Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

[Beantown Puckfan]

I say Heather get the ax first. Not sure many coaches want the Maine job considering the pay. Connecticut is getting worse by the weekend. Lots of player transfers and I'm hearing the lots of parents going to the AD.

[giwan]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

Exactly what are they going to the AD about?

I say Heather get the ax first. Not sure many coaches want the Maine job considering the pay. Connecticut is getting worse by the weekend. Lots of player transfers and I'm hearing the lots of parents going to the AD.

[Bauer86]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

around 9 girls quit/transferred from uconn last year- linstad tries to live vicariously through her players...tells them school/grades do not matter...verbally abuses her players...about a fourth of the uconn girls are seeing a counselor (the team recently obtained its OWN counselor). Many girls went to the AD last year and they did absolutely nothing. If Linstad is not gone this year Uconn might not even have a team to roster...

[UCONN FAN]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

Well it's not pretty for sure....................

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

No doubt Linstad will be gone shortly after the season end (and maybe even before) - if not, there will be some major questions as to why and UConn already has enough athletic recruiting/academic/coaching issues going on. Women's hockey isn't a sport at UConn where the AD will spend any time dealing with issues/controversy and poor performance - much easier to fire her and move on to stop the discussions so he can deal with his real problems.

Since the U. Maine president personally intervened last Spring to keep Coach Lewis from going to Vermont and last season was Maine's second best record ever and best since 2006, I think the fact that they are struggling this year (while surprising) means absolutely nothing to her job security and that she will be back in Orono next season unless she decides she wants to leave.

[dontblink]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

We hope Lewis stays. The team has been scrambling back until the third period yesterday. Young team with challenges in front of them. Haven't seen the players quit or heard any excuses from them. I did see some panic from some players in the game yesterday. Lewis and her assistants will get them turned around

[DC78-82]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

We hope Lewis stays. The team has been scrambling back until the third period yesterday. Young team with challenges in front of them. Haven't seen the players quit or heard any excuses from them. I did see some panic from some players in the game yesterday. Lewis and her assistants will get them turned around

Your positive attitude despite not seeing results on the score sheet is immensely refreshing. I like Coach Lewis, and have a lot of respect for her attitude towards the game, and her goals for the team. As is the case with struggling teams, it is often a case of move forward, slide back a little until the little things and the big things they are being asked to do come naturally and consistently. Learning to win is not as easy as it seems. It's as much mindset and trust in each other as the ability to catch and receive passes, and sometimes the gains are all but invisible when faced with losing on the scoreboard more often than not.
4 more weeks and it's any one's game.

[UCONN FAN]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

I would agree with your assessment. Although Maine's and UCONN's records are very similar they are 2 teams heading in opposite directions. One huge flaw in Lewis' coaching is that her team is undisciplined. Maine takes too many penalties. They have 120 more penalty minutes then their next closest opponent in Hockey East. If they address that one area I think you'll see them inching up the Hockey east standings...........UCONN has too many areas of improvement to list.

[Trillium]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

Frankly I was very surprised Linstad was back this season. Yet another AD with his head stuck in the sand. Why does it always take many years of well-known issues for action to be taken?

Women's hockey is a far different sport than it was 10 years ago, yet too many coaches still remain in the game who are dinosaurs. While the role of sport should be to enhance the school experience for the athletes and enhance the profile of the school to the public, too often it seems its all about the coach regardless of the fact that athletes in the program (and often the program as a whole) suffer. The reputations of several coaches for self-aggrandizement and egocentricity at the expense of the athletes hurts recruiting and team performance.

It is often said that college sport is a business. Well, in successful companies, if you prove you are an ineffective leader regardless of bottom line results--whose team morale suffers and whose subordinates largely lose respect for you because you attempt to motivate solely by fear--you are generally shown the door relatively quickly. Of course, if short term results are also poor, you have even less time to turn things around and engage your employees.

While I have personally met Ms. Linstad and found her quite likeable away from the rink, her reputation as a leader is poor as are recent results over the past few years. It's past time for a change, and I hope for both her and the students at UConn that they each find a better fit.

[Bauer86]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

Linstad is a lost cause...UMaine did have a really good year last year as well- maybe just having an off year

[Minniehockey]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

We hope Lewis stays. The team has been scrambling back until the third period yesterday. Young team with challenges in front of them. Haven't seen the players quit or heard any excuses from them. I did see some panic from some players in the game yesterday. Lewis and her assistants will get them turned around

I too agree, Maine very young team this year. Its a rebuilding year for Maria, have only heard good things from a fellow Minnesotan playing there. Players have alot of respect for her as a coach. It will turn around, they have good recruiting class coming in.

[IUgirl]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

I say Heather get the ax first. Not sure many coaches want the Maine job considering the pay. Connecticut is getting worse by the weekend. Lots of player transfers and I'm hearing the lots of parents going to the AD.

Linstad should go first! Have heard the same. Know a player who was to go on official visit to UConn and decided against it. Guess she heard the
grumblings.

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

OK - consensus seems to be Linstad goes, Lewis stays. How about broadening the list to include the bottom 3 ECAC teams:

- Union - Claudia Asano Barcomb - has been there 6 years now and while the team has gotten better and it is a tough place to recruit, they are still largely non-competitive (occasional random win against other bottom teams - UConn, Penn State, Maine). And the men's team went to the Final Four last season, so obviously it is possible to be successful there. She has to be at risk. Seems like 6 years is a long time to get where they are.

- Yale - Joakim Flygh - his third season and the team is more competitive than last year's fiasco. But they still aren't dramatically improved - basically they lose in closer games than last year. This is his second recruiting class, so he owns responsibility for half the players. He did have a decent recruiting class last season and appears to have a good one for 2013-2014 also, so that may be an argument in his favor. But he may be on the bubble.

- Brown - Amy Bourbeau - only her second season and the first full year since she was hired late in the process last summer after Murphy "resigned". But the team had a much better performance last year (making the playoffs), her freshman recruits aren't doing great, and word is that there is not much in the pipeline for this year recruiting wise (look at Hux's 2013-2014 list - add Erin Conway who is a good player from Choate by way of Little Caesars). Maybe a year too soon, but if they don't get better next year.... she also has to be in danger.

Appreciate any and all thoughts on these from those with better insight.

[ARM]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

Union ... And the men's team went to the Final Four last season, so obviously it is possible to be successful there.

I don't find that to be very relevant. While the depth of the talent pool in women's hockey has improved, there are still far fewer girls playing hockey than boys, so it isn't a given that because something is true in men's hockey recruiting it will also be so for the women's game. It's sort of like Connecticut having good basketball teams or Penn State dominating in volleyball; good for them, but it doesn't mean much in women's hockey, because the entire model is different.

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Who goes first Lewis or Linstad?

I don't find that to be very relevant. While the depth of the talent pool in women's hockey has improved, there are still far fewer girls playing hockey than boys, so it isn't a given that because something is true in men's hockey recruiting it will also be so for the women's game. It's sort of like Connecticut having good basketball teams or Penn State dominating in volleyball; good for them, but it doesn't mean much in women's hockey, because the entire model is different.

You raise good points, but for a number of years the excuse for the men's team struggling was also that they were at a recruiting disadvantage. My point is that they were able to overcome that issue, so the women's team should be able to as well. As noted on other threads, it is a very good school that has ample need based aid and would appeal to many players interested in the Ivies as a minimum - so they should be competitive in that segment of the girls players. But they generally have not been successful the past few years (last year was better). At some point it becomes the coach and not the school (not sure if that is the case at Union yet though - that is why I opened the topic).