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Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

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Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

JDUBBS1280 said:
Wow, the Gophers have been criticized for years for doing this (bolded above) with some star Minnesota high school players, now other programs are doing it. Don't forget, the Gophers are still willing to bring the Kyle Rau, Justin Kloos type of players directly in from high school.
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I don't see reason why Minnesota or anyone else wouldn't bring in Rau immediately. Woog did that often and to great success (yeah, no title but how many games did they win, and they were always in the hunt).

Obviously Butters brought that mentality over to Wisconsin. I'm hoping it works cause it's starting this year really w/Daly, LaBate and Navin
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

solovsfett said:
I don't see reason why Minnesota or anyone else wouldn't bring in Rau immediately. Woog did that often and to great success (yeah, no title but how many games did they win, and they were always in the hunt).

Obviously Butters brought that mentality over to Wisconsin. I'm hoping it works cause it's starting this year really w/Daly, LaBate and Navin
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I have my doubts it will work, but I'm not ready to shove Butters under the bus yet. I am, however, shocked Butters is having this big an impact on Eaves's recruiting philospohy.

I'm not overly worked up about leadership issues, this team is mega young, it's going to take some time for everything to come together.

I do think this terribly unbalanced recruiting class set-up is forcing him to rebuild instead of re-load.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

In terms of bringing players in straight from high school. It's not as cut and dry as many think. Navin wasn't going to come in this year, but Murray bolting forced Eaves hand. LaBate wasn't even offered until after it became clear that Strang wasn't going to pass the clearinghouse. And Daly was brought offered because Hesketh couldn't get into school.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

Chuck Schwartz said:
In terms of bringing players in straight from high school. It's not as cut and dry as many think. Navin wasn't going to come in this year, but Murray bolting forced Eaves hand. LaBate wasn't even offered until after it became clear that Strang wasn't going to pass the clearinghouse. And Daly was brought offered because Hesketh couldn't get into school.
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This.

Bringing in Rau may have been a no brainer but he's the exception not the rule. And just because you bring in a highly touted guy doesn't mean he's going to perform to any insane expectations (see Aaron Ness).
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

MadCityRich said:
With football on the road for a couple of weeks, I hope the Kohl Center has better attendance than the opening weekend. {I think the Brewers had something to do with that, too.(?)} A win tonight will give "the kids" (and me ;)) some confidence going into the NoDak weekend.

Rink Pig -- "**** you, eat ****!"
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No Chance. With UW Football on at 7 pm Saturday and the way the team has started this season dont expect the 3rd deck to fill. Not even close. Attendance has been dropping the past 4 to 5 years. I have been there most games.
 
ScoobyDoo said:
This.

Bringing in Rau may have been a no brainer but he's the exception not the rule. And just because you bring in a highly touted guy doesn't mean he's going to perform to any insane expectations (see Aaron Ness).
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I'm not by any means suggesting it should be the rule. Every player is different. I just grown tired of all the naysayers saying that this was the reason the Gophers were struggling. It wasn't. Yes, guys like Ness could have benefited from some experience in juniors, but I think the rash departures after only a year of play (precipitating the need to bring guys like Ness in early) and poor coaching and on-ice leadership were more to blame.

You can't argue that bringing guys who are ready straight from high school has worked for Minnesota in the past, and guys like Bjugstad and Rau are proving the right players can still transition successfully now. The key is not being forced to bring guys straight in from high school whom the coaching staff thinks may not be ready.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

JDUBBS1280 said:
I'm not by any means suggesting it should be the rule. Every player is different. I just grown tired of all the naysayers saying that this was the reason the Gophers were struggling. It wasn't. Yes, guys like Ness could have benefited from some experience in juniors, but I think the rash departures after only a year of play (precipitating the need to bring guys like Ness in early) and poor coaching and on-ice leadership were more to blame.

You can't argue that bringing guys who are ready straight from high school has worked for Minnesota in the past, and guys like Bjugstad and Rau are proving the right players can still transition successfully now. The key is not being forced to bring guys straight in from high school whom the coaching staff thinks may not be ready.
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Yes, bringing in kids from High School wasn't the issue. The issue was kids like Holl who were scheduled to play a year in the USHL are brought in early to fill in for departures (Sam Lofquist) that almost no one in their right mind could see happening.
 
ScoobyDoo said:
Yes, bringing in kids from High School wasn't the issue. The issue was kids like Holl who were scheduled to play a year in the USHL are brought in early to fill in for departures (Sam Lofquist) that almost no one in their right mind could see happening.
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Agreed. And poor coaching and on-ice leadership IMO. I don't think it's a coincidence that Guentzel comes in, takes over the PP, and now it's clicking. And under Mattson as captain, I've heard numerous players say the team is closer than past years.

Anyways.... Enough Gopher talk in the Badger thread. Sorry to lead the discussion astray.
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

wjefwhite said:
No Chance. With UW Football on at 7 pm Saturday and the way the team has started this season dont expect the 3rd deck to fill. Not even close. Attendance has been dropping the past 4 to 5 years. I have been there most games.
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Good point. At the time I posted, I totally forgot about the night game. Saturday could be a pretty sparse crowd and I'm as guilty as anybody. Let's get as many butts in the seats on Friday.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

JDUBBS1280 said:
Agreed. And poor coaching and on-ice leadership IMO. I don't think it's a coincidence that Guentzel comes in, takes over the PP, and now it's clicking. And under Mattson as captain, I've heard numerous players say the team is closer than past years.

Anyways.... Enough Gopher talk in the Badger thread. Sorry to lead the discussion astray.
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Many threads turn into Gopher talk, so it's all good... ;)
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

Chuck Schwartz said:
In terms of bringing players in straight from high school. It's not as cut and dry as many think. Navin wasn't going to come in this year, but Murray bolting forced Eaves hand. LaBate wasn't even offered until after it became clear that Strang wasn't going to pass the clearinghouse. And Daly was brought offered because Hesketh couldn't get into school.
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That's because Eaves has displayed the forethought and planning of a retarded monkey. He knows that early departures will happen, and yet every time something go wrong it appears that he is scrambling around like a chicken with it's head cut off. At some point you'd like to see the old dog learn a new tick and stop being so **** reactive towards early departures/decommittals/academic difficulties and more proactive in setting things up so that the program can be more proactive in avoiding these situations or having a system where early departures don't seem to have an effect.

You can't avoid a rebuilding process when you have years where you bring in 5 or 6 forwards, particularly if they are back to back years.

WCHA finishes under Eaves:
2010-11: 7th (of 12)
2009-10: 2nd
2008-09: 3rd
2007-08: 6th
2006-07: T-6th (7th seed in playoffs)
2005-06: T-2nd (3rd seed in playoffs)
2004-05: T-3th (4rd seed in playoffs)
2003-04: 3rd
2002-03: 8th

The cycle is 2 up years and 2 down years. This means that this team should be a top 3 team next year in the final season of the WCHA and a top team for the first season of the BTHC.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

Almington said:
That's because Eaves has displayed the forethought and planning of a retarded monkey. He knows that early departures will happen, and yet every time something go wrong it appears that he is scrambling around like a chicken with it's head cut off. At some point you'd like to see the old dog learn a new tick and stop being so **** reactive towards early departures/decommittals/academic difficulties and more proactive in setting things up so that the program can be more proactive in avoiding these situations or having a system where early departures don't seem to have an effect.

You can't avoid a rebuilding process when you have years where you bring in 5 or 6 forwards, particularly if they are back to back years.

WCHA finishes under Eaves:
2010-11: 7th (of 12)
2009-10: 2nd
2008-09: 3rd
2007-08: 6th
2006-07: T-6th (7th seed in playoffs)
2005-06: T-2nd (3rd seed in playoffs)
2004-05: T-3th (4rd seed in playoffs)
2003-04: 3rd
2002-03: 8th

The cycle is 2 up years and 2 down years. This means that this team should be a top 3 team next year in the final season of the WCHA and a top team for the first season of the BTHC.
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So what is Eaves: a retarded monkey, a chicken (with his head cut off), or an old dog? :p :D
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

Chuck Schwartz said:
In terms of bringing players in straight from high school. It's not as cut and dry as many think. Navin wasn't going to come in this year, but Murray bolting forced Eaves hand. LaBate wasn't even offered until after it became clear that Strang wasn't going to pass the clearinghouse. And Daly was brought offered because Hesketh couldn't get into school.
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Well, this info adds a lot of clarity recruiting philosophy discussion, meaning his philosophy may still be the same, but he's been forced to fill holes he perhaps didn't plan too well for.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

I have a possibly stupid question.

Does anyone know why hockey gets such a short time to have official practices before the season starts? Basketball just had their Midnight Madness on Friday and their first games aren't until the second week of November. Seems like Wisconsin with all their youth would have benefited from a longer practice period.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XVIII - Belief in a Better Tomorrow

tristarscoop said:
I have a possibly stupid question.

Does anyone know why hockey gets such a short time to have official practices before the season starts? Basketball just had their Midnight Madness on Friday and their first games aren't until the second week of November. Seems like Wisconsin with all their youth would have benefited from a longer practice period.
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I don't know the specific NCAA philosophy that drives the earliest practice start date, but I believe it has to do with the total length of the NCAA hockey season. It is a fair amount longer than basketball or any other NCAA sport. It has to do with the belief that the players should be students first and athletes second and the "mistaken belief" (IMO) that the late official start to practice sessions allows the players some more time to concentrate on being students.
 
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