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UMD 2017 Season Thread
- Thread starter Blackbeard
- Start date
Blackbeard
Well-known member
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
Forgot to mention here a couple weeks back while watching the Clarkson Cup that Saara Niemi (Tuominen) was the Assistant Coach of the Kunlun Red Star this year and found herself coaching her charges in the Championship Game.
She and Sarah Murray giving back to the game from high profile positions.
Forgot to mention here a couple weeks back while watching the Clarkson Cup that Saara Niemi (Tuominen) was the Assistant Coach of the Kunlun Red Star this year and found herself coaching her charges in the Championship Game.
She and Sarah Murray giving back to the game from high profile positions.
pokechecker
Banned
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
Maybe someone can explain what difference it makes who recruited them, what is more important is who coached them. It should be obvious from the coaching change at UMD that at minimum, players are doing much better academically, and I would argue on the ice as well. Players at UMD in the recent past were poster children for underachievers. Now look at OSU, players have achieved on the ice like never before. I am not familiar enough with the academic side, maybe someone more familiar can comment.
Sure, convincing a kid and their family to attend your school and join your team indicates a persuasive person, but how does persuasion relate to how they do in school or on the ice? (I do recall a particular coach trying to persuade refs to see the play the way she did, but they didn’t appear to be buying it.) And let’s not forget, sometimes these schools aren’t the student-athletes first choice, sometimes they accept the best offer they can get, or the only offer they get. And often, it isn’t the head coach doing the recruiting, it is an assistant.
Maybe someone can explain what difference it makes who recruited them, what is more important is who coached them. It should be obvious from the coaching change at UMD that at minimum, players are doing much better academically, and I would argue on the ice as well. Players at UMD in the recent past were poster children for underachievers. Now look at OSU, players have achieved on the ice like never before. I am not familiar enough with the academic side, maybe someone more familiar can comment.
Sure, convincing a kid and their family to attend your school and join your team indicates a persuasive person, but how does persuasion relate to how they do in school or on the ice? (I do recall a particular coach trying to persuade refs to see the play the way she did, but they didn’t appear to be buying it.) And let’s not forget, sometimes these schools aren’t the student-athletes first choice, sometimes they accept the best offer they can get, or the only offer they get. And often, it isn’t the head coach doing the recruiting, it is an assistant.
Both times UMD won, Duluth-East lost in the AA finals.
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
But for some reason that has not been the case on the girls's side at these schools. If and when that should change the Minnesota Duluth women's team would get a big boost, helping them more consistently contend for first in the WCHA and a spot in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately for them that does not appear to be happening any time soon. Such a big contrast between the boys and the girls, and for me, having grown up in Duluth, it's always been a bit of a mystery.
Duluth East, Hermantown and Grand Rapids, with a sprinkling of help from the Iron Range teams, produce lots of talent year in and year out that forms the nucleus for UMD. High school hockey is a real strong tradition in that part of the state that goes all the way back to the 1950's.
But for some reason that has not been the case on the girls's side at these schools. If and when that should change the Minnesota Duluth women's team would get a big boost, helping them more consistently contend for first in the WCHA and a spot in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately for them that does not appear to be happening any time soon. Such a big contrast between the boys and the girls, and for me, having grown up in Duluth, it's always been a bit of a mystery.
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
There are a lot of factors working against hockey now. For one you are not going to become elite playing pick up games when the local pond is frozen. The kids playing at the D-I level have parents who made a very substantial investment in the equipment, training and ice time to get the kid to that point. Loss of mining jobs hits them hard too. The fact that there is no real career path for girls reduces interest in pursuing the sport that hard. Boys can dream of a long career in the AHL (WHAT? Thats where most of them end up) but except for the very best of the very best there really is only real life after college. Then there is the tradition. They need adults to bring their kids and reminisce about old rivalries and great players from the past so that kids want to be part of that.
There are a lot of factors working against hockey now. For one you are not going to become elite playing pick up games when the local pond is frozen. The kids playing at the D-I level have parents who made a very substantial investment in the equipment, training and ice time to get the kid to that point. Loss of mining jobs hits them hard too. The fact that there is no real career path for girls reduces interest in pursuing the sport that hard. Boys can dream of a long career in the AHL (WHAT? Thats where most of them end up) but except for the very best of the very best there really is only real life after college. Then there is the tradition. They need adults to bring their kids and reminisce about old rivalries and great players from the past so that kids want to be part of that.
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ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
On the girls' side, participation is even lower. Hibbing and Rapids were factors 15-20 years ago, but now, they don't have the type of competition that Cities schools do. Hockey has become more like football, where it is hard to compete with superior numbers.
Even on the boys' side, HS hockey in northern MN is nothing like it was when we were young. They still produce a few good players, but in terms of teams, there just isn't the quality that there once was. When I was in school, Eveleth and Virginia never made it to State, because they couldn't past teams like Falls, Hibbing, Rapids, and Greenway. Look at the players on '80 Olympic team: Baker - Rapids; Harrington - Virginia; Schneider - Babbitt; Pavelich - Eveleth. Throw in Broten, Christian, and Verchota, and it would be hard to imagine finding the same percentage of talent in the North 40 years later. Enrollments on the Range dropped, and hockey in the rest of the state improved. Now even when one of those schools has a decent team, they don't see the type of competition in conference that they once did.
On the girls' side, participation is even lower. Hibbing and Rapids were factors 15-20 years ago, but now, they don't have the type of competition that Cities schools do. Hockey has become more like football, where it is hard to compete with superior numbers.
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
Class A - 2 Championships, 1 Runner-ups, 1 3rd Place (all Hermantown, a small suburb of Duluth)
Class AA - 1 Championship, 2 Runner-ups, 1 3rd Place (Grand Rapids, Duluth East twice, and Grand Rapids)
In addition, all four UMD players that made the Frozen Four All Tournament team were from this region: Cloquet, Hermantown, Grand Rapids and Hibbing.
My main point was that the girls in the same part of the State (that potentially would feed UMD, like the boys do) have not come remotely close to what their boys teams have done recently. In fact, no girls team from this area has won a state title since the turn of the century, and you have to go back to 2008 in Class AA when Grand Rapids/Greenway reached the final and 2005 in Class A when Hibbing/Chisholm reached the championship game (each lost).
For whatever reason the girls teams in the NW part of the State have fared much better, but only in Class A where Warroad and East Grand Forks have made regular trips to the final, and have often done well. But girls hockey in the NE has really struggled, and one can only hope that some day this will change.
Totally agree with most of this, especially your point about the depth of talent in the north is down compared to what it once was. But recent results in the boy's high school hockey tournament show there is still excellence to be found "up north", particularly in and around Duluth and the Range. Looking at just Section 7 the past four years:
Class A - 2 Championships, 1 Runner-ups, 1 3rd Place (all Hermantown, a small suburb of Duluth)
Class AA - 1 Championship, 2 Runner-ups, 1 3rd Place (Grand Rapids, Duluth East twice, and Grand Rapids)
In addition, all four UMD players that made the Frozen Four All Tournament team were from this region: Cloquet, Hermantown, Grand Rapids and Hibbing.
My main point was that the girls in the same part of the State (that potentially would feed UMD, like the boys do) have not come remotely close to what their boys teams have done recently. In fact, no girls team from this area has won a state title since the turn of the century, and you have to go back to 2008 in Class AA when Grand Rapids/Greenway reached the final and 2005 in Class A when Hibbing/Chisholm reached the championship game (each lost).
For whatever reason the girls teams in the NW part of the State have fared much better, but only in Class A where Warroad and East Grand Forks have made regular trips to the final, and have often done well. But girls hockey in the NE has really struggled, and one can only hope that some day this will change.
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ZedLeppelin
Motormouth
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
Man, those were the days, watching WCHA hockey in Duluth in the 70s. The '80 Olympic game was like watching a roster of players who we had either cheered (UMD's Pavelich and Harrington) or jeered (Bulldog opponents) at the Duluth Arena - so many familiar faces. I always liked watching Mark Pavelich play at UMD.
Man, those were the days, watching WCHA hockey in Duluth in the 70s. The '80 Olympic game was like watching a roster of players who we had either cheered (UMD's Pavelich and Harrington) or jeered (Bulldog opponents) at the Duluth Arena - so many familiar faces. I always liked watching Mark Pavelich play at UMD.
bluffrinkrat
New member
Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
Yes, indeed they were. My now ex brother-in-law had season tickets to the Bulldogs back then and when his wife didn't want to go to the games I would go with him. Unfortunately, the game that I remember the most was the 1981 championship in Duluth between the Gophers and the Badgers. It did not go well.
I went to more high school games than college back then in both Eveleth and Virginia. Sadly, again, the game I remember the most was the 1982 game at the Eveleth Hippodrome when Hibbing seniors Pat Micheletti and future UMD coach Scott Sandelin put a dagger in the hearts of the local fans that prevented the Golden Bears from finally returning to the State Tournament. Michelletti scored the winning goal in overtime, if I remember correctly. Too bad the goalie couldn't use "The Big Stick" that was just outside the arena. It was very somber the next day in the town breakfast nook that the Eveleth hockey faithful frequented.
Yes, indeed they were. My now ex brother-in-law had season tickets to the Bulldogs back then and when his wife didn't want to go to the games I would go with him. Unfortunately, the game that I remember the most was the 1981 championship in Duluth between the Gophers and the Badgers. It did not go well.
I went to more high school games than college back then in both Eveleth and Virginia. Sadly, again, the game I remember the most was the 1982 game at the Eveleth Hippodrome when Hibbing seniors Pat Micheletti and future UMD coach Scott Sandelin put a dagger in the hearts of the local fans that prevented the Golden Bears from finally returning to the State Tournament. Michelletti scored the winning goal in overtime, if I remember correctly. Too bad the goalie couldn't use "The Big Stick" that was just outside the arena. It was very somber the next day in the town breakfast nook that the Eveleth hockey faithful frequented.
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Re: UMD 2017 Season Thread
Which other schools permit this, and will it start a trend for college hockey?
BEER AND WINE TO NOW BE SOLD AT BULLDOG HOME HOCKEY GAMES
https://umdbulldogs.com/news/2018/7...now-be-sold-at-bulldog-home-hockey-games.aspx
Which other schools permit this, and will it start a trend for college hockey?
BEER AND WINE TO NOW BE SOLD AT BULLDOG HOME HOCKEY GAMES
https://umdbulldogs.com/news/2018/7...now-be-sold-at-bulldog-home-hockey-games.aspx