Coach of the Year

[bu3puckster]

If BU's Brian Durocher isn't a top candidate, I don't know who is. What he has done in the 5 years of the program is just great. He has grown the program every year. It looks like a program for now and the future. Mercyhurst better be ready because it could be an upset in the making the way Brian has his Team playing !

 

[Sean Pickett]

Re: Coach of the Year

If BU's Brian Durocher isn't a top candidate, I don't know who is. What he has done in the 5 years of the program is just great. He has grown the program every year. It looks like a program for now and the future. Mercyhurst better be ready because it could be an upset in the making the way Brian has his Team playing !

Since the award is only for this season what Coach Durocher has done since the program has started is not supposed to be considered. Furthermore, only the leagues Coach of the Year and the four coaches of the Frozen Four teams are considered for the National Coach of the Year. As Coach Deraney is the Hockey East Coach of the Year, and I agree with his selection, unless BU beats Mercyhurst on Saturday, Coach Durocher is not eligible for the award this season.

Sean

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Coach of the Year

If BU's Brian Durocher isn't a top candidate, I don't know who is. What he has done in the 5 years of the program is just great. He has grown the program every year. It looks like a program for now and the future. Mercyhurst better be ready because it could be an upset in the making the way Brian has his Team playing !

Derraugh from Cornell has grown his program consistently as well and led the Big Red to both the ECAC Reg season crown and the post season Championship. Like Durocher, he is not the conf (ECAC) coach of the year (That was Seeley) so Cornell needs to beat Harvard for him to have a shot at it....

Nothing against BU, but if I'm placing bets, I like the odds of Cornell getting to the Frozen four much better than those of BU.

 

[SPIN CONTROL]

Re: Coach of the Year

Since the award is only for this season what Coach Durocher has done since the program has started is not supposed to be considered. Furthermore, only the leagues Coach of the Year and the four coaches of the Frozen Four teams are considered for the National Coach of the Year. As Coach Deraney is the Hockey East Coach of the Year, and I agree with his selection, unless BU beats Mercyhurst on Saturday, Coach Durocher is not eligible for the award this season.

Sean

You are such a killjoy.

 

[bu3puckster]

Re: Coach of the Year

Since the award is only for this season what Coach Durocher has done since the program has started is not supposed to be considered. Furthermore, only the leagues Coach of the Year and the four coaches of the Frozen Four teams are considered for the National Coach of the Year. As Coach Deraney is the Hockey East Coach of the Year, and I agree with his selection, unless BU beats Mercyhurst on Saturday, Coach Durocher is not eligible for the award this season.

Sean

SEAN: Thanks for the update on the Rules......however "Butter" couldn't Coach his way out of a paper bag !

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: Coach of the Year

Seeley from Quinnipiac

There's your winner!

 

[IceIsNice]

Re: Coach of the Year

So, please do correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ballot looks like this....

Deraney (PC)
Seeley (QU)
Flanagan (SU)
Sertich (BSU)

Durocher/Sisti
Stone/Derraugh
Derosier(s)/Frost
Miller/McCloskey

Assuming I got this right, then I guess I'd lean toward Durocher should they pull the upset, and thus he'd be qualified. Looking over this list, I guess I'm in the Flanagan camp with Seeley as a second choice. The sudden emergence of Quinnipiac is great stuff for the ECAC and women's hockey in general, but Syracuse also became a formidable opponent, and very quickly.

PS...Colin Campbell does indeed suck!

 

[Sean Pickett]

Re: Coach of the Year

So, please do correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ballot looks like this....

Deraney (PC)
Seeley (QU)
Flanagan (SU)
Sertich (BSU)

Durocher/Sisti
Stone/Derraugh
Derosier(s)/Frost
Miller/McCloskey

Yes, based on last year’s criteria these should be this year’s finalists. It's interesting to see that this year none of the league coach of the year winners will make the FF.

Sean

 

[IceIsNice]

Re: Coach of the Year

Yes, based on last year’s criteria these should be this year’s finalists. It's interesting to see that this year none of the league coach of the year winners will make the FF.

Sean

I hadn't given that a thought until I had laid it out for myself. Yes, very interesting!

 

[Trillium]

Re: Coach of the Year

So, please do correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ballot looks like this....

Deraney (PC)
Seeley (QU)
Flanagan (SU)
Sertich (BSU)

Durocher/Sisti
Stone/Derraugh
Derosier(s)/Frost
Miller/McCloskey

Assuming I got this right, then I guess I'd lean toward Durocher should they pull the upset, and thus he'd be qualified. Looking over this list, I guess I'm in the Flanagan camp with Seeley as a second choice. The sudden emergence of Quinnipiac is great stuff for the ECAC and women's hockey in general, but Syracuse also became a formidable opponent, and very quickly.

PS...Colin Campbell does indeed suck!

I'd vote for Flanagan.

 

[ARM]

Re: Coach of the Year

I'd vote for Flanagan.

Earlier in the year I'd have agreed with you. Given this is only the second year and year 1 came with an asterisk, he's brought Syracuse a long way. But they were 4-over at the break and only finished .500 (for the purposes of an award like this, I can't give credit for beating Saint Anselm.) Five of those losses were to Mercyhurst, and it might be a bit much to expect them to beat the Lakers at this point in their evolution, but they also dropped home games to Colgate and RMU.

Assuming they get past UNH, I might have to vote for Miller, outbursts and all. Although her team also lost at home to RMU, and that's perhaps less forgivable. It just seems that UMD has improved much more over the course of the season, and that is one of the best measures of coaching.

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: Coach of the Year

I hadn't given that a thought until I had laid it out for myself. Yes, very interesting!

Seeley went from 3 wins to 19 in a season. You're a numbers guys.....What's that for a % increase in a single season? Qunnipiac ended up ranked tied for 10th (or in that ball park) which is 4 spots higher than Syracuse in a MUCH tougher division. But ya, I'll go with Flannagan too.

 

[MICZamboni]

Re: Coach of the Year

In a year where there are no Olympians, Mike Sisti took a group of ladies of which only one is senior and took them to the NCAA's as the Number 1 team in the nation. My vote, Mike Sisti!!!!

 

[Trillium]

Re: Coach of the Year

Seeley went from 3 wins to 19 in a season. You're a numbers guys.....What's that for a % increase in a single season? Qunnipiac ended up ranked tied for 10th (or in that ball park) which is 4 spots higher than Syracuse in a MUCH tougher division. But ya, I'll go with Flannagan too.

No question Seeley has brought this team a long ways in a short time, so he obviously deserves a lot of credit for the rise (as he achieved previously with Clarkson).

However, I think I'd have to point to the impact that Vigilanti made as the biggest factor in the improved success of that team this season. She stole a lot of games on her own.

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: Coach of the Year

No question Seeley has brought this team a long ways in a short time, so he obviously deserves a lot of credit for the rise (as he achieved previously with Clarkson).
However, I think I'd have to point to the impact that Vigilanti made as the biggest factor in the improved success of that team this season. She stole a lot of games on her own.

I guess I would agree with your point, but it was Rick who brought her in right?

 

[Trillium]

Re: Coach of the Year

I guess I would agree with your point, but it was Rick who brought her in right?

Well, sort of. That is an interesting story. Technically it was actually the assistant coach who deserves the credit for that, who saw her playing lights out at Nationals (in November of her senior year!) and convinced her to commit at the end of that tournament-- although she'd never even seen the school. I guess Rick gets credit for trusting his assistant's judgement.

As everyone now knows she is truly a great prize. Those of us familiar with her play in the PWHL always knew this. Shockingly, most D1 coaches apparently failed to see it, perhaps forgetting that great players often come in unlikely small packages, or not being sufficiently skilled in evaluating goalies. So Qpac didn't have any competition for her services when they approached her in November, believe it or not. She committed sight unseen to the opportunity, fell in love with the school later, and the rest as they say is history.

 

[IceIsNice]

Re: Coach of the Year

Shockingly, most D1 coaches apparently failed to see it, perhaps forgetting that great players often come in unlikely small packages, or not being sufficiently skilled in evaluating goalies.

Not so shocking actually, but....please do read this in the right spirit....

This is NOT a knock on coaches....I repeat, this is NOT a knock.

Many, many coaches, if they are honest, have great difficulty assessing the fine differences in goalie prospects. Probably in part because they are simply not experienced in the position, but I think even moreso because the environment of the women's game just doesn't give them the opportunity to fully evaluate a player.

For example, there is the goalie who plays for a team that has not been successful either due to coaching or simply due to the talent in front of her, and so she doesn't get to play in the marquis games where people notice that she is making 63 out of 70 saves en route to a 7-0 loss.

Then there are the goalies who's teams are so strong that they surrender single digit shots on goal, plus they manage to sweep the rebounds away before you can judge their goalie's recovery technique.

It's a challenge! Simple as that! Congrats to Qunnipiac for finding a diamond in the rough!

 

[Trillium]

Re: Coach of the Year

Not so shocking actually, but....please do read this in the right spirit....

This is NOT a knock on coaches....I repeat, this is NOT a knock.

Many, many coaches, if they are honest, have great difficulty assessing the fine differences in goalie prospects. Probably in part because they are simply not experienced in the position, but I think even moreso because the environment of the women's game just doesn't give them the opportunity to fully evaluate a player.

For example, there is the goalie who plays for a team that has not been successful either due to coaching or simply due to the talent in front of her, and so she doesn't get to play in the marquis games where people notice that she is making 63 out of 70 saves en route to a 7-0 loss.

Then there are the goalies who's teams are so strong that they surrender single digit shots on goal, plus they manage to sweep the rebounds away before you can judge their goalie's recovery technique.

It's a challenge! Simple as that! Congrats to Qunnipiac for finding a diamond in the rough!

Well, I get that evaluating goalies may not be as easy as evaluating forwards, especially as most coaches never played the position. And that it may be difficult in assessing the relative strengths and potential between a goalie ranked #8 and #15 in save percentage or GAA.

But the PWHL DOES make it pretty easy. It's easy to check how every goalie ranks in stats, and how many shots and saves each has to make. Also, if you happened to ask anyone in the rinks (even non-goalie experts), they could have told you Vigilanti was one of the top 2-3 goalies in the entire league, without any doubt. And we all know how well previous top PWHL goalies have done in D1.

So I am shocked. And there's another couple of top PWHL goalies they missed out on again this year. These should be no-brainers.

 

[ARM]

Re: Coach of the Year

And there's another couple of top PWHL goalies they missed out on again this year. These should be no-brainers.

There are only so many scholarships and even spots for goalies in D-I. More than at any other position, talented goalies fall through the cracks. Sometimes because teams miss them, at other times because many teams don't have a scholarship available for a goalie in a given class.

Doug Derraugh is now officially in the Coach of the Year conversation. If Cornell continues to play like they did tonight, the conversation may begin and end with him.

 

[Trillium]

Re: Coach of the Year

There are only so many scholarships and even spots for goalies in D-I. More than at any other position, talented goalies fall through the cracks. Sometimes because teams miss them, at other times because many teams don't have a scholarship available for a goalie in a given class.

Also agreed. There is simply not room for everyone in D1, and not everyone would be satisfied with a partial. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking cream of the crop only, despite the fact that lesser talents still see interest.

This still doesn't explain why proven top goalies are often passed over for those same limited slots by lesser ones they competed with, but who again fail to impress at the next level.

There are still a great many D-1 teams with less than stellar goaltending. To build a contending team, you need to start from the net out. The goalie that started this discussion is *only* the ECAC goalie of the year, for cryin' out loud! And only a rookie. And just about got missed.

In another recent well-known example, a local Midget goalie was actually selected over a couple of top PWHL goalies who would have jumped at the chance to go there as their first choice two years in a row ....and not surprisingly that team has since plummeted in the standings. We're talking night and day differences in talent.