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Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

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Timothy A said:
Coghlin is interesting. In D3, what is the recruiting landscape like? The roster reads like a D1 in that these players are from just about every corner of the hockey earth, including Sweden.
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And they play well too. Saw them again last night. They move well, play creatively ... But they also do some things (lots of cross ice passes in their own zone, an over reliance on stick checks that should be exploited by high end DI talent) that would cause heart attacks aplenty.

There's also the issue that (per the player's parent sitting near me) that Coughlin has been approached multiple times about DI gigs. If that's true, I'd suspect that a Coughlin that wants to coach DI would be doing so already.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

My sources say it's Don Granato's job if he wants it...
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

WiscTJK said:
He coaches u17 correct? Not u18 and they are 21-26 in the ushl. Or am I missing something?
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To draw the threads together, the answer to this is yes, you are correct. Don heads the U-17's, essentially elite 16 year olds playing against the top tier 20 and under teams in the US. Approaching a .500 record in the USHL isn't too shabby IMO. He has coached U-18's in various tournaments as well.

Personally, I think it's either Donny or Mark Johnson. On an emotional level I'd love to have Mark get it even though he wouldn't be my first choice among possibilities. Also, on Mark I'd offer a couple points regarding the most common objections:

I think Assistant of the Year, Dan Koch, could absolutely step in and continue the success of the Women's program without a hitch. He's probably going to be offered HC jobs at some point in the near future anyway.

On recruiting concerns I'd suggest that Badger fan's close connection with Mark over the long haul tends to discount what a huge name he is in and out of the Hockey world. In other words, Mark has always been the same Mark. Outside of that bubble though, Mark's stature in hockey has grown exponentially. I doubt there's a rink in North America you can go into and say the words Mark Johnson and Hockey without everyone there immediately knowing exactly who you are talking about. ( You can probably walk into an Applebee's in Cleveland and get a similar result.) Regular Badger fans are somewhat insulated from the way his stature has grown in the last 15 years in the rest of the world. There isn't anyone in hockey that wouldn't love to meet Mark Johnson and that is a giant recruiting advantage in my mind. Especially given what a tremendous person he is when you do meet him.

And lastly on coaching Men vs. Women. He hadn't coached women before he took over there, and he figured that out just fine. There's no reason to believe that transitioning back to men, with whom he spent all of his previous playing and coaching career is any problem. What he is, is a winner. Always has been. And true winning coaches are winners because they identify and over come the challenges presented in whatever it is they are coaching, whether it be hockey or (to borrow a phrase) tiddlywinks.


Which again isn't to say Mark is my first choice, but I do think these things are legitimate arguments, FWIW.
 
Wisko McBadgerton said:
To draw the threads together, the answer to this is yes, you are correct. Don heads the U-17's, essentially elite 16 year olds playing against the top tier 20 and under teams in the US. Approaching a .500 record in the USHL isn't too shabby IMO. He has coached U-18's in various tournaments as well.

Personally, I think it's either Donny or Mark Johnson. On an emotional level I'd love to have Mark get it even though he wouldn't be my first choice among possibilities. Also, on Mark I'd offer a couple points regarding the most common objections:

I think Assistant of the Year, Dan Koch, could absolutely step in and continue the success of the Women's program without a hitch. He's probably going to be offered HC jobs at some point in the near future anyway.

On recruiting concerns I'd suggest that Badger fan's close connection with Mark over the long haul tends to discount what a huge name he is in and out of the Hockey world. In other words, Mark has always been the same Mark. Outside of that bubble though, Mark's stature in hockey has grown exponentially. I doubt there's a rink in North America you can go into and say the words Mark Johnson and Hockey without everyone there immediately knowing exactly who you are talking about. ( You can probably walk into an Applebee's in Cleveland and get a similar result.) Regular Badger fans are somewhat insulated from the way his stature has grown in the last 15 years in the rest of the world. There isn't anyone in hockey that wouldn't love to meet Mark Johnson and that is a giant recruiting advantage in my mind. Especially given what a tremendous person he is when you do meet him.

And lastly on coaching Men vs. Women. He hadn't coached women before he took over there, and he figured that out just fine. There's no reason to believe that transitioning back to men, with whom he spent all of his previous playing and coaching career is any problem. What he is, is a winner. Always has been. And true winning coaches are winners because they identify and over come the challenges presented in whatever it is they are coaching, whether it be hockey or (to borrow a phrase) tiddlywinks.


Which again isn't to say Mark is my first choice, but I do think these things are legitimate arguments, FWIW.
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Luke Strand will be named badger hockey coach and JB Bittner will be his assistant and they are looking to fill another assistant coach position.

Explains why the they were scouting the Madison capital games this weekend.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

DoorCtyBadger said:
Luke Strand will be named badger hockey coach and JB Bittner will be his assistant and they are looking to fill another assistant coach position.

Explains why the they were scouting the Madison capital games this weekend.
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I hope that is not the case........you have some sources for this correct?
 
DoorCtyBadger said:
Luke Strand will be named badger hockey coach and JB Bittner will be his assistant and they are looking to fill another assistant coach position.

Explains why the they were scouting the Madison capital games this weekend.
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This would be the definition of settling, and it certainly won't win any fans back.
 
GBBadger14 said:
This would be the definition of settling, and it certainly won't win any fans back.
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Exactly. They'd never pull that bs with football and with bball they did it only based on gard's interim run of games. With Strand there's almost nothing, and forget about us fans for a minute, the alumni probably wouldn't be too happy about this.

But it's clear their decision was made prior to this weekend and it's a formality to have a job posting until monday
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

WiscTJK said:
I hope that is not the case........you have some sources for this correct?
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No sources just a wild *** guess. But if the coaches spot is filled which it appears it is and you are only going to be hiring one assistant that obviously means 1 current assistant is going to be retained.

Then why over the weekend was Luke Strand and JB Bittner out scouting the ushl??? Especially the evening after your head coach just got fired???? FYI that were sitting right behind us at the great Dane.
 
DoorCtyBadger said:
No sources just a wild *** guess. But if the coaches spot is filled which it appears it is and you are only going to be hiring one assistant that obviously means 1 current assistant is going to be retained.

Then why over the weekend was Luke Strand and JB Bittner out scouting the ushl??? Especially the evening after your head coach just got fired???? FYI that were sitting right behind us at the great Dane.
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Because until they hear about the New HC, that is still their job. Plus, I'm sure that both would like to remain employed if possible.

Because Strand has a contract for next year, it's going to be up to the new coach to decide on his fate.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

Almington said:
Because until they hear about the New HC, that is still their job. Plus, I'm sure that both would like to remain employed if possible.

Because Strand has a contract for next year, it's going to be up to the new coach to decide on his fate.
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And the fact that they are only looking to hire one assistant coach means one of these 2 assistants will be here next year so it is obvious at least Luke strand will be on the new coaching staff one way or another
 
solovsfett said:
Exactly. They'd never pull that bs with football and with bball they did it only based on gard's interim run of games. With Strand there's almost nothing, and forget about us fans for a minute, the alumni probably wouldn't be too happy about this.

But it's clear their decision was made prior to this weekend and it's a formality to have a job posting until monday
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That's how Paul Chirst ended up as the football HC.

Sometimes the flashy hire isn't the right hire. Because of the NCAA tournament, none of the current HCs will be available.

That leaves Granato, Oz , and Strand as the three most likely options.

It sounds as if things had already been in motion, unofficially of course, before Friday.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

Almington said:
That's how Paul Chirst ended up as the football HC.

Sometimes the flashy hire isn't the right hire. Because of the NCAA tournament, none of the current HCs will be available.

That leaves Granato, Oz , and Strand as the three most likely options.

It sounds as if things had already been in motion, unofficially of course, before Friday.[/QUOTE

I would be willing to bet the new hockey was hired long before these stories broke
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

If it's Strand, I'll take another muli-year hiatus from the board. My buddy who knows him well has told me enough stories that I don't want him as an assistant, let alone the head coach.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

I'm not sure if we're reading to much into the one assistant posting or not. For example if it's Donny and he wants to bring say Tony and Nick Fohr (let's hope) along I don't see the AD saying no. They can always post the job to meet state requirements I'd think.

Or maybe they got Nate Leamon and convinced Steve Miller to return to Wisconsin...

...sadly they haven't.

Luke and J.B are officially retained to facilitate transition at this point. What happens with them absolutely depends on the new HC. In the meantime their job is to continue their job. Plus they are going to absolutely have hockey jobs next year somewhere so there's every reason for them to continue scouting. The surprise would be if they weren't.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!

aktick said:
If it's Strand, I'll take another muli-year hiatus from the board. My buddy who knows him well has told me enough stories that I don't want him as an assistant, let alone the head coach.
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Strand was in charge of defensemen this year... While I do think Linhart made big strides and will be pretty good next year, there wasn't much to write home about there. They have however managed a couple of big commits. A mixed bag of results at best in year one.
 
DoorCtyBadger said:
Luke Strand will be named badger hockey coach and JB Bittner will be his assistant and they are looking to fill another assistant coach position.

Explains why the they were scouting the Madison capital games this weekend.
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Wow. Well, that would make our decision on re-upping Friday and Saturday night tickets an easy one.
 
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