What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Ohio State Buckeyes 2022-2023 ... The Drive For Duluth

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hockeybuckeye said:
That's the new normal in the Transfer Portal era and I respectfully disagree that it's unsustainable. I don't see where the extra COVID years come into play as you are always now going to have girls for whatever reasons bail on their current programs and some may will have more than one year of eligibility left. She knows what she's doing and her achievements throughout her career proves it.
Click to expand...

COVID years are going to come to their end. There are going to be MANY fewer players in the portal. The phenomenon of schools having a 'scholarship crunch' now - too many players, too little money to go around - is going to reverse after the 2024-2025 year ends, because there will be essentially two classes/groups of players finishing up: the 20-21 freshmen who got a COVID year and the 21-22 freshmen who got only the normal 4 years. Everyone, more-or-less- is going to need 25-26 freshmen to replace two 'graduating' classes. There will be more scholarships available than players, and that will translate to fewer grad transfers in general and even fewer who get shut out of scholarship money at their current school. Unless the incoming pool of 25-26 freshmen is massive, there are generally not going to be enough players to go around. Exactly when the pool of COVID transfers dries up, demand for freshmen is going to peak. This is something that all schools will have to deal with - and should be starting to deal with now - but Muzzeral is amplifying the problem by relying so heavily on one-and-done transfers, not preparing for it.

------------------------

77 of the 109 players listed in the portal have one year of eligibility remaining. Most all of those are quite likely using the COVID year. That's gonna go away.
 
Last edited:
robertearle said:
COVID years are going to come to their end. There are going to be MANY fewer players in the portal. The phenomenon of schools having a 'scholarship crunch' now - too many players, too little money to go around - is going to reverse after the 2024-2025 year ends, because there will be essentially two classes/groups of players finishing up: the 20-21 freshmen who got a COVID year and the 21-22 freshmen who got only the normal 4 years. Everyone, more-or-less- is going to need 25-26 freshmen to replace two 'graduating' classes. There will be more scholarships available than players, and that will translate to fewer grad transfers in general and even fewer who get shut out of scholarship money at their current school. Unless the incoming pool of 25-26 freshmen is massive, there are generally not going to be enough players to go around. Exactly when the pool of COVID transfers dries up, demand for freshmen is going to peak. This is something that all schools will have to deal with - and should be starting to deal with now - but Muzzeral is amplifying the problem by relying so heavily on one-and-done transfers, not preparing for it.

------------------------

77 of the 109 players listed in the portal have one year of eligibility remaining. Most all of those are quite likely using the COVID year. That's gonna go away.
Click to expand...

What he said.
 
I’m certainly not an OSU historian but it seems to me Muzz built the program by developing players over a few years into a Natty Champ team and now she’s in a “win it all again now” mode that’s relying very heavily on transfers. Some would say that’s just fine but OSU better win it all next season as the program is going to start to pay a price for this strategy as robertearle says. We’ve all seen pro teams try this and, when it pays off, it’s awesome. But it’s often followed by at least a few down years as they lose the high-priced stars they brought in but couldn’t afford to keep for long, or they’re stuck with too much salary on the books to bring in additional players (Parise , Suter & the Wild anyone?), or now they miss some of the developing players they traded away.

In some ways, Muzz is coming off a bit desperate to win now. She’s proven she’s an excellent coach who can develop “blue collar” players into a winning program. I think she should trust herself more and focus on doing that with a transfer here and there. I think she can keep OSU a more consistent powerhouse over the next, say, 4 years with that proven strategy.
 
To compete against Wisco and MN for recruits, she's going to need the stamp of continual National Champions. If she wins next year, recruits have a short memory, and she'll do just fine. The top ones will always want to go where the winning is. If she loses, we'll see what happens. To me, she is a great opportunistic coach, but I wouldn't call her a great coach. A great coach is someone who takes a player and makes them better each season. What underclassman has she recruited that she's taken and made better? She's taken already developed talent (or the previous committed recruits) and won games with them. A great coach is someone who builds the foundation of a program where Freshmen become stars by the time they're Seniors. How can she do this if she's constantly cutting off her underclassmen at the knees by bringing in grad years?
Mark Johnson is a great coach. His players excel and continue to get better each year. His program remains solid because all of his players contribute and improve. Muzzerall focuses on a select few (transfers) to make her team win games. Again, this is a great strategy that's working for right now and who knows? Maybe she's not interested in longevity. Or, maybe this works and she has the laugh last at all of us who are trolling her ways.
The bottom line is that top players care about winning. If she continues to win, she will get recruits. BUT, will she land recruits away from WI or MI with her reputation to be one and done? I don't know. And now, with St. Thomas coming up and Idalski's past success proven, she will have to really hope this strategy of hers works because you know that the recruiting talk against her is the fact that she doesn't stick with a player.
 
"A great coach is someone who takes a player and makes them better each season. What underclassman has she recruited that she's taken and made better?"

Liz Schepers, Paetyn Levis and Gabby Rosenthal to name three
 
bodyup88 said:
"A great coach is someone who takes a player and makes them better each season. What underclassman has she recruited that she's taken and made better?"

Liz Schepers, Paetyn Levis and Gabby Rosenthal to name three
Click to expand...

We currently have 5 incoming freshmen who with their backgrounds should be at a high level of development already. If they stay for all of their eligibility we shall see how far they evolve.
 
Such interesting takes ... very entertaining. I have another player to add that Coach Muzerall recruited and developed . Drum roll please.... Sophie Jaques!!! Wow did Ms Jaques also win the Patty Kaz... Coach Muzerall has Elon Musk type vision.
 
Last edited:
Jennifer Gardiner is another athlete that was recruited and is still currently being developed by Coach Muzerall. I do believe Ms. Gardiner was a top 10 2023 Patty Kaz finalists.
 
I don't think there is much evidence that Muzzy doesn't develop players. As Robert pointed out the transfer bubble will burst in the future.

I do think there is something to be said for a ton of turnover and the effect of team chemistry. We shall see.
 
Womens hockey is changing as fast as AI is learning. The transfer portal is and will be a major force moving forward. The programs that lack vision will be left watching and wondering what happened. The athletes talk, and now the athlete that made the wrong decision can correct it. No longer does the program control the player. Oh, just wait till the NIL goes full throttle...
 
Sierra said:
The transfer portal is and will be a major force moving forward. The programs that lack vision will be left watching and wondering what happened.
Click to expand...
Coach Muzerall in my opinion has that vision and she so far has been the master of the transfer portal.
She's never worried about "the one that got away" because to the best of my knowledge she's gotten exactly the players she wants either through the portal or by NLI.
The other programs will have to make do with the leftovers. (Wink)
 
Timothy A said:
Pllleaze. Now who's trolling who!? Yeah Kalamity has a 100% success rate recruiting. Lol. I'm so happy UW is eking by with all these tosu rejects.
Click to expand...

Yep. Might as well engrave the trophy for the next 10 years. With the clear superiority of the Ohio State evident to all, we other teams should just roll over and take our medicine. No one said that tournaments are won on the ice, did they? Must have been something remembered from long ago. Sigh.
 
Steamboat said:
Yep. Might as well engrave the trophy for the next 10 years. With the clear superiority of the Ohio State evident to all, we other teams should just roll over and take our medicine. No one said that tournaments are won on the ice, did they? Must have been something remembered from long ago. Sigh.
Click to expand...

As much as I'd like to agree with this I'll simply say The Muzzinator has made Ohio State a legitimate threat to other teams championship aspirations.
 
Hockeybuckeye said:
As much as I'd like to agree with this I'll simply say The Muzzinator has made Ohio State a legitimate threat to other teams championship aspirations.
Click to expand...

Can’t argue with that. And, Hockeybuckey, I give you tons of credit for your total fan commitment to Muzz and OSU WH. It is admirable (not being sarcastic) and you’re being a steadfast foil to wanting to point out Muzz’s flaws keeps this thread interesting as others of us challenge you. OSU WH is lucky to have you!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top