Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

[SCSU Euro]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

Nobody that is willing to accept a job in Anchorage could recruit kids to Anchorage. You just can't get cream of the crop there. Then stick them in the best and deepest league in college hockey, of course they will lose every single year

[Stauber1]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

The crapload of daylight in the summer would bother me much more. I am very susceptible to insomnia.

Not to get too personal, but so am I. Yet I find it to be a considerably bigger problem in the winter. I just am much more eager to get out and be active in the summer, and as a result I sleep much better.

What I was getting at originally, though, is that I think the Alaska schools do indeed face some challenges in recruiting that the schools in the lower 48 don't face.

[The Rube]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

Nobody that is willing to accept a job in Anchorage could recruit kids to Anchorage. You just can't get cream of the crop there. Then stick them in the best and deepest league in college hockey, of course they will lose every single year

This.

[Suze]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

Not to get too personal, but so am I. Yet I find it to be a considerably bigger problem in the winter. I just am much more eager to get out and be active in the summer, and as a result I sleep much better.

What I was getting at originally, though, is that I think the Alaska schools do indeed face some challenges in recruiting that the schools in the lower 48 don't face.

You are right about that, and the travel is brutal for a student athlete.

As far as the sunshine in the summer, it's great. I can golf at 10 pm or fish at midnight if I want. I suffer from insomnia in both the summer and the winter, the daylight has nothing to do with it because we have black out honeycomb blinds on our bedroom windows.

I grew up an Air Force brat and have lived all over the US, Alaska is by far the best place as far as I'm concerned. It's gorgeous and it's an outdoor sportsmans paradise.

[uaafanblog]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

MN plays well over half their games on Olympic sized ice. UAA plays well over half on an NHL sized sheet. That makes a difference.

Sully is Olympic ice.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

All this BS about poor UAA not being able to recruit anyone is comical. Brent, maybe you don't know **** from warm peanut butter afterall.

The vast majority of UAA recruits come from Canada...HELLO?, which you can see (along with Russia) from Alaska. The problem is NOT getting recruits (they just added 8 new recruits this season), its actually keeping players in a dysfunctional hockey program with a coach that doesn't know squat on how to develop players and run a successful NCAA D1 program. Period. I'd bet the farm if you change the leadership, you change the culture of hockey at UAA and start winning games.

AND that's why PLAYERS and FANS are ditching the program in droves:

In the last four-plus seasons, at least 17 players with eligibility remaining have left UAA's program. Two of them -- center Paul Crowder and defenseman Lee Baldwin -- left to sign professional contracts, but nearly all the rest dropped out of hockey.

All those departures have hampered continuity in a program that has finished last or next-to-last in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association six times in the last seven seasons.

Interest in UAA hockey also has waned in that span. The Seawolves averaged just 3,093 fans per home game at Sullivan Arena last season -- that's paid attendance, not butts in seats -- to mark their lowest average since the 1985-86 season. UAA's attendance has fallen 21 percent in the last six seasons.

UAA lost three players during last season.

Defenseman Wes McLeod, a sophomore, left the team shortly before the holiday break. Junior winger Mickey Spencer was the team's co-leading scorer when he departed at the holiday break. And Bruijsten was tied for the team scoring lead when he was booted off the club in March, just before the WCHA playoffs began.

[Suze]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

All this BS about poor UAA not being able to recruit anyone is comical. Brent, maybe you don't know **** from warm peanut butter afterall.

The vast majority of UAA recruits come from Canada...HELLO?, which you can see (along with Russia) from Alaska. The problem is NOT getting recruits (they just added 8 new recruits this season), its actually keeping players in a dysfunctional hockey program with a coach that doesn't know squat on how to develop players and run a successful NCAA D1 program. Period. I'd bet the farm if you change the leadership, you change the culture of hockey at UAA and start winning games.

AND that's why PLAYERS and FANS are ditching the program in droves:

It would be nice if you gave credit for the quote you pasted in. Curious where that came from.

A BIG part of the problem is attendance, and the pro team has a lot to do with that. The Aces currently have 4 NHL players playing for them, so expect attendance to be even worse this season. No player wants to play in a half empty arena. However, many teams across the nation are struggling to get butts in the seats. I watched Mankato games on cable last season and their barn was REALLY empty.

HarleyMC, there's a big difference between getting recruits and getting recruits that are draft picks. Come on.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

It would be nice if you gave credit for the quote you pasted in. Curious where that came from.

A BIG part of the problem is attendance, and the pro team has a lot to do with that. The Aces currently have 4 NHL players playing for them, so expect attendance to be even worse this season. No player wants to play in a half empty arena. However, many teams across the nation are struggling to get butts in the seats. I watched Mankato games on cable last season and their barn was REALLY empty.

HarleyMC, there's a big difference between getting recruits and getting recruits that are draft picks. Come on.

Plenty of teams in college hockey are not stocked with draft picks like the Gophers AND they manage a few winning seasons now and then...agreed? Fans are leaving primarily because they don't like the product on the ice, and they look elsewhere for sports entertainment...that's simple marketing dynamics. Players are leaving because there's no vision for success! This type of perennial exodus of players and fans is clearly unprecedented in NCAA college hockey. UAA has some serious issues here....HELLO? And what's even more crazy is you're coming on here and defending it.

Give the leadership in the UAA athletic dept. including Shyiak the boot, and hire someone who knows how to change the culture of hockey at UAA. That's what they've done at Alaska with Dallas Ferguson and he's had a few successful seasons in the CCHA with the same recruiting percentage of Canadian and non-Canadian roster as UAA. Eventually competition for the entertainment dollar tips in UAA's favor and fans start coming back. Here's the article Suze Q : UAA Hockey Players Leave Team.

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

I guess I'm strange. I like the darkness better than I like the summer. The sky turns all kinds of striking pretty colors in the morning and late afternoon. It's what photographers/videographers call the "magic hour" I believe. The daylight late in the summer gets repetitive, especially on a cloudy day.

I've never been a big city guy. I grew up in a rural/suburban no-mans land 10 miles outside Saginaw, MI, and then went from that to Tech, so I'm used to the slower paced at-home lifestyle without that much around. Anchorage is actually the largest city I've ever lived in by far. For what it's worth, downtown is actually pretty vibrant with a good selection of stuff to do, without being too bustling.

Odd thing I've noticed is Anchorage has more engineering majors on their team than Tech. Apparently it's the high demand from the oil companies.

[Jimjamesak]

Nobody that is willing to accept a job in Anchorage could recruit kids to Anchorage. You just can't get cream of the crop there. Then stick them in the best and deepest league in college hockey, of course they will lose every single year

Actually our biggest issue is our University System just flat out doesn't care about UAA. The top brass of UAA and the UA care very little about the hockey team.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

Actually our biggest issue is our University System just flat out doesn't care about UAA. The top brass of UAA and the UA care very little about the hockey team.

UA has had 6 winning seasons in the last 18, UAA has ZERO. The difference begins with team leadership, not the University system. Players and loyal fans don't ditch a college hockey program because of the university system. UAA is in big trouble. Someone needs to step up and stop the bleeding or given a consistent drop in ticket revenue, this program could be begging these "hegemonic despots" for a generous bailout in the very near future.

[Jimjamesak]

UA has had 6 winning seasons in the last 18, UAA has ZERO. The difference begins with team leadership, not the University system. Players and loyal fans don't ditch a college hockey program because of the university system. UAA is in big trouble. Someone needs to step up and stop the bleeding or given a consistent drop in ticket revenue, this program could be begging these "hegemonic despots" for a generous bailout in the very near future.

I'm done with this. You don't know jack about how things work here. The problems go way beyond a coach and captain.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

I'm done with this. You don't know jack about how things work here. The problems go way beyond a coach and captain.

I know Jack, but you don't know Jack ****. Please explain to the viewing audience why UA doesn't have the same problems with players and fans voting "NO" with their feet smart***?

Here's a couple comments from some concerned fans. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

McLeod left because Shyiak is a dick and didn't let him play. Spencer left because Shyiak is a dick and told him he would not be getting ice time. Gunderson,Kwas and Pickering all got back late from break, non of which are going on the road trip because Shyiak is a dick. There are players leaving left and right because lets face it, Shyiak is no good. His coaching style is awful and lets be honest, he doesn't understand his own players. He needs to go.

Anonymous said...

From 1st hand experience....if your top end player leaves a div 1 school, where he has a scholarship, leading in scoring, has more years of eligibility and while saying he's not sure if hes going to pursue hockey or go to school you have to know there's some other inside issue. That issue is undoubtedly a coaching-player disagreement. No one leaves the opportunity they've been working towards the last 3 years to give it up to "maybe pursue hockey or maybe go to school" if its not something related to his relationship with the players or staff. Mickey's (Spencer) an honest person and good team guy, so that cancels out one of the possibilities. The ship is sinking, its time to replace the captain of that ship or players will keep jumping off. Go seawolves, you have a great core group of guys w/ unbelievable talent but who's leading the charge? This is Custer's Last Stand.

*****http://i594.***********.com/albums/tt28/harleymc1/failboat2.jpg******

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

*****http://i594.***********.com/albums/tt28/harleymc1/funny.gif****** *****http://i594.***********.com/albums/tt28/harleymc1/GAMEDAYGOPHERS.gif****** *****http://i594.***********.com/albums/tt28/harleymc1/smiley-cool11.gif******

Time to eat some Seapups. Gophers sweep.

*****http://i594.***********.com/albums/tt28/harleymc1/Dogeating.jpg******

[Jimjamesak]

Re: Minnesota @ Alaska Anchorage: 11/9-11/10

UA has had 6 winning seasons in the last 18, UAA has ZERO. The difference begins with team leadership, not the University system. Players and loyal fans don't ditch a college hockey program because of the university system. UAA is in big trouble. Someone needs to step up and stop the bleeding or given a consistent drop in ticket revenue, this program could be begging these "hegemonic despots" for a generous bailout in the very near future.

I know Jack, but you don't know Jack ****. Please explain to the viewing audience why UA doesn't have the same problems with players and fans voting "NO" with their feet smart***?

Here's a couple comments from some concerned fans. Enjoy!





*****http://i594.***********.com/albums/tt28/harleymc1/failboat2.jpg******

Alright lets go aboard the reading comprehension express...

Nowhere in any of my statements did I mention the University of Alaska Fairbanks, or UAF as we call them. I did however mention that the University of Alaska system, the people that control funding for all campuses including the Anchorage one, have historically underfunded UAA in many areas including support for athletics. The "Top Brass at UAA and the UA" would refer to the Chancellor of UAA and the Board of Regents for the University of Alaska system, all of whom have very very little support for any program at UAA, let alone the hockey team. It may seem like a trivial thing to you folks at a Division I BCS conference school where athletic budgets rival national defense budgets but, funds tend to be limited for things like marketing and promotion, equipment, and facilities. Add in the fact that UA system supports UAF over UAA consistently and a limited budget becomes limited even more.

Telling us that our problems lie simply at our coaches and players shows a massive amount of ignorance towards our situation here. Any UAA follower will tell you that the problems with the program start at points well beyond coaching and the athletic department. Basically what I'm trying to tell you is you're ignorant and, well, SHUT THE * UP!