Wisconsin Hockey 22-23 Empty Dreams & Empty Seats

[WiscTJK]

Portrykus was really bad too! You're right. Hopefully they both glt a stern talking to on getting a major story so flipping wrong!

And I think it is getting really hard to ignore Rohlik. He has outperformed UW and what he has available at OSU. Plus he has the Eaves assts. He at least deserves an honest interview based on his track record.

Does he want to move with the new stadium for hockey just announced?

A little analysis is in order:

Rohlik's record is .559 at OSU (42 games over .500, 3 losing seasons with 2 of his first 3 years, but only 1 over the last 7 years). He will have 5 NCAA tourneys in 10 years assuming they don't collapse and get in this year.

Eaves was 42 games over .500 in 14 years and finished with a .538 win %. 5 seasons below .500, and 7 NCAA tourneys in 14 years.
Jeff Sauer was .609 win% and 183 games over .500 in 20 years.

So seems like Rohlik could do better than Eaves at Wisconsin. He plays a more physical style that I like and he has gotten good recruits to a non-hockey tradition school.

[GoBucky18]

Portrykus was really bad too! You're right. Hopefully they both glt a stern talking to on getting a major story so flipping wrong!

And I think it is getting really hard to ignore Rohlik. He has outperformed UW and what he has available at OSU. Plus he has the Eaves assts. He at least deserves an honest interview based on his track record.

[Timothy A]

One can only hope. While I agree...after the debacle of reporters having the "inside scoop" for the Fickell hiring. I dont trust a word they say that has meaningful substance to it. Polzin was the biggest offender there too, rah rah-ing for Leonard and saying UW was hiring him.

What's frustrating is that King and Mac clearly dont care about hockey. Do we trust them to make a solid hire? They likely will hire a search committee with "criteria" then intervkew 3 candidates and throw a dart at a board.

I thought Potrykus was the biggest offender on the FB thing. He all but said Leonard was a done deal. He sure did zip the lips after that.

I won't assume they don't care about hockey. They did restructure TG's contract to make it less costly to fire him. They probably made him fire MS, TG is too loyal to do that on this own. To me that says a lot. And King has told people who email him to hang in there, and I'm taking that as a change is on the way. We are under 2 weeks to the end of the season. March 6th is D day.

[J.D.]

What's frustrating is that King and Mac clearly dont care about hockey. Do we trust them to make a solid hire? They likely will hire a search committee with "criteria" then intervkew 3 candidates and throw a dart at a board.

I know you guys aren't committed to "former Badger" at this point but I would find it difficult to overlook a guy who is a proven winner in college hockey. Granato was not that when he got the job. I can understand taking a big swing at someone like Hastings but what is the relationship with Rohlik these days? Winning in the same conference at a school that cares less about hockey than the guys you're talking about. Seems like such a slam dunk decision to me. Maybe he doesn't win a national championship but I see no reason to think Rohlik wouldn't at least turn Wisconsin into what he has at Ohio State.

[GoBucky18]

I know you guys hate talking about it, and Ive gotten some push back but I did a dive on the 83/84 through 86/87 teams. I can expound, but I think the next few weeka are more important. Lets just say crap starts and getting their rear ends handed to them by Minnesota or UMD. One of those years they went 0-8 against UMD....woof woof lol

[GoBucky18]

FWIW, I asked Jim Polzin what the probability level was of TG getting fire....he said high to very high. This guy is widely read, I think it's a good sign he chose to publicly answered the question. He could have just ignored the question.

One can only hope. While I agree...after the debacle of reporters having the "inside scoop" for the Fickell hiring. I dont trust a word they say that has meaningful substance to it. Polzin was the biggest offender there too, rah rah-ing for Leonard and saying UW was hiring him.

What's frustrating is that King and Mac clearly dont care about hockey. Do we trust them to make a solid hire? They likely will hire a search committee with "criteria" then intervkew 3 candidates and throw a dart at a board.

[Timothy A]

FWIW, I asked Jim Polzin what the probability level was of TG getting fire....he said high to very high. This guy is widely read, I think it's a good sign he chose to publicly answered the question. He could have just ignored the question.

[digitalbooya]

Yes, legacy is meaningless to these kids. When you listen to UW women's players talk about Mark Johnson, many of them are not aware of his Olympic and NHL accomplishments prior to him sitting in their living room or after, MJ is too humble to go down that road. What are they interested in? The academics, the facilities, the current culture, building relationships, feeling comfortable, improving as a player, maybe fulfilling an Olympic dream and winning would be good. It's about the kids and their future, not UW and it's past. Legacy and pride in that legacy is for the fan, not the player.

100% agree. I’m not opposed to the coach knowing Badger Bob’s legacy. Tradition is important. But here’s the thing, if someone like Hastings doesn’t know it, the university can always help him honor that legacy. Bring the winning first and then teach them about our Badger legends.

It’s funny you bring up Mark Johnson though. What better guy is there to honor Badger Bob’s legacy than him? He’s an excellent coach. He would need a great assistant coach to get recruits…

I doubt Mark is interested at this stage. But that would at least intrigue me and it fits all of the criteria outside of not choosing a Badger alumni.

[Timothy A]

Feel free to name your coach that fits all of the criteria I listed in my previous post. Certainly not Mike Hastings. Reinprecht played for Sauer and is from Canada. I doubt he paid much attention to UW prior.

Yes, legacy is meaningless to these kids. When you listen to UW women's players talk about Mark Johnson, many of them are not aware of his Olympic and NHL accomplishments prior to him sitting in their living room or after, MJ is too humble to go down that road. What are they interested in? The academics, the facilities, the current culture, building relationships, feeling comfortable, improving as a player, maybe fulfilling an Olympic dream and winning would be good. It's about the kids and their future, not UW and it's past. Legacy and pride in that legacy is for the fan, not the player.

[digitalbooya]

I know you don’t like it. And maybe don’t even appreciate it yourself.

this is like saying a new Green Bay coach doesn’t have to know the history of or respect Vince Lombardi.

it’s kind of crazy.

No, you’re putting too much emphasis on it for the coach. It’s the university’s job to know Badger Bob’s legacy and to honor that. It’s the coaches job to win.

You think Matt LaFleur is up at night trying to study Vince Lombardi? No. His job is to create a winning team now.

Do you think Fickell cares about Alvarez’s legacy or do you think Fickell cares about winning?

If you’re throwing these unnecessary requirements into the search, you’re left with no one. Only badger alumni truly know Badger Bob’s legacy nowadays.

Feel free to name your coach that fits all of the criteria I listed in my previous post. Certainly not Mike Hastings. Reinprecht played for Sauer and is from Canada. I doubt he paid much attention to UW prior.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

I don’t watch enough of the Rangers to say exactly if he’s stopped being a defensive liability or if they’ve just coached some of his boneheaded offensive issues (drop passes on the wrong side of the blue line while leaving the zone, anyone?).

All I know is that in Madison, it’s customary to just ignore anything happening in front of the goalie, because Granato will just yank the goalie and blame him for your mistakes.

[solovsfett]

Recruiting due to terrible choices in hiring of assistants. Bill Butters, Gary Shuchuk, etc... By the time he got 2 decent ones again in JB Bittner and Luke Strand (now OSU's assistants), it was too late.

Truth!

[WiscTJK]

Yep. The more time passes the better Mike Eaves looks as a coach. In fact, if Oseicki didn’t bail on him as a recruiter, Eaves would likely still be in Madison. That’s the thing that derailed Eaves. Recruiting after Oz left.

Recruiting due to terrible choices in hiring of assistants. Bill Butters, Gary Shuchuk, etc... By the time he got 2 decent ones again in JB Bittner and Luke Strand (now OSU's assistants), it was too late.

[solovsfett]

I'm sure he's a smart guy and he knew this outcome could be likely. Strand and the other guy who got axed with Eaves landed on their feet. Andy will too and he's younger. The coaches know what is going on at WI, he won't be radioactive.

Someone mentioned that Eaves may have propped up Oz and his D considering how bad the D are under him. I think that is a very astute observation. They managed to make K'Andre Miller look bad and the minute he was a Ranger he was suddenly a better player.

Yep. The more time passes the better Mike Eaves looks as a coach. In fact, if Oseicki didn’t bail on him as a recruiter, Eaves would likely still be in Madison. That’s the thing that derailed Eaves. Recruiting after Oz left.

[LordofBrewtown]

I'm sure he's a smart guy and he knew this outcome could be likely. Strand and the other guy who got axed with Eaves landed on their feet. Andy will too and he's younger. The coaches know what is going on at WI, he won't be radioactive.

Someone mentioned that Eaves may have propped up Oz and his D considering how bad the D are under him. I think that is a very astute observation. They managed to make K'Andre Miller look bad and the minute he was a Ranger he was suddenly a better player.

I've wondered about that too. How could Miller look so bad, and then so quickly look so good? I don't think it was a change in effort...which leaves the coaching. The D has looked horrible for several years now.