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Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

So in a Star Tribune poll, people think Lucia should go, yet in another, they think Pitino should stay???
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Koho said:
So in a Star Tribune poll, people think Lucia should go, yet in another, they think Pitino should stay???
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention it, about an hour ago I voted just the opposite. And that was the first time I've voted in any of their polls in quite a while.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Koho said:
So in a Star Tribune poll, people think Lucia should go, yet in another, they think Pitino should stay???
Click to expand...

One coach has been in place for 16 (?) years now, and the other is still relatively new. It makes sense to me how patience may be running thin for a long established coach failing to make the post season even though they played in a weak league, suffering low attendance (regardless of the true reason, perception rules), and you're looking at the one high profile sport for the school that has traditionally had great success. It brews great discontent.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

I'm not sure what to think about Lucia? Hard to imagine firing a coach who has led his team to 5 straight regular season Conf titles. It is 5 now, right? The last 2 WCHA regular season conf titles and now the first 3 regular season B1G Conf Titles? Granted winning the regular season conf title and still not making the NCAA tourney doesn't say much, but how much of that is Lucia's fault? To be honest? I'm not an expert, so maybe it is?


We have to remember, not only are teams like Wisconsin and Michigan St having down years, really hurting the B1G conf SOS, but our instate rivals are combined, having a banner season. Combined they were what? 1 conf title game win away from getting 3 non-Gopher Minnesota based teams into the tourney?

Mn-Mankato tied for the WCHA reg season Conf Title, right?

SCSU also won their reg season conf title as well, right?

And UMD got to the Conf Tourney title game, losing by just a goal?

Add to that the Gophers being in the conf tourney title game and the State of Hockey almost made up 25% of the NCAA tourney field.


All of those Minnesota based, non-B1G conf teams are not always going to be so good, and Wisconsin and MSU are also not both going to always be so bad, combined with Minnesota having issues of its own.



Now throw in Notre Dame, and possibly one more school and the B1G conf scedule could be much more challenging. A part of me is hoping for Arizona St, although I completely understand why they are nowhere near the top of the list, their being so new and all, and honestly, Arizona is a place lots of young men would want to go and hang out in their college years, so not sure I like the idea of the B1G brand helping them out anymore than their nice weather already has and will continue to do in the future?


To be honest, and I know its almost a guarantee not to happen, but I'm sort of hoping for Boston College. Realistically, I could see Denver being a possibility. Not the worst media footprint to bring into the B1G. UND might make more sense, at least in regards to hockey only, but outside of hockey, what does UND add to the B1G conf?? Both John Hopkins and Notre Dame are highly rated in some regard outside of hockey. UND? not really. Not sure that Denver is? But they add the Colorado media footprint.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

I mentioned on GPL, NOTHING will happen until a new AD is in place. No extension, no "resigning" (cough cough), no anything. Period. Done.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

St. Clown said:
One coach has been in place for 16 (?) years now, and the other is still relatively new. It makes sense to me how patience may be running thin for a long established coach failing to make the post season even though they played in a weak league, suffering low attendance (regardless of the true reason, perception rules), and you're looking at the one high profile sport for the school that has traditionally had great success. It brews great discontent.
Click to expand...


And the relatively new coach has a ton of really promising young players on the roster and a Top 25 recruiting class coming in next year.

The mens cbb team sort of reminds me of the 1987 and 88 teams. Those teams won only 2 conf games in 87 and 4 in 88, and then proceeded to make the Sweet 16 and then the Elite 8, just a missed 3 pointer at the buzzer away from advancing to the Final Four in 90. Next year's team and especially the lineup in 2017-18 could be just as magical. At least I hope so.


Lucia on the otherhand, brings in seemingly promising recruits and for some reason the teams just don't blossom the way Gopher hockey fan's high expectations hope they would. So even with 2 Natl Titles to his credit, the pressure on Lucia's going to be much heavier.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Bonin21 said:
Was someone expecting something to happen sooner?
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There have been rumors and thoughts for a couple years now, and I am part of those who have posted thoughts.

In the end, he will never be fired, and he's earned that right. He will "resign" or just not be renewed. If somehow no AD is found before his contract ends, either a 1-year or a favorable buyout contract will be issued.

I don't see him getting a 5 year (just throwing out a number) deal, though.

It's not on him, really. 5 straight conference titles? Making the F4? Nothing to sneeze at. BUT....as mentioned, higher expectations for MN hockey than your average team. There's the rub. Hell, NEB coach (football) got fired after a 9-3 season (which I think was incredibly dumb). So anything is possible.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Brenthoven said:
I mentioned on GPL, NOTHING will happen until a new AD is in place. No extension, no "resigning" (cough cough), no anything. Period. Done.
Click to expand...

That's the rub. It's all pretty moot at the moment.

I also don't know how you could fire Lucia. If you did, you would have to have someone INCREDIBLY desirable already lined up to replace him.

I'm not saying I'm completely content with Lucia, either. Not because he is a bad coach, or because I think the Gophers have vastly under performed. But I do think in most cases, teams/programs can get a little stagnant with long-time coaches. It's just really difficult to maintain that fire and drive over many years. And while I don't think the City Pages article or criticisms akin to the ones it made are legitimate, I do think "a little stagnant" is probably accurate. The kind of coaches that can maintain that hunger for 2 decades within themselves as well as within their programs are very, very rare.

Again, I don't know how you could fire Lucia. And I wouldn't want a change unless there is someone really great all lined up to step in. I'll admit, though, that my little fantasy is Lucia decides to step into a hockey-related role within the Big 10 and the athletic department goes out and hits a home run with a new hire.

Of course, there's that previous mentioned rub, as well as the fact that Wisconsin is in the market for a big time coach, Michigan most likely will be in the market for a big time coach, and Mi St. just might be in that very same market too. Not really the best time.
 
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Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

And also, you'd be the guy (or gal) known for firing the one coach in recent(ish) years to win a title.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

FredsDeadFriend said:
To be honest, and I know its almost a guarantee not to happen, but I'm sort of hoping for Boston College. Realistically, I could see Denver being a possibility. Not the worst media footprint to bring into the B1G. UND might make more sense, at least in regards to hockey only, but outside of hockey, what does UND add to the B1G conf?? Both John Hopkins and Notre Dame are highly rated in some regard outside of hockey. UND? not really. Not sure that Denver is? But they add the Colorado media footprint.
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I have no idea why Notre Dame except for Lucia.

We could have put something together as a conference. But they didn't want to do that...but rather wanted to go ACC. Fine. But why would we let them cherry pick hockey? They get not much travel. They don't have to play UConn (and I think most programs would rather play PSU than UConn or UML). They get to soak off of Minnesota's recruiting grounds. What does the B1G get? The B1G gets its desperate need of having any team fill no. 7 (and no, Notre Dame is not that stellar of a school...i.e., not Hopkins). It gets almost no real rivalries (def not for us). It gets a decent team (but not the best by a long stretch). It appears the B1G doesn't even get BTN benefits (who negotiated this). And it gets the B1G look like its begged Notre Dame to join for years...and after a total snub, giving them the farm anyways.

I hate UND and I'd take them (or half the NCHC for that matter) in a heartbeat over ND. It looks like they did the right thing by not originally joining the B1G overall...we just gave them a decent part of the benefit for free.

"It's very important," Delany said. "AAU membership is an important part of who we are. It was an important part of who we are [when the Big Ten added] Penn State, and it's an important aspect of what makes an institution a research institution, an undergraduate school, a school that serves the public at a high level."

Asked if AAU membership was mandatory for expansion candidates, Delany said, "We're not there. I'm not going to qualify or disqualify, but it's a very important factor."
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Being a F'Hawker, I'd love to see UND affiliated in such a way that they could play the Gophers and Badgers regularly, and I'm not pining for the old WCHA. Those are just good hockey games with histories that are still capable of engaging fans. But I don't see why the B1G would want to bring UND in. I just don't.

Unless most gopher fans say they shouldn't. Then I say they should.
 
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Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

5mn_Major said:
I have no idea why Notre Dame except for Lucia.

We could have put something together as a conference. But they didn't want to do that...but rather wanted to go ACC. Fine. But why would we let them cherry pick hockey? They get not much travel. They don't have to play UConn (and I think most programs would rather play PSU than UConn or UML). They get to soak off of Minnesota's recruiting grounds. What does the B1G get? The B1G gets its desperate need of having any team fill no. 7 (and no, Notre Dame is not that stellar of a school...i.e., not Hopkins). It gets almost no real rivalries (def not for us). It gets a decent team (but not the best by a long stretch). It appears the B1G doesn't even get BTN benefits (who negotiated this). And it gets the B1G look like its begged Notre Dame to join for years...and after a total snub, giving them the farm anyways.

I hate UND and I'd take them (or half the NCHC for that matter) in a heartbeat over ND. It looks like they did the right thing by not originally joining the B1G overall...we just gave them a decent part of the benefit for free.

"It's very important," Delany said. "AAU membership is an important part of who we are. It was an important part of who we are [when the Big Ten added] Penn State, and it's an important aspect of what makes an institution a research institution, an undergraduate school, a school that serves the public at a high level."

Asked if AAU membership was mandatory for expansion candidates, Delany said, "We're not there. I'm not going to qualify or disqualify, but it's a very important factor."
Click to expand...

Seriously? Notre Dame is a much better fit than NoDak. I'd prefer to play NoDak every year, but it's not in the cards I don't think
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

dxmnkd316 said:
Seriously? Notre Dame is a much better fit than NoDak. I'd prefer to play NoDak every year, but it's not in the cards I don't think
Click to expand...

Yup seriously. UND would add instant rivalry (and once they get shellacked, it would for the likes of Michigan very quickly). It would add the state of North Dakota (vs. approximately zero of Indiana). And it would add to BTN. I hate UND, but that's why I like them in the B1G and it would put buts in seats and eyeballs on TVs. Notre Dame is just a big school with no hockey following. This is not football, this is hockey. I would put Notre Dame at...well...the least exciting matchup in upcoming B1G seasons. IMHO.
 
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