Big ten hockey

[cbrooks]

I could see Scott Sandelin becoming the coach for the Gophs. Look at what he's done with UMD.

[solbes]

Boo on you!! They can't have him.

Well I'm sure they could, but there are lots of good candidates out there. I wouldn't even be surprised to see them go after some of the big names out there.

[End of the Line]

Cbrooks,

You and I must have some kind of weird thing going on that you don't know about. I watched the UND/Maine game on Friday too; not impressed by our lack of effort. Then I was at Green Bay for the Pack/Vikes game for the weekend too, is that why you were there?????

I grew up in Minto, ND.

[cbrooks]

Man, what are the odds. Yeah I left early Saturday, pick up the RV in the cities and tailgated right by the cambrige hotel(I think thats the name). The best part was I was seating two seats away from Joe Nathan. That was my first football I ever went to. I might make it a yearly thing to watch the Packers/Vikings game at Lambeau. It was alot of fun. How was your seats? You ever make it back to Minto for deer opener? I will be deer hunting in that unit.

[End of the Line]

Try not to hi-jack this post too much, but....my cousin has season tickets to the Packers and I used their seats. Packers sideline @ the goal line 40 rows up opposite end of the tunnel....I live near Duluth and hunt here now. Most of my family lives and hunts there yet of course. I was gonna go to the Dogs/Sioux game at the Ralph until I realized it was the Deer opener.

Just south of Minto on HWY 81 the large farm on the south side of the road with all the John Deeres is theirs.

[scsavre]

YOu say that UNO has the best coaching staff in college hockey, well it is the Gophers staff of 3 years ago if you swap out the head coach. We used to have both Guenztl and Hastings, obviously.

Oh, and by the way. Those 2 will be the co-head coaches next year after we sign Blais.

I dont see Sandelin ever becoming a Gopher coach. A lot of people dislike him and besides he is a stinking Sioux Alum, maybe he will take over for Hack once UNd is tired of coming up short.

Who are all the good candidates out there? I know we talked about this before, but didnt have much besides Blais, Guentzl etc.

[cbrooks]

Don't worry about high-jacking the post no one really cares in the hockey forum. Glad to hear you had fun at Green Bay. I usually hunt over by forest river right by the hood-r-rights(sp) colony. Hunting Duluth from North Dakota are two totally different stlyes. Well, good luck and hopefully you get that big monster.

UND has its work cut out for the next month, Denver this weekend UMD next. You never get a break playing in the WCHA. You think I put my foot in my mouth with them not being swept within the division. You know these guys are gonna be rubbing nose in it. Go Sioux

[solbes]

]Who are all the good candidates out there? I know we talked about this before, but didnt have much besides Blais, Guentzl etc.

The two B's are still tops. Blais makes the most sense because he is both an awesome coach and he's an alum. Overall their best hope, but I'm not sure he wants to return to a big city. You know he'd bring the program right up to the top again, and it wouldn't take long. As a Dog fan, this would make me very nervous:)

Blasi has to be #2. He did just sign a big contract through 2017, but money and prestige talk. He could have both if he took over the Gopher program. He's also young enough to re-energize that program. But he's not an alum, so I'm not sure if that disqualifies him or not. I could see the Goph's going to the F4 on a consistent basis with either of the big B's.

There are plenty of other high profile coaches out there that would probably take the step in pay and prestige, but are maybe not a great fit for the program for various reasons. Gwoz seems to put out good team after good team, but he's probably not a fan favorite around here. Cromley out in Michigan state has had great success with multiple programs, but he's probably not young enough. Sandelin has the talent and vigor, but has probably not had the requisite success so far.

And then there are the alum's that are lower profile but still may have a chance. Guentzel is an obvious candidate everyone talks about, plus he seems to be highly regarded by fans and alums alike. Kevin Hartzell is a great coach for Sioux Falls USHL team and played as a Gopher in late 70's/early 80's. Probably other alum's out there that are flying under the radar. Although they have an affiliation with the program, it's a pretty big move for these guys.

[Bear55]

"]YOu say that UNO has the best coaching staff in college hockey, well it is the Gophers staff of 3 years ago if you swap out the head coach. We used to have both Guenztl and Hastings, obviously.

Yep I am sadly aware of that, its getting hard not to look just about anywhere and not see better coaching. I am also not saying Lucia is a terrible coach but its pretty obvious now he needs help and Hill and Potulny are no where near the level of Guentzel, Motzko, or Hastings.

I think Solbes pretty much nailed the coaching candidates. There still might be a tiny glimmer of hope for Lucia to save his job but when things turn out like the previous years I hope Maturi is ready and willing to make the necessary moves.

[scsavre]

I wonder what the gopher alumni would think about what Blais would do to the Gopher program. Maybe we dont want him? Maybe we dont want his type of game. I really dont think the school, the alumni nor the fans want a bunch of Canadians. That is something that could really hinder our chances of getting Blais. There could be strings attached and of course politics that wouldnt let Blais coach and recruit how he wants to. Say Maturi says, <no more then 3 Canadians< etc etc.

I want Blais more then anyone, but to be honest with you, I am not willing to hire him if in return I have to throw away what the Maroon and Gold stands for. I am not going to be cheering for a bunch of canadians and out of State players. Might as well be a Sioux fan, if I am going to cheer just to cheer.

[cbrooks]

] I am not going to be cheering for a bunch of canadians and out of State players. Might as well be a Sioux fan, if I am going to cheer just to cheer.

Heyyy,Keep the punches above the belt please. All I can say about Minnesota recruiting is the last time they won the NCAA they had a goalie from Colorado, a german hobey baker winner, canucks and oh yeah a few kids from my town. They had great players from Minnesota along with these players. I just don't think having a straight minnesotan team is a winner approach anymore.

[solbes]

I kinda agree with Chris here. What's the point in recruiting all Minnesota kids if it doesn't work? I believe the Wooger put together some fantastic Minnesota only teams, but they came up short in the end. If it was my team, I'd recruit the best players not the best Minnesotans. It was that Austrian kid that put you over the top the last time, he was unstoppable that year.

[cbrooks]

Too many colleges cherry picking top minnesota talent. Its funny just about all UND recruits were chosing between Denver, Michigan,Wisconsin but hardly ever was it a recruit going to Minnesota.

I think the teams with the most success lately has to be Boston College and Miami OH. I don't know what Jerry York does that gets the job done but one year his team won't even contend and the next year he takes it. I have to say Jerry York is the man in college. I think part of the secret is getting 4 year players. That can make recruiting tricky. You go for the stud or the other guy who doesn't have size but still can crack the lineup in a couple of years. How do you do it?

[Bear55]

]I wonder what the gopher alumni would think about what Blais would do to the Gopher program. Maybe we dont want him? Maybe we dont want his type of game. I really dont think the school, the alumni nor the fans want a bunch of Canadians. That is something that could really hinder our chances of getting Blais. There could be strings attached and of course politics that wouldnt let Blais coach and recruit how he wants to. Say Maturi says, <no more then 3 Canadians< etc etc.

I want Blais more then anyone, but to be honest with you, I am not willing to hire him if in return I have to throw away what the Maroon and Gold stands for. I am not going to be cheering for a bunch of canadians and out of State players. Might as well be a Sioux fan, if I am going to cheer just to cheer.

Come on [pleasebecomeasponsor], lets get past this. No one was complaining when we were winning with Austrians and North Dakotans or even god forbid a Wisconsin native on the team. The Minnesota Pride on Ice thing is great and I am sure we will always be a mostly MN team but to pass on Blais because he might recruit a little differently is crazy. To compete at the top level we need the best players available, most of time I think those guys will be from MN but not always.

[Bear55]

Too many colleges cherry picking top minnesota talent. Its funny just about all UND recruits were chosing between Denver, Michigan,Wisconsin but hardly ever was it a recruit going to Minnesota.

I'm not really too worried about our recruiting, it's impossible to get all the best MN kids and it's even more of a [PoorWordUsage] shoot on who is going to develop into a big time player. The past few years we have brought in plenty of talented recruits but its pretty clear the coaching and progress the recruits have made over the past 3 year is lacking big time.

I will however say that this little run we have been on and the ??? about our coaching situation is probably starting to affect some of our recruiting and could turn some top players away.

[fishing tech]

As said earlier, Wooger put together some great teams. The problem was they were 18 and 19 year olds player against 22-24 year olds. They played and competed quite nicely I thought.

Where is Butters coaching?

I thought Hastings replaced Guentzel?

[scsavre]

2001-02, 1 north Dakotan, the rest MN natives.

2002-03, 1 Canadian who didnt play, 1 north dakotan, 1 Austrian.

Id say the boys from MN did pretty well. Minnesota players can definitely win titles. Im just saying I dont want too many non native MN players. I think right now we have a good mix.

Bottom line is our coaches are not developing the players they get.

I believe hastings replaced Motzko here.

[Bear55]

I guess the gophs found their scoring touch this weekend, we might have to score 9 goals a game with our D.

[scsavre]

Sounds like Budish is gone for the year. Moped accident.

[solbes]

Ouch, that hurts. What happened there?

[Bear55]

Ya saw that too, sucks big time, he and Cepis and Condon were starting to show some chemistry there. We do have decent forward depth for once this year but it still hurts.

[Bear55]

Ouch, that hurts. What happened there?

Not sure on the details but a lot of students ride mopeds to get around at the U, must have been a pretty bad accident to get that banged up.

[Raider4ever]

"Moped accident"? What happened? Did somebody drop one on him out their dorm window? How else can you get hurt on one of these things?

[solbes]

You can pretty much get hurt doing anything. I remember Sam Jacobson, who played on the U basketball team, had a back injury from playing Nintendo all night

[cbrooks]

Just when you thought things were starting to turn around with a sweep last weekend. Burdish gets hurt on a moped.