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Colgate offseason speculations

Re: Colgate offseason speculations

I don't fault Wagner for leaving in the least...the financial security is only surpassed by the .01% dream of actually playing in the NHL. The problem is that it's just not the norm for Colgate to recruit such desired talent who are lured away after their sophomore seasons. More common for BC and NoDak, sure, but they're used to it and have other talented lines that can step up because they play like their first line anyway. For Colgate, the loss is devastating. We never would have made it to Albany without Andy.

Maybe there will be something to be said for the future of Colgate hockey if it continues to [help] produce draft picks. And maybe that should be the draw instead of a hypothetical arena...and questionable administration.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Bill you are barking up the same tree I am. This is scenario that is happening right now should be the turning point for Colgate and legitimatizes the program like it hasn't been legitimized since Andy.

Don, Jason and Brad should be calling every high end prospect they can think of the rest of this week. They should be telling them that you can come to Colgate and chase your dreams and develop. Tell them to tune in to the NHL network on Friday night to watch Austin with the Hobey Baker while playing at Colgate. They should be pointing to Chris and saying, this kid was a 5th round pick and came to Colgate and turned himself into a top NHL prospect. They should be saying, we are on the cusp of starting a beautiful new arena for the team that will be state of the art. They should be saying, Watch Union, a team we play at least twice a year, win the National Championship on Saturday night. Finally, they should be saying, you can chase your dream and get a tremendous education from one of the top Universities in the country.

Colgate Hockey is getting a boat load of publicity this week on the national level. Get on the phones and sell, sell, sell.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

TchrBill...I think the problem lies in the types of rules under which this program operates...less-than-available grant-in-aids, limited roster size...as I have said many times, we have been very, very lucky over the years with the lack of early departures and, generally speaking, injuries...McDonald simply WAS NOT ready to go after his sophomore year; Chris leaving early is in reality probably the best decision for him (and we are not in a position to get on his case for this)...the problem lies in the fact that we've greased through potential problems over the past 15 years and a reversion to the mean should not be a surprise...Rajamaki did leave early (probably a mistake)...maybe we can accelerate the matriculation of two recuits who were scheduled to come in 2013...again, I know the issues aren't quite this simple...we are the only school in the ECAC that carries a full DI schedule in all athletics that is not an Ivy school (and maintaining an enrollment roughly 50% of the Ivies)...nonetheless changes HAVE to be made and the above mentioned two (maximum use of grant-in-aids and flexibility as to roster size) are a bare minimum...
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Gaterrooter...would agree here...Austin winning the Hobey - and I think he DOES deserve it - should be an opportunity to both press our administration and AD AND potential recruits to turn a negative into somewhat of a positive...the coaching staff AND Silver Puck need to press hard both our current AD and the administration...that's what essentially occurred at Union...
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

ColSkate65 said:
My cynical side says, thank you to Chris and the Mac brothers for paying our hockey supporters back for the free team bonding trip to Italy :(
Click to expand...

Apologize if I overspoke. It's just that upon reading the news, it felt like a punch to the gut. Wish Chris success whereever he goes, just hate to see guys leave early - it's not in the tradition of the 'Gate hockey program, i.e. Andy M.

Playing up Austin's Hobey chances is a good move, but I disagree with some posters who feel we should advertise that one can get to the NHL through 1-2 years of prep at Colgate. They are either in it for the four years or they should look elsewhere. Just my 2 cents.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Things are changing rapidly in the college hockey world. We have been lucky to keep our stars here four years. Wags leaving was speculated for awhile now, he thought the timing was right...GL Wags !

We do have a trump card, in anticipation of this happening, we have Darcy Murphy coming this fall, from the Wellington Dukes OJHL. In fourty eight games this year he had FIFTY TWO goals and thirty four assists !! DV was ready !

He was a 2013 recruit !

We have some real talent coming in, I'm feeling a little better !
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

good news...one more would really help...as usual the issue is not DV, it's the rules he's forced to swallow...
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

sshablak said:
We do have a trump card, in anticipation of this happening, we have Darcy Murphy coming this fall, from the Wellington Dukes OJHL. In fourty eight games this year he had FIFTY TWO goals and thirty four assists !! DV was ready !
He was a 2013 recruit !
Click to expand...

Is he really coming in this fall (2012) instead of 2013??? If so, that's great news! He'll be 20 this August (the 2nd oldest of the four 2013 recruits currently signed on), so he'd be the best option if we were to choose a player to arrive earlier than anticipated.

sshablak said:
Wonder if they had a scholarship freed up ? Prob ?
Click to expand...

Wagner was a scholarship player, so its very likely we have an additional scholarship opening now available that we can use. Assuming we have a limit of four per incoming class, maybe we can give six schollies this year with next year's junior class down to 2 members now? (resulting in 2 additional openings for scholarships?)
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Rainman...the fact that we have to run these stupid numbers speaks volumes about the unequal playing field we apparently ascribe to...for the uninformed I suggest you visit Chris Heisenberg's post during each year...Colgate insists on getting dealt from the bottom of the deck as far as depth of incoming DI candidates...we give the impression of being a small baseball franchise in a world of salary-capped institutions...we can spend X and bring in X when everyone else at our level can bring in and spend 1.25X...please tell me I am wrong...
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

TheGreenCoat said:
Rainman...the fact that we have to run these stupid numbers speaks volumes about the unequal playing field we apparently ascribe to...for the uninformed I suggest you visit Chris Heisenberg's post during each year...Colgate insists on getting dealt from the bottom of the deck as far as depth of incoming DI candidates...we give the impression of being a small baseball franchise in a world of salary-capped institutions...we can spend X and bring in X when everyone else at our level can bring in and spend 1.25X...please tell me I am wrong...
Click to expand...

I frequently visit Chris Heisenberg's recruit page (in fact, it's bookmarked in my web browser). Back in February when we had 7 players signed on for 2012 and 4 already in the pipeline for 2013 I thought we were definitely preparing for the departures of 9 seniors (2012) and then 8 seniors the following year (2013). But then Jack McNamara decided to transfer and Chris Wagner decided to go pro. Perhaps we weren't expecting this. But lack of depth does concern me.

BTW, FOUR of our six 2010 recruits have either gone pro or transferred to another school. Maybe that's why we had a dreadful 2010-11 regular season: it was the recruiting class! Well ... half of it.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Looking at Heisenberg's roster it appears that all the incoming frosh are 5'11" or shorter and lighter than 182 lbs. That may be good news for the long haul. Chris Wagner had a body suitable for the pro game immediately. If DV goes with smaller, faster players maybe we hang on to them a bit longer(?). Just a thought.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Have learned on this site that there is always a bright side...if not many. If a scholarship opens up, that is great news. On the Voy forum someone stated that we didn't necessarily predict Austin Smith would have such a phenomenal year; never know what to expect from any one player. Who knows what current players or a strong freshman class may bring?

Like the idea of advertising our program's successes...definitely can't hurt. But we've fallen short on that in the past and have missed golden opportunities. Foyle basketball in '96, football in '03 and McDonald's Stanley Cup in Hamilton...these should still be on the front covers of programs without making us seem like we're living in the past...if not the inside jacket in full color. These storied seasons are few and far in between.

Have noticed a "bit" more that the athletic dept. is trying to lure more fans, but when our teams excel on a national level we need more publicity than free t-shirts. It's the success of our student athletes that sell Colgate. The non-televised ECAC tourny certainly didn't help our cause this year...but maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Don't get me started...I knew Connelly would win; I was too lazy to post...Austin, with all objectivity, was the best NCAA DI hockey player in the nation this year...apparently, the powers-that-be want to treat the ECAC (and, yes our alma mater) as a high-level DIII program/league...fine, if you want to award the UMD player for winning the NCAA championship last year and having a very good year on ice in 2011-12 then give him the trophy...if you want to award the player who EARNED this award in 2011-12 their is frankly no comparison...it stinks and, frankly, this is an injustice...I won't go through the numbers right now, but they speak for themselves...frankly, Connelly was probably not the best player on UMD this year...but this is a continuation of the clear prejudice that college hockey likes to foment (several writers who I will not name) since their bread is buttered on TV deals, eastern prejudices, etc. (BC just stuck a serious fork in that predisposition). I invite ANYONE to debate the relative merits of Austin Smith vs. ANYONE in college hockey this year...bring it on...goals, short-handed goals, PRIMARY assists, relative plus/minus, whatever...I am frankly sick and tired of this western-tilt in college hockey...I saw it last year watching Yale against UMD and sincerely hope BC takes home another DI crown...and BTW, the ECAC, that league that a lot of you "pundits" like to crap on, came within an ot goal of having two in the final four...SHAME ON YOU COLLEGE HOCKEY...SHAME ON YOU
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

You may as well call it the "failure to make the NCAA tournament" jinx. Had Colgate made the NCAA's this year, then maybe, just *maybe* Austin would have won the award.

In other news, Jeremy Welsh of Union signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, so we're not the only ECAC team that lost a player early to the pro's. If anything, Colgate has gotten some national recognition in the past week and hopefully it brings in some top recruits in 2013 and 2014.

This will be my last post until the start of next season. Have a great summer, everyone!
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Rainman...Austin Smith not only earned recognition as a Hobey finalist, he frankly deserved recognition as a Hobey winner...when all is said and done, not many are going to remember a runner-up candidate; they will remember a Hobey winner and THAT would be a big help towards our program...whether we advanced to an NCAA participant or not, the kid deserved the award, plain and simple...this is BS and I knew it would end this way...
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

Greencoat: it's all political, unfortunately. Nothing we can do about it. Time to move on.
 
Re: Colgate offseason speculations

The Hobey Idiots never mentioned Austin's nation leading 6 shorties. The other players profile included an interview with the coach and with a teammate. I understand an interview with Wagner was recorded but not used. Definitely a western bias. Isn't the Award board based in Minnesota? Why not in Princeton?
 
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