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Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

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WiscDC said:
Warning: elaborate metaphor incoming...

This program doesn't need to get rolling. It barely has the raw natural resources. Those need to be refined into usable materials. Those materials need to be used to manufacture parts. Then they need to use those parts to rebuild the program. Then they need to get the thing going.

It wasn't like when the Leafs were bad in Toronto. That was painful, and the demand for tickets went down, but it was still a half-sleeping giant at worst. In the Badgers' case, the entire meaning of "college hockey" changed in just a few years on the UW campus. (...and from what I've been able to tell, off campus too.)

When most hockey fans on campus don't really care about UW hockey (there's no way for me to measure that, but even based on unscientific observations, I say that with confidence), the fact that the current head coach was chosen to coach Team USA, even in this non-NHL situation, does way more to elevate the program in the eyes of the public (not to mention future players).

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First, the NBC guys will definitely mention UW a couple times per broadcast based on past experience. They shoehorn in college hockey references to help give USA Hockey a positive nudge in the consciousnesses of fans who follow the NHL, but see anything beyond that as exotic mysteryland (most of the US). Second, if you narrow down those casual fans to UW fans, they'll also be seeing UW sports things that they subscribe to, and they'll know that, "hey, the Badgers' head coach is coaching the olympic team." Third, to get UW's program to where it could/should be (and where it was, even in the 2000s), they need to get the hardcore hockey fans (who never got introduced to college hockey) and the casual-hockey-but-hardcore-Badgers fans on board. In both cases, it definitely helps to know that yes, UW hockey is very relevant in its sport, and is a big deal.
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I don't know. I just don't think mentioning the fact that Granato is UW's hockey coach during a pool play game vs Germany or Switzerland on MSNBC at 4:30 a.m. will turn into a major theme for NBC during the winter games.

I do think it is a cool thing for UW and it's fans however.

I believe UW is in the right track and will return to national prominence very soon. I don't think that Tony Granato coaching the Olympic team this year will have a whole lot to do with that.
 
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altazo said:
I don't know. I just don't think mentioning the fact that Granato is UW's hockey coach during a pool play game vs Germany or Switzerland on MSNBC at 4:30 a.m. will turn into a major theme for NBC during the winter games.

I do think it is a cool thing for UW and it's fans however.

I believe UW is in the right track and will return to national prominence very soon. I don't think that Tony Granato coaching the Olympic team this year will have a whole lot to do with that.
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It will do a whole lot more than being with the team for the weeks he'll be away would do. That doesn't mean it's the biggest thing, but every bit helps, especially since one of the biggest issues with this program is public perception (not wins/losses stuff, but "what the heck is college hockey?" stuff).

Also, remember that even casual fans do watch plenty of delayed Olympic broadcasts, especially when games are at crazy hours. I never said the UW name drops were going to be a big deal, just that they would happen and that it could nudge hockey fans towards college hockey. More prominent is all the extra stuff coming from UW about Granato's olympic adventure. If they medal, they get to do a thing at a basketball game (as they've done with Olympic and world junior players). Regardless, we're already seeing stuff around this story.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

Fighting Sioux 23 said:
You may, or may not, know this, but the Ralph is a separate entity from the University.
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Now that you mention it, that did come up in the women's forum during the discussion of the women's team being shut down in the most disrespectful and haphazard way possible. At least UW picked up a sue goalie so now she can be reformed.

TG to Olympics......After reading more into and seeing how little he will be gone, my initial reaction was a little harsh.

In the end I'm done gnashing my teeth about how popular UW gets in the mainstream of Madison in the future, if they only get 8000 per game, so be it. I want those 8000 people to see a perennial frozen 4 team and a multi national championship team. Those 8000 people will have a heck of a great time.
 
From a poster on Badger247...

"Don't kill the messenger here if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Kyle Hayton transfer is going to happen. Saw him today and overheard him introducing himself and said he is transferring to university of Wisconsin to play hockey.

He was on a tour of my apartment complex."
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

GBBadger14 said:
From a poster on Badger247...

"Don't kill the messenger here if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Kyle Hayton transfer is going to happen. Saw him today and overheard him introducing himself and said he is transferring to university of Wisconsin to play hockey.

He was on a tour of my apartment complex."
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Well if he was in town looking for apartments it must be very likely he is coming.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

Regarding Hayton, as I quoted months ago I'm not holding my breath until any real news breaks.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

Chuck/Andy was named the Director of Scouting for Sioux City. Pretty cool news about a former poster.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

UWisco said:
Chuck/Andy was named the Director of Scouting for Sioux City. Pretty cool news about a former poster.
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Awesome. Andy Brandt named Assistant H/C @ St. Norberts. A good day to be an "Andy".
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

Andy Brandt was named Associate Head Coach at St Norbert. Congrats to him. Well deserved.

Tim and I posting at the same time......sorry
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

WiscTJK said:
Andy Brandt was named Associate Head Coach at St Norbert. Congrats to him. Well deserved.

Tim and I posting at the same time......sorry
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It's good news, it's ok to double up on it. He could be a future UW head coach some day, it's great news.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

Timothy A said:
It's good news, it's ok to double up on it. He could be a future UW head coach some day, it's great news.
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and he is learning from one of the finest hockey coaches there is, IMO.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

GBBadger14 said:
From a poster on Badger247...

"Don't kill the messenger here if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Kyle Hayton transfer is going to happen. Saw him today and overheard him introducing himself and said he is transferring to university of Wisconsin to play hockey.

He was on a tour of my apartment complex."
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Sadly it is official on our end. Summer grades posted and one of the assistants went on record as saying he was transferring to Wisconsin and that SLU had released him. That means he'll transfer in as a grad student and be eligible to play his last year.

Big gain for you guys and a sad, sad, sad, state of affairs for us. To lose an All American goalie who was on the cusp of breaking every school record (that he didn't already have) is a big blow to our program. Our new coach (Mark Morris) clearly was not Kyle's cup of tea and that makes me worried for our future. At SLU we are the kind of program where everything has to go right for us to be successful. We're tiny.....at the top of frigid upstate NY and although our campus is beautiful, we are not for everyone. Losing a player of Kyle's caliber really hurts our program and reputation. I also think Wisconsin has gained some fans who will be following Kyle and wishing him well.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

jwilli said:
I assume this sentiment won't apply the last weekend in October.
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Surprisingly I wouldn't bet on it. Quite a few of our stalwart fans literally have almost walked away from our program in disgust at the chain of events that has unfolded over the last couple of years.

We will be playing arguably our toughest schedule of the last 20 years or more with a back up, relatively untested goalie, 9 freshman, some with very limited experience, and not a lot of games under their belts and questionable scoring power at best. One of our best defensive classes in decades just graduated and we have two solid returnee's. Several freshman will be required to step in. As for our scoring potential we have a couple of decent forwards one of whom is so injury prone (concussions) he could be forced to step away with the next one. In addition with the head coaching change we are going from a skilled/speed type of team to a lunch pail, bunch of bigger players. Bear in mind our coach came from the AHL LA Kings affiliate (for the most part) so I'm guessing that's his model. Don't want to be a pessimist but with Kyle gone to steal games for us I see us finishing with a sub 500 record and possibly well below that.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again

WiscDC said:
That's called making a word plural, for when there are multiple Badgers. :D
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It depends. On the radio you hear "Wisconsin Badger Hockey, brought to you by..." is the way I like it, it irritates me when they plural that, or if there is a T shirt that plurals Badger. "Four Badgers had a hat trick last night against Rodentsota"....plural there is just fine. :)
 
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