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Quinnipiac Bobcats 2024 Off-season: Rebuild and re-try

I have seen quotes from Dumais (similar to Rand) that he likes living in CT and it's a good environment for a young family. But by not taking other jobs, it seems like he is waiting for the QU job. I have no idea if that is even remotely true. I have seen others speculate that Cashman would be the next coach if Rand ever left, but I really don't see Rand leaving anytime soon. I know some guys prefer being the #2 guy, but seems strange unless he is waiting for a specific team(s).

I mean he turned down Union and Princeton in recent years but maybe those jobs have their limitations in terms of being able to compete with the Quinnipiac's and Cornell's of the world.
 
Interesting captain and assistant captain choice as they are all transfers in except Altman.
Considering Altman will be the only non-transfer senior it makes sense.

Next in line would be Czerneckianair and Cipollone. While they might be ready for A's I'm not sure either is ready for a C.

Going in I thought Pennington would get the C. Some of our best captains were D-men.

Did he say if Legault is going pro or to the transfer portal? Been very quiet on that front.
Legault signed with Carolina. Rand kind of nudged him to say publicly that he promised to figure out how to finish his degree.

Interesting fact is that most guys on the team do 3 & 1 degrees (3 yrs BA/BS, 4th yr Masters). Impressive to me since the team GPA is 3.7 with a few 4.0's. Means they're working as hard in the classroom as on the ice.
 
I would argue (and I think most would agree) that there are limits on the lengths teams should go to try to win.

Limits beyond the rules that are published and known to all programs? And who is setting these limits that go beyond the rules?
 
For example, a coach should have an obligation to develop each player who commits to his program and puts in the effort to improve. Moreover, a coach has an obligation to be upfront and honest with his recruits. I

How do you know that Rand is not upfront and honest with his recruits? I have a hard time believing that recruits don't know the deal coming in. The way Rand operates is not exactly a state secret. If they don't like how Rand handles recruits, they don't have to commit to QU in the first place. And yet plenty of them do. And while some leave, some stay and get better and earn playing time as they get older.
 
I have seen quotes from Dumais (similar to Rand) that he likes living in CT and it's a good environment for a young family. But by not taking other jobs, it seems like he is waiting for the QU job. I have no idea if that is even remotely true. I have seen others speculate that Cashman would be the next coach if Rand ever left, but I really don't see Rand leaving anytime soon. I know some guys prefer being the #2 guy, but seems strange unless he is waiting for a specific team(s).

I don't see Rand leaving for anything but an NHL head coaching job.

Right now there are 5 jobs open (some have interim coaches in place but I would consider them open).
LA Kings
NJ Devils
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues

Do any of these make sense for Rand?

Teams that are on the bottom but think they can start moving up? That would be the Kings and Sharks. If the Kings can hang in there with the Oilers in their playoff series, Jim Hiller might get that job permanently.

The Devils have a lot of talent and disappointed big time this year. Do they want an unproven NHL coach, or will they go with a retread to try and win immediately? The Devils need to get better on details, and Rand is very strong on that.

The Senators also disappointed this year but have a good amount of young talent. They might be a fit.

To me the Blues are on their way down, why would Rand be interested?
 
I don't see Rand leaving for anything but an NHL head coaching job.

Right now there are 5 jobs open (some have interim coaches in place but I would consider them open).
LA Kings
NJ Devils
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues

Do any of these make sense for Rand?

Teams that are on the bottom but think they can start moving up? That would be the Kings and Sharks. If the Kings can hang in there with the Oilers in their playoff series, Jim Hiller might get that job permanently.

The Devils have a lot of talent and disappointed big time this year. Do they want an unproven NHL coach, or will they go with a retread to try and win immediately? The Devils need to get better on details, and Rand is very strong on that.

The Senators also disappointed this year but have a good amount of young talent. They might be a fit.

To me the Blues are on their way down, why would Rand be interested?

I don't see Rand ever leaving for the NHL.
 
I don't see Rand ever leaving for the NHL.

You are probably right, and in that case he probably never leaves for any other coaching position. He has a great situation at QU where he does things his way and competes for national championships. I don't see him leaving for another college job, especially one where he has to recruit high draft picks and replace them in 1-2 seasons, when most of his players are first starting to understand what he demands.

By the way, just after I wrote my post, the Seattle Kraken job became available. So there are 6 jobs open right now in the NHL. Some of them would probably work for Rand. If he is ever going to go, now would be the time.
 
You are probably right, and in that case he probably never leaves for any other coaching position. He has a great situation at QU where he does things his way and competes for national championships. I don't see him leaving for another college job, especially one where he has to recruit high draft picks and replace them in 1-2 seasons, when most of his players are first starting to understand what he demands.

By the way, just after I wrote my post, the Seattle Kraken job became available. So there are 6 jobs open right now in the NHL. Some of them would probably work for Rand. If he is ever going to go, now would be the time.

This is HIS team. He built it from virtually nothing. While he could make a money grab in the NHL, those six openings illustrate the fact that there's no loyalty. It's win or else. In D-I that pressure doesn't exist.

He could be the next Jerry York (long tenured and winner) if he wants to be. Not many get that kind of opportunity in any walk of life.
 
Jeremy Wilmer from BU is heading to Quinnipiac out of the portal. Really good pickup this late for a guy that can put points on the board.
 
I think this puts us back in reload status vs rebuild. Wilmer and Ricketts are huge gets for QU.

Don't underestimate Charlie Leddy too. He will be just as valuable as those two. However, the impact of those leaving and graduating may be greater than the gains.
 
Don't underestimate Charlie Leddy too. He will be just as valuable as those two. However, the impact of those leaving and graduating may be greater than the gains.
I'm sure Leddy will be a contributer as well but the other two are towards that can replace 2 of the 3 top line guys we lost.
 
According to @SHUHockeyBlog on X, the dates for CT Ice 2025 are January 24th and 25th at Martire Family Arena.

Opening round matchups are:
Sacred Heart-Yale
UConn-Quinnipiac
 
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