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.

Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Flarrow said:
The Clarkson game puts a great cap on the season; this game was the season.The talent is there. The heart is there. Nothing I've seen has convinced me that the the problem is something other than the coaching.
Click to expand...

It's always dangerous to try to assess a team's true talent level based off of its best performance. The temptation is to view it as a potential level that can always be reached and that any deviations from it are errors, coaching deficiencies, or just bad days. The reality is that it doesn't work like that. No team can play at its best all the time and weaker teams tend to have higher variance in their performances (which is a result of the fact that even the worst Division 1 team is still far out on the right hand side of the overall talent distribution). This mistake causes fewer problems for a college team that isn't making roster decisions based upon how close to winning a championship the way that pro teams do but it can still lead to disappointment for fans.

That said, it certainly seems that Union is better than they were last year. It's just that they aren't really as close to Clarkson as one game might make it seem. Shoot for a playoff spot next year.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Eeyore said:
That said, it certainly seems that Union is better than they were last year. It's just that they aren't really as close to Clarkson as one game might make it seem. Shoot for a playoff spot next year.
Click to expand...

I've seen Union twice a season for four years, and they have gotten better every year. I think the records bear that out as well.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

HockeyEast33 said:
Weighing in from the "is the Union coaches job in jeopardy crowd"...

7-12 so far this season and have matched their win total from last year, but continue to pick up their wins only against the bottom teams in each league. They were basically at the same place last season (a little better this year perhaps), but went 0-fer for the rest of the season (1 tie).

They are still a win out of the last playoff spot in the ECAC. The series against RPI in mid January may well be the linchpin of their season. Barcomb's job may very well hang on the next 2 months. If they make the playoffs she almost certainly hangs in. If not and they go 0-fer again the rest of the way, likely gone. In between, anybody's guess.
Click to expand...

Yes - replying to myself - I know. So this post was on 1/4. They got swept by RPI (and we know how that turned out for RPI!). After going 0-fer last season from this point on this year they go 2-12 and miss the playoffs. So, yes, progress in that sense. But they still finish in last place (albeit more successful last place) behind Brown, who are NOT good and only won ANY games because of Aubree Moore. At this rate of improvement, they make the playoffs in 2-4 years. Is that good enough (remember - that will be 9-11 years for Asano to make the playoffs)? I think most schools would not think so, but I guess we'll see if Union falls into that category.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

If you really look closely, brown had fewer WINs than Union, and far less impressive ones. Union beat Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton and Brown while brown only beat RPI, Union and SLU. Who's season was more successful? Union also had a much better PP, a better PK (i think but would have to double check) fewer shots against and more goals for than Brown, all of which are pretty huge strides for the program. They missed 11th place by one point (i guess you can call it the clarkson tie that Moore stole for brown since union holds the tie breaker with more Ws).

How do you justify firing a coach who INHERITED this team and these players and consistently gets them to play with heart despite not seeing many wins? Not only that, they are improving every year. Parents need to stop scrutinizing the coach! A good coach helps, but even Babcock can't win games for the red wings this year.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

I wonder if during the hiring process when she was interviewed if she told the administration she had a 8-10 year plan to get to 10 wins in one season.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Here are Union's wins (ties) throughout its 11-year D-I history, including only D-I programs that were in the four D-I conferences at the time (so dropping all Sacred Heart results, and a few others)

Pre-Claudia era
1(0)
0(1)
1(1) (vs. Robert Morris in its first D-I season)
0(0)

Claudia era
0(2)
0(3)
3(1)
1(3)
3(4)
7(4)
9(1) (current season)

The steady improvement is undeniable. But should Claudia lose her job because the improvement is too slow, compared to the men who've had so much success? You have to consider that this was the least successful D-I program (in any sport!) that she inherited. This was a middling D-III team that jumped too fast to D-I and won almost nothing for four years. That's a huge reputation deficit to overcome. Is it possible another coach could have gotten the program out of the hole sooner? Maybe so. But Claudia did the unenviable job over seven years of turning this program from a complete embarrassment. She deserves to keep her job as long as the trend continues upward.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Looks like Union has done a good job climbing their way out of the cellar, athough continued improvement is no sure thing.

Folks critical of the coach need to ask: did your daughter choose the school for the hockey or for the school? It's a beautiful campus, and highly regarded academically. Is the coach preventing your daughter from getting a great education? Does she have her players' best interest in mind? Or has she failed in things way more important than hockey? (UConn rape scandal comes to mind http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/20/rape-uconn-hockey-lawsuit_n_4483611.html).
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

john0128 said:
How do you justify firing a coach who INHERITED this team and these players and consistently gets them to play with heart despite not seeing many wins? Not only that, they are improving every year. Parents need to stop scrutinizing the coach! A good coach helps, but even Babcock can't win games for the red wings this year.
Click to expand...

INHERITED This Team?. She has been the coach for longer than 4 years, so this is HER team.

Having said that, stated before that this team has improved every season for the last 4 or 5. It was only a few years ago that they won their first EVER game in the ECAC. ME thinks, that as long as this team is improving year over year, no need to call for a coaches head.

Unless you are in the AD at Union, you do not know what their premise and goal is. Most of us are well aware that the main challenge for Union is recruiting and attracting top talent to a school with high academic standards and NO Ivy name attached to it. I'd say Union has done a commendable job with the resources at their disposal.
 
Last edited:
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

I started this discussion the other day not to call for the coach's head but to get an idea of whether there is any hope for this program to climb out of the bottom. Much of what I have been reading here seems to indicate that progress though incremental is real. As an alum, I hope it can continue.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Having watched Union since they came to D-1 against Harvard, I can safely say that they have progressed from embarrassing to competitive. Harvard now has real trouble beating this team and I would venture a guess that other teams are seeing the same thing. It is no longer a slam dunk to bag two points against them and that is a testament to the coaches and the players. You can't single out one without the other. Hockey is the ultimate team game as the Russians found out in the just concluded Olympics.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

rdf8585 said:
Sophomore goalie Madeleine Dahl is no longer on the Dutchwomen.

http://bit.ly/1gh4Nlr

She's the second goalie the program has lost this offseason.
Click to expand...

Pretty surprising from a hockey perspective as Dahl's numbers were pretty good for such little time she played - possibly her choice or another issue. Can't be surprised by Pincott, who didn't play a minute as a Freshman. Be interesting to see if they surface anywhere else.
 
HockeyEast33 said:
Pretty surprising from a hockey perspective as Dahl's numbers were pretty good for such little time she played - possibly her choice or another issue. Can't be surprised by Pincott, who didn't play a minute as a Freshman. Be interesting to see if they surface anywhere else.
Click to expand...

I agree, Dahl looked to be the future of the Dutchwomen's program. According to friends of Dahl's, Dahl had both Knee & Hip surgery and it was a family decision.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

A roundup of who Union is graduating, who isn't returning and who is coming in.

GRADUATING
D Ashley Johnston
D Maddy Norton
F Elsa Bruestle
F Mac Purvis
F Stefanie Thomson

NOT RETURNING
G Maddie Dahl
G Emma Pincott

CONFIRMED INCOMING RECRUITS
D Brandy Streeter
D Caitlyn McLaren
F Hannah Erickson
F Nicole Russell
G Alexx Ridding

That's what I know as of today.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

Just wondering if Union awards just as much "financial aid" scholarship money to the women as they do to their men's team? It the two are on equal footing then you have to conclude that Bennett is one heck of a coach!

"I know how Union runs and being successful, being a financial aid school, it’s worked well,” Bennett said. “We have a lot of alumni that have really supported our school, and through that, I think we thrive through Union College that way.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/254994761.html?page=all&prepage=2&c=y#continue
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hux
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

D2D said:
Just wondering if Union awards just as much "financial aid" scholarship money to the women as they do to their men's team? It the two are on equal footing then you have to conclude that Bennett is one heck of a coach!

"I know how Union runs and being successful, being a financial aid school, it’s worked well,” Bennett said. “We have a lot of alumni that have really supported our school, and through that, I think we thrive through Union College that way.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/254994761.html?page=all&prepage=2&c=y#continue
Click to expand...
Heckuva team that beat the Gophers for the title. Does make me wonder about why it hasn't worked as well on the women's side. Is there a large disparity in support? Seems that things...circumstances being similar if the men can accomplish what they have...well, just sayin'. Maybe they will given time if in fact support is similar.
 
Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2013-2014

brookyone said:
Heckuva team that beat the Gophers for the title. Does make me wonder about why it hasn't worked as well on the women's side. Is there a large disparity in support? Seems that things...circumstances being similar if the men can accomplish what they have...well, just sayin'. Maybe they will given time if in fact support is similar.
Click to expand...

TIME is certainly the key, IF you have those one or two key coaches who can make a difference. With the Union men it started not with Bennett, but with Nate Leaman, who arrived in '03-'04 and build a contender (which included the recruitment of Bennett). Leaman is now working the same magic at Providence. But things didn't happen overnight for Leaman either. It took him 7 years to build the program from a .444 record to .615 contender, but he clearly knew what he was doing and administration stuck with him long enough to make it work. I don't know the coaching staff for the women's team well enough to know whether the same potential exists, but I do see movement in the right direction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top