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Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

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Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

bucky15 said:
Last nights game stings as much as the 2010 title game against BC. UW sports are so close to moving up to the elite level....sooo many heart break loses along the way.
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"So close?" Are you insane? First of all, look at cross country and track and field. Multiple national championships can be found in recent years. Also, if a team is one of the last four in a national tournament, that's elite. Men's basketball was one of the most "elite" teams this year. Heck, even the men's hockey team was "elite" nationally. They lost one game to UND in the tournament, but over the long term, they were one of the best teams in the country. Women's hockey came back to the women's Frozen Four, and they appear to be in pretty good shape for next year. Football won the Big Ten title 3 years in a row (okay, so they had no business being in the Big Ten championship game in that third year, but they dominated that game). Volleyball was in the national title game this year, and while their one senior was an important piece, she's only one player who won't be back on the team next year.

And that's just off the top of my head. It doesn't include teams that have had some recent success, such as men's soccer, but only teams that can be considered elite.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

WiscDC said:
"So close?" Are you insane? First of all, look at cross country and track and field. Multiple national championships can be found in recent years. Also, if a team is one of the last four in a national tournament, that's elite. Men's basketball was one of the most "elite" teams this year. Heck, even the men's hockey team was "elite" nationally. They lost one game to UND in the tournament, but over the long term, they were one of the best teams in the country. Women's hockey came back to the women's Frozen Four, and they appear to be in pretty good shape for next year. Football won the Big Ten title 3 years in a row (okay, so they had no business being in the Big Ten championship game in that third year, but they dominated that game). Volleyball was in the national title game this year, and while their one senior was an important piece, she's only one player who won't be back on the team next year.

And that's just off the top of my head. It doesn't include teams that have had some recent success, such as men's soccer, but only teams that can be considered elite.
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Haha, geez settle down there. A little on edge?
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Gandalf the Red said:
Exactly, the waiting until August to leave actually annoys me. If you are going to leave, just leave. Good luck to all of them. Jedd Soleway is just waiting for these guys to leave so he can score 30 goals next year.
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Gandalf, not sure what kind of rose colored crack pipe your smoking from....but it must be a good one! While Solway is going to be a decent power forward, his ability lays somewhere between LaBate and Navin. I project 7 goals and 18 points.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

burd said:
I think some fans might be surprised how much fun it can with a team that is young and/or stocked with lunchbucket players. It's real easy for the fans to get behind them, and successes are appreciated even more. UND has had a couple of teams like that in recent years, and they have been fun seasons, even though they did not bring home banners.

And you never know what chemistry will develop and which players will take big steps in development.
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Good post and points. Besides LaBate, Soleway and Besse can take big steps forward. Besse has the sniper skills if Eaves just lets him use them. And Soleway was coming on late in the year. Now I'm not smoking out of any rose colored crack pipe - it's before Noon - but I do think these are positives to look for. And if there was ever a time for Schulz to make the jump to elite status and PP QB, this season will be it.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Sorry, but I'm just not seeing it for next year. Even if all of Soleway, Besse, LaBate (and hell....you can even throw Zullnick in there) take GIGANTIC steps forward, your still not that close to Zengerle, Kerdlies, Mersch, Barnes, and McCabe productivity. Next years team will be pretty limitted in firepower. My realistic hope at this point is that a few guys do step up and with what appears to be a lot of rebuilding in the Big 10 (only Minny looks particularly strong....but who knows what they lose to the pros) we can work through some growing pains early and be over .500 by the end to have a strong foundation going into the following season.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

I just don't know about next year with the loss of seniors, early departs, and the skill of the freshmen incoming. Yes, Rodentsota is loaded with frosh this year and they're pretty **** good, but are our incoming freshman of that skill? Also with the early exit this year, I'm worried about declining attendance. It was down again this year until the Badgers went on their run. I'm sure a recruit has to think twice why there are only 7,000 fans in a 15,000 seat arena.

BTW, I'm still too ****ed to follow the FF threads. Who do you want to win it all?
 
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MadCityRich said:
I just don't know about next year with the loss of seniors, early departs, and the skill of the freshmen incoming. Yes, Rodentsota is loaded with frosh this year and they're pretty **** good, but are our incoming freshman of that skill? Also with the early exit this year, I'm worried about declining attendance. It was down again this year until the Badgers went on their run. I'm sure a recruit has to think twice why there are only 7,000 fans in a 15,000 seat arena.

BTW, I'm still too ****ed to follow the FF threads. Who do you want to win it all?
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Attendance won't be down next year if the university advertises like they did at the end of this season. 7,000 never happened. Lowest was 8 something if I remember correctly but yeah that still is unacceptable. The incoming freshman are GOOD. Did anybody think the Minnesota freshman would be this good? Didn't think so.

I want Union to win it all mostly because BC, Minny, and NoDak are there.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

UWisco said:
Attendance won't be down next year if the university advertises like they did at the end of this season. 7,000 never happened. Lowest was 8 something if I remember correctly but yeah that still is unacceptable. The incoming freshman are GOOD. Did anybody think the Minnesota freshman would be this good? Didn't think so.

I want Union to win it all mostly because BC, Minny, and NoDak are there.
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Actually I'm pretty sure mnstateofhockey or MuckOG called it over on HF. We had long arguments the summer prior to this past season about the impact of freshman. I may be mistaken though.
 
IndianaBadger1995 said:
Actually I'm pretty sure mnstateofhockey or MuckOG called it over on HF. We had long arguments the summer prior to this past season about the impact of freshman. I may be mistaken though.
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I did indeed. Don't know a ton about your incoming forward recruits, but your incoming D recruits are going to be immediate impact guys. You've got some high end guys coming in to play back there. I'm calling that too :)
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

UWisco said:
The incoming freshman are GOOD. Did anybody think the Minnesota freshman would be this good? Didn't think so.
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You have to remember that while Minnesota lost a lot last year, they still had guys like Rau, Warning, and Condon and almost the entire defense from last year. You guys will have almost no one from your D this year (you lose 4 of your 6 regular Dmen) and are losing 7 of your 8 top scorers (if LaBate stays). That's quite a bit more than Minnesota had to overcome this year.
 
MadCityRich said:
I just don't know about next year with the loss of seniors, early departs, and the skill of the freshmen incoming. Yes, Rodentsota is loaded with frosh this year and they're pretty **** good, but are our incoming freshman of that skill? Also with the early exit this year, I'm worried about declining attendance. It was down again this year until the Badgers went on their run. I'm sure a recruit has to think twice why there are only 7,000 fans in a 15,000 seat arena.

BTW, I'm still too ****ed to follow the FF threads. Who do you want to win it all?
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As UWisco said, the marketing really picked up in January. As has been the case in the past decade, simply transitioning from fall to winter makes a difference, as does playing in-conference games. The rallying of the fan base made a big difference (and those cheaper 3rd-deck seats).

I've also been browsing college hockey sites less since the Badgers lost, sticking to just Badgers-focused stuff. In order, the teams I'd want to win: Union, BC/UND (tied), Minnesota.
 
William Blake said:
You have to remember that while Minnesota lost a lot last year, they still had guys like Rau, Warning, and Condon and almost the entire defense from last year. You guys will have almost no one from your D this year (you lose 4 of your 6 regular Dmen) and are losing 7 of your 8 top scorers (if LaBate stays). That's quite a bit more than Minnesota had to overcome this year.
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Gopher freshmen have accounted for nearly half of our points this season. Don't underestimate what freshmen who are ready for this level can do right out of the gate. You've got some very capable freshmen coming in next season.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

UWisco said:
Did anybody think the Minnesota freshman would be this good? Didn't think so.
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Actually, yes. They had 4 USHL recruits with close to 30 goals (two of whom were the top scorers in the league while the other two were in the top 30 scorers), the top goal scoring D in USHL, a top power forward from the NTDP, and one of the best HS defenseman in MN last year. If Tommy Vannelli was anything near a decent academic, the class would have been even better. Many of us expected pretty big things because of all that production from a number of guys playing in the best/deepest junior league for incoming college players.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Hammy said:
Actually, yes. They had 4 USHL recruits with close to 30 goals (two of whom were the top scorers in the league while the other two were in the top 30 scorers), the top goal scoring D in USHL, a top power forward from the NTDP, and one of the best HS defenseman in MN last year. If Tommy Vannelli was anything near a decent academic, the class would have been even better. Many of us expected pretty big things because of all that production from a number of guys playing in the best/deepest junior league for incoming college players.
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This is what I have been saying for some time....why is Eaves and company only getting one or max two blue chip prospects a year? Why does it seem that Wisconsin only gets the sloppy seconds on the in-state players? Look at the players from the state and the ones that he let get away....why is it that players from the state no longer want to play at Wisco?

Just a quick look at who we chose from in state and just a couple who had ties to the state and went elsewhere....

We kept:

Davidson: Red Shirt
Paape: 0-1-1
Hartzog: 1-0-1
Little: 2-6-8 Now I feel that Little was a great value for a partial scolly - made a significant contribution
Drake: 3-5-8
Navin: 4-5-9
Meuer: 3-5-8 Like Little, a large contributor for a player who got very little scholarship $$
Dahl: 4-15-19 Contributor in a lot of areas and a big jump in production in his Sr year, but ask your self if Minnesota or BC would have a 2nd line center
who scored 4 goals and 19 points for a season? Have our standards fallen that far?


Just a view of a couple who got away.....

Will Butcher 16 pts
Jordan Schmaltz 23 pts
Max McCormick 35 pts
Ian McCoshian 13 pts
Ross Mauermann 36 pts - Yeah I did not see this happening either...but threw it in anyway.

But my whole point is the head coach of our only in-state D1 hockey program that used to be the dream destination of all of Wisconsin's best players is now losing the competition for its best players. If we can win the war for talent at home how do you expect to challenge for the best players nationally??

I guess we will have to wait 4 more years for another senior laden team to make the NCAA's and underachieve!!
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

You seemed to forget McCabe and his 25pts. Schmaltz was a lost cause before we even got started....once his brother flipped to follow the family legacy to Sue's a girls name, we weren't winning that recruiting battle. Butcher I know we were all over, but he prefered following the Sun Prairie connection of Steve Miller to DU. McCoshian was not for a lack of effort either. Don't remember the particulars on McCormick. In the end, no one gets every guy they want and no one can hang onto even the local guys they want (some kids want to get away from home for school). With hindsight, I would imagine Lucia would not have minded having Barnes on his team this year (he would have been the 7th or 8th leading scorer on their team all four years...and you are comparing different styles offensively for these teams).

I do agree Eaves comes up short on the recruiting trail and takes a lot of sloppy seconds, but I don't care where they come from....Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada, Illinois, California, Europe....we just need a little upgrade in recruiting. You might be able to convince a high end kid like Kerdelies or McCabe to stay if your freshman class weren't Besse, Soleway, & Cavallini. No offense to those guys (I like Besse and think he'll evolve into a very good college player and Soleway has some potential), but they are not elite level blue chip studs (Besse at least is sniffing that caliber). My point is, if you can land a Kerdelies and McCabe caliber player every year, you have a better chance of having them hang around for their 3rd or 4th year if they have a team they know they have a real chance at winning a title or worst case it is not as painful when they leave because you have 4 or 5 guys of that caliber still on the roster.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

oldtyme25 said:
But my whole point is the head coach of our only in-state D1 hockey program that used to be the dream destination of all of Wisconsin's best players is now losing the competition for its best players.
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Was the most prized recruit to ever come out of your state coming over to the good side of the river the start of this? Actually kind of a serious question in terms of when you think this "issue" started.
 
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