Re: LSSU Laker Hockey
That's a very shallow and simplistic way of looking at things. A couple of (good/bad) breaks and a hot goalie can change your fortunes (in either direction) very quickly in a 2-game playoff series. If you're an athletic director, you have to look at the overall state of the program. Is it where you want it to be? If not, do you feel it is moving in the right direction? When making important decisions, you gather as much data as you can. Why base a decision on a playoff series when you have a 6-year track record? In addition to win-loss records, I'm sure the athletic director would also look at things like academic success rates, ticket revenues, public relations, off-ice issues, etc.
I agree Dopey, with Roque being here for 6 years there is certainly some judgements that can be made from what is a substantial amount of data. With that being said (and keep in mind that I agree with you) unfortunately, I do believe the Lakers playoff fortune may tip the scales in favor of Roque staying or not staying with the administration depending on how they do. I believe a first round exit will add fuel to the argument of firing Roque, A second round exit I don't believe will tip the scales in one way or another, and a berth in the final four I think would go a long way towards saving his job (unfortunately). Since a first round win-second round loss is a medium between the two extremes here are the devil's advocate arguments (depending which side of the fence you are on regarding Roque keeping his job) regarding those "extremes" of playoff results as best I can make them:
In the case of a first round playoff exit:
Roque has never had a winning record nor won a playoff series with players that he has recruited, the Lakers over the majority of his time here have put themselves in position to take jumps in the standings but in those crucial series and games have nearly always come out flat and faltered. The Lakers always seem to run out of gas late in the season as a whole and particularly in Saturday games late in the season, look unconditioned and tired (as was the case last Saturday at OSU). The Lakers are at a disadvantage as far as recruiting goes, but it takes no amount of talent to be conditioned, Roque is simply not pushing his team hard enough in practice and as a result they play tired undisciplined hockey late in the season. Many of the close games the Lakers lose they fall because they beat themselves by making stupid mistakes and putting forth uninspired play, not because they were outtalented, and that falls directly on the coach.
A perfect microcosm of this situation is last season when they reached number 18 in national polls only to fall apart in the last month of the season and lose yet again in the first round of the playoffs.... Roque should be fired.
In the case of first and second round wins resulting in a CCHA final four appearance:
Roque has had a tumultous tenure, it started out nicely with a trip to the CCHA final four and winning records in his first two years but then he dropped off a bit. His record with "his" players has been dismal but it may have simply taken awhile for him to get his feet under him as a head coach especially regarding recruiting (granted he has experience with this as an assitant but it can certainly be a little different animal when you are calling the shots in recruiting as opposed to doing the footwork under the direction of a different head coach) this may explain why he had success with Frank's players who were already somewhat conditioned to the tempo and mindset of college hockey and it took some trial and error for Roque to figure out the best way to instill that in "his" players from the moment they started college hockey, but it appears he has gotten those kinks ironed out....
To justify this notion, the Lakers have improved in points in the CCHA the last 3 years (starting from the institution of the shootout) from 21 in 08-09 to 35 last year and have 37 with one series remaining this year. He has started to have success with the recruiting and developing players: 4 of the 5 seniors who have seen regular playing time this season are in the top 10 in scoring for the team, as are 1 of the 2 regular playing juniors and all 4 of the sophomores who see regular action, so with increased experience, Roque's players are making increased contributions to the team. Also let's not forget that despite having a school that is hard to bring top notch players in to, he has managed to find studs in Schofield, Trotman, Monardo, and thus far, Kapalka. There is a plethora of youth on this team and when combining the final four run this year with the fact that next year's team will lose only 2 seniors, the Lakers are clearly on to something. If Roque can get increased scoring output from his returning players next year to offset the losses of the seniors this year (no small feat but if the more experience = more points notion holds true as it has, it can be done, all of which doesn't include any points that next year's class contributes) than the Lakers are in position to be a defenseively sound team that has playoff experience and have a great chance of placing in the top 6 in the next two seasons and hopefully beyond...Roque is finally on the right track and should keep his job.
For what it's worth I will reitirate (sp?) that I do believe that Roque should be fired after this season regardless of the finish but I just thought I would make the most unbiased cases for the best and worst case scenarios regarding the Lakers fortunes the rest of the season and how I believe the pro- and anti- Roque arguments may be made when this is all said and done. Any thoughts or comments (not regarding Frank Anzalone or other mindless rambling
) would be as always, be much appreciated!
