Fire Mike Eaves?

[SanTropez]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

bump

Getting it warmed up in case you lose to CC, I'm here to help.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

No way. I'm putting the champagne on ice so I can celebrate our victory and theoretical move away from the bottom of the PWR.

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

bump

Getting it warmed up in case you lose to CC, I'm here to help.

Nice! However I'm with EODS. And frankly I haven't felt this sure of a win since right before the '81 championship game at the Duluth Entertainment Center.

Although it's probably because, just like then, the opponent's not bringing much to the table.

[solovsfett]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

bump

Getting it warmed up in case you lose to CC, I'm here to help.

Calling the real tDON! Will Mr. Granato please re-introduce himself to Madisonians, this time as the new NCAA Men's Hockey Coach? oh wait...there's the whole BA must actually act part...ah well see you in 2018? 2019?

[owslachief]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

Fire Rick Comley!

[UpNorthHockey]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

The only bad thing about getting rid of Eaves would be losing Matt Walsh who I think is great at player development. Eaves isn't a terrible coach, but he's underperformed for a B1G program that is generally stacked with NHL draft picks. Had Eaves been HC of a smaller program with less ability to draw blue chip recruits, he probably would have a far worse record. You have to think guys like Hastings at Mankato or Daniels at Ferris or Pearson at Tech have demonstrated a lot more raw coaching talent given what they had to work with. Eaves also has a bit of a reputation for not being very user-friendly. His teams often seem to get off to a slow start and have a hard time finding their stride. I think he fits better in the pro hockey world than in the college hockey world.

[Wisko McBadgerton]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

Fire Rick Comley!

I think you meant Hire Rick Comely!

Also, in honor of this week's matchup with CC and their last known poster:

Fire Scotty Owens!!!

[omahasioux1]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

No way. I'm putting the champagne on ice so I can celebrate our victory and theoretical move away from the bottom of the PWR.

Hey, you can only go up.

[markwojo]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

I've got to admit I've always felt the fire Eaves crowd had more of an ax to grind because of who Eaves is not (Mark Johnson and the fact that a vocal segment of the fan base wanted/preferred him) and generally been supportive of him....but ****e if the program isn't at rock bottom at this point. I know even tDon had a couple (maybe more like 4) rocky years at da U, but how the hell at UW with all the advantageous of facilities, tradition, fan support, ect do you not in a dozen years figure out how to construct a roster where every 4 years you are not bringing in double digit freshman and sucking for a year or two?

[Slap Shot]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

Keep him. Please.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

I've got to admit I've always felt the fire Eaves crowd had more of an ax to grind because of who Eaves is not (Mark Johnson and the fact that a vocal segment of the fan base wanted/preferred him) and generally been supportive of him....but ****e if the program isn't at rock bottom at this point. I know even tDon had a couple (maybe more like 4) rocky years at da U, but how the hell at UW with all the advantageous of facilities, tradition, fan support, ect do you not in a dozen years figure out how to construct a roster where every 4 years you are not bringing in double digit freshman and sucking for a year or two?

What fan support? Be completely honest, do you really think you have a great fan base?

[WiscDC]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

What fan support? Be completely honest, do you really think you have a great fan base?

Look at the rest of college hockey. The answer is an easy yes, unless you think there can't be more than 2-4 teams with good fan support (not that I haven't seen that opinion plenty of times before).

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

Look at the rest of college hockey. The answer is an easy yes, unless you think there can't be more than 2-4 teams with good fan support (not that I haven't seen that opinion plenty of times before).

Here's the thing. I think you guys have an above average fanbase. Which you shouldn't take as a knock on you or really anyone else on this board. You strike me more as a Gopher football type of fanbase. You'll show up when you are good but even when you're good you probably aren't first, second, or even third on anyone's priority list.

I mean look at your games now. You have what? A dozen fans or so show up to an average game? OK, that was a cheap shot but your attendance the last few years has been atrocious. Even when you were up Gopher fans could get good seats from the box office. I understand you are down but at the same time Minnesota still drew fans when we had a ****ty run.

[WiscDC]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

Here's the thing. I think you guys have an above average fanbase. Which you shouldn't take as a knock on you or really anyone else on this board. You strike me more as a Gopher football type of fanbase. You'll show up when you are good but even when you're good you probably aren't first, second, or even third on anyone's priority list.

I mean look at your games now. You have what? A dozen fans or so show up to an average game? OK, that was a cheap shot but your attendance the last few years has been atrocious. Even when you were up Gopher fans could get good seats from the box office. I understand you are down but at the same time Minnesota still drew fans when we had a ****ty run.

I saw the very beginning of the 5-0 Minnesota-Notre Dame game a couple of weeks ago. (I decided to put on the replay before finding something else to watch.) I don't know if there was a giant traffic jam, but there were all kinds of empty seats there (noticed the paid attendance was >10,000), and I saw a bit of that last year. Let's not pretend like Mariucci Arena is completely packed every time. And while I realize attendance vs. capacity does make a difference for things like noise (and even fans' willingness to make noise), having more seats available in the 300s doesn't make the fans who are there less supportive.

As for being on people's priority lists: Sure, if an athlete wants to turn heads and be seen as a star anywhere he walks around town, Madison probably doesn't rank that highly. But at home games? Only a handful of programs can match it game-in and game-out (I've never seen a game there, but I'm assuming Minnesota is one - I'm not denying that), even those Friday October games.

Here's how I look at it - the Wisconsin fan base at its worse (i.e. the past few years) is better than most fan bases at their best. The last few years have been atrocious, but think about what "atrocious" means for the Badgers. The same goes for the student section - even on its worst days early last year (excluding holidays, though that 2nd Michigan game had a great turnout for winter break), it was bigger than most. One constant in my time at UW has been the awesome atmosphere from the student section, whether there are 8000 (*shudders*) or 15000 in the Kohl Center. When it comes to recruiting, while Wisconsin doesn't have as strong a case as they did a few years ago, I'm guessing they still have most programs beaten in the "fans" department for most recruits.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but the way the athletic department has reacted to the past few years after years of super-minimal marketing efforts makes me think we'll see positive changes in the upcoming years (not weeks), slowly and steadily (if the team can win a game, of course). I think we've seen the bottom, and are just starting to come out of it, though I expect some more sparse crowds (again, by Wisconsin standards) this year.

[solovsfett]

Re: Fire Mike Eaves?

Fire Mike Eaves, please.

Thanks.