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UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

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Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

Sure hope you're wrong on rehiring Hill. He had his chance and the results weren't good. Don't know if he's still married to the same woman as he was when he was here before. If he is he's in for a terrible home life. How does that help? When he up and quit he had been saying for quite some time that you can't recruit to here. What's changed for him other than he's out of a high paying job? I'll never forget the coaches lunch where he derisively told a room full of supporters that Crosby wouldn't be enrolling at UAA. Nobody thought Crosby was coming. It was the way Hill said it that was demeaning to UAA supporters. Arrogant decribes Hill. Raise his nose and talk down to whoever he's addressing. The folks that wanted change are now going to embrace Hill as change? That's a retread we don't need nor want.
 
Seawolf Fan said:
Sure hope you're wrong on rehiring Hill. He had his chance and the results weren't good. Don't know if he's still married to the same woman as he was when he was here before. If he is he's in for a terrible home life. How does that help? When he up and quit he had been saying for quite some time that you can't recruit to here. What's changed for him other than he's out of a high paying job? I'll never forget the coaches lunch where he derisively told a room full of supporters that Crosby wouldn't be enrolling at UAA. Nobody thought Crosby was coming. It was the way Hill said it that was demeaning to UAA supporters. Arrogant decribes Hill. Raise his nose and talk down to whoever he's addressing. The folks that wanted change are now going to embrace Hill as change? That's a retread we don't need nor want.
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It would make absolutely ZERO sense to fire Shyiak and rehire a guy who had a worse record.
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

If the Alumni are reading here, he just told em.
Haven't heard anyone on here make a case for rehiring the guy who not only couldn't win but quit on the team, the University and the fans.
Oh I forgot to mention it but he quit on the Alumni.
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

John Hill is a traitor, plain and simple.

When I read that article in the ADN yesterday night, I nearly vomited with rage. Why on earth would folks at UAA even consider him for the job after he walked out the first time? What the hell has changed in eight friggin' years?
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

aallenpollreisz said:
John Hill is a traitor, plain and simple.

When I read that article in the ADN yesterday night, I nearly vomited with rage. Why on earth would folks at UAA even consider him for the job after he walked out the first time? What the hell has changed in eight friggin' years?
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UAA is desperate for fans, and I think they realize that MANY fans can't stand Hill for what he did the last time he was the UAA coach. I agree, he is arrogant and he simply doesn't deserve another shot. Do you seriously think he'd even be entertaining the idea of coming back to Alaska if he wasn't out of a coaching job? I don't. His ditching UAA meant the loss of solid freshmen, and it put UAA back a few years ... (and they hadn't yet recovered from the disaster that was Talafous).

If anyone here really think the alumni want Hill back I'd suggest sending them an email. I'm writing to Chriss Homan, VP of the UAA Hockey Alumni Association.
 
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Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

I agree Suze. BTW- Good thing Scotty Gomez isn't home yet. He'd be over @ UAA trying to talk Cobb into bringing Hill back without considering anyone else. :rolleyes:

Wondering if you think Keith Morris will apply? I haven't read all the messages on this thread yet, so apologies if his name was already discussed. :o Guess we'll know on Friday..

- - - - -
me & my &^@# typos!
 
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Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

AlaskaRox said:
I agree Suze. BTW- Good think Scotty Gomez isn't home yet. He'd be over @ UAA trying to talk Cobb into bringing Hill back without considering anyone else. :rolleyes:

Wondering if you think Keith Morris will apply? I haven't read all the messages on this thread yet, so apologies if his name was already discussed. :o Guess we'll know on Friday..
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Is Friday the day they are expected to make an announcement? I have no idea if Morris has applied. I know he has major heartburn with Cobb and the way things are done. He's pretty negative about the program - or at least he used to be ... I haven't spoken to him for a couple years.

Gomez is seriously interested in UAA hockey? That's a real surprise to me.
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

Suze ~ Doyle said that they're releasing the names of the applicants this Friday.

And yeah... Scotty has been weighing in on the vacancy and his desire to see Hill back.. :rolleyes:
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

Growing up on the Kenai, I was a UAA fan. UAA's still my second favorite team behind only my alma mater. I watched just about every home game online this year.

At this point, I just want UAA to have a winning season. That, for me, hasn't happened since preschool. Hill couldn't bring the team to that level back in 2001-2005, and I doubt he'd be able to do that in 2013. Plus, as established, the guy has no loyalty or spine.

Say what you want about Dennis Sorenson. Point blank, he's not qualified for an NCAA D-I head coaching job yet. But at least he cares about Anchorage and UAA, thus making him an infinitely better choice than Hill.
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

Going out on a limb here, but what I think I read was the search committees' list of finalists would be forwarded to Cobb. The number of finalists would be left to the committee. Only those names would be released and the timing of the release was uncertain. Anyone remember it that way or differently or have more info?
 
Seawolf Fan said:
Going out on a limb here, but what I think I read was the search committees' list of finalists would be forwarded to Cobb. The number of finalists would be left to the committee. Only those names would be released and the timing of the release was uncertain. Anyone remember it that way or differently or have more info?
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Thats's how I read it, as well.
 
Alaska Hockey said:
you need to go over to the Mark Osiecki Out at Ohio State thread no love there..... Shades of the Gym Rat from Madison that gut shot us before.
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Based on the information available to all of us at this time, Corbs is your guy and it seems pretty black and white. Hill obviously is the resume guy, but you've been down that road before and it's pretty apparent that's not the solution. Blair is a victim (fairly or unfairly) of the fact that he's been "part of the problem" in the last regime, and Sorensen is attractive to some but the biggest argument for him is "at least he cares about UAA & Alaska." Though important, that doesn't do enough to bridge the gap to becoming a qualified D1 Head Coaching candidate.

The "weaknesses" of Corbett are 1) no head coaching experience & 2) no network in Canada and 3) his resume says AFA, not NoDak. I don't think - given the current state of UAA going two decades without a winning season - that him having no D1 HC experience is a bad thing. Any candidate with D1 HC experience that would come to Alaska for ~ 125-150k is obviously either desperate for a job (because nobody else wants him) or on the wrong side of the mountain. As far as the lack of a network in Canada, that can be bridged with an assistant who does have a network there (current D1 assistant or BCHL/AJHL HC) or by simply recruiting what he knows (NAHL/USHL/US Midget, etc.) until he and his staff become acclimated in Western Canada. Finally, coming from AFA will help. Coaches from the big schools are accustomed to the facilities being a certain standard & sometimes ge distracted trying to change the facilities & forget to build a hockey team. Though AFA had great facilities in AHA, they aren't anything world class.

The stengths of Corbett far outweigh the weaknesses. First off, he is an absolute workhorse. He has a personality that will endear him to both administration/alumni/locals as well as current players and prospective recruits. He combines extreme professionalism with a little bit of "cool swagger" for lack of a better term. His success at AFA speaks volumes. He has experience winning numerous league regular season and playoff championships and has helped guide his teams to the NCAA tournament on a handful of occasions & they have been very competive when they got there.

UAA is similar to AFA from the standpoint it has recruiting challenges. Corbett knows how to set a plan and then navigate around those challenges. For UAA to be successful, the next coach has to be able to find diamonds in the rough in not-so-sexy recruiting spots (Sask, Manitoba, California, etc.). The NA, perhaps the league he knows best, and Alberta, need to be a breeding ground for UAA and they also need a presence in the USHL and the BCHL, though to a lesser extent. Lets be honest, UAA isn't pulling the blue chippers out of those leagues...

Like I said before, Corbett knows how to win. UAA doesn't. How youthful spirit and insatiable appetite for winning will permeate throughout the entire program. If anyone has what it takes to turn UAA around, it's Mike Corbett. He's paid his dues (more than most) & is chomping at the bit for an opportunity. From my perspective, he's your man...
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

I think everyone knows that I want to see a local guy in the job. But if it isn't to be Sorenson (or some other local person) then I sure hope there are candidates that we don't know about yet who are better than what we do know. No offense to Corbett but there's no reason to think he would be anything other than the same head coach that Dean Talafous and Dave Shyiak were. And that isn't meant to demean anyone. It just means to indicate that Corbett would be more of the same. Could he turn out to have more success than Talafous or Shyiak? Sure he might.

It's time for some boldness from Steve Cobb and/or "search committees" and/or "Administration" ... whoever is really hiring the next coach needs to do something different. Change to the same thing isn't change at all. Look at Obummer for the example ... he's the status quo i.e... no different than Dubya. Cobb has been in the job for a long time ... as far as I can tell he's never put his butt on the line in any manner. It's time for him to take a risk. Do something truly different. Hire the guy who has the least experience at the D1 level but the MOST experience as a head hockey coach. Hire the guy who will bring deep passion for the local hockey community.
 
uaafanblog said:
I think everyone knows that I want to see a local guy in the job. But if it isn't to be Sorenson (or some other local person) then I sure hope there are candidates that we don't know about yet who are better than what we do know. No offense to Corbett but there's no reason to think he would be anything other than the same head coach that Dean Talafous and Dave Shyiak were. And that isn't meant to demean anyone. It just means to indicate that Corbett would be more of the same. Could he turn out to have more success than Talafous or Shyiak? Sure he might.

It's time for some boldness from Steve Cobb and/or "search committees" and/or "Administration" ... whoever is really hiring the next coach needs to do something different. Change to the same thing isn't change at all. Look at Obummer for the example ... he's the status quo i.e... no different than Dubya. Cobb has been in the job for a long time ... as far as I can tell he's never put his butt on the line in any manner. It's time for him to take a risk. Do something truly different. Hire the guy who has the least experience at the D1 level but the MOST experience as a head hockey coach. Hire the guy who will bring deep passion for the local hockey community.
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Uaafanblog - I appreciate your comments throughout the thread - I think you make a lot of good points in all your posts.

Ultimately, what I think you're saying is that you want the AD to think way outside the box and do something unconventional. What I surmise from your posts is that you're tired of UAA following the same path as everyone else (and not succeeding) & you realize that they have some unique challenges that won't be overcome by maintaining status quo.

I applaud you for that forward thinking as it certainly is a refreshing way to think of things. That said, AD's don't seem to be as forward thinking as you in 2013!

Is my assessment of your stance fair or did I miss the boat completely?
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

hockeyjunkie10 said:
Uaafanblog - I appreciate your comments throughout the thread - I think you make a lot of good points in all your posts.

Ultimately, what I think you're saying is that you want the AD to think way outside the box and do something unconventional. What I surmise from your posts is that you're tired of UAA following the same path as everyone else (and not succeeding) & you realize that they have some unique challenges that won't be overcome by maintaining status quo.

I applaud you for that forward thinking as it certainly is a refreshing way to think of things. That said, AD's don't seem to be as forward thinking as you in 2013!

Is my assessment of your stance fair or did I miss the boat completely?
Click to expand...

Pretty much spot on. In most all things my preference is to go against the grain of convention.
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

Sorenson doesn't have the credentials. Would have to spend years acquiring them.
Hill is a proven loser here and nothing has changed to make it any different from the last time he was a loser here.
Blair carries the Shyiak stigma. Easier to erase that stigma at a different institution. Kinda hard to do here.
Corbett doesn't have a Canadien base to recruit from. Hiring an assistant that does solves that problem. And he has strong recruiting credentials in the U.S.
There may be other applicants this thread hasn't identified.
Unless one of the "unidentified" has stronger credentials Corbett would seem to be the strongest candidate.
 
Re: UAA Seawolves offseason thread- time for change

I want to preface this by saying I'm not at all connected to anything that goes on with UAA hockey with exception of the stories in ADN.

I see that people here are anti-Hill, and there are plenty of detractors, but wasn't part of the reason he left was the fact that he saw the writing on the wall the Administration wasn't going to give them the proper support the hockey team needed? In a sense, he was right wasn't he? Evidenced by the failure to secure new facilities. And he does have those 4 playoff wins, which look like a Stanley Cup right now.

Now why he wants to come back is the question. Especially when nothing has changed. I think its like someone else said, he's out of the coaching business and has that itch, and here's his way back in.

Of the names I've read, Corbett definitely seems like the most logical choice. My only concern with him is that with no roots in Alaska to speak of, if he has any inkling of success, and another school comes calling, how loyal would he be to UAA? Sorenson no doubtly knows hockey as well as any of the applicants, but also like someone said, probably too radical for this administration.

I do want them to try something bold though. Whats the worst that could happen?
 
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