Colgate offseason speculations

[sshablak]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

It was announced at the awards banquet Saturday night and I have seen it on the Ducks website ! So bummed !

['Gate Radio]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Every school is different. I know from the last five years of covering the league, some teams have larger rosters, some have smaller rosters. All depends on the school. Though do keep in mind for the teams with larger rosters, the majority of the extra kids are likely paying their own way through school and some may not even play. And Colgate's not cheap even with financial aid.

I'd have to guess that every coach at Colgate wouldn't mind having a slightly larger roster. That's the only way it will happen, all teams will have to have roster restrictions eased - there is no way just one team or one sport (hockey) will be allowed an exception.

[TheGreenCoat]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Fair point GR and with an enrollment of less than 3000 (essentially less than one-half of the average Ivy and similar to DIII schools that do not have other DI programs) I understand some of the problems. We're also somewhat victimed by some of the silliness of Title IX (overall it's been good legislation, but...) where we have more varsity sports for women than for the men. If a school's enrollment is 55% female and 45% male and the number of varsity teams by gender will be allocated similarly...I think some of us have issues with a pure quota system...

[TheGreenCoat]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

One rhetorical question and then I'll shut up...in light of Colgate's restrictions on incoming freshmen hockey players - in essence limited to the number of graduating four-year seniors - AND our insistence on providing 4 and not 4.5 grant-in-aids per year, why in God's name are we building a $40million hockey facility??? Don't get me wrong...I'm pathetically loyal enough and foolishly optimistic enough (yes, The Coat optimistic) to provide some meagre assistance in this direction, BUT certainly the above queston is a legitimate one...furthermore, with the realignment of college hockey on the horizon that would seem to be a negative for most DI programs, do we really think we can continue along our current course and be a legitimately competitive DI program? I won't get into some other areas, including Silver Puck, right now...I'm simply too depressed and getting older by the minute...

[TchrBill]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

I for one am never going to question any funds that go toward a new hockey facility! Colgate needs all the help it can get. So far it has been talk and I worry that the end result will be less than what I'm hoping for. Can $40million build anything good these days that isn't an eyesore and will stand the test of time?!

Am never in favor of any athlete leaving early for the pros and not graduating. Leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth as a fan and for the members/coaches of the team. But after seeing the year that Smith just had, and how we laid yet another goose egg at the tournament...our track record almost encourages players who get the chance to leave Colgate when and if they can...and for Colgate, that scenario is very depressing.

I haven't been sold on our goaltending lately but am impressed with some of the frosh talent coming in, most notably the Spink twins. We need freshmen that can produce from year one to year four like they do in the other leagues.

If all else fails, maybe we can lure Welsh or Zajac to transfer and give them scholarships. Without a Colgate women's coach, maybe some of the girls will defect to the men's side. At this point I'm open to anything. Don't even want to think about the preseason rankings.

Congrats to Wagner. Darn those Ducks...but they sure know a great Colgate player when they see him

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

If all else fails, maybe we can lure Welsh or Zajac to transfer and give them scholarships.

Sure, especially Zajac who is a senior.

[Gaterrooter]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

There is no doubt the Welsh is signing as soon as Union is done. He will not be there next year, so we have that to look forward to. I would also bet Grosenick is gone and Carr may be as well.

[Marmot]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Here's the official post from the Anaheim website:

http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?i...id=DL|ANA|home

[ColSkate65]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

After witnessing John Calipari's "one and done" team win the Big Dance last night, I hope we're not seeing a "two and done" philosophy creep into 'Gate's hockey program

My cynical side says, thank you to Chris and the Mac brothers for paying our hockey supporters back for the free team bonding trip to Italy

[Gate93]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Bummer that Wagner is gone but its tough to fault a player for leaving when they get a three year contract that, according to one tweet anyway, pays $850 if you make the big team and $225 or so if you make the AHL. Really no matter how good Wagner may be, without Smith riding his line his numbers were nearly certain to dip next year. When that can cost you real money, sometimes you have to make the jump.

As for the Mac brothers, keep in mind that K. Mac. is graduating and so he was leaving no matter what happened. And while I hate to see anyone transfer, J. Mac. had an 0-0-0 line in 21 games. He was obviously being used as a fourth liner and not the first option their either. Can't fault a kid who probably only has a couple years left to play when he decides he'd rather play somewhere than sit. Had Wagner stuck around and the incoming frosh proven any good, that is likely where J. Mac. would have ended up.

As for the new rink issue, Greencoat check out the place our incoming 2013 recruit plays at the Berkshire school. Since everyone has scholarships to some level or another, facilities are a primary recruiting weapon. From that standpoint, Starr is as useful as a marshmallow against an M-1 tank.

And hey on the bright side, maybe this turmoil will convince the school to up the roster limit by a spot or two. . .

[TchrBill]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

I don't fault Wagner for leaving in the least...the financial security is only surpassed by the .01% dream of actually playing in the NHL. The problem is that it's just not the norm for Colgate to recruit such desired talent who are lured away after their sophomore seasons. More common for BC and NoDak, sure, but they're used to it and have other talented lines that can step up because they play like their first line anyway. For Colgate, the loss is devastating. We never would have made it to Albany without Andy.

Maybe there will be something to be said for the future of Colgate hockey if it continues to [help] produce draft picks. And maybe that should be the draw instead of a hypothetical arena...and questionable administration.

[Gaterrooter]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Bill you are barking up the same tree I am. This is scenario that is happening right now should be the turning point for Colgate and legitimatizes the program like it hasn't been legitimized since Andy.

Don, Jason and Brad should be calling every high end prospect they can think of the rest of this week. They should be telling them that you can come to Colgate and chase your dreams and develop. Tell them to tune in to the NHL network on Friday night to watch Austin with the Hobey Baker while playing at Colgate. They should be pointing to Chris and saying, this kid was a 5th round pick and came to Colgate and turned himself into a top NHL prospect. They should be saying, we are on the cusp of starting a beautiful new arena for the team that will be state of the art. They should be saying, Watch Union, a team we play at least twice a year, win the National Championship on Saturday night. Finally, they should be saying, you can chase your dream and get a tremendous education from one of the top Universities in the country.

Colgate Hockey is getting a boat load of publicity this week on the national level. Get on the phones and sell, sell, sell.

[TheGreenCoat]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

TchrBill...I think the problem lies in the types of rules under which this program operates...less-than-available grant-in-aids, limited roster size...as I have said many times, we have been very, very lucky over the years with the lack of early departures and, generally speaking, injuries...McDonald simply WAS NOT ready to go after his sophomore year; Chris leaving early is in reality probably the best decision for him (and we are not in a position to get on his case for this)...the problem lies in the fact that we've greased through potential problems over the past 15 years and a reversion to the mean should not be a surprise...Rajamaki did leave early (probably a mistake)...maybe we can accelerate the matriculation of two recuits who were scheduled to come in 2013...again, I know the issues aren't quite this simple...we are the only school in the ECAC that carries a full DI schedule in all athletics that is not an Ivy school (and maintaining an enrollment roughly 50% of the Ivies)...nonetheless changes HAVE to be made and the above mentioned two (maximum use of grant-in-aids and flexibility as to roster size) are a bare minimum...

[TheGreenCoat]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Gaterrooter...would agree here...Austin winning the Hobey - and I think he DOES deserve it - should be an opportunity to both press our administration and AD AND potential recruits to turn a negative into somewhat of a positive...the coaching staff AND Silver Puck need to press hard both our current AD and the administration...that's what essentially occurred at Union...

[ColSkate65]

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

My cynical side says, thank you to Chris and the Mac brothers for paying our hockey supporters back for the free team bonding trip to Italy

Apologize if I overspoke. It's just that upon reading the news, it felt like a punch to the gut. Wish Chris success whereever he goes, just hate to see guys leave early - it's not in the tradition of the 'Gate hockey program, i.e. Andy M.

Playing up Austin's Hobey chances is a good move, but I disagree with some posters who feel we should advertise that one can get to the NHL through 1-2 years of prep at Colgate. They are either in it for the four years or they should look elsewhere. Just my 2 cents.