Zulgad: Gophers’ once-proud hockey program now needs a salesman at the helm

BleedGopher

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per Judd:

We can whine all we want about the fact that Big Ten hockey has hurt the Gophers – even though the conference was competitive this season – but at this point complaining is only making matters worse and Gophers hockey more irrelevant.

The new coach is going to have to be a salesman – something Lucia never needed to do and certainly didn’t seem to enjoy – and Coyle and the rest of the administration is going to have to get on board with continuing to look at how it goes about the business of selling hockey. A start would be slashing ticket prices and the request for contributions for those who occupy the seats. (Unfortunately, there is likely little that can be done when it comes to the Big Ten Network’s decision to have some silly start times or make ridiculous decisions, like originally planning to put the Gophers’ first-round games on the Internet for a fee.)

As Stauber mentioned, it’s sad when you walk into Mariucci at faceoff and are greeted with so many unoccupied maroon and gold chairs. And if those seats are bought but not used, the university needs to find a proactive way to change that.

Chorske, meanwhile, is correct in saying the new coach has to embrace the hockey alumni and the past of this once proud program. Turning your back on the people who built Gophers hockey makes no sense and causes unnecessary strife.

As for Lucia, he was hired away from Colorado College and brought to Minnesota because things had grown stale under Doug Woog. It took him only three years to win the first Frozen Four at Minnesota since 1979. Lucia will depart the Gophers with 457 wins, the most in program history; eight regular-season conference crowns; four conference tournament titles; and five Frozen Frozen appearances.

It wasn’t always perfect – the Gophers went three seasons (2008-09 through 2010-2011) without an NCAA tournament appearance – but overall Lucia has plenty to be proud about.

In this case, though, ending his run at 19 seasons is a wise call. For many reasons, some in Lucia’s control and some not, it was time for a change.

http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2...proud-hockey-program-now-needs-salesman-helm/

Go Gophers!!
 




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