Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
I see that former assistant and now head coach at Northern Michigan Grant Potulny just won the WCHA's Coach of the Year award. Not saying that this makes him the front-runner if Minnesota does decide to make a change, but I would think he would at least be a candidate deserving of some consideration.
While the AD and Co. will evaluate the season and the coaching staff at the end of the season, it's been my opinion that Lucia will most likely sign a "conditional" short-term contract. Regarding a potential candidate Don Lucia would like to see replace him when the time arrives, he talked to the media about it last season at this time:
Lucia delegates more responsibility to his assistants now. Hockey circles have speculated for some time about who will or should succeed him when that time comes. Lucia hopes his longtime assistant Mike Guentzel gets the gig ... eventually.
"Mike has certainly paid his dues," Lucia said. "He'd be the logical one to take over. He's obviously someone that I would endorse. He's very passionate. He's knowledgeable. He was a former captain. If I could wave my magic wand, which I don't get to do, I think he's earned the right to get the next opportunity here." - Star Tribune. March 10, 2017.
When our teams were both in the same awesome conference and were bitter rivals, that is what one did on this board. That was part of the rivalry. Rip on the fans and programs of the rivals
Perhaps I'm a minority here, but since Motzko has taken over and they've upgraded their program I've enjoyed seeing SCSU progress over previous years. I think this may be their year for a Natty.
What have the Gophers done under Coach Lucia since then compared to other top coaches and programs over the previous 6 seasons (2011-12 to 2016-17)? (Corrections, adding BU, SCSU and all 6 previous National Champs).
LT: League Tournament, RS: Regular Season Title, FF: Frozen Four Appearance
1) York (BC) - W%/
.675, 5 NCAA Appearances, 4 FF, 1 LT, 4 RS,
1 National Title
2) Hakstol/Berry (UND) - W%/
.666, 6 NCAA Appearances, 3 FF, 1 LT, 2 RS,
1 National Title
3) Lucia (UMN) - W%/
.657, 5 NCAA Appearances, 2 FF, 1 LT, 6 RS
4) Gwozdecky/Montgomery (DU) - W%/
.642, 5 NCAA Appearances, 2 FF, 1 LT, 1 RS,
1 National Title
5) Leaman/Bennett (Union) - W%/
.639, 4 NCAA Appearances, 2 FF, 3 LT, 3 RS,
1 National Title
6) Leaman (Providence) - W%/
.608, 4 NCAA Appearances, 1 FF, 1 RS,
1 National Title
7) Parker/Quinn (BU) - W%/
.585, 4 NCAA Appearances, 1 FF, 1 LT, 2 RS
8) Motzko (SCSU) - W%/
.581, 4 NCAA Appearances, 1 FF, 1 LT, 2 RS
9) Allain (Yale) - W%/
.578, 3 NCAA Appearances, 1 FF,
1 National Title
10) Sandelin (UMD) - W%/
.577, 4 NCAA Appearances, 1 FF, 1 LT
11) Berenson (UMich) - W%/
.570, 2 NCAA Appearances, 1 LT
Looking at the top 6 W% teams, every team has won a National Championship, except the Gophers. Yale stole that from us.
Ergo, the fanbase angst.
Initially the comparison was made earlier in the season by the poster I was responding to, so I was summarizing. Secondly, there's a baseline correlation of both Vanek (#5) and Mittelstadt (#8) being 1st round picks of the Buffalo Sabres. On that basis it's a statistically valid comparison to look at the correlational variance in "hype" that each received prior to their freshman season and their subsequent season outcomes. 