LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

[RMUColonials]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

http://www.uscho.com/stats/attendanc...men/2010-2011/
not very impressive, except for Bobby Mo which is at 125% capacity.

And where the he!! are the USCHO posters from these schools?!?!? I went looking for their team threads to see what their fans were saying, and I couldn't even find any team threads. The only Atlantic Hockey talk was happening on the Bently thread....

There are only a few RMU fans on the board. We had a thread during the season, but even now, there's not much to talk about, even with the possible realignment.

[5hole]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

http://www.uscho.com/stats/attendanc...men/2010-2011/
not very impressive, except for Bobby Mo which is at 125% capacity.

And where the he!! are the USCHO posters from these schools?!?!? I went looking for their team threads to see what their fans were saying, and I couldn't even find any team threads. The only Atlantic Hockey talk was happening on the Bently thread....

I never understand how Niagara comes up with such a low attendance count. I do not get to many games (living in GA) but when I do it often looks like at least 75% and official attendance comes out at about half capacity.

There are not many Niagara posters on USCHO ... I am probably the closest to a "regular." The Purps have two talk boards that do not get along at all.
This is the good board: http://www.niagarasports.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=17
You can find the other board on Voy Forums but they really only care about bball there ... you can go at your own risk and "enjoy" both posters there.

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Where ever the Lakers end up,the bottom line will be the same . They have to win to bring fans back and they need to get back to making it to the final 16 . The problem seems to be this coaching staff doesn't have the ability to make it happen.

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Just a tidbit from the Evening News:

http://www.sooeveningnews.com/sports...ratory-meeting

[LSSULaker889294]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Where ever the Lakers end up,the bottom line will be the same . They have to win to bring fans back and they need to get back to making it to the final 16 . The problem seems to be this coaching staff doesn't have the ability to make it happen.

What Roque must do if he wants to coach in 12/13: Finish over .500 and finish 5th or higher. If not, then make it to the Joe. If neither of those things happens, he's probably toast.

[FRICKER]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

sm2pk....you say "the problem seems to be this coaching staff doesn't have the ability to make it happen". I agree with you, but it has nothing to do with the coaching abilities and talents of Coach Roque or his staff. Give them a Brian Rolston or a Doug Weight or a Keith Aldridge or the number of blue chippers who made the NCAA championships possible, and you'd be pleasantly surprised just how good a coach Jim Roques & staff would become. The bottom line is that you can't make a Formula One race car out of a VW bus!!!!! Recruiting the blue chip quality players needed to be a Frozen Four type club to go to college and play in the Soo is a very, very, tough putt. I can't say that it can't be done, cuz we all know that it happened, but the circumstances were all in alignment and that may never happen again. The sooner that you and the Laker faithful accept that and stop trashing coach after coach who bleed yelloe & blue, the sooner you might be able to enjoy your team again for what it is, not what you wish it could be...........think about it. I've watched for over ten years including the four my son played there and over and over again you trashed each and every coach and assistant that followed after God, oooops, Jeff Jackson. I've personally known and worked with several of them and they are quality and qualified D1 college coaches. Isn't it time for the game to be fun again?????

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Fricker,does this go along with how good a coach Borek really was ?

[PerkyforPrez]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Inconsistent play of the team is not a sign of good coaching. The team the last two years had more talent then we have had in quite a while and should have finnished in better possition both years but they seem as though they would play down to the lesser teams level.

I was guilty of bashing the head coach in the past and even during the season but i have sinse quit because it is not constructive and i know the players read this site. The latter reason is why i never cut down a player bye name on here they are all good kids and they do represent the University well and they are amatures after all. But when last season was over i think he would have been gone if it were not for the winds of change that were bearing down on ncaa hockey, that in hindsight i believe is true. I hold nothing against him with the big MSU scandle when he got a suspension no one truly knows what all took place that night.

I think Roque did do a lot for LSSU before he became head coach. I think it is time for a change after his contract runs out because the best way to get bigger crowds and better recruits to come is to WIN. And he has had long enough time to try and get his system and players in without much to show for it. I have nothing against the man but the coach if he showed more success we might have been included in the move to the WCAA with Northern.

I do not consider this a bash but rather the truth ( oh god ) and my honest oppinion.

[backbencher]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The bottom line is that you can't make a Formula One race car out of a VW bus!!!!!

Put a bus driver in a Ferarri (or just a decent sports car), and you have a sports car at a slow speed stopping every other mile.
Put "Brian Rolston or a Doug Weight or a Keith Aldridge" and you will get the same result, unless they take over the leadership, as a skilled passenger taking the wheel (like Schofield and Acton during the last play-offs).

I know the players read this site

You are right, but don't worry, whatever you say wouldn't do any harm. The coach has lost any credibility for many many years as the inconsistency noticed on the ice starts everyday in the locker room.

I like fans standing up and writing to the administration (I did it, unfortunately to no avail), but shouldn't that have been done before it was too late.

We can have the nostalgic approach and regret that "if and if we would have had that" 20 years ago, or have a pragmatic stance, and start by correcting obvious lacks or mistakes.
A decent leadership (a proper driver) would absolutely transform the dynamics of the team we have.
Whether you consider it as a VW bus (which it is not) or a Ferrari (probably not more), you would get an immediate improvement.

Roque's personality was an acknowledged fact already when he was assistant at Clarkson. He became head coach at lssu when the administration was looking for peace rather than leadership, and he hasn't gained respectability after 7 years.
Today or in ten years time, Roque won't be able to do it. Call it bashing if you want, but it won't be less true.

As it is too late to replace the coach, fans and players should volunteer to mobilize the campus and the town for next season, whatever the future brings (look at how much is done by the hockey department to promote and mobilize, as compared to any other school). Those who are reluctant because of the coach should be told "let's get ready for when he leaves".

When the administration will receive your emails, they will see that something positive is going on and all they have to do is give the team a chance by removing the only obstacle they control.

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Some people are excellent college hockey coaches. And then there is everybody else. I agree that replacing the Coach is often times the best and only tonic a school has for its program. I have to say, this recent conference reallignment can be an exciting time for our Lakers and LSSU . . . and it appears I'm not the only person who caught this bug. A new direction, a new coach, new ideas? Sometimes its not always Xs and Os. Great story on Mike Babcock in the Free Press a few weeks ago, how he is re-evaluating his coacing techniques because he knows that his message, even the sound of his voice, if going to get stale and old on the players. Short of something that profound, a new coach can breathe fresh air. Look at how pumped they are at Tech -- and their new coach has never lead even a pee-wee team behind the bench before.

Roque is a better coach than I will ever be. He knows more about recruiting than I will ever know. He has spent more time in dank little rinks in the middle of Alberta than I could probably guess.

And as with all coaches and top-level athletes, he wants to win badly. He wants to win every game. He works hard every practice. He demands incredible athletic efforts from his young men. He must monitor, mother, father, and teach a collection of 30 young college kids -- all the while attempting to keep blowhards like myself happy. He must attend nauseating meetings with academic leaders who neither understand his job, understand his game, nor understand his passion. He must slap backs and shake hands with boosters, trying to pry a check out of their tight little hands. He must keep his eyes, and his assistant coaches eyes, always towards the future -- 2-3 years, looking at Junior players who are 16. Tracking players who can play D-I hockey, can get into college, who aren't pyschotic head cases, and who just might want to spend four years in Sault Ste. Marie. While he is at it, he had better find ways to fill the stadium. And at LSSU, he must do all of this in the face of a recession in a city that is, ahem, not exactly a town that prides itself on high academics nor gives much credence to college kids.

Oh, and the LSSU coach must also do all of this while 50+ other coaches are doing exactly the same thing, all over the country. And he must fight a rear guard action against the CHL (although this is absurdly overblown by the NCAA people).

And the point?

Some men can do all of this and have great success. Dean Blais. George Gwozdecky. Jerry York. Jack Parker. Jeff Jackson.

Most men can do all of this and have some success. This includes most every other college coach.

They are hoping and praying for a national title at St. Lawrence University as much as we are at LSSU.

And this is why I don't engage in coach bashing. Except once: Scott Borek. He just had to go. He fit in the small but distinct catagory of men who are D-I coaches who are simply in way, way, way over their heads. (Tim Waters, at Tech, for example).

So there are a few schools of thought with regard to the coach. Either fire Roque and hope you land the next young Dean Blais (every school hopes this when they make a new hire), or ride it out with the current coach. Do you gamble, and keep gambling every 5-6 years? Or do you stick with one guy who, although not brilliant, is also bringing in enough talent that maybe -- just maybe -- he can snag that ONE random kid (Jim Dowd, anyone?) who prefers LSSU (for whatever reason), and can bring the whole program together. I don't know the answer. I DO know that Jim Roque is better than Scott Borek, and better than Frank Anzalne Part II. But he is less than Jeff Jackson and Frank Anzalone Part I.

[FRICKER]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

sm2pk....first, up front, I consider myself a "friend" of Scott Borek. I worked VERY closely with him when he was with Brown & Colby. Also, he did the Frick's a huge favor by helping Matt select a prep school. My personal opinion of his performance as the Laker's Head Coach is that he tried too hard and too long to coach in the mold of Jeff jackson's system when the Lakers no longer had the type of players that made that system work. Had he coached his style after his second year as head coach, things might have been different. He had proven that he could be a good head coach at DIII Colby College before coming to the Soo. He turned the "White Mules" program around and even beat D1 Princeton. Over his Head in D1? I don't think so. In a different place with smaller shoes to fill, he could be at least an average D1 coach. Let's leave it as "we agree to disagree" on Bo as a HC. However, you can't say that he isn't a very effective assistant coach/recruiter. He and Brian McCloskey (now HC for UNH's women's program) helped Bob Gaudet turn Brown's program around and he's done a good job at UNH since leaving Lake State. IMO, you really shouldn't judge a HC alone, but judge the HC and his two assistants as a staff. It's very rare that a HC alone can excel at all aspects of coaching a D1 team. If you have three guys whose skill sets compliment each other in such areas as recruitiing, PP & PK, discipline, etc. it builds into a successful staff. A number of Laker followers forget that behind Jeff Jackson were Jim Roque & Ron Rolston, who combined to make the Lakers program rise to the top after Crazy Frank built the foundation. Having Rolston's little brother become a Laker didn't hurt either. I was with the compuware Junior "A" club when Brian was heavily recruited by Michigan & Michigan State. I was at Yost a Friday afternoon when Compuware played a pregame against the Wexford Raiders before a Wolverine
vs. Spartans game. The rink was electric!!!! That weekend Brian committed to Lake State. How tempting it must have been to go to Michigan or Michigan State after that exciting weekend!!!

[sm2pk]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Frick,where does it say he was head coach at Colby ? After he left the Soo,he took over New England College and they were a pre-season top 10 pick and finished out of the top 15 . The next coach at New England wins 20 games his fist year there. Frick,remember what they said about UNH during this past season play-offs ? It was anemic and guess who the power play coach was ? yep,Scott Borek . Frick,I had a Bowling Green player tell me with Borek gone and Anzalone in,the team will still be a bottom team but at least now it will be well conditioned and he said that was something they were not under Borek. Frick,Borek did a poor job at the Soo and that is why he was let loose.

[FRICKER]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

You can show some respect and call me Bob. For the record, Scott Borek was and assistant at Brown University with Brian McCloskey before becoming the Head Coach at Colby. That was BEFORE taking the Laker HC job. I have never defended his coaching style at Lake State. He was and is recognized by people who know college hockey as a premier recruiter. That's his forte. He may not have what it takes to be a HC at D1. I don't contest that. He was the HC at Colby from 1991 through the 1994-95 season and was credited with being instrumental in turning bothe the Brown & Colby programs around. Google "Scott Borek Colby College" to get more details. I wasn't able to find his record at Colby, but I remember that overall it wasn't sparkling, but was good the last few seasons. Over his head at LSSU? Yes. He will admit that he felt the pressure to follow in Jeff Jackson's big shoes and could have handled it better. OK?

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The truth is out there . . . regarding Scott Borek???? I gotta say, I never expected THAT.


Borek was a D-III coach he behaved as such. The difference between Scott Borek and Anzalone (the First Tour) was that Frank refused to use the size of the school, the size of the Soo, or the relative isolation of the UP, as an excuse. Frank's greatest asset (in his first tour) was refusing to give any respect to UM or MSU . . . . or any other allegedly big-time school. As noted, Frank fought a full-time battle to convince everyone that LSSU can do anything in college hockey, if they just work hard enough and put their mind and efforts into the program. Scott Borek probably wanted to win as badly as Frank . . . but Borek all-too quickly resigned himself, and our program, to the belief that we are a small school, in a small town, with a small budget. That was Borek's biggest failure, and as a result of this readiness to cede major recruiting points to every other college, LSSU's program suffered.

The Truth is out there. Frank's second tour was a disaster because he was a shell of the coach he once was. Borek's entire tenure was a program-killing disaster. Thats not speculation, thats just fact.

Could a different coach done better than Borek in that time and place? I don't know. I am not entirely sure how a difference coach could have done worse. Scott Borek was a bad fit for the Soo. He is a great D-III coach, where he can live in a nice quiet New England town, at a nice quiet private liberal arts college, and coach .500 hockey for 20 years (This is very common -- click over to USCHO's D-III team pages, click on team history, and you will see coaches in many of these colleges for 10-15-20 years, winning notwithstanding). But he was a poor D-I head coach. It was LSSU's leadership that failed to recognize this after 2 years and move for a replacement.

The leadership then went back to the dry well of Anzalone, and this was a mistake. Instead of a young, hungry coach with new ideas, new dreams . . . a man able to sell those dreams to recruits . . . LSSU brought back a man who was ten years out of step with college hockey. The school brought back a guy who had NO established in-roads in recruiting. He was also a man who burned a LOT of bridges (recall my realier paragraph wherein I mentioned Frank refused to give respect to the other schools).

In my opnion, LSSU compounded the mistake of Borek's regime with hiring Frank.

I thought Jim Roque was a great choice when he was hired. But he, too, has found the sledding tough.

And the point of all this? Nothing.

We can snip and snipe at each other all summer. But for me, and for those who believe as I do that the Lakers should head West, we all need to link arms and stop crying about the coach and for ancient history. I know many here have contacted the administration. I have also contacted the administration. Tell your friends, tell your family.

[Tooth Squid]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Know what we need... Frank to come play for LSSU... Not coach... PLAY... He could be a sniper... OH MY!!! I peed in my pants a little just thinking about it...

The Tooth is out there...

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