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Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Any news out of Columbus?

Edit: I think the right person could take the Buckeyes to the a greater level of success.

The only thing I have heard is that the interview process has begun or is about to begin. I have not heard any names. I agree with you that the right person could get our women's hockey program to the next level. We certainly have some pieces in place to achieve greater success. We have four national team players on the roster and several young players who showed well this past season, not to mention the new recruiting class coming in. I am really looking forward to the upcoming season.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Well, SCSU did lose an assistant coach - Jennifer Kranz is moving down the road to St Ben's as head coach (link). So not sure if the posting for her position was already up, or if indeed that was the formal posting for the interim slot Britta holds. In any case, SCSU will have two new assistants compared to a year ago (when Jason Johnson and Jennifer Kranz were there, at least at the start of the season).

What do you think - will there be lots of people applying for SCSU assistant job(s), or are these types of roles hard to fill?
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

What do you think - will there be lots of people applying for SCSU assistant job(s), or are these types of roles hard to fill?
Quality asst. coaches usually play a pretty significant role in recruitment. An area that could stand some improvement in St. Cloud IMO. An Asst. that can function as a true asset in recruiting probably not the easiest thing to find. Only one way for the Huskies to go...so I hope they can procure some staff additions to help in that aspect.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Quality asst. coaches usually play a pretty significant role in recruitment. An area that could stand some improvement in St. Cloud IMO. An Asst. that can function as a true asset in recruiting probably not the easiest thing to find. Only one way for the Huskies to go...so I hope they can procure some staff additions to help in that aspect.

You want my honest opinion? Maybe not...but I think the Huskies have to do better with the top Minnesota kids that don't go to Minny, and or UW. In other words, start grabbing some of those that have in recent years built the trend to go East. That's not the entire solution...but part of it IMO.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Quality asst. coaches usually play a pretty significant role in recruitment. An area that could stand some improvement in St. Cloud IMO. An Asst. that can function as a true asset in recruiting probably not the easiest thing to find. Only one way for the Huskies to go...so I hope they can procure some staff additions to help in that aspect.

From what I saw when my daughter was in HS in MN - Kranz and Johnson were very active in recruting MN kids in the 09 and 10 classes they were at Two Nations, Summer Tournaments, Fall Elite League (even hosted a weekend), Phase I, Phase II and worked the St Cloud National Camp kids. They and the Head Coach also have been very active in the OS Propsects progam. In fact they had more appearances than any program way more than MN, Mankato or Bemidji and UMD (who never seemed to attend). They had some top kids interested but offered very few full opportunities at SCSU (maybe they don't have as many scholorships?) and it is an average school with a bit of a party reputation. Now it's financial challenges in the Ath Dept are probably a concern for some kids or thier parents. They appear to have some top MN kids coming in the fall so maybe they can build forward.

Your strategy may work but many of the top MN kids going East are having a good experience with winning programs, getting a full ride in Hockey East with a good education or pretty good financial aid and a great Ivy League education.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Your strategy may work but many of the top MN kids going East are having a good experience with winning programs, getting a full ride in Hockey East with a good education or pretty good financial aid and a great Ivy League education.
I didn't really imply the SCSU staff weren't active on the local recruiting front, but I'll stand by my assessment...they aren't really getting it done lately. Certainly not on a level needed to compete with UW and UMD...and as I was attempting to allude to, they're going to also need more success from outside the state. A glance at any typical WCHA Big Three class with the level of players they're getting from North America and Europe will make that fairly obvious I'd say. The Huskies do have a couple players I'd take on my team anyday...and a couple incoming I feel the same about. I don't think it'll be near enough to greatly improve their fortunes in 2011-2012.

I knew when I typed the reference to Minnesota players going East that I'd hear from you on that observation. Obviously it's an excellent opportunity for many but I seem to rather frequently pick up on an attitude of contempt for the WCHA schools...you've mentioned SCSU specifically a few times previously, vs. your apparent much higher regard for the Ivies and other expensive, and as many believe, more prestigious, valuable education. I'm not suggesting that's the sole motivation for those who decide to attend college and play college hockey in the East...but for some it probably is and I've seen a fair amount of evidence to the contrary in the form of MANY friends and relatives that are graduates of SCSU, as well as many who are Ivy, BC, BU and NU alumni. I guess most would be surprised that the SCSU graduates In my circle of friends and family...very nearly everyone of them is considerably more successful financially in their chosen careers than are their Ivy counterparts. I'll also stand by my contention that SCSU needs to compete for some of these players with greater success ultimately to improve their fortunes in the future. So, I guess I'm not real sure it's accurate, or in every potential student athletes best interest to imply on more than one occasion that going East is better option universally. I know a few personally who didn't have the kind of experience they'd hoped for at an Ivy and some HE programs as well as several who had great experiences at SCSU including educations that have made them very successful.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Different kids want different things in a school/program, and luckily, there are different options. I agree that SCSU has always recruited Minnesota HS players hard. In recruiting as with games, at a certain point, it's not enough to just make the attempt, you have to win some of the battles. The Huskies will need a few more kids to pick St. Cloud over UND, tOSU, PC, Syracuse, etc. if they are going to move up.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

I do realize current athletic dept. financial difficulties at SCSU could cause concern for some potential recruits...as well as the importance and necessity of financial assistance offered by programs in the East for many Minnesota student athletes families. ;)
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

I didn't really imply the SCSU staff weren't active on the local recruiting front, but I'll stand by my assessment...they aren't really getting it done lately. Certainly not on a level needed to compete with UW and UMD...and as I was attempting to allude to, they're going to also need more success from outside the state. A glance at any typical WCHA Big Three class with the level of players they're getting from North America and Europe will make that fairly obvious I'd say. The Huskies do have a couple players I'd take on my team anyday...and a couple incoming I feel the same about. I don't think it'll be near enough to greatly improve their fortunes in 2011-2012.


I knew when I typed the reference to Minnesota players going East that I'd hear from you on that observation. Obviously it's an excellent opportunity for many but I seem to rather frequently pick up on an attitude of contempt for the WCHA schools...you've mentioned SCSU specifically a few times previously, vs. your apparent much higher regard for the Ivies and other expensive, and as many believe, more prestigious, valuable education. I'm not suggesting that's the sole motivation for those who decide to attend college and play college hockey in the East...but for some it probably is and I've seen a fair amount of evidence to the contrary in the form of MANY friends and relatives that are graduates of SCSU, as well as many who are Ivy, BC, BU and NU alumni. I guess most would be surprised that the SCSU graduates In my circle of friends and family...very nearly everyone of them is considerably more successful financially in their chosen careers than are their Ivy counterparts. I'll also stand by my contention that SCSU needs to compete for some of these players with greater success ultimately to improve their fortunes in the future. So, I guess I'm not real sure it's accurate, or in every potential student athletes best interest to imply on more than one occasion that going East is better option universally. I know a few personally who didn't have the kind of experience they'd hoped for at an Ivy and some HE programs as well as several who had great experiences at SCSU including educations that have made them very successful.

Brooky sounds like you are "sold and can sell SCSU" - go jump on those openings they need all the help you can give them! :)

I am not against SCSU and don't have your deep understanding - I just see it as a tough sell and if you look at the results of the last three years others might to.

I am a WCHA guy born and bred but I do like the way the Eastern Schools have recruited MN hard the last few years. It is one of the reason 44 girls (I think all time high) will get a chance to play D1 hockey. All good!

Good luck glad to give you a reference if you pursue SCSU you have my vote! :D
 
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Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

The only thing I have heard is that the interview process has begun or is about to begin. I have not heard any names. I agree with you that the right person could get our women's hockey program to the next level. We certainly have some pieces in place to achieve greater success. We have four national team players on the roster and several young players who showed well this past season, not to mention the new recruiting class coming in. I am really looking forward to the upcoming season.

Heard from a reliable source in Buckeyeland that Diget Murphy is being considered, along with two other "finalists". Any else have an update?
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Heard from a reliable source in Buckeyeland that Diget Murphy is being considered, along with two other "finalists". Any else have an update?

Maybe here is her BIO from Brown site below. Her record since 2005 also.

05-06: 15-13-5
06-07: 10-17-2
07-08: 5-19-5
08-09: 7-21-1
09-10: 3-21-4
10-11: 2-23-4

As she enters the 21st season of a legendary career, head coach Digit Murphy remains as competitive and committed to winning as she has been throughout her career.


"The biggest thing for me is winning," Murphy said. "That's really all I care about right now, and I'll do whatever it takes to make my team successful."


As Bears fans know, when Coach Murphy puts her mind to something she usually makes it happen. During the 2006-07 season, she became the winningest coach in Division I women's hockey history, picking up her 300th win later in the year. Her teams have made it to the national semifinals four times, playing for the National Championship three times. She has coached Olympians and All-Americans, and captured numerous ECAC and Ivy League titles.


However, Murphy will also be the first to tell you that her job is about more than success on the ice.


"Looking back, I don't remember the score of every game," Murphy told ESPN in an interview after breaking the all-time wins record. "But I remember the notes that former players have written to me, telling me how much Brown hockey meant to them. That's why I coach. My advice to new coaches is simple: be a sponge. Learn from everyone you can. Work your butt off. In this field, if you don't love it, you can't do it."


As the coach for the oldest collegiate women's hockey team in the United States, Murphy's knowledge of the game and passion for coaching is evident. Brown's success can be attributed to the "team first" philosophy that Murphy has instituted and continues to seek in Brown recruits.
"Brown is an academic institution and we approach our team philosophy in the same way. Our kids learn life lessons through athletics," Murphy says. Incoming freshmen understand this philosophy clearly when they are recruited and continue this trademark of relentless, tireless work ethic as part of their Brown experience and into their future life experiences.


Murphy has led Brown to a record of .500 or better in 14 of her 18 seasons. In that time, Murphy has led Brown to five Ivy League titles, six ECAC regular season or tournament titles and four National Championship appearances. Murphy's players have been named Ivy League Player of the Year eight times, ECAC Player of the Year three times, Ivy and ECAC Rookie of the Year once, and ECAC Goaltender of the Year once. Seven of her players have played in the Olympics for the United States, Canada, and Japan, and four have been named All-Americans. Her players have earned 13 first team All-ECAC selections and 26 first team All-Ivy selections.


In 2004, Murphy was inducted into the International Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame for her accomplishments both as a coach at Brown and as a student-athlete at Cornell, where the women's hockey team's MVP award is named after her. In 2001, members of the media awarded Murphy the New England Hockey Writers' Coach of the Year award, and in 1997 Murphy's fellow coaches and the media honored her with both the ECAC/KOHO and the New England Hockey Writers' Coach of the Year awards. Murphy was also the first female to reach the 200-win plateau.
In the summer of 2004, Murphy coached the U.S. National team at the Lake Placid Olympic Festival, where Brown University was represented by eight of the 60 players. In October 1996, she coached the U.S. National Team as an assistant at the Three Nations Tournament. She has also coached at the Junior National level in Lake Placid for eight years, and was a member of the 1998 Olympic Selection Committee. In 1992, her well-respected hockey talents earned her the position of assistant coach for the U.S. Women's Ice Hockey National Team. Under Head Coach Russ McCurdy, she helped lead the U.S. to a silver medal in Finland.


Besides coaching, Murphy has used her charismatic personality to great effect in covering women's hockey for the media in various capacities, including as a color analyst for Turner Broadcasting coverage of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. She was also a color analyst at the 2004 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships for CSTV and the 2000 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships for Oxygen Media. During the 1997-98 season, Lifetime Television contracted her as a color analyst for the first-ever women's hockey broadcast of the Four Nations Cup game between the US and Canada.


Among many professional accomplishments, Murphy is most proud of the ongoing grassroots growth of women's ice hockey and the development of female athletes and coaches. Murphy was the primary source for the start of the Rhode Island Girls' High School Hockey, which was the first girls' developmental hockey league that mentored players and developed new and inexperienced coaches.


A 1983 graduate of Cornell University, Murphy was a four-year letter winner for the Big Red women's ice hockey team. She captained the team as a junior and senior, and earned All-Ivy honors in each of her four seasons. In 1981, she earned the crowning achievement of her playing career when she was named the Ivy League Player of the Year. As one of the all-time leading scorers at Cornell, Murphy had a total of 123 goals and 90 assists for 213 points. She was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. Prior to Cornell, Murphy played hockey locally for the Cranston Panthers of the South Shore Women's Hockey League.


Upon graduating from Cornell with a degree in Business Economics, Murphy worked for Data General Corporation as a production manager. In 1988, she decided to leave the business world and devote herself to full-time coaching. Before assuming the head-coaching job at Brown, she assisted under Steven Shea at Brown.


Murphy, a native of Rhode Island, resides in Providence with her partner and four children.

Coach Murphy's Team Highlights:
• 1993-1994: Led the Bears to a perfect 10-0-0 record in the Ivy League, the first time Brown had done that since Ivy play began in the 1983-84 season.

• 1994-1997: The Bears won three consecutive ECAC regular season championships, going undefeated in the league in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons. In a stretch from the 1994-95 to the 1996-97 seasons, Brown went undefeated in 49 ECAC games.

• 1996-1997: Brown finished 28-2-1 overall, cruising through the ECAC (22-0-0) and Ivy League (10-0-0). The Bears won 28 consecutive games. Katie King '97 was named ECAC Player of the Year, and Tara Mounsey '02.5 was named ECAC Rookie of the Year.

• 1997-1998: Brown upset New Hampshire to win the ECAC Championship, the first time the team won the ECAC tournament. The Bears advanced to the AWCHA Championship before falling to UNH.

• 1999-2000: Brown finished at 25-4-3, the team's fourth consecutive season with at least 20 wins, winning both the ECAC regular season and tournament championships. The Bears advanced to the AWCHA Championship before falling 4-2 to Minnesota. Goaltender Ali Brewer '00 was awarded the prestigious Patty Kazmaier Award as the outstanding performer in NCAA Division I women's varsity ice hockey. The team maintained a number one national ranking for much of the season, finishing the season at number two.

• 2001-2002: Finished 25-8-2 after 3-6-1 start, going one 12-game stretch without losing. After winning the ECAC Tournament, Brown advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Frozen Four by defeating the #1-ranked University of Minnesota in the semifinals. The team fell to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, 3-2, in the National Championship game.

• 2006-2007: Became the winningest coach in Division I women's college hockey history, picking up her 293rd win in a 3-1 Brown victory over Boston University to pass John Marchetti. Later in the season, Murphy became the third collegiate women's hockey coach to win 300 games, as the Bears beat Union, 6-0.

• Murphy maintains a winning record on all accounts, currently at 306-179-48 overall, 105-69-18 in the Ivy League and 217-114-31 in the ECAC.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Brooky sounds like you are "sold and can sell SCSU" - go jump on those openings they need all the help you can give them! :)

I am not against SCSU and don't have your deep understanding - I just see it as a tough sell and if you look at the results of the last three years others might to.

I am a WCHA guy born and bred but I do like the way the Eastern Schools have recruited MN hard the last few years. It is one of the reason 44 girls (I think all time high) will get a chance to play D1 hockey. All good!

Good luck glad to give you a reference if you pursue SCSU you have my vote! :D
I don't qualify as a staunch supporter of the Husky women's hockey team or St. Cloud State U in general, I just have a simple belief, or theory if you prefer that the staff needs to win more of those recruiting battles among those Minnesota players that are being lured to Eastern programs...some of them at least, in order to have any hope of competing with the top of the conference. They'll never win all those recruiting battles but need to win a few more than they have in recent years. Need it fairly desperately to catch up IMO. ARM makes a good point in that it isn't just a matter of competition with Eastern programs either. They need to do better when competing for Minnesota recruits with the rest of the WCHA too. They've got some ground to cover in getting back to being more competitive. If you're having trouble selling your program to the local kid ya better focus some attention on the AAA type players from outside the state as well...but you really should be able to sell more local kids on playing for the Huskies...Huskies...Huskies, IMO. :)
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

I heard that Dan Koch (SSM) and John Harrington (Italy) are also being considered.....
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

I heard that Dan Koch (SSM) and John Harrington (Italy) are also being considered.....


Heard the same. Harrington is from the 1980 Miracle team. Koch was an assistant with Wisconsin from 01-09. Both would be excellent in my opinion. Also heard they're interviewing 2 this week.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

I heard that Dan Koch (SSM) and John Harrington (Italy) are also being considered.....

Koch was a great part of the recruiting success at UW before going to SSM. OSU has not had a hard time getting players, in my opinion they need to do more with then once they are there. Koch doesn't have a lot of history being the X's and O's guy, but he would certainly be an improvement. Given the history with Digit recently I can't imagine they are really considering her and I wouldn't think they would want to roll the dice with Harrington based on no experience with the female game. Harrington remains a good friend of Mark Johnson and obviously Koch has a connection there as well. I am curious if he is providing any guidance behind the scenes.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Oh I am sure MJ has offered his insite into the selection process, and I am also sure that OSU would be smart enough to listen. Also agree that the Murphy interview is nothing more then a appeasment.

I am not so sure that a Harrington selection would be a "roll of the dice" he is well respected in the men's game and has alot to offer.

Should be interesting to see who the Buckeyes pick.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Oh I am sure MJ has offered his insite into the selection process, and I am also sure that OSU would be smart enough to listen. Also agree that the Murphy interview is nothing more then a appeasment.

I am not so sure that a Harrington selection would be a "roll of the dice" he is well respected in the men's game and has alot to offer.

Should be interesting to see who the Buckeyes pick.

Agree Harrington is a strong well respected hockey coach; it just seems there are a number of solid proven options in the women's game already. Making the jump from men's to women's is probably better characterized as an " unknown variable" rather than a roll of the dice. I agree it should be very interesting.

Any update on the Penn State situation?
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Agree Harrington is a strong well respected hockey coach; it just seems there are a number of solid proven options in the women's game already. Making the jump from men's to women's is probably better characterized as an " unknown variable" rather than a roll of the dice. I agree it should be very interesting.

Any update on the Penn State situation?

Yeah I remember when people said the same thing on Mark Johnson at Wisconsin when he was a Men's assistant - seemed to have worked out just fine.
 
Re: Coaching Changes - 2011 Offseason Edition

Yeah I remember when people said the same thing on Mark Johnson at Wisconsin when he was a Men's assistant - seemed to have worked out just fine.

Agree! Harrington would bring instant respect and I don't feel he would have to much trouble making the adjustment to the womens game. Also feel Koch would be a very strong candidate. Not a big fan of Digit and feel would be very close to what they had.
 
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