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Wisconsin Hockey 25-26 Hastings Year 3 - Turning the Corner?

Flat out gave that away. Not one O$U goal was earned. 2 sieve-like goals by Pulver (Hauser saves both), and one served up by Osburn that Pulver had no chance on. O$U manned up in the third and we looked like we always do against them. No shots on goal in the third until 3 minutes left, and then just a few more with an extra attacker for 3 minutes.
 
srkbadger said:
Flat out gave that away. Not one O$U goal was earned. 2 sieve-like goals by Pulver (Hauser saves both), and one served up by Osburn he had no chance on. O$U manned up in the third and we looked like we always do against them. No shots on goal in the third until 3 minutes left, and then just a few more with an extra attacker for 3 minutes.
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Pulver is godawful. Why can’t they try Castro?

The way they played tonight they don’t deserve to be in the NCAA’s but they don’t need to worry about that now cause the chances of going at least 3-1 vs Michigan and Ped State are less than 0.
 
Maybe goalie coach change?

Look at what Naurato and Nightingale are doing at UM and MSU. That’s not happening in Madison. Both of those guys are kicking ass and taking names. Wisconsin is not close to them at this point after THREE seasons now with Hastings. And an honest evaluation would say Wisconsin hasnz’t been close to Michigan for 30 years. MSU? Wisconsin hasn’t been close to them overall since Mason took over and Nightengale is better than him. Look at the records against these teams with Hastings and over the past 30 years.

Let’s face it. It’s a different era and Wisconsin hasn’t been competitive in this era but for 2-4 seasons in the last 30 years and that’s a fact. Records don’t lie.
 
I think they won every face off the last 3 plus minutes after they pulled Pulver. I don't think they generated any dangerous opportunities during that time. Sad and frustrating.

Pulver played 3 years in the bchl, had .909, .930 and .924 save percentages. He had 9 shutouts over the last 2 years. We all know the BCHL is not a very defensive-minded league, so on paper he seems like a very solid recruit. Those numbers are actually a lot better than Hauser's. It's a real head scratcher that goalies under Hastings don't perform.
 
Hard to believe it's been 20 years since national championship. 16 years since they made the frozen four and 2 NCAA tournaments made in the last 12 years. Record over those 12 years: 174 - 217 - 34. 42 games under .500! Poverty program apparently. It's a disgrace.
 
Timothy A said:
Whatever he's doing at WI is clearly not working. Obviously a different goalie coach for 1 thing. Other than McKay, how was your goaltending during his time there?
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I could be wrong here, but I'm not willing to say its not working. The program was in a terrible play when Granato left. It has moved in the right direction. There are a number of things that have happened in the 2nd half fall. The scoring depth has disappeared. Finley has disappeared again in the 2nd half of the season, Montgomery hasn't been scoring at the same pace, but Fitzgerald has been showing some signs of waking up. Then there are injuries, mainly to the back end. Losing 3 of your top 4 defenders is going to be an issue. Lastly goaltending. Pulver has really been struggling and Hauser has been up and down, possibly due to his injury. Depth is needed badly and they need to get rid of the injury bug.

All of that being said, there are still issues but I feel the program is headed in the right direction. The first half set some crazy expectations for this team and they are now struggling to keep up to them
 
I am going to question like I have the last two years - 3 seasons, 3 second half swoons.
  1. Does he work them so hard during the week, they have no energy in the second and third period on the weekend?
  2. Is the strength and conditioning guy doing a good job to keep them fresh in the third period and in the second half the season?
Are they so exhausted from the overwork and / or poor strength / conditioning, the second half the season they don't have energy to compete with the other teams?
 
Whatever Naurato and Nightingale are doing works. What we see in Madison isn’t working,…at least not long-term. Then there’s Jackson at Nodak (preceded by Barry and Hakstol) and Denver’s coaches over the past 25-30 years.

I’m done with UW Men’s hockey until they prove themselves worthy of taking time to watch.
 
solovsfett said:
Why does that matter? None of the schools spend that much on hockey no matter how much they have saved up. The point is Wisconsin can and should comepete with them in hockey funding AND results. No excuses.
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If you can’t figure out why that matters in this day and age, I can’t help you.
 
We certainly know Ped State had $700k to give to McKenna, so they likely had 6 figures total. If we had a quarter or half that to give to recruits that would help. I am sure they got close to zero. BB gets a little and the vast majority goes to football. Gard has figured it out because they have found talent in the portal without spending tons of money. Knott is a great recruiter and has an eye for talent and finding gems in the portal is key and getting the talent from the CHL. It can be done.
 
WiscTJK said:
We certainly know Ped State had $700k to give to McKenna, so they likely had 6 figures total. If we had a quarter or half that to give to recruits that would help. Knott is a great recruiter and has an eye for talent and finding gems in the portal is key and getting the talent from the CHL. It can be done.
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McIntosh does not care about men's hockey at all financially. All he cares about is financing his beloved football team's comeback. His legacy depends on it. What I would hope is that some hockey alums can put together some sort of funds to pay some talent. If McIntosh isn't going to do it, then Hastings has to do it himself. The football team got so far behind the nuclear arms race of money, and the hockey team is now in the same boat.

But none of this is going to matter if he can't get the goaltending right. Like I said previously on on the site, Pulver probably has more talent than Hauser. Hauser has played some very good games, Pulver not so much. Those guys should be a pretty darn good one-two punch on paper. Maybe Murdock's the problem. Idk. Hastings portal goalies have been meh.
 
Timothy A said:
Like I said previously on on the site, Pulver probably has more talent than Hauser. Hauser has played some very good games, Pulver not so much. Those guys should be a pretty darn good one-two punch on paper. Maybe Murdock's the problem. Idk. Hastings portal goalies have been meh.
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I will politely disagree about Pulver having more talent than Hauser. Yes he's a little taller, but I believe he was on very good teams in the BCHL, while Hauser's WHL teams weren't quite as good, which led to worse stats. Last year Hauser posted 1.91/.926 in 25g after being traded to a contender, and he was regarded as one of the best WHL goalies. All this is to say I think Hauser can still be a good goalie for UW in the future (hopefully current injury thing is minor). I'm also not completely out on Pulver but yeah he has looked not great so far.

Otherwise I'm mixed on how things have gone this season and how they look for the future. One the one hand there are a lot of very valid concerns that need to be addressed and fixed. Funding in some way shape or form should be one of them.
On the other hand, I feel like it's hard to be too too down when you look at how the freshmen have played and how many guys have taken big steps forward this year.
As far as recruiting goes I like most of them, but am curious why/if they hit the CHL more for players.
 
Timothy A said:
Whatever he's doing at WI is clearly not working. Obviously a different goalie coach for 1 thing. Other than McKay, how was your goaltending during his time there?
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It was never an issue. Before McKay was mostly Cole Huggins, and before him Stephon Williams. Both were over 90% pretty routinely. They weren't 93, 94% like McKay was, but solid.
 
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