You are correct. I suppose I could go over there and FOIA a copy of his contract if its that important to everyone, but I didn't really want to waste my time doing that.You may be right, but it sounds like you are basing your contract statements strictly on what Roque told you, not because you actually are in a position to know for sure what the contract says. Other people have said it's year to year, both on this forum and I've heard that outside the forum as well. So I'm saying that for me at least, I don't have 100% confidence one way or the other about what his contract says.
It makes more sense for any increase in coaching salaries to come from an "increased financial commitment from the university". Hopefully that will indeed be the case.Bill, as usual you may be right. I re-read the posts and it is confusing but Mr. 3dognight says in some posts that coaching salaries are one of the items that need to be addressed to bring LSSU in range with other programs in the new league. On other posts he posts that critical financial issues have been addressed by an increased financial commitment from the university as well as a fund matching program that the donor group established. Mr. 3dognight does say that the combination of these two sources put LSSU in the upper 1/3 of the new league as of last summer. No-where did I directly see thatmonies were used to increase salaries. It does say recruiting, facilities and operations were increased.
Bill-I have not heard the AD or anyone involved say that directly, but I have heard from numerous people close to the project that there were disagreements between donor and AD as to where the money should be spent. From comments I received, my opinion is AD Dunbar wanted money going towards non-hockey locker rooms and things of that nature. Although I'm sure there was room to negotiate, I think both parties involved drew their lines in the sand and it took awhile to come together on an agreement to move forward. 3dognight is probably the only one on here who could say 100% for sure, but he seems to be a lost soul at the moment.
I wouldn't put it all on Dunbar, though. Plenty of other people have input in the Norris Project so if it were just her, they would have told her to take a seat. Somebody else must share the same opinion as her (Tony McLain?).Stuff like this really makes me shake my head if it is indeed true. I realize that as the AD Dunbar is responsible for waving the flag for all of LSSU Athletics, so when someone is willing to donate millions of dollars to LSSU Hockey it is fine for her to do some due diligence by poking around to see how much she can get for the D-2 sports.....but my goodness if the donor wants to draw a "line in the sand" as to how much money they are willing to give to the non-hockey sports, how is Dunbar in any position of power to draw her own "line in the sand"? LSSU's budget issues are well documented, we don't have donors lining up to donate this kind of money and until we do if someone is willing to donate millions of dollars to ANY athletic team you smile and say thank you...It boggles the mind that she would look a gift horse in the mouth this badly! Another example of the poor leadership that plagues LSSU.
I can personally speak to Anchorage, as I lived there for a few years 1999-2001. And I moved there from the Soo. And I returned to the Soo after.
Anchorage is an amazing city, you cannot compare the Soo to Anchorage. For dining, activities, vibrant living, there are few places that match Anchorage anywhere. Just my opinion -- Anchorage is an a amzing crazy very unique place to live. The weather is generally temperate. The light gets a little irritating in December, but otherwise its mostly like the midwest. Cold, dark, cloudy, snowy and/or wet, ice, a few really cold days.
The difference to discuss is between UAA and LSSU.
UAA is a comuter school. The team practices an ice-rink that is akin to a low-level rental rink. The Sully is horrible. There are actually a few younger students and people who stay on campus -- which would be fine except that the Sully is located several miles from campus. UAA is building a lovely new stadium -- for D-II basketball. No ice-making facilities for the new UAA 3,000 seat stadium. UAA Seawolves are stuck in the Sully. The UAA administration has hyped its D-II hoops teams. The reason UAF is outperforming UAA on the ice is that UAF is generally considered the more-standard college -- most students live on or near campus. UAA is a lovely campus, but it is I think 95% commuter. UAA's athletic budget is strangled by travel costs. And there is virtually no recruiting trips that don't involve airplanes.
Comparing facilities, campus life, campus lay-out, and stadiums -- LSSU destroys UAA in every single possible manner.
Anchorage, conversely, destroys the Soo in every way. Anything that the Soo might point to as a positive -- specifically the access to the outdoors, is laughable compared to the amazing access in Anchorage.
An honest assessment here - unless LSSU can pony up considerably more money for your program, I don't think you guys have it quite so bad with Roque.
What I think the facts say about Roque is that for having one of the smallest budgets in D1 hockey (for arguments' sake, we'll exclude the AHA teams), you're getting more out of your program than you think. If Shyiak was making $120-130k, and Roque is making $90k, in terms of pure apples-to-apples comparisons, I think you guys are getting a decent bargain. Roque's teams generally play a sound game with strong goaltending. You've never endured a season with single-digit wins in his eight-year tenure (admittedly, you came close two years in a row) - in Russell's eight years at Tech, we had six such seasons, including brutal, back-to-back 5-30-1 and 4-30-4 campaigns. Russell made $30-50k per year more than Roque.
On the negative side, Roque's teams do seem to fizzle out down the stretch. That is the most troubling observation I can make without actually having seen your team play very much.
If the budget at LSSU is as shoestring as you claim, I think your team is surprisingly competitive. It's a shame that your best players left early; a guy like Kyle Jean could've been a major difference maker this year, but such is the landscape of NCAA hockey nowadays.
sm2pk..............I stand by my statement cuz it's right. The Juniors & Seniors Scott inherited from Jeff Jackson were, basically, similar to the type of players hed had won with in the past. The Freshman & Sophomores were not. This isn't a "Fricker pipe dream", I was told this by Ron Rolston at Oak Park Arena. OK?
100% Fricker, JJ recruited himself into a corner, not to mention he new he was leaving for the USA Hockey job a year before he resigned. The beginning of the downward trend started with JJ.
Lakerblue........I don't blame JJ for looking to move up but, at the time, he was like the guy making geat time, but not having a clue where he was going. Was he wanting to be an AD/head coach, go to the AHL,
NHL, ???. BTW, I didn'tknow the roster the lat two years JJ was at Lake State. Any idea what players didn't fit his previousrecruiting style? Just curious.
BTW, Scott Borek is farrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from incompetent. He is one of the best recruiting assistants in the game. I always thought that his biggest asset was wasted at Brown when Ivy's don't give scholarships. Also
he proved that he could be a head coach by the way he turned around the Colby program. What happened at Lake State? We'll never really know, but incompetace certanly isn't one of the reasons. IMO,calling him incompetent is just showing you don't know Scott and is a cheap shot!
Anchorage, conversely, destroys the Soo in every way.
Mr. Fricker, I posted earlier that we need less division and it is this type of post that upsets us locals. To clear you up, it was Coaches Jackson, Rolston and Pooley that teamed to deliver success including two National Championships wins and a third Championship game appearance at LSSU. If you lived from here you would know that. Coach Roque was a first year assistant on our first championship team under Coach Anzalone so maybe you meant to say he, Coach Anzalone and Coach Jackson teamed to deliver succes. Or maybe you meant to say that Coach Rolston and Coach Roque teamed to deliver success at your alma mater, Clarkson.He served the Lakers well and he, Ron Rolston & Jim Roque teamed to deliver success.
