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Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

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Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

I rarely checked in to BadgerNation for hockey, not to mention anything. I do read Buckyville which imo is very good. I popped over to BadgerNation just to see who is posting what about hockey; no hockey board! They discontinued the hockey forum. They have 2 football forums, one basketball forum and a forum for "Other Badger Sports". Obviously I didn't frequent that board, but now they're off my favorites and on my **** 'em list.

I guess some people don't remember when hockey was the ONLY revenue generating sport.
 
MadCityRich said:
I rarely checked in to BadgerNation for hockey, not to mention anything. I do read Buckyville which imo is very good. I popped over to BadgerNation just to see who is posting what about hockey; no hockey board! They discontinued the hockey forum. They have 2 football forums, one basketball forum and a forum for "Other Badger Sports". Obviously I didn't frequent that board, but now they're off my favorites and on my **** 'em list.

I guess some people don't remember when hockey was the ONLY revenue generating sport.
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I started one over on Badger247. It's not lively day-to-day, but I'll typically post articles when they come out and they usually get a few comments. There's also a few comments made during and after games.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

MadCityRich said:
I had DVR'd the Saturday night game and watched it last night. The crowd sounded great on TV, too.

I didn't catch his name, but the Gopher play by play guy.....ooooof. I think it's Doug McLeod? I did some research and he's a seasoned veteran with hockey, but I don't think he's very good. It's not that he's a Gopher guy, because I liked The Rug and Wooger. I even thought LaPanta, who is now with the Wild, was better. Is he past his prime perhaps, like what happened to PB?

Frank "The Rug" Maccazzo was at the WI Hockey Backers luncheon last Friday (I couldn't make it); I heard he was a hoot.

Wisconsin Hockey: Now back to Wisconsin Hockey.
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Even most Gophers fans have grown tired of Doug. Great enthusiasm but overall he's lost what he had.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
Very sad news. Not just a good coach, but by all accounts a good man.
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He certainly was a good man. Back before Capitol Ice was built in 2000'ish, we (Capitols) had some ice time at the Coliseum many times right after the Badgers practice. Coach Sauer always hung around and talked with us dads & moms. He always had time for us. He had a great sense of humor. He and coach Howard were always giving Bobby Suter some kind of ****.

R.I.P. coach. :(
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

I do have a friend who had beef after his brother's scholarship was yanked (which happens), but that's the only negative I'd ever heard.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

gwhinwi said:
Sad to hear of the passing of coach Jeff Sauer today.

https://twitter.com/ToddMilewski/status/827205284242321408

Rest in peace, coach.
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I grew up watching his UW teams, and the successes of those teams gave me the passion for UW hockey I have today. My interest in hockey growing up has evolved into a family interest that makes hockey one of the binders of our family lives. I owe that to Coach Sauer. Thanks, Coach.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

First time I ever crossed his path was summer of 91 and I was walking into Hartmeyer to play and he was walking out after watching the Badger/NHL summer group that was on before us. I did a double take and he acknowledged me and said , "How are you young man?"

It's really a nothing, but Alvarez would have walked right on by. That stuck with me and every time I met him afterwards, he was always friendly.

Last time I saw him was a few weeks back when my son's game was the Prep Game of the Week on Channel 3000.

I asked that they (Jay and Coach) give a shout out to my parents and sister who were watching in Florida and they were more than happy to and even spent a little time talking about my kid.

Those are just a couple of my experiences.

Of course there's what he did for UW Hockey and maybe even more impressively, what he did for USA Sled Hockey.

Great coach and a great legacy.

RIP Coach. :(
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

Timothy A said:
I grew up watching his UW teams, and the successes of those teams gave me the passion for UW hockey I have today. My interest in hockey growing up has evolved into a family interest that makes hockey one of the binders of our family lives. I owe that to Coach Sauer. Thanks, Coach.
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This sums up my thoughts exactly. Exact same experience with UW Hockey through Coach Sauer.

Here is my Coach Sauer story...When the Kohl Center was opening, they brought the season ticket holders from the Coliseum over to pick out their seats. People were given dates and times based upon seniority...anyways, we went to the NEW Kohl Center and were able to pick out our seats. It was my dad, my uncle and I - as a youngish lad. My dad and my uncle (who has since passed) are both 6' 8" tall. We were all walking in and I was trailing behind....all of a sudden this voice from nowhere says, "Jesus guys, the folks to pick out basketball seats came in last week. You guys are too tall to be hockey fans!". We all spun around and it was Coach Sauer. He came over and shook everyone's hand, gave us a few tips on where he'd pick seats (as if he had too) and then went on his way, thanking us again for coming. Our family still has those same seats. It will feel very different going to them next Saturday when we go to the PSU game.

Thanks for nurturing my love of UW Hockey, Coach - and the great seats. R.I.P.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

BTW, I get that FB drives the almighty athletic department - but the fact that Leonhard becoming the DC for the FB team is the lead story on UWBadgers.com right now stinks.

I know that Paul Chryst is a class guy, and I'm guessing the Leonhard announcement probably came out before the news on Coach Sauer. Had the opposite happened, I'm guessing Coach Chryst waits to make his announcement until tomorrow.

But the website can do whatever it wants - and IMO, it stinks.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

BuB said:
BTW, I get that FB drives the almighty athletic department - but the fact that Leonhard becoming the DC for the FB team is the lead story on UWBadgers.com right now stinks.

I know that Paul Chryst is a class guy, and I'm guessing the Leonhard announcement probably came out before the news on Coach Sauer. Had the opposite happened, I'm guessing Coach Chryst waits to make his announcement until tomorrow.

But the website can do whatever it wants - and IMO, it stinks.
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Rumor has it the UM AD has basically said that FB is going to get every ounce of attention following the signing of Fleck and that BB and hockey will be an afterthought. Luckily the player's area at Mariucci received significant upgrades and the new athlete's village will support several different sports, but if the rumor is true Lucia (and his successor) and Pitino are basically on their own.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

Not trying to troll on your thread but two items:

First and foremost, condolences to the UW community on the loss of former coach Jeff Sauer. Beyond the two NCs he won with Wisconsin, he did what I consider to be heroic work coaching the US National Sled Hockey program, which fully integrated the severely disabled, including more than a few Wounded Warriors, into the competitive hockey world. The man was a giant in the hockey world.

Second point: I really get turned off when I see references to things like the "athlete's village" and other things that tend to isolate varsity athletes in all sports from the rest of the student body. Back in my (ancient) day, we identified with the athletes because we lived with them, ate with them, socialized with them, went to class with them, and knew them as friends. The day-to-day contact had a lot to do with why people like me filled the seats when our teams played. These days, there are too many empty seats at Kohl, Mariucci, and elsewhere. Sure, Netflix, video games, social media, and the like are contributing factors but I also think that effectively cutting the athletes off from the rest of the student body has a helluva lot to do with it.

Athlete's villages: Something else to thank football for.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

Timothy A said:
I grew up watching his UW teams, and the successes of those teams gave me the passion for UW hockey I have today. My interest in hockey growing up has evolved into a family interest that makes hockey one of the binders of our family lives. I owe that to Coach Sauer. Thanks, Coach.
Click to expand...

This sums up my thoughts and feelings almost exactly.

The first sport my Dad bought season tickets too after we moved from Chicago to Brookfield, WI was to UW Hockey. It was 1984 or 1985, I can't recall which. It was a magical time to watch those teams, they had speed, they had finesse and they could also knock you on your ***. Jeff Sauer (with the help of Grant Standbrook) recruited those guys (or at least many of the players we watched in 1985 and 86, Steve Tuttle, Paul Ranheim et al) so he wasn't just coasting on Badger Bob's coattails. Some say he won it all in 1983 with Badger Bob's kids, well in 1990 he did it the old fashioned way, with HIS players and that team was an absolute joy to watch night in and night out. And then when Standbrook left, the talent continued to roll in! That's no accident, they wanted to play for a big time coach at a big time U and Jeff Sauer and Wisconsin were it: Think of the talent on the 1991, 92, 93, 94 teams and I don't want to discount the assistant coaches here but this list proves Jeff had IT for a long time and after many assistants had moved on etc: Barry Richter, Kelly Fairchild, Jim Carey, Andrew Schier, Jason Zent, Brian Rafalski, Dan Plante, Chris Nelson, Sean Hill, Chris Tucker, Blaine Moore, Doug Macdonald, Dennis Snedden, Rob Andringa, Don Granato, Jamie Spencer, Max Williams, Mark and Mike Strobel, Shawn Carter...!!!

Had the refs called the NCAA title game in 1992 properly, Jeff would have had 3 rings like Badger Bob and Herb Brooks (now I don't feel he was quite on that level of Brooks and Johnson cause those two IMO were the best of ALL-TIME), but the refs ****ed up big time (even Tom Mees was incredulous of the calls, but rightly critical of the players who acted like babies afterward), but the players melted down and that led to some major backlash on the recruiting trail and there were younger hungry coaches coming up (lucia, gwozdecky, dahl, etc) and that finally caused UW to lose momentum, otherwise, if UW wins in 1992 the sky is the limit. But that's just dreams and reality dictates...anyway...I'm rambling...Salut Coach Sauer, you will be terribly missed.
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

Slap Shot said:
Rumor has it the UM AD has basically said that FB is going to get every ounce of attention following the signing of Fleck and that BB and hockey will be an afterthought. Luckily the player's area at Mariucci received significant upgrades and the new athlete's village will support several different sports, but if the rumor is true Lucia (and his successor) and Pitino are basically on their own.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Slap Shot - Minnesota was the last bastion (well now Nodak will be I guess) where Hockey was KING in the NCAA (I mean amongst the big schools, calm down Hockey East and Ivy fans)!!!

I hope the Minnesota alums can apply pressure to keep Hockey at the top of the agenda for this AD. You know from reading our threads, it's not been a picnic over here with Barry, in fact it's been pure **** for hockey fans with Barry as AD until just this past season when either he came to his senses re: the coaching situation or the alums threatened to pull enough $ to get him to stand up and pay attention.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

Slap Shot said:
Rumor has it the UM AD has basically said that FB is going to get every ounce of attention following the signing of Fleck and that BB and hockey will be an afterthought. Luckily the player's area at Mariucci received significant upgrades and the new athlete's village will support several different sports, but if the rumor is true Lucia (and his successor) and Pitino are basically on their own.
Click to expand...

That's a little surprising. The new AD is the Syracuse guy, right? You'd think he'd appreciate basketball and hockey, upstate New York and all.

I was sad to hear of Sauer passing away. Big loss for UW and for hockey in general.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

solovsfett said:
This sums up my thoughts and feelings almost exactly.

The first sport my Dad bought season tickets too after we moved from Chicago to Brookfield, WI was to UW Hockey. It was 1984 or 1985, I can't recall which. It was a magical time to watch those teams, they had speed, they had finesse and they could also knock you on your ***. Jeff Sauer (with the help of Grant Standbrook) recruited those guys (or at least many of the players we watched in 1985 and 86, Steve Tuttle, Paul Ranheim et al) so he wasn't just coasting on Badger Bob's coattails. Some say he won it all in 1983 with Badger Bob's kids, well in 1990 he did it the old fashioned way, with HIS players and that team was an absolute joy to watch night in and night out. And then when Standbrook left, the talent continued to roll in! That's no accident, they wanted to play for a big time coach at a big time U and Jeff Sauer and Wisconsin were it: Think of the talent on the 1991, 92, 93, 94 teams and I don't want to discount the assistant coaches here but this list proves Jeff had IT for a long time and after many assistants had moved on etc: Barry Richter, Kelly Fairchild, Jim Carey, Andrew Schier, Jason Zent, Brian Rafalski, Dan Plante, Chris Nelson, Sean Hill, Chris Tucker, Blaine Moore, Doug Macdonald, Dennis Snedden, Rob Andringa, Don Granato, Jamie Spencer, Max Williams, Mark and Mike Strobel, Shawn Carter...!!!

Had the refs called the NCAA title game in 1992 properly, Jeff would have had 3 rings like Badger Bob and Herb Brooks (now I don't feel he was quite on that level of Brooks and Johnson cause those two IMO were the best of ALL-TIME), but the refs ****ed up big time (even Tom Mees was incredulous of the calls, but rightly critical of the players who acted like babies afterward), but the players melted down and that led to some major backlash on the recruiting trail and there were younger hungry coaches coming up (lucia, gwozdecky, dahl, etc) and that finally caused UW to lose momentum, otherwise, if UW wins in 1992 the sky is the limit. But that's just dreams and reality dictates...anyway...I'm rambling...Salut Coach Sauer, you will be terribly missed.
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Agreed on all accounts.

I was at the women's games at Labahn when the US sled team was in town and I just about literally ran into Coach Sauer, but I'm was too big of a respectful wimp to ever say anything to him. I found out yesterday reading twitter while waiting for my sub @ Cousins, I could barely get to the car before the tears rolled, it was such a shock. It's still a sad day today.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey, Vol II: Rebuild, Refresh, and Renew!

Timothy A said:
Agreed on all accounts.

I was at the women's games at Labahn when the US sled team was in town and I just about literally ran into Coach Sauer, but I'm was too big of a respectful wimp to ever say anything to him. I found out yesterday reading twitter while waiting for my sub @ Cousins, I could barely get to the car before the tears rolled, it was such a shock. It's still a sad day today.
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yes sir, it's funny how these things hit you. Thinking of Coach Sauer now I think about all of the great times at the Dane County Colesium, the banners, the kids, the band on the glass, the team being a powerhouse year in and year out, going to Jingles with my dad for a pre-game meal, listening to Jeff and post-game interviews and listening to PB and Howie on public television recasts of the games... And later I found out just how down to earth and sincere Coach Sauer was as a man. Not by own personal interaction but through my Uncle who had met Jeff a few times via his kids playing hockey. Jeff Sauer apparently always had time and a smile for everyone. That type of man is a rare breed in today's coaching world.
 
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