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LSSU hockey 2013-14

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jnacc said:
Think of a Rolston -Weight combination behind the bench and what that would do for recruiting! For sure the Lakers would be able to pull in the blue chippers then and the coaching staff probably wouldn't demand that much pay since they are already multimillionaires.
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They could play, but what is the sum total of their coaching and recruiting experience. Just having a guy who played in the NHL behind the bench hardly guarantees the arrival of blue chippers. There are plenty of programs that can tout their NHL ties. NMU has a coach with years of experience in the NHL, knows all the coaches, GMs and scouts well. Why are those blue chippers still heading to Michigan or Minnesota or Boston College instead of lining up to come to the UP? If you were to bring in a guy like Ralston, it would be necessary to invest in experienced assistant with strong recruiting ties to help him learn the ropes.
 
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davyd83 said:
Just having a guy who played in the NHL behind the bench hardly guarantees the arrival of blue chippers.
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Case in point - Tim Watters. Tech could've had Mel Pearson 15 years before they finally got him, but Rick Yeo insisted on NHL playing/coaching experience when replacing Bob Mancini in 1996. Whoops. :rolleyes:

Which also goes to show you that former team captains, national champions, and university athletic HoF members do not always made the smartest Athletic Directors.
 
FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Case in point - Tim Watters. Tech could've had Mel Pearson 15 years before they finally got him, but Rick Yeo insisted on NHL playing/coaching experience when replacing Bob Mancini in 1996. Whoops. :rolleyes:

Which also goes to show you that former team captains, national champions, and university athletic HoF members do not always made the smartest Athletic Directors.
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Can we add Jim Nahrgang to that Tech list too?
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

davyd83 said:
They could play, but what is the sum total of their coaching and recruiting experience. Just having a guy who played in the NHL behind the bench hardly guarantees the arrival of blue chippers. There are plenty of programs that can tout their NHL ties. NMU has a coach with years of experience in the NHL, knows all the coaches, GMs and scouts well. Why are those blue chippers still heading to Michigan or Minnesota or Boston College instead of lining up to come to the UP? If you were to bring in a guy like Ralston, it would be necessary to invest in experienced assistant with strong recruiting ties to help him learn the ropes.
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Not that I'm saying that I think it would work out but there is a big difference in having someone who has journeyman NHL coaching/playing experience and having someone with the cache of a "star" NHL coach or player....With Rolston and Weight you are talking about guys that have won national championships, Stanley Cups, played in numerous Olympics and NHL All-Star games....these guys accomplished this and became household names to a generation of American-born kids who were responsible for the biggest youth hockey boom this country has ever seen...There has not been anyone with that type of star power who has taken over the reins of an NCAA program in at least a generation, maybe ever....Not saying that from the minute of their hiring that we would have the best recruiting class in the nation but there would certainly be enough top shelf recruits who choose to come play for LSSU where they can step in and be a top line guy from day 1 while playing for an NHL star as opposed to going to (insert powerhouse program here) and thumbing around for their first 2 years before getting top line minutes to make a significant difference
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

Is this everyones way of saying we want Roque out so bad that we are daydreaming of bringing in a possible NHL star ?
 
AnchorsAway said:
Not that I'm saying that I think it would work out but there is a big difference in having someone who has journeyman NHL coaching/playing experience and having someone with the cache of a "star" NHL coach or player....With Rolston and Weight you are talking about guys that have won national championships, Stanley Cups, played in numerous Olympics and NHL All-Star games....these guys accomplished this and became household names to a generation of American-born kids who were responsible for the biggest youth hockey boom this country has ever seen...There has not been anyone with that type of star power who has taken over the reins of an NCAA program in at least a generation, maybe ever....Not saying that from the minute of their hiring that we would have the best recruiting class in the nation but there would certainly be enough top shelf recruits who choose to come play for LSSU where they can step in and be a top line guy from day 1 while playing for an NHL star as opposed to going to (insert powerhouse program here) and thumbing around for their first 2 years before getting top line minutes to make a significant difference
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Which D-1 coaches have no prior experience? Just looking at the WCHA (Kleinendorst), NCHC (Montgomery, Sandelin) and Big10 (Berenson, Eaves) coaches who were NHL players, all had extensive coaching experience prior to making their NCAA coaching debut. And only Berenson could have even come close to being called a "star" player.
 
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Let's daydream big. Lake State hires a NHL coach and gets two NHL assistants who in turn bring in the top hockey players from the top Junior teams in North America .
 
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Lake Superior is dreaming big with Jim Roque going into his 9th year as head coach. This season will be the best one yet!!!
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

davyd83 said:
Which D-1 coaches have no prior experience? Just looking at the WCHA (Kleinendorst), NCHC (Montgomery, Sandelin) and Big10 (Berenson, Eaves) coaches who were NHL players, all had extensive coaching experience prior to making their NCAA coaching debut. And only Berenson could have even come close to being called a "star" player.
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I think you misunderstood my post, I never mentioned anything about D-1 coaches not having any experience, my post was in response to your comment that just the presence of someone with an NHL playing or coaching background doesn't guarantee that blue chippers will line up to play for a school; my point to that (which you also touched on) was that Rolston/Weight were much bigger stars in the NHL than any of the other NCAA coaches who played in the pros, and that I think that since they were a higher caliber star with great name recognition that they may very well be able to draw in some top shelf recruits based on their star power alone.
 
Pink Pony said:
Both have been part National Championships, Stanley Cups, and Olympics. Is that enough experience and ability to lead the small town of Soo to the next level.
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If it were, I'm sure Wayne Gretzky, Bart Starr and Pete Rose would have had more success coaching and managing. Playing ability and coaching ability are two vastly different animals.
 
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Pink Pony said:
Brian Rolaton or Doug Weight does not compare to the three names you mentioned.
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Right, neither Rolston or Weight has coaching experience nor do they have a network of recruiting contacts. There are no D-I coaches to go from NHL player to D-I coach. You've got to spend some time learning the ropes.
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

Pink Pony said:
What about Paul Jerrard a former AC at LSSU and is now an AC with the Dallas Stars. He has been in. Sault plus he has endless pro coaching experience.
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An NHL assistant with his experience makes $200,000+. The LSSU coach makes around $90K. I do think Jerrard might be a good candidate though. Excellent coach.
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

Pink Pony said:
Thats what LSSU has to pay to get a decent coach if they were able to ever replace the Roque.

Soo is a tough sell for recruits because of it's location and size. I still think the only way for smaller schools to compete with the big boys is to recruit 20 year old Freshman from Canada to win National Championships since the big boys take all the blue-chippers.
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I agree 100%. But actually LSSU and NMU get a number of those 20 year old freshmen who have fallen thru the cracks or for what ever reason have slipped by the big schools. Funding is scarce and difficult to come by for the smaller public schools and neither LSSU or NMU are noted for their plethora of wealthy benefactors. The Soo is an outstanding hockey community. But the fact that there are only 14,000 people there and a huge county with 38K around make it tough to sell enough tickets on a regular basis, especially in an economically challenged area. Yes, the Canadian Soo is a big town, but you don't see too many Twonies crossing the bridge to view or support US College hockey.
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

Pink Pony said:
From my understating with older Frshman is how NMU and LSSU won the four National Championships in the 1990's. The older mature players beat the younger 18 and 19 year olds.
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They were a key for those teams. Also there were much looser academic standards in place at that time. You could get in those Prop 48's that the big schools wouldn't take an academic risk on.
 
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It is my understanding that few schools use 18 year old classic freshmen. Most incoming college players appear to be 19-20. Even today.
 
Re: LSSU hockey 2013-14

Unless LSSU gets a new President, 4 new Vice Presidents, and a brand new Board of Trustees who ALL put Athletics as a top priority, the Athletic Department at LSSU will not be getting a dime more to fund a head coach or any other endeavor. The last increase in the hockey budget for the "renovation" was difficult enough to get. The President of LSSU makes $150,000. No other person at LSSU will EVER make more than that. I would bet my life savings on it.

Keep dreaming everyone, unless you can find a good coach for $80K out there, we are in for more of the same. The late 90s/early 00s started a shift at LSSU: Athletics has taken a back seat to Academics at LSSU with regards to funding new things, and only a massive change in Admin across the board is going to reverse that.
 
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