Penn State courting Sandelin

[cbrooks]

Only number that matters is # of NCAA championship. I would trade anything for a NCAA championship and Sandy now has one under his belt.

[scsavre]

Very true. I was just surprised, seems lik most people laugh at mankato kockey and her the have won just 2 fewer games a year then the dogs.

[Bear55]

The dogs have had some very hard years under Sandy, this NC might really boost their staying power but overall they are not a program that is on the same level of the powerhouse schools and I don't really expect them to compete year in and year out.

Just looking at the teams under Sandy he has put together a couple of good runs where his team compete with the best. They had a good team in 03 and 04, making the FF in 04. They have also had a quality team the past 3 seasons. They might fall on hard times at some point down the road but Sandy seems to have the ability to get them back to the top again. Mankato on the other hand has had one good year surrounded by mediocre years.

[solbes]

]Does this stat shock anyone. .......sandy in 11years at umd is 192-200-52 %.491. Jutting in 11 years at mankato is 172-200-53 .467%.

That number would make me think that sandy really isn't all that good. He has a way better and bigger program and he is pretty on par with mankato.

I was surprised.

Now I know you are just trying to get a rise out of us fans. Kevlar suit is still on. But if I was going to defend, I'd hint at playoffs. 1 NCAA appearance vs 3. Overall record there 0-1 vs 7-2. Sandy has a Broadmoor and a Title. And agree with Bear that he had some AWFUL seasons in the middle of his tenure. So much so that a lot of people were calling for a change. Jutting must be a little more consistent?

I don't want to take anything away from MSU and Troy though. '03 was quite a run for them. Almost won the MacNaughton and Broadmoor. They also have the player with the most post college success between these coaches in David Backes.

[scsavre]

I'm. Not trying to get under your skin. I think of duluth and cloud bing near cc in the pack. Then I see mankato , tech nd aa. I was just surprised at the numbers becaue duluth just seems like a way better program. I shoulda had everyon.e guess. I don't think anyone woild have thought it woulda been close

[solbes]

Well there are parallels. Sandy lost a combined 52 games in his first two years, ouch! That really was more a reflection of the state of hockey in Duluth during Mike's final years (great coach in the 80's).

I do agree with how you ranked those teams in their relative strength. Also it kind of falls in line with size of programs as well.

[scsavre]

Looks like sandy and duluth are peaking at the same time. They are both at the top of their game.

Here's my groups or tiers. Obviously this is based on the past.

Tier 1, atleast one team should in frozen 4 every year. A team should win, the league and playoff too. Other 3 should make tourny.

Denver

Gophs

Nodak

Then wisc swings between tier 1 and 2. Atleast 2 teams should make the tourny. 1 should make the final 5 champ. Andthere is always a chance at any title.

Cc

Clouds

Dogs

I think uno will be in tier 2 and beavers will be a 2 to 3 swing.

Tier 3. One team will always be on the verge of a ncaa appearance. 1 team should get to stp for tourny, and 2 teams should be terrible

Mank

Aa

Tech

[solbes]

Sounds about right to me. If I was a Badger fan though I'd say they are Tier 1, at least over the past 5-6 years. Two appearances in the finals with one title.

[Bear55]

Sounds good to me too, I also don't know what to make of WI. Over their entire history they have to be considered elite, but they do seem to have a lot more down years then some of the other top programs. Not that a Gopher fan should be talking about that right now but hey it's WI, even when we suck we own them. 152–85–20 all time record says it all.

[Shorelunch]

Sounds good to me too, I also don't know what to make of WI. Over their entire history they have to be considered elite, but they do seem to have a lot more down years then some of the other top programs. Not that a Gopher fan should be talking about that right now but hey it's WI, even when we suck we own them. 152–85–20 all time record says it all.

I agree. Sconny sorta gets forgotten about, but they do have a successful program and produce a lot of NHL caliber playas.

Tier 1

ND

MN

DU

WI

Tier 2

UNO

UMD

SCSU

CC

Tier 3

BSU

MSU

UAA

TECH

[Bran32]

I agree with you guys except for UNO if they are in tier 2 than so should BSU be! They whooped their butts this year and have two ncaa appearances, one a frozen four run, I just don't see putting UNO up there yet, heck they didn't even make it to the Final Five! Plus growing up in Colorado I HATE all Nebraska teams

[solbes]

Well UNO did get beat in overtime on a 10 minute review by the team that went to the finals. I still say NO GOAL!!!

[cbrooks]

Well UNO did get beat in overtime on a 10 minute review by the team that went to the finals. I still say NO GOAL!!!

I agree... UND wouldn't have the fate of losing to Michigan

[Bear55]

I think UNO is getting the nod for one reason only, they had a good season and their coach is Dean Blais. Other then that they haven't done much to be in the 2nd tier.

[solbes]

I agree... UND wouldn't have the fate of losing to Michigan

If we are considering fate, than I change my answer. That was ABSOLUTELY without a doubt a good goal by Michigan in OT. Yup, definitely a goal.

[solbes]

Back to Sandy and his yet to be extended contract. Does anyone know the insane amount of $$ that our women's coach makes? I don't want to [PoorWordUsage] [PoorWordUsage] too much here, she has won 3 titles. But you have to balance out how much $$$ the respective programs bring in.

And to further complicate matters, the Duluth A.D. is also the head football coach, who has 2 DII titles of his own. I have a lot of respect for Mr Nielson, but it would be hard to keep priorities perfect and true.

All that translates into a pretty messy situation. Only so many dollars to go around at a small school. Only so much money coming in, from an athletics perspective mens hockey generates most of the revenue. And then how do you distribute to 3 coaches with success? I hope they don't low ball him. Get 'er done! Are the FMGAC also available for consulting fees?

[Bear55]

FMGAC says you gotta pay the revenue coaches!

[cbrooks]

I must have miss something. Who's FMGAC?

[Bear55]

I don't remember how it all started but FMGAC is the Fishing Minnesota Gopher Appreciation Committee. That might not be 100% accurate but pretty close, Solbes can you confirm?

[cbrooks]

oh for christ sakes you guys. What if Lucia read this site? He probably sits there in tears.

[scsavre]

Brooks, you want in dont you?

I think UMD will fork over the big bucks. That rink has showed their commitment to the program. I wonder what BSU serotorew makes.

It just dawned on me, Blais actually beat UND in the playoffs. If that goal wouldnt have counted, UNO would have won that game. Michigan was the only team that could beat UND, so there you go. Blais wins. Thanks Dean, you can come to MN now.

I wonder if anyone declined the Penn Job?

[solbes]

FMGAC = Fishing Minnesota Gopher Advocate Committee.

I guess there's no immediate rush to sign him now. It's not like he's gonna run to Princeton, Tech, or Providence. We do need him signed fairly soon though to keep the stability for recruiting.

[Shorelunch]

UMD HAS to pony up and sign Sandy if they want to maintain any sort of credibility in the upper echelon of the college hockey world. He's in a good spot and so is UMD. Otherwise, maybe UMD can pry away John Hill from UMtc

[Bear55]

FMGAC = Fishing Minnesota Gopher Advocate Committee.

I guess there's no immediate rush to sign him now. It's not like he's gonna run to Princeton, Tech, or Providence. We do need him signed fairly soon though to keep the stability for recruiting.

I was close, [pleasebecomeasponsor] we better sign up brooks, you know he secretly wants to join.

[solbes]

Make sure I'm on that list too. Pains me to see the Goph's not being the top "dogs" in the state of hockey. I'd like to give Maturi a little push.