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Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

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  • Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

    "Winning is a habit; unfortunately, so is losing" -Vince Lombardi

    Should Mel be feeling the heat going into his fourth year? Which recruits will join the team this fall? Will there still be ice on Lake Superior in June? Will Fade get a contact high just walking around Denver? The answer to these questions and many others, coming soon.

  • #2
    Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

    For the first time in 35 years this team is terrible because they underachieved, instead of just not having talent. There is no reason this team couldn't have finished near the top of this league. There is no reason this team shouldn't be going to the Final 5. Like I mentioned in the last thread, this season is a failure, and there's no other way to see it. Quite pathetic, actually.
    Having a clear conscience just means you have a bad memory or you had a boring weekend.

    RIP - Kirby

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    • #3
      Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

      Originally posted by bigblue_dl View Post
      For the first time in 35 years this team is terrible because they underachieved, instead of just not having talent. There is no reason this team couldn't have finished near the top of this league. There is no reason this team shouldn't be going to the Final 5. Like I mentioned in the last thread, this season is a failure, and there's no other way to see it. Quite pathetic, actually.
      Agree ...100%
      MTU Huskies 3 time NCAA Champions... and going for more.
      2017-18 WCHA playoff Pick'em Champion!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

        Keeping in mind the talent that Ferris and Mankato have, Tech should have finished 3rd this season, 5th is a huge disappointment and a definite failure. TO me the biggest problem is we definitely seemed to take a step up when Mel came in over where we were with Jamie, but again we seem to have plateaued and in some aspects even taken steps backward. I won't be happy until we are finishing at or even slightly above .500 consistently, and then from there go further.
        2005-2006: 7-25-6
        2006-2007: 18-17-5
        2007-2008: 14-20-5
        2008-2009: 6-25-7
        2009-2010: 5-30-1

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        • #5
          Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

          I agree this season was disapointing, but we were picked to finish 4th by the coaches and we finished 5th.

          I do agree, the difficult non-conference schedule was not good, and I would've liked to get some confidence with some more winnable games.

          I'll be curious to see if the goalie situation stays the same and Kero waits a year to come in or not.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

            Originally posted by bose301s View Post
            TO me the biggest problem is we definitely seemed to take a step up when Mel came in over where we were with Jamie, but again we seem to have plateaued and in some aspects even taken steps backward.
            There you have it, bose301s: the effect of the Perpetual Losing Culture at Tech. Even bringing in a well-qualified coach, albeit MTU alum but first time HC, is not enough to change the PLC.

            I think that Tech being tech, people there think the problem requires solving for a variable or two...maybe a little plug and chug, and voila! there's the answer. At least in the last 30 years or so that's how they've approached the problem of losing. Obviously, that is not working because the problem cannot reduced to an equation. It's a bunch of intangibles wrapped around a contagious mindset in the hockey program. Other teams like basketball and football came out of the 30 year dark ages of perpetual losing. Even a startup like soccer excelled.

            I've said it before and will say it again, but Tech needs an AD just for the hockey program. Someone demonstrating a record of accomplishment with turnarounds at the D1 level and charged with the authority to make the necessary changes. Let Mel concentrate on coaching/developing the team and bring in a Boss who isn't infected with the PLC mindset to run the program. If MTU hockey was a private enterprise, unless it was owned by the likes of the late William Clay Ford, it would have undergone major restructuring or gone out of business. Yes, it will take more money. But we dug this hole and now we have to pay for the ladder.

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            • #7
              MTU Hockey - Trying to Get Mel Back to the NCAA's Since 1981...

              I've refrained from posting after this weekend until I had some time to think it over. Of course we would all love to be booking our tickets to Grand Rapids for next weekend and then after we posted two shut-outs there, on to the NCAA tourney. However, let's be realistic - 10 days ago 9 teams in the conference realistically were thinking the same thing.

              There are always two sides to every plot line of the story. Sure Tech finished 5th in the WCHA and we didn't get home ice. How many years in the last 30 would MTU fans have been thrilled to finish 5th? Yes, we all think the WCHA should be a cake walk, but it isn't right now other than UAH (no offense to their effort this season). You can say Tech finished 5th, or you can say they missed 3rd place by ONE point.

              In my opinion Tech got smoked in three games this year - a brutal job of re***** in Notre Dame and the awful homestand against UAF. Other than that, Tech did have a chance to win pretty much every other game on the schedule, including the BRUTAL early season non-conference run. Just a few years ago Tech was taking losses by three or four goals every single night. Games were over before the end of 1st period horn sounded. There were classes of players in the not so distant past that barely won a dozen games in FOUR YEARS coming through the program.

              One improvement I want to see is two-fold. I want Tech to score 3.5 goals per game and allow 2.5 goals per game. This year in conference Tech scored and allowed 78 goals. That's about 2.7 per game in both categories. The four teams that finished ahead of MTU had the following goal differentials in conference: +30, +37, +20 and +16. (NMU was the only other team to have a plus goal differential in conference with +2). If Tech either gives up one less, or scores one more goal per game that's +28 and you're competing for a WCHA title and you have a lot less close games.

              You can say what you want about this season being less than we wanted. However, I've been watching Tech hockey for 20+ seasons now. This year, I could honestly say that every time Tech took the ice, I thought we had a legit chance to win that night's game. It has been a LONG time since I felt that way about Tech hockey. Did anyone hear the term "doormat" used this season to describe Tech? Did anyone think we should be playing D-III hockey because we couldn't cut it in D-I? Were alumni calling for the program to be shut down because it was an embarrassment to the university. I don't recall any of those things being said this season. However it wasn't too long ago that people outside AND inside the university were saying these kinds of things about MTU hockey.

              Tech hockey has almost accomplished more in the last three years than in all the years put together since Mel last wore a Huskies uniform. I don't think it is wrong to have high expectations, but I think the word "failure" has no business being associated with this year's team.

              Find one goal per game in the off season and see where the chips fall next year.

              Ryan J
              Preserving Michigan Tech's Hockey History
              https://www.johnsonsjerseys.net
              Originally posted by geezer
              Tech has the best of everything, even the best jersey nerd.
              Originally posted by manurespreader
              ...I really enjoyed listening to Ryan Johnson. He sounded intelligent.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: MTU Hockey - Trying to Get Mel Back to the NCAA's Since 1981...

                I think we have less talent than you think there BB, and what we do have is very young. I agree that it's a tough hill to climb and that the last few feet are always the steepest. However, considering how many freshmen D men started and played well, it's hard for me to be too critical. Disappointed,... totally.
                I see a number of our young guys making significant steps,( like Gould, who I despaired would ever get there) and I think we will have better on ice leadership next year. I though Brett Olsen and Ryan Carpenter were the two best I've see in a long time at doing that. I also think the goaltending got better towards the end of the year. Early on it was on again off again, but lately it was better.
                MTU: Three time NCAA champions.

                It never get's easier, you just go faster. -Greg Lemond

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                • #9
                  Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                  I hope the team goes all in for the young guys coming in and the guys who did not have much ice this year.
                  The bottom 2 lines did little the last 2/3 of the season to warrant being fixtures in the lineup.
                  I would of rather seen set lines (groups of 3) rotated in to find chemistry.
                  Vallis, Heinonen, and Baltus did not benefit much this year.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                    I'd like to see Phillips or Wintjes earn more starts next year. I know Mel likes to run with Copley when he's playing well, but that only lasts for 3-4 games. Then he gets too relaxed and secure, and it results in a bad game or two. I'd like to see him seriously pushed by one of the other two.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                      ...Or for those of you with an engineering mindset, here is a graphical representation (time vs WCHA standings) of Tech Hockey fans' expectations since the signing of Mel Pearson as Head Coach. The flat section of the graph up to the point "Io" represents the week he spent moving into his office at the SDC. A few months later the curve flattens out three weeks into the first season as Tech's position in the WCHA should approach the limit of 1st place in the league standings at the point r(i). From this point forward MTU should assume Worldwide D-I hockey domination and remain undefeated as time approaches infinity... All good things take time folks. We've given other staffs waaaay more slack than this.

                      Ryan J

                      Preserving Michigan Tech's Hockey History
                      https://www.johnsonsjerseys.net
                      Originally posted by geezer
                      Tech has the best of everything, even the best jersey nerd.
                      Originally posted by manurespreader
                      ...I really enjoyed listening to Ryan Johnson. He sounded intelligent.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                        Originally posted by JohnsonsJerseys View Post
                        ...Or for those of you with an engineering mindset, here is a graphical representation (time vs WCHA standings) of Tech Hockey fans' expectations since the signing of Mel Pearson as Head Coach. The flat section of the graph up to the point "Io" represents the week he spent moving into his office at the SDC. A few months later the curve flattens out three weeks into the first season as Tech's position in the WCHA should approach the limit of 1st place in the league standings at the point r(i). From this point forward MTU should assume Worldwide D-I hockey domination and remain undefeated as time approaches infinity... All good things take time folks. We've given other staffs waaaay more slack than this.

                        Ryan J

                        Brilliant!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                          Originally posted by JohnsonsJerseys View Post
                          We've given other staffs waaaay more slack than this.

                          Ryan J
                          Those regimes didn't have a base salary budget of $400,000+ per season, plus benefits and perks.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                            Originally posted by JohnsonsJerseys View Post
                            ...Or for those of you with an engineering mindset, here is a graphical representation (time vs WCHA standings) of Tech Hockey fans' expectations since the signing of Mel Pearson as Head Coach. The flat section of the graph up to the point "Io" represents the week he spent moving into his office at the SDC. A few months later the curve flattens out three weeks into the first season as Tech's position in the WCHA should approach the limit of 1st place in the league standings at the point r(i). From this point forward MTU should assume Worldwide D-I hockey domination and remain undefeated as time approaches infinity... All good things take time folks. We've given other staffs waaaay more slack than this.

                            Ryan J

                            Well . . . I guess I learned something today. As Tom Magliozzi (Car Talk) says: "it's great being stupid because the amount of stuff you can learn on a daily basis is unbelievable!"

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Michigan Tech Offseason 2014: Nothing To Say

                              Mel said on the radio show this morning, there were a few injuries to the players thinking about coming in this fall.
                              That might change the plans and have a couple play another year of junior hockey. Not sure what this means??
                              Can anyone enlighten on prospects locked in, L'Esperance, Blacklock, Gillies, Hannoun, Jackson, Anderson, Schuldt, Auk for next year?

                              He also said they spoke to 3 players who are potential flight risks to see where they are at now in the process

                              I would think these would be Phillips (maybe looking elsewhere), Pietila, and D. Johnstone.
                              I think all but possibly Phillips will be back. It is really difficult to have a 1A and a 1B on an NCAA program.
                              I think Phoenix showed he is the #1, but is not elite yet. Jamie may want to go somewhere where he can be the man or just turn pro and play in the ECHL?
                              Last edited by Huskiefan906; 03-17-2014, 11:53 AM.

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