bianchi, Dan Bjornlie, Mike Valley, Paul Ranheim, John Byce, Gary Suter, Tony Granato, Duane Derksen, and Mark Strobel spoke of how Coach LED BY EXAMPLE and how he genuinely cared about his players both on and off the ice.  The one message I perceived at the heart of every interview:  Coach was just as (if not more so) concerned with developing his players as people and leaders as he was hockey players.  More than once, I heard Coach provided his players room to grow as both young hockey players and human beings.  Dan Bjornlie made a point to tell me how Coach’s influence on him stretched far beyond the pond.  Coach taught his “sons” to treat people with respect and dignity both on and off the ice, by treating everyone the same whether winning or losing.  Duane Derksen mentioned Coach communicated his message of being a “good person” by setting the example of what a good person is, “respecting and appreciating everyone and getting involved.”

Although Coach did not often speak overtly about leadership, his lead by example lifestyle demonstrated on a daily basis both on the rink and in the arena of life (quoting Dan Bjornlie) “spoke volumes about how you carry yourself as a hockey player and as a human being.”  Paul Ranheim spoke of how he “loved Coach’s leadership” and how Coach “loved his players.”  In fact, Coach’s example influenced Paul to later care for his own players in the same manner.  John Byce commented how Coach “…knew when to coach verbally and when to act” and how Coach was a true “…players’ coach, making everyone feel like they were an important piece of the puzzle.”  This is true leadership, something my friend, Tom Sagissor, penned quite eloquently in his tribute to Coach Sauer on LinkedIn.  Coach’s legacy of leadership not only produced solid hockey players, national and international championships and champions, NHL All Stars, and future coaches, he produced a new generation of LEADERS our society truly needs.

Coach Sauer and his “sons” remained in contact well beyond their years together at the University of Wisconsin.  Many former players ran into Coach at various alumni functions, hockey camps, and so on.  Some turned to him for career advice in hockey and beyond.  Mark Strobel told me he and Coach grew even closer after Mark’s term as a Badger defenseman and, Tony Granato even coached with Jeff at a hearing impaired hockey school.  Coach built close, trusting, and lasting relationships with his students, players, and “sons.”  In fact, Coach even attended the funeral for the father of twin brothers Mark and Mike Strobel, demonstrating his love and concern for his players and his remarkable class and humanity.

Coach Sauer is already, and will continue to be, sorely missed…by both the world of hockey and humanity at large.  My parting thought and tribute to my friend is thus:  Coach…you left indelible blade marks for all of us to skate in on this pond we call our lives.  Thank you for your friendship, your mentoring, your leadership, and your tremendous humanity…

For more information on Jeff Sauer’s playing, coaching, and service to hockey and the world, please see the excellent tribute to Coach from USA Hockey at:  http://teamusa.usahockey.com/news_article/show/752954?referrer_id=2432509

[1] “Remembering Jeff Sauer – Legacy of Leadership”.  Tom Sagissor

LinkedIn – February 3, 2017

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/remembering-jeff-sauer-legacy-leadership