ENOUGH !

[north45]

I went to the Gopher against Penn State game on Feb. 13th. I've been going to Gopher hockey games since the early 70s. I love Gopher hockey! This was the most boring Gopher hockey game I've ever been to. There is no fire on this team. No willingness to put in 60 minutes of effort. They lost at home to a team they had no business losing to.
The problems are many. You can start at the top with Eric Kaler. A completely incompetent president who screwed up just about every aspect of this university. We've had the Psychiatry Department scandal. A completely botched merger between the U of M and Fairview systems. Hiring a drunk as an AD. Then spending $670,000 to investigate a $220,000 misuse of funds. How this guy still has his job it a real mystery!
All this has allowed Lucia to let the mens hockey program atrophy and sink to a level that is unprecedented. They have been down right embarrassing in the North Star Cup for 2 years now. Unable to beat anyone in the "State of Hockey". The team has been unranked most of the season. This years class of new recruits has been for the most part pretty unimpressive. Not one of this years Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists has committed to the Gophers. There was no Gopher on this years US World Juniors team. When's the last time that happened? A while back when Norwood was still around an ESPN hockey writer wrote, "The only reason Lucia still has his job is that his AD is a drunk".
It's stunning to see far less than capacity crowds at Mariucci in the heart of the hockey season. The atmosphere is depressing as the band's music echos off of empty seats. I know some will say, "Hey, they're in 1st place in the Big 10". SO WHAT ! The Big 10 stinks. This team isn't going to beat anyone of importance. Lucia has proven time and time again that he can't inspire a team to play a big game. It's past time for a major housing cleaning at the University of Minnesota. Beth isn't going to be able to fire anyone until the "interim" title goes away. If she does get the job (my guess is she will ) all eyes will be on her to see how she attacks the many problems facing the university's athletic programs.

 

[Go4]

i sense a level of frustration from you right now.

 

[Stan]

I went to the Gopher against Penn State game on Feb. 13th. I've been going to Gopher hockey games since the early 70s. I love Gopher hockey! This was the most boring Gopher hockey game I've ever been to. There is no fire on this team. No willingness to put in 60 minutes of effort. They lost at home to a team they had no business losing to.
The problems are many. You can start at the top with Eric Kaler. A completely incompetent president who screwed up just about every aspect of this university. We've had the Psychiatry Department scandal. A completely botched merger between the U of M and Fairview systems. Hiring a drunk as an AD. Then spending $670,000 to investigate a $220,000 misuse of funds. How this guy still has his job it a real mystery!
All this has allowed Lucia to let the mens hockey program atrophy and sink to a level that is unprecedented. They have been down right embarrassing in the North Star Cup for 2 years now. Unable to beat anyone in the "State of Hockey". The team has been unranked most of the season. This years class of new recruits has been for the most part pretty unimpressive. Not one of this years Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists has committed to the Gophers. There was no Gopher on this years US World Juniors team. When's the last time that happened? A while back when Norwood was still around an ESPN hockey writer wrote, "The only reason Lucia still has his job is that his AD is a drunk".
It's stunning to see far less than capacity crowds at Mariucci in the heart of the hockey season. The atmosphere is depressing as the band's music echos off of empty seats. I know some will say, "Hey, they're in 1st place in the Big 10". SO WHAT ! The Big 10 stinks. This team isn't going to beat anyone of importance. Lucia has proven time and time again that he can't inspire a team to play a big game. It's past time for a major housing cleaning at the University of Minnesota. Beth isn't going to be able to fire anyone until the "interim" title goes away. If she does get the job (my guess is she will ) all eyes will be on her to see how she attacks the many problems facing the university's athletic programs.

 

[upnorthkid]

I went to the Gopher against Penn State game on Feb. 13th. I've been going to Gopher hockey games since the early 70s. I love Gopher hockey! This was the most boring Gopher hockey game I've ever been to. There is no fire on this team. No willingness to put in 60 minutes of effort. They lost at home to a team they had no business losing to.
The problems are many. You can start at the top with Eric Kaler. A completely incompetent president who screwed up just about every aspect of this university. We've had the Psychiatry Department scandal. A completely botched merger between the U of M and Fairview systems. Hiring a drunk as an AD. Then spending $670,000 to investigate a $220,000 misuse of funds. How this guy still has his job it a real mystery!
All this has allowed Lucia to let the mens hockey program atrophy and sink to a level that is unprecedented. They have been down right embarrassing in the North Star Cup for 2 years now. Unable to beat anyone in the "State of Hockey". The team has been unranked most of the season. This years class of new recruits has been for the most part pretty unimpressive. Not one of this years Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists has committed to the Gophers. There was no Gopher on this years US World Juniors team. When's the last time that happened? A while back when Norwood was still around an ESPN hockey writer wrote, "The only reason Lucia still has his job is that his AD is a drunk".
It's stunning to see far less than capacity crowds at Mariucci in the heart of the hockey season. The atmosphere is depressing as the band's music echos off of empty seats. I know some will say, "Hey, they're in 1st place in the Big 10". SO WHAT ! The Big 10 stinks. This team isn't going to beat anyone of importance. Lucia has proven time and time again that he can't inspire a team to play a big game. It's past time for a major housing cleaning at the University of Minnesota. Beth isn't going to be able to fire anyone until the "interim" title goes away. If she does get the job (my guess is she will ) all eyes will be on her to see how she attacks the many problems facing the university's athletic programs.

Ok.

 

[NorthernLakesGopher]

I went to the Gopher against Penn State game on Feb. 13th. I've been going to Gopher hockey games since the early 70s. I love Gopher hockey! This was the most boring Gopher hockey game I've ever been to. There is no fire on this team. No willingness to put in 60 minutes of effort. They lost at home to a team they had no business losing to.
The problems are many. You can start at the top with Eric Kaler. A completely incompetent president who screwed up just about every aspect of this university. We've had the Psychiatry Department scandal. A completely botched merger between the U of M and Fairview systems. Hiring a drunk as an AD. Then spending $670,000 to investigate a $220,000 misuse of funds. How this guy still has his job it a real mystery!
All this has allowed Lucia to let the mens hockey program atrophy and sink to a level that is unprecedented. They have been down right embarrassing in the North Star Cup for 2 years now. Unable to beat anyone in the "State of Hockey". The team has been unranked most of the season. This years class of new recruits has been for the most part pretty unimpressive. Not one of this years Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists has committed to the Gophers. There was no Gopher on this years US World Juniors team. When's the last time that happened? A while back when Norwood was still around an ESPN hockey writer wrote, "The only reason Lucia still has his job is that his AD is a drunk".
It's stunning to see far less than capacity crowds at Mariucci in the heart of the hockey season. The atmosphere is depressing as the band's music echos off of empty seats. I know some will say, "Hey, they're in 1st place in the Big 10". SO WHAT ! The Big 10 stinks. This team isn't going to beat anyone of importance. Lucia has proven time and time again that he can't inspire a team to play a big game. It's past time for a major housing cleaning at the University of Minnesota. Beth isn't going to be able to fire anyone until the "interim" title goes away. If she does get the job (my guess is she will ) all eyes will be on her to see how she attacks the many problems facing the university's athletic programs.

Hard to disagree though.

 

[MinneStoa]

We've had the Psychiatry Department scandal.

Elaborate, please. The Phsyc department has unfortunately had a handful of scandals. Are you talking about the suicide in 2004, when Kaler was Dean of the Engineering School at the University of Delaware? Or the Ken Winters issue, where he falsified federal paperwork? Where he admitted "Poor judgement on my part. It was a terrible thing I did, so I have no real explanation. I've got no defense. My own stupidity, poor judgement.". Not sure what that has to do with Kaler. Or are you talking about when researchers only got verbal consent from parents, and got written consent later? Scandalous!

Then spending $670,000 to investigate a $220,000 misuse of funds.

I can't keep track of all of the Kaler-directed outrage. Got a link to this? I'm not familiar with this issue.

A while back when Norwood was still around an ESPN hockey writer wrote, "The only reason Lucia still has his job is that his AD is a drunk".

Got a link to this one either? No amount of googling variations of "ESPN", "Don Lucia", "AD", and/or "drunk" generates anything even close to your claim.

It's stunning to see far less than capacity crowds at Mariucci in the heart of the hockey season. The atmosphere is depressing as the band's music echos off of empty seats.

USCHO lists Minnesota's 2015-2016 average attendance as 9,737--second only to UND.

http://www.uscho.com/stats/attendance/division-i-men/2015-2016/

That's a capacity percentage of 97.37%. Obviously that isn't true attendance, and it's much more likely that this is ticket sales. So the good news is that the hockey team seems to still be making money. However, attendance was garbage even when the Gophers were ranked #1 a couple years ago. Based on that fact, I believe the terrible attendance has more to do with the nature of season ticket holders (and corporate ticket holders, especially), than it does about the product on the ice.

Not one of this years Minnesota Mr. Hockey finalists has committed to the Gophers.

Luke Notermann from Blaine is committed to Minnesota. And four other finalists are uncommitted. Let's stop making things up, ok?

There was no Gopher on this years US World Juniors team. When's the last time that happened?

Good start, you're not lying about this one. It was 2004, which if you don't recall is a year removed from back-to-back championships.

 

[GophenGolder]

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Elaborate, please. The Phsyc department has unfortunately had a handful of scandals. Are you talking about the suicide in 2004, when Kaler was Dean of the Engineering School at the University of Delaware? Or the Ken Winters issue, where he falsified federal paperwork? Where he admitted "Poor judgement on my part. It was a terrible thing I did, so I have no real explanation. I've got no defense. My own stupidity, poor judgement.". Not sure what that has to do with Kaler. Or are you talking about when researchers only got verbal consent from parents, and got written consent later? Scandalous!



I can't keep track of all of the Kaler-directed outrage. Got a link to this? I'm not familiar with this issue.



Got a link to this one either? No amount of googling variations of "ESPN", "Don Lucia", "AD", and/or "drunk" generates anything even close to your claim.



USCHO lists Minnesota's 2015-2016 average attendance as 9,737--second only to UND.

http://www.uscho.com/stats/attendance/division-i-men/2015-2016/

That's a capacity percentage of 97.37%. Obviously that isn't true attendance, and it's much more likely that this is ticket sales. So the good news is that the hockey team seems to still be making money. However, attendance was garbage even when the Gophers were ranked #1 a couple years ago. Based on that fact, I believe the terrible attendance has more to do with the nature of season ticket holders (and corporate ticket holders, especially), than it does about the product on the ice.



Luke Notermann from Blaine is committed to Minnesota. And four other finalists are uncommitted. Let's stop making things up, ok?



Good start, you're not lying about this one. It was 2004, which if you don't recall is a year removed from back-to-back championships.

Thanks Stoa, that was much more organized than the response I was going to come up with. I'd also like to respond to the comment about the freshmen. I've been impressed with several of them. Sheehy, Sadek, Ramsey, Romanko, Novak, and Schierhorn all seem to be playing well.

 

[north45]

1. "Another year, another day, another damning indictment of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Psychiatry. If anyone was surprised by last week’s blistering assessment of psychiatric research at the university (“New lapses in U psych studies,” Feb. 12), they probably weren’t paying attention to the previous five. Those reviews found evidence of coerced study recruitment, troubling conflicts of interest, shoddy scientific review, deep mistrust of U leaders, and a climate of fear and intimidation in the Psychiatry Department. The difference with this latest review is that it comes nearly a year after U leaders solemnly promised the people of Minnesota that they were finally going to clean up the mess."
-Star Tribune February 18, 2016

Former Governor Arne Carlson was on WCCO radio about 2 weeks ago lambasting Kaler over these issues and questioning the Board of Regents for failing to hold Kaler accountable.

2. $670,000 was spent in the Norwood Teague investigation. The investigation uncovered $220,000 in misused funds. An amount that was already know prior to the investigation.
These fact were widely reported by the local media. The fact that Kaler hired Teague in the first place should be the real question. He was a disaster and a huge embarrassment to the university. Kaler has to take responsibility for this too.

3. I did read an ESPN hockey writers comment that "The only reason Lucia still has his job is that his AD is a drunk " online in 2015. I'm sorry I don't bookmark every hockey article I read online. If it makes you feel better to call me a liar. ok. The fact is I did read that quote online.

4. Ticket "sales" do not hide the fact that many seats at Mariucci are empty these days. Fans have lost interest. They may be selling season tickets but people aren't coming to the games. When's the last time you heard Lucia interviewed by the local sports radio stations or on TV? It doesn't happen often. Minnesotans love good hockey. They are tired of seeing the Gophers fail to show up for big games.

5. OK, Luke Notermann did commit to Minnesota. He hadn't when I last looked at the list. However, the odds on favorite for the Mr. Hockey award and Luke's Blaine teammate Riley Tufte spurned the Gophers for UMD. The remaining uncommitted Mr. Hockey finalists are from school which historically have not sent players to the Gophers.

6. The fact that none on this years Gophers were selected for the US World Juniors team just confirms that fact that this years recruiting class is not outstanding. The Koolaid drinkers on this site keep harping back to the fact that Lucia won 2 national championships in 2002 and 2003. That's getting to be a long time ago. I see big problems with the hockey team i love NOW! Not the Gopher hockey team of 14 years ago! I don't consider only 2 national championships in the last 35 years by the major university in "The State of Hockey" acceptable in any way, shape or form.
This forum has a very poor level of participation. Almost all the threads are written by a handful of people. Just another indication of a lack of interest in the team. It's time to clean house at the University of Minnesota!

 

[MinneStoa]

4. Ticket "sales" do not hide the fact that many seats at Mariucci are empty these days. Fans have lost interest. They may be selling season tickets but people aren't coming to the games. When's the last time you heard Lucia interviewed by the local sports radio stations or on TV? It doesn't happen often. Minnesotans love good hockey. They are tired of seeing the Gophers fail to show up for big games.

Attendance trends are horrible across the spectrum of college sports. Like I said, even when the Gophers were #1 in the nation they had trouble filling the arena. That fact right there flies directly in the face of your "they are tired of seeing the Gophers fail to show up for big games" argument.

5. OK, Luke Notermann did commit to Minnesota. He hadn't when I last looked at the list. However, the odds on favorite for the Mr. Hockey award and Luke's Blaine teammate Riley Tufte spurned the Gophers for UMD.

It's not at all a rare occurrence if the Mr. Hockey winner plays for a different team. It'd be great if we could pull in Mr. Hockey every year (assuming they were a good fit on the team), but that's just completely unrealistic.

The remaining uncommitted Mr. Hockey finalists are from school which historically have not sent players to the Gophers

What on earth does this have to do with anything?

6. The fact that none on this years Gophers were selected for the US World Juniors team just confirms that fact that this years recruiting class is not outstanding.

My point is that we didn't have any World Junior players in 2004, when back-to-back National Championships allowed for potentially the easiest recruiting in the program's history. Maybe, just maybe, the metric of "how many kids can we get to play on a national team" isn't a great determination of recruiting.

I see big problems with the hockey team i love NOW!

No sh!t...we all do. The difference is that most everyone else is rational and level-headed about it.

I don't consider only 2 national championships in the last 35 years by the major university in "The State of Hockey" acceptable in any way, shape or form.

Has anyone on this board argued otherwise? The strawman arguments need to stop.

This forum has a very poor level of participation. Almost all the threads are written by a handful of people. Just another indication of a lack of interest in the team.

I hope you realize that there's a very active forum that is completely dedicated to Gopher Hockey -- http://www.gopherpucklive.com/. That's why this sub-forum is so quiet. Please note that I was really hesitant to even point out the existence of that forum, for fear that you may start this quality of posting over there as well.

 

[MennoSota]

On a positive note: the women's programs are doing very well.

 

[Ewert86PC]

i sense a level of frustration from you right now.

+1,000

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Go4]

the program didn't have its best night tonight.

 

[upnorthkid]

the program didn't have its best night tonight.

looked like total **** on the ice tonight

 

[t-docious]

what happened to guentzel D? thye are atrocious! scramble way too much.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

1. "Another year, another day, another damning indictment of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Psychiatry. If anyone was surprised by last week’s blistering assessment of psychiatric research at the university (“New lapses in U psych studies,” Feb. 12), they probably weren’t paying attention to the previous five. Those reviews found evidence of coerced study recruitment, troubling conflicts of interest, shoddy scientific review, deep mistrust of U leaders, and a climate of fear and intimidation in the Psychiatry Department. The difference with this latest review is that it comes nearly a year after U leaders solemnly promised the people of Minnesota that they were finally going to clean up the mess."
-Star Tribune February 18, 2016

Former Governor Arne Carlson was on WCCO radio about 2 weeks ago lambasting Kaler over these issues and questioning the Board of Regents for failing to hold Kaler accountable.

North, if you are waiting for Kaler to get fired you are going to have to wait awhile. Kaler had zero to do with the problems in the Department of Psychiatry but he is fixing them. Arne Carlson and his cabal at the U are going way overboard with their criticism of Kaler. They are pissed at him because he isn't doing everything they want him to do. Needless to say, the Board of Regents don't agree with them and neither does the FDA.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Regents extend President Kaler’s contract until 2020 after heaping lavish praise on his performance.

With a year remaining on Kaler’s old contract, the Board of Regents opted to give him a raise and negotiate an extension. They cited concern another university might recruit him away.

Kaler, an alumnus who took over the university in 2011, recently got a glowing annual review. Regents said Wednesday they are getting “great excellence at a reasonable price,” as Clyde Allen put it. A couple said that if Kaler’s continues to deliver on the job, his compensation should climb faster.

“We had very high expectations for the president,” Allen said. “He has exceeded them day in and day out.”

Regents hailed what they deem a turnaround in the U’s relationship with state lawmakers, who have boosted funding after years of cuts. Last year, Kaler and legislators agreed to a two-year resident undergraduate tuition freeze in exchange for a state aid increase.

Board Chair Richard Beeson, who helped negotiate the new contract, praised Kaler’s efforts to reduce administrative expenses, a long-standing source of criticism for the U.

He noted a boost in the university’s research investments and a new agreement with long-time partner Fairview Health seen as a key step in restoring the U’s medical school’s national reputation. He praised Kaler’s fundraising chops.

http://www.startribune.com/u-presid...ntract-extension-and-2-5-pay-raise/266468351/


Findings from a second FDA review into the death of subject Dan Markingson, revealed no protocol violations.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finished a second investigation into antipsychotic drug studies at the University of Minnesota, including the study in which schizophrenia patient Dan Markingson died by suicide, and found no violations of federal research protocols.

http://www.startribune.com/fda-re-e...esota-psychiatric-study-recruiting/303970581/

 

[gopherguy05]

Attendance trends are horrible across the spectrum of college sports. Like I said, even when the Gophers were #1 in the nation they had trouble filling the arena. That fact right there flies directly in the face of your "they are tired of seeing the Gophers fail to show up for big games" argument.



It's not at all a rare occurrence if the Mr. Hockey winner plays for a different team. It'd be great if we could pull in Mr. Hockey every year (assuming they were a good fit on the team), but that's just completely unrealistic.

Or to counter that....it could be that most of the U's recruits go to the USHL for thier senior season of high school and thus aren;t eligible for Mr. Hockey. One would think an expert such as North would know this....but guess not.


What on earth does this have to do with anything?



My point is that we didn't have any World Junior players in 2004, when back-to-back National Championships allowed for potentially the easiest recruiting in the program's history. Maybe, just maybe, the metric of "how many kids can we get to play on a national team" isn't a great determination of recruiting.

The Soph D who would have made this team had they been living up to expectations have been disappointing, but they are both high NHL draft picks. Sometimes players don't live up to the early potential and peak in HS. Yeah it sucks, but if he thinks this is uncommon...well he's definitely got a jaded viewpoint.



No sh!t...we all do. The difference is that most everyone else is rational and level-headed about it.



Has anyone on this board argued otherwise? The strawman arguments need to stop.



I hope you realize that there's a very active forum that is completely dedicated to Gopher Hockey -- http://www.gopherpucklive.com/. That's why this sub-forum is so quiet. Please note that I was really hesitant to even point out the existence of that forum, for fear that you may start this quality of posting over there as well.
Oh I'm sure he's been there and banned.

sigh

 

[1983]

I understand North45's frustration but the Big choose this league. It is a failure and the University, God, Darth Vader have no say in this debacle. For now, Gopher hockey is dead and will be for years to come until the BIG relents and does the right thing. The big boys are Mankato State, St Cloud and UMD, look out for Bemidji. Who the hell wants to play at the U of M these days and who blames them.

 

[Gopher04]

I understand North45's frustration but the Big choose this league. It is a failure and the University, God, Darth Vader have no say in this debacle. For now, Gopher hockey is dead and will be for years to come until the BIG relents and does the right thing. The big boys are Mankato State, St Cloud and UMD, look out for Bemidji. Who the hell wants to play at the U of M these days and who blames them.

Ok.