The State of Hockey?

north45

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Not one post about last weekends pathetic showing? I thought this was suppose to be the "State of Hockey" ! If it was The State of Hockey fans would be participating on this forum.
Don Lucia has put The State of Hockey to sleep. How long are us Minnesota hockey fans going to have to endure him? We have a an Athletic director from Iowa who knows nothing about hockey and therefore only listens to Lou Nanne.
It's time for a change! Time for Don to be gone!
 

Not sure what there is to talk about.

The program, the coach and the team are thoroughly uninteresting and stale. It's been that way for several years now.

They're the epitome of mediocre.

But if Coyle and the brass have shown anything, it's that they value Don Lucia above the sinking ship that is Gopher hockey. And predictably, people just don't care anymore. There are plenty of other teams and programs in athletic department that offer far more interest and satisfaction than Gopher hockey.
 

Gopher hockey has its own message board, and more and more of the population there is coming around to the need for change. I've been advocating it for a long time.

If somehow the team pulls it together and makes it to St. Paul, I'll happily eat crow and give the staff another year, but I'm seeing too many of the same things this year.
 

Lucia needs to be put to pasture and don't give Guenztel the job, it's counter productive to fire a coach and promote an assistant in this case, especially one who couldn't get it done in the MIAC and whose dmen are the weak link of the team
 

Gopher hockey has its own message board, and more and more of the population there is coming around to the need for change. I've been advocating it for a long time.

If somehow the team pulls it together and makes it to St. Paul, I'll happily eat crow and give the staff another year, but I'm seeing too many of the same things this year.



I just checked Gopher Puck Live and it seems as if interest in Gopher hockey is waning even there. There are only 3 pages of comments on the "Gophers vs Badgers" game thread. I thought we were the state of hockey. The only way this gets better is if Lucia is canned.
 


Since when does "The State of Hockey" only mean the University of Minnesota???

As of right now, the #1 ranked team in Men's college hockey is a team from "The State of Hockey".

And Mankato St, another team from "The State of Hockey", is ranked #7 in the country and the Gophers are in the Top 10.

And has anyone considered that SCSU, the #1 ranked team in the country has gotten there by playing a weak schedule? And that the Gophers have fallen to #10 because they've done the opposite?

The Gophers have played NINE games vs Top 10 rated teams, and 7 of those 9 games were road games.

SCSU has only played FIVE games vs Top 10 rated teams, and 3 of those 5 games were road games.

SCSU got only one win vs UND AT HOME a win and a tie, and we split with UND ON THE ROAD, a win and a loss.

SCSU got SWEPT by #2 DU on the road & outscored 9-3. UMn got swept by #3 Notre Dame on the road, & outscored 7-2

SCSU couldn't get a swin vs #42 Princeton on the road, UMn the same, got a tie & a 1 goal loss to #28(?) Michigan on the road.

The only ranked team that SCSU has gotten a sweep against, was vs #14 BC at home. So essentially not even a tournament bound team. Oh, I guess UMD could be considered ranked at #17, and those 2 games were also home games for SCSU.

Otherwise they got sweeps against a very low ranked(possibly worst in Div 1?) Alaska team AT HOME and only by an 11-7 goal margin, CC AT HOME and an unranked and last place UNO team on the road.

Minnesota got sweeps against #3 ranked Clarkson AT HOME, an unranked Mich St team, AT HOME, a Harvard team that has since dropped out of the rankings, AT HOME, and an unranked Army team, AT HOME.

Minnesota also beat #19 ranked Union AT HOME.

Minnesota also split with #15 PSU, ON THE ROAD.

The biggest difference between the two teams are two, SCSU has played fewer games and ALOT fewer ranked teams, and beat #7 Mankato on the road to start the season while we lost a 1 goal game to #17 UMD on the road.


UMn has gone 11-2 at home, SCSU has gone 9-0-1 at home.

UMn has gone 1-7-1 on the road. 7 of those 9 games vs Top Ten ranked teams.
SCSU has gone 3-2-2 on the road, only 3 of those games vs Ranked teams.


Side by side, lets look at the rank of the teams both teams have played

UMn-SCSU USCHO poll

3-2
3-2
4-6
4-6
6-7
6-14
7-14
9-17
9-17
13-22
13-22
15-25
15-25
17
19
27
27
28
28
31
31


So maybe things aren't as bad as they might seem??

We get Mittelstadt back and he probably will come back with some added confidence and there is absolutely nothing in the season's results that don't predict anything worse than a split with SCSU, both teams winning their home game.

That would give the Gophers and the B1G a bump in the rankings. And UMn has ZERO Top Ten road matchups left after the one game in St Cloud as we get both OSU and Notre Dame at home, so our road series with Wisconsin is our toughest remaining conference series before the end of the regular season. Our remaining road series' are against the 4th, 5th and 7th ranked teams in the B1G. So the 2nd half of our schedule could go much better???


SCSU on the otherhand has to play UND, UMD and CC on the road and #2 ranked Denver at home. They could either come back down to earth, OR... do "The State of Hockey" proud??

And another note about "The State of Hockey", 4 different Minnesota based Men's Div 1 hockey teams have made it to the Frozen Four on 6 different occasions over the last 9 years. That's not too shabby.
 

So now we're supposed to be happy with a 1-7-1 road record because it's against ranked teams? OK. Should we be happy as long as we finish in the top half of the Big 10 too?
 

So now we're supposed to be happy with a 1-7-1 road record because it's against ranked teams? OK. Should we be happy to finish in the top half of the Big 10 too?

We don't get a voice or vote. Only the AD does and he is going to do what he wants and that is destroy hockey here at the U.
 

So now we're supposed to be happy with a 1-7-1 road record because it's against ranked teams? OK. Should we be happy as long as we finish in the top half of the Big 10 too?

That's not what I am saying at all. Just saying that even the #1 ranked team in the country is struggling with road games.

There is a lot more parity in college hockey these days and things might not be as bad as they may seem.
 



We don't get a voice or vote. Only the AD does and he is going to do what he wants and that is destroy hockey here at the U.

And if you got a vote? What? You'd hire Motzko? A guy who has only gotten to one Frozen Four, and this year has gotten his team to #1 by avoiding tough competition???


Do you honestly think that the AD wants to destroy hockey here??? Are you friggin serious???
 

the program is sleeping right now. very few care.
 

And if you got a vote? What? You'd hire Motzko? A guy who has only gotten to one Frozen Four, and this year has gotten his team to #1 by avoiding tough competition???


Do you honestly think that the AD wants to destroy hockey here??? Are you friggin serious???

If he keeps Lucia on much longer the AD will destroy hockey whether he trying or not. As to Motzko do remember I believe St. Cloud is one of the tougher schools to recruit to and he seems to be doing alright. Secondly, we haven't won a National Championship since Motzko left. Thirdly, we haven't done anything worthwhile in a long time. If you think winning a Big 10 Championship is a big deal, then we're talking different levels of satisfaction for the hockey team. They should be ranked higher and be a threat every year.
 

The one sport at the U with no excuses for not being great every year.
 



Not one post about last weekends pathetic showing? I thought this was suppose to be the "State of Hockey" ! If it was The State of Hockey fans would be participating on this forum.
Don Lucia has put The State of Hockey to sleep. How long are us Minnesota hockey fans going to have to endure him? We have a an Athletic director from Iowa who knows nothing about hockey and therefore only listens to Lou Nanne.
It's time for a change! Time for Don to be gone!

You give me a sure fire, guaranteed upgrade option as a replacement and I'll get behind that. But you can't, can you?
 

If he keeps Lucia on much longer the AD will destroy hockey whether he trying or not. As to Motzko do remember I believe St. Cloud is one of the tougher schools to recruit to and he seems to be doing alright. Secondly, we haven't won a National Championship since Motzko left. Thirdly, we haven't done anything worthwhile in a long time. If you think winning a Big 10 Championship is a big deal, then we're talking different levels of satisfaction for the hockey team. They should be ranked higher and be a threat every year.

I ask you the same thing, offer up a sure fire, guaranteed upgrade as an option, and I'll stand behind that. But that surely isn't Motzko. He has done less than Lucia, in the NCAA tourney. In the long run, no one cares about head to head matchups during the regular season.
 

Unfortunately when UMN took the money and went to the B1G conference they jettisoned all the natural rivalries except for Wisconsin. No one showed up for games and kids who want to play in fun hockey environments have gone to the other MN schools. Add to the fact that ticket prices are far too expensive when a person can pay nearly the same price for the Wild. At this point, UMN is the least exciting D1 college team in Minnesota.
 

Unfortunately when UMN took the money and went to the B1G conference they jettisoned all the natural rivalries except for Wisconsin. No one showed up for games and kids who want to play in fun hockey environments have gone to the other MN schools. Add to the fact that ticket prices are far too expensive when a person can pay nearly the same price for the Wild. At this point, UMN is the least exciting D1 college team in Minnesota.

And so what? Should we all sit around and whine about it for decades to come? Whine and cry about how the B1G ruined Gopher hockey???

Or maybe we should accept this is the way of the world and something none of us could have done anything to change, and MOVE THE FRACK ON ALREADY!!!

Notre Dame is ranked #1 in the nation now in both the KRACH and Massey Ratings, and OSU is ranked #5 in both those ratings, just one spot behind SCSU. Minnesota is ranked Top Ten in them both, as well as in the PWR, too, despite having played the toughest schedule so far by a long shot, and PSU is is ranked among the Top 12 in all 3 rating services as well. That has the B1G with a good chance of having as big of a contingent in the NCAA tourney as any other conference, including the NCHC.

So the B1G "could" do fine in college hockey, if its whiney cry baby fans can get over it already and move on.


There was a time when Bemidji was just a Div 3 school and NOT a rival in any way shape or form. Go back a little further and Mankato and SCSU were both Div 2 schools, and NOT a rival. And even UMD wasn't a rival if you go back far enough. There was a time when B1G schools like Michigan WERE our rivals.

Things change. College hockey has evolved over time, change has been apart of college hockey all throughout its history. There was a time when Wisconsin didn't even have hockey.





And what the hell is this about UMn being the least exciting D1 college team in Minnesota? Are you talking about right now? Or over the past 10 years?

Lucia won back to back titles and was all of a sudden able to recruit incredibly well. Problem is Lucia recruited TOO well, and guys started leaving after a single season, Okposo left part way through his 2nd season, a couple others left after 2 seasons, and several others left after their Junior seasons. I would bet that UMn has lost more legit NHL talent early to the NHL than any other school in the nation over the last 10-13 years. Evidence of this is that all of those players that left early are still in the NHL and are higher up on the points scored rankings than any other school's early departures, and its been this way for the last 3-4 years for sure, because I've been keeping track for the last 3 or 4 years.


So everyone acts like Lucia is such a bad coach, and maybe he is? But Denver went TEN STRAIGHT YEARS without making a Frozen Four after their back to back titles.

UND made ONE SINGLE Championship Game over a 14 year period after their run of Titles and Title games in 1997, 2000 & 2001.


How is it all 3 of these programs struggled to get back to the FF or the Title game for such long periods of time? While programs like Yale and Providence won titles in their first appearances in the Frozen Four EVER, or in decades, and haven't returned since and don't seem like they will this year? Quinipiac and Ferris St and RIT and Bemidji St and SCSU and UNO and UML and Notre Dame all made their first trips to the Frozen Four over the last decade, most of whom have not returned. Union and Quinipiac are the only exceptions, programs that got to a 2nd Frozen Four 2 or 3 years after their 1st trip. Vermont is another program that got to only its 2nd Frozen Four in the last decade, only to never return.


NCAA hockey is a different animal nowadays. The NHL wants it's best players and offers enough money to get them. All of those first or 2nd timers to the Frozen Four in the last decade are programs that were, for the most part, senior laden programs who, because of great team chemistry, were able to put it together for a deep run, then when the senior class graduated, those programs basically fell back to earth, because they can't attract the high level of recruits that programs like Minnesota and Denver and UND can.



Now will SCSU do like Quinipiac and return to the Frozen Four this year seeing as they are #1 right now? Or have they gotten to #1 by playing a weak scedule? I honestly don't think they will. I honestly think that they will lose a lot more games than most people think they will in the coming months leading up to the end of the regular season. They don't play well on the road(3-3-2) and they've got 8 upcoming road games vs Top 20 ranked teams. Only half of their first 8 road games were vs ranked opponents, yet they could only muster 3 wins in those 8 games. And the last 6 games of their regular season are going to be brutal, 2 roads games vs Top Ten ranked WMU, then 2 home games vs the Top Ten ranked Denver team that already swept them in convincing fashion, and then 2 road games vs Top Ten ranked UND. I wouldn't be shocked if they lost all 6 of those games.


Minnesota has played the #1 rated SOS so far in the nation, and has won 3 games out of 6 vs Top 3 rated teams.

Meanwhile SCSU is 1-3 vs Top 5 rated teams, and has played a much easier schedule. SCSU couldn't even manage a win in 2 games vs #42 Princeton.

One of their big wins is vs #7 ranked Mankato??? Mankato got to #7 by playing the 31st toughest schedule. Is Mankato really legit?
 

...and yet no one goes to their games. Empty seats everywhere. Something is wrong somewhere because that arena was once standing room only...
 

...and yet no one goes to their games. Empty seats everywhere. Something is wrong somewhere because that arena was once standing room only...

Well, maybe ticket prices are too high? Maybe it's Lucia's fault? Maybe its the fan's fault?

But things WILL NEVER go back to the way they were, and if the Gopher hockey fan base doesn't move on and embrace most of these changes, then it will be "in part" their fault.
 


I remember getting swept by Notre Dame. Weren't they ranked that high?

I corrected that above. I meant to say won 3 out of 6. Still pretty impressive. And yes, they got swept by ND on the ROAD.

And the Gophers SWEPT Clarkson, at home. And then split with SCSU, won the home game, lost the road game. So they won 3 home games and lost 3 road games, vs Top 3 ranked teams.


Hardly embarrassing.
 

Well, maybe ticket prices are too high? Maybe it's Lucia's fault? Maybe its the fan's fault?

But things WILL NEVER go back to the way they were, and if the Gopher hockey fan base doesn't move on and embrace most of these changes, then it will be "in part" their fault.

This has nothing to do with the freaking Big 10.

It has to do with the team being the essence of mediocrity year in and year out. If the program was challenging for anything other than Big 10 titles and being a consistent national player, the attendance would be fine. The fact is, they aren't.

You can spin it anyway you want, but the bottom line is that the program is a shell of what it used to be. You'd have to be blind not to see it. If you want or think that longtime Gopher hockey fans are going to passionately support the essence of mediocrity that is Don Lucia and his program, good luck with that.

It won't happen. And to be honest, the fans shouldn't have to.

It's the program's responsibility to provide a good enough product for fans to get behind. To blame the fan-base for what is happening with this program is the height of ridiculousness.
 

Why can't we be the Alabama (football) of college hockey? I guess my expectations for this program are unrealistic.
 



Not one post about last weekends pathetic showing? I thought this was suppose to be the "State of Hockey" ! If it was The State of Hockey fans would be participating on this forum.
Don Lucia has put The State of Hockey to sleep. How long are us Minnesota hockey fans going to have to endure him? We have a an Athletic director from Iowa who knows nothing about hockey and therefore only listens to Lou Nanne.
It's time for a change! Time for Don to be gone!

Ok north45, I am going to assume that you are a smart person, explain to me why Lucia is such a bad coach?? I'm serious. All I hear about is people whining like little babies, but I haven't heard any intelligent posts laying out why Lucia is the problem. Also, even if he is the problem, who would we put in place to replace him??
 




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