Re: Wisconsin Hockey: Vol. XX - Growth Through Experience
UW should be hitting at least 20 total wins every season, the fact that this is Eaves 10th season is irrelevant to that fact and makes your whole point come across as a whiny wannabe gopher fan. Add to that you didn't give an actual solution other than "improve recruiting" and demanded that the turn around be immediate and you are acting like a whiny little child who isn't getting what he wants as opposed to a rational adult who should recognize that all programs go in cycles. Yes, UW's cycles are currently extreme and these down periods are not enjoyable and not a good thing and no one likes losing. To point out the youth of this team isn't making an excuse but identifying the cause to allow for solutions to be found that will prevent this in the future. The recruiting issue has more to do with the distribution of the players among the classes, than any defect in the players themselves. UW should be turning over 4 forwards (3 of them seniors) and 2 Dmen (1 of them a senior) every season. As long as Eaves beings in unbalanced classes and classes with non-elite players at 18 with limited junior experience the cycle of extreme highs and lows will continue.
First, it appears you want the same thing I want, 20-win seasons and playoffs (at least home-ice 4 of every 5 years). Give yourself a chance like Michigan does annually.
the fact Eaves is in year 10 and 20-win seasons consecutively are elusive is not irrelevant. Something needs to change in order to get there, right? I know Eaves is a smart coach, however I think recruiting is not what it should be.
If that seems vague it's because heretofore I've skirted the issue w/recruiting specifically. I'll be honest: I think there are far too many grinder-type kids with not enough high-end capability on this team. Look at the list of people they lost last year that Chuck posted. It was mainly a list of 4th-line type players some of whom were playing on top lines, and there were 4-5+ of those guys and this year's team has similar numbers. so...
1. there are far to many role players on these teams, FAR too many, and that's been the case since 06-07 forward
2. you'd think if you brought in better talent (as some have touted) to replace them a few more wins would follow and since that hasn't happened I question the talent level of the current players.
I'm of the belief that talent wins out of the box. Look, Jason Zent and Andrew Schier's class never won less than 24 games in a single season for their four years on campus. that's what I expect. the inexperience or youthful talent on this team (if they're as talented as people are making them out to be) should win 20-21 games as opposed to 26-28 then, fine, 1-2 seasons of 20-wins whatever. no big deal. but that's not what is happening here.
if you blame unbalanced classes that goes on the coaches. if you cite poor recruiting (as I do now) that goes on the coaches. in the end IMO they need to target and get high-end players and not have a team of 6-8 grinders at forward. Afterall they deliberately chose to recruit less high-caliber guys several years ago and I think the results since then speak for themselves.
and if I sound like a gopher fan, fine. I think we should be holding this team (players and coaches) to the highest of standards all the time.
