Fire Lucia Now

NorthernLakesGopher

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Down 2-0 going into the 3rd period. Against Ohio State At home! No life in the team. No grit. No hustle. Time to re-boot the program.
 


Who do you hire then?


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After volleyball, we got to Mariucci just in time for the third period. That part was fun (although there was a stretch late in the period when the Buckeyes bottled up the Gophers). We had a great angle to enjoy Fasching's sharp shooting for the game winner.
 

It's Ohio State, for crying out loud! We used to laugh at their hockey ineptitude!

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If they do that every game, then it's not always a problem. But give your honest assessment on the first two periods and I'll listen.

We played reasonably well. Had a couple of lapses. Generated a few odd man rushes, but either missed the net, got stopped by a good save, or tried to make one too many passes. My biggest complaint was that the team was trying to be too cute. Too many aerial passes, bad attempts at blind behind the back passes, and passing up solid shots with players in position to crash the net.

To sum it up, through the first two periods I thought we looked like a better team that played hard but made some bad decision and tried to do too much.
 





Down 2-0 going into the 3rd period. Against Ohio State At home! No life in the team. No grit. No hustle. Time to re-boot the program.

It was time to reboot the program years ago! MN is supposed to be the State of Hockey! UM is its flagship university with a rich history, Herb Brooks etc. it's embarrassing that our states flagship program doesn't demand excellence in hockey. UMD is way better. SCSU is better. UM might be 4th or 5th best team in the state. Hopefully we will get an AD who realizes MN hockey should be like Alabama and OSU football. Duke basketball. Should of canned Lucia and got Dean Blais when he was looking prior to Omaha. There are lots of coaches who would be way better than Lucia at this point. Lucia is waaaay too comfortable.


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Bold move pulling the goalie for the entire game tonight.
 



I'm a casual Gopher hockey fan, so can someone break down why the Gophers are no longer getting the elite recruits please? Would kids rather play at Mankato or SCSU or did the Gophers lose the ability to evaluate talent?
 

I'm a casual Gopher hockey fan, so can someone break down why the Gophers are no longer getting the elite recruits please? Would kids rather play at Mankato or SCSU or did the Gophers lose the ability to evaluate talent?

Lucia is content to coast at this point and is allowing the program to do the same. Until there's a change in leadership, it will continue imo.
 

Lucia is content to coast at this point and is allowing the program to do the same. Until there's a change in leadership, it will continue imo.

So do you think the talent is there, and they are not being coached up? Or they just are not hungry enough in the recruiting?
 

So do you think the talent is there, and they are not being coached up? Or they just are not hungry enough in the recruiting?

Certainly, the staff hasn't recruited as many pure blue-chippers in recent years and Lucia himself stated that was because he didn't like losing players to the pros so early. So they started recruiting more three and four-year type players believing that it would give them a better chance to build consistency and chemistry. Unfortunately, it hasn't translated into any sustained momentum.

There's no question there are some promising players already in the program and that are slated to arrive in the next few years. But this is Gopher hockey; recruiting good talent is never a problem. I honestly don't think Lucia coaches them up very well. Their efforts and performances have been haphazard at best in recent years.

There's also been whispers of significant locker-room turmoil (players with other players; players with coaches and vice versa). Don't know how much of that is true since I'm not a true insider and most of it is based on gossip and rumor, but it certainly wouldn't be surprising given the obvious lack of spark the team consistently shows. The move to the Big 10 didn't help either; in fact, it probably depleted the fan base as much as anything. The bottom line is that there is something wrong and I'm doubtful Lucia has either the energy or willpower to right the ship.
 

Thank you for sharing more insight. It is a shame that something that has been so consistently good at least during the regular season has fallen so far.
I bet Lucia will consider stepping down at the end of the year if it continues to go this way.
 

Thank you for sharing more insight. It is a shame that something that has been so consistently good at least during the regular season has fallen so far.
I bet Lucia will consider stepping down at the end of the year if it continues to go this way.

I wouldn't bet on him stepping down. The team was terrible for three or four straight years not that long ago and he still kept his job. Of course, that was under Maturi.

There's also not much chance of him being fired, especially with no AD or vision of where athletic department is heading. Even then, the new AD will probably have to deal with the mediocrity of football and basketball before even touching hockey. In other words, Lucia is here for the duration imo.
 

I wouldn't bet on him stepping down. The team was terrible for three or four straight years not that long ago and he still kept his job. Of course, that was under Maturi.

There's also not much chance of him being fired, especially with no AD or vision of where athletic department is heading. Even then, the new AD will probably have to deal with the mediocrity of football and basketball before even touching hockey. In other words, Lucia is here for the duration imo.

And then went to two Frozen Fours after that.
 



And then went to two Frozen Fours after that.

Yeah, and that showing saved him from getting canned. The issue here is consistency and there has been a stunning lack of it. Three or four years of awful hockey, followed by three or four years of conference titles (including last year's group of underachievers) now followed by another bad team. If this was another sport at the U, we'd all be singing his praises at all times. But this is Gopher hockey and we should expect more. This program should always be in the conversation with the best. Sadly, it hasn't been for quite awhile and that isn't changing anytime soon.
 

Certainly, the staff hasn't recruited as many pure blue-chippers in recent years and Lucia himself stated that was because he didn't like losing players to the pros so early. So they started recruiting more three and four-year type players believing that it would give them a better chance to build consistency and chemistry. Unfortunately, it hasn't translated into any sustained momentum.

There's no question there are some promising players already in the program and that are slated to arrive in the next few years. But this is Gopher hockey; recruiting good talent is never a problem. I honestly don't think Lucia coaches them up very well. Their efforts and performances have been haphazard at best in recent years.

There's also been whispers of significant locker-room turmoil (players with other players; players with coaches and vice versa). Don't know how much of that is true since I'm not a true insider and most of it is based on gossip and rumor, but it certainly wouldn't be surprising given the obvious lack of spark the team consistently shows. The move to the Big 10 didn't help either; in fact, it probably depleted the fan base as much as anything. The bottom line is that there is something wrong and I'm doubtful Lucia has either the energy or willpower to right the ship.

Interesting insight, thanks for posting. Something is wrong there no doubt, hope it gets corrected.
 

Interesting insight, thanks for posting. Something is wrong there no doubt, hope it gets corrected.
One thing that I have noticed is how many hockey alums refuse to accept the new B1G Conference and it detracts from their support of the team.

Case in point, I heard Jordan Leopold on KFAN on 12/31 and he spent more time lamenting the breakup of the WCHA than talking about Gopher hockey. If Gopher Hockey is important, then the alum players need to focus on a winning Gopher hockey program rather than whining about the conference change. I don't think the change was a good idea from a hockey standpoint, but if we can own B1G hockey conference that says more about Minnesota hockey than anything else.

Right now we have backslide as a program so that B1G Hockey is another sport where Michigan and Ohio State can point out that they are better than Minnesota and that sucks.

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Right now we have backslide as a program so that B1G Hockey is another sport where Michigan and Ohio State can point out that they are better than Minnesota and that sucks.

What? Ohio State is awful.
 






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