Ben Eaves


Benjamin Coel Eaves is an American retired professional ice hockey center. He is the son of retired NHL player Mike Eaves, and brother of Patrick Eaves of the Anaheim Ducks.

Playing career

Eaves went to high school at Shattuck-St. Mary's school in Faribault, Minnesota. Eaves was drafted 131st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He spent four seasons at Boston College before turning pro in 2004. He signed an entry-level contract with the Penguins, but with the 2004–05 NHL season locked out and eventually cancelled, he split the season with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers. He missed majority of 2005–06 season and entire 2006–07 season recovering from knee injuries.
In November 2007 he signed for the Espoo Blues in SM-liiga where he played rest of the season, although missing majority of it due to several injuries. He continued in the team for the following season. On 13 December 2008 he took a break due to injury, he made his comeback on 28 January 2009.
During the SM-liiga playoffs 2009 Ben Eaves broke the record of Kari Jalonen and Hannes Hyvönen for the most points scored during the playoffs. Eaves managed to score 24 points in 13 games with the Espoo Blues.
On July 21, 2009, Eaves signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Nashville Predators. On November 2, 2009 Eaves left the Predators' AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals and announced his retirement from hockey due to a lingering knee injury.
In the following season, however, he came out of retirement and joined Jokerit of Finnish SM-liiga in August 2010. In his return to Finland, Eaves successfully established himself amongst Jokerit's scoring forwards. He was selected as the MVP of the European trophy tournament of the 2011–12 season. In his third season with Jokerit, Eaves was again plagued by injury, suffering a concussion before briefly returning for the playoffs.
In preparation for the 2013–14 season with Jokerit, Eaves suffered a relapse of concussion symptoms and on August 16, 2013, announced his retirement from professional hockey for a second time. He currently works as Assistant Director of Hockey and U18 Coach for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio.

Career statistics

Awards and honors