What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

I'd love to know what the conversation between Eaves and Kunin was like today.

In other news: Congrats to Seamus Malone and Matt Jurusik, B1G 1st and 3rd stars of the week.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

WiscDC said:
Those running the OHLInsiders twitter account seem pretty confident about their original assertion.

https://twitter.com/OHLinsiders/status/661654094617137152

https://twitter.com/OHLinsiders/status/661653678735101953

Of course, that second tweet I linked to ignores the fact that athletes always to prefer to "take it one game at a time." Also, they still use Hotmail.
Click to expand...

A little annoyed at the Denver tweet, seems like the "insider" has a bruised ego and had to get the last word in. The "insider" should do what they say and wait and see, instead of tweeting at Kunin.
 
Timothy A said:
I'm not ready to toss Strand and Bittner under da bus yet. And for what's it's worth, Eaves has a large group of F's playing in the NHL right now, so it isn't like there's no history of UW guys in the NHL who played for Eaves. I just wish we knew the behind closed doors truth why Kunin left, Oplika left and why Boeser left. That's something Jason King has to get to the bottom of. How the fluck is UW going to get any better with high end guys bailing midseason? (not counting Boeser in that group).
Click to expand...

Eaves' forwards in the nhl by and large did not reach their offensive potential at UW. But the nhl covets defensive responsibility and Eaves emphasizes that.
Imo UW cannot retain Strand or Bittner. For better or worse they're tied to Eaves and Alvarez and that's a stain on their resumes. They may do fine elsewhere without the baggage but right now Wisconsin needs to clean friggin house right down to the Zamboni driver. Enough is enough.

I'd love to hear joeyv's or Hybs' opinions on the state of Wisconsin hockey today
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Whoever listens to the hockey hour, post updates on what is said of the Kunin situation.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

They don't care about the program
They don't care about the fans
The Wisconsin Badgers Hockey team
Is in the wrong hands
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

we'll see how this plays out in the next 2-3 weeks. regardless of whether kunin stays or leaves i think we're seeing in real time why this program needs a clean sweep and a reset.

And didn't chuck say there was a recruit not named opilka who wanted to bolt?

anyway, alvarez is probably twiddling his thumbs wondering about paul chryst and what he had for dinner last night while the hockey program has disintegrated and is fading from the collective conscience
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Posick and Eaves only very indirectly addressed Kunin on the Wisconsin Hockey Hour. Eaves saying there's a constant "propaganda war" going on between NCAA and the CHL. And what happened today "was part of that propaganda war."

Whatever that means.
 
srkbadger said:
Regardless of what one thinks about Mike Eaves, it's quite apparent that the current trajectory of the program makes it unsustainable at the D1 level. I went to the Ferris State game, and Kunin and Besse were the highlights in the 2-1 loss. As was stated above, this entire thing needs a reset with a staff that can rebuild it. Who in their right mind would come to Madison and play here at this point? Too many questions to make a commitment to Wisconsin. Besse has to be wondering what he's going to do at this point. If Eaves has any shred of respect for the program grew up in, he would resign. I know he's not a quitter, but this thing is coming apart at the seams, and his continued presence is poison in the well.
Click to expand...

I may just need to quote this everyday until eaves goes.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

solovsfett said:
Eaves' forwards in the nhl by and large did not reach their offensive potential at UW. But the nhl covets defensive responsibility and Eaves emphasizes that.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%, but the guys Eaves has in the NHL can be a great recruiting tool and Eaves can point to those guys and say they learned the skills to be who they are under me.

I believe Kunin is gone, just not yet. All the twitter posts from him and his dad say he'll be in ND this weekend, they don't say he'll be with the team for the rest of the season. That says a lot.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Timothy A said:
I agree 100%, but the guys Eaves has in the NHL can be a great recruiting tool and Eaves can point to those guys and say they learned the skills to be who they are under me.

I believe Kunin is gone, just not yet. All the twitter posts from him and his dad say he'll be in ND this weekend, they don't say he'll be with the team for the rest of the season. That says a lot.
Click to expand...

It's an odd situation. Certainly Eaves has talked to Kunin and if Eaves knew Kunin was bolting I'd think he'd sit him this weekend. Not even as punishment but rather you just need the guys who are going to play to play. So if Kunin plays, he's either not going or has told Eaves he's not going, while perhaps knowing that he is going? Which would be kind of messy and really, unnecessary. But who knows these days...

One scenario that does occur to me is that perhaps Sarnia was trying to deal Kunin's rights to London, which would be a much stronger pull for Kunin I'd think as London is pretty loaded and his close friend Matt Tkachuk is there. It would make sense for Sarnia to get something out of their 12th round pick since Kunin hasn't previously indicated a real desire to play for Sarnia. Pure speculation of course.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

My other thought on this Kunin deal is that it all mostly seems to stem from this OHLinsiders twitter account, apparently run by some overzealous guy that spends all his time following hockey. Consider the source. Look around these boards. Look in the mirror.

Honestly, do any one of us seem all that smart or trustworthy?
 
Wisko McBadgerton said:
My other thought on this Kunin deal is that it all mostly seems to stem from this OHLinsiders twitter account, apparently run by some overzealous guy that spends all his time following hockey. Consider the source. Look around these boards. Look in the mirror.

Honestly, do any one of us seem all that smart or trustworthy?
Click to expand...

You can speak for yourself on brains.

Regarding kunin's, they didn't refute the rumor, they only talked about this weekend. Words matter and those were not enough to allay this fan
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Timothy A said:
I agree 100%, but the guys Eaves has in the NHL can be a great recruiting tool and Eaves can point to those guys and say they learned the skills to be who they are under me.

I believe Kunin is gone, just not yet. All the twitter posts from him and his dad say he'll be in ND this weekend, they don't say he'll be with the team for the rest of the season. That says a lot.
Click to expand...

while I do agree some, but how many lately have been early departures, and how many have actually been 3-4 year players? Looking at this link http://collegehockeyinc.com/pages/2015-16-alums-nhl There are 6 Badger Forwards in the NHL. Rene Bourque wasn't an Eaves guy, so the other 5 are his. They all only played 1 or 2 years. Most of these forwards already had the skill they needed to be in the NHL or would have been there had they spent a year or so in the minors.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

My understanding is that Kunin has always been open and upfront with the coaching staff. They will not be blindsided should Kunin decide to leave. Kunin really wants to play at UW, but also has strong considerations with regards to his NHL status that are pushing him towards the OHL. Kunin will likely be a 1st round pick in the next draft regardless if he stays at UW or signs with the OHL and with the capped entry level contracts his exact draft spot is mostly irrelevant. So the decision will likely come down to which path is best for his "development" which is a totally subjective determination.

The wildcard is if Sarnia trades his rights to one of the OHL teams who are more aggressive in signing and attractive to NCAA players. London would be my biggest concern, they have Matthew Tkachuk, who is a former teammate of his from the St. Louis Jr. Blues. That London team this season is absolutely loaded and primed for a run to the Memorial Cup. If they acquire his rights, I don't think that's good news for the Badgers. A cynical person might wonder if another OHL team leaked the rumor to try and sour the relationship between Kunin and Sarnia to try and encourage a trade or to try and put a rift between Kunin and the UW staff to get him to sign but only if they were VERY cynical.

Kunin is a great player who the Badgers are fortunate to have, but at this point it seems sounds like this is a week-to-week issue and the best thing that can happen is for UW to rack up some wins (because winning is more fun than losing) while Kunin racks up some points (that makes the development argument less convincing).

One final thing, you can't blame this on Eaves and his results, this is far more an issue with the way that the NCAA and MJ leagues are structured with MJ holding a significant advantage in terms of the NCAA not having a way to prevent the poaching of players than a specific issue to UW. BC with all their success over the last few years just lost a player to MJ.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Red_Rob said:
while I do agree some, but how many lately have been early departures, and how many have actually been 3-4 year players? Looking at this link http://collegehockeyinc.com/pages/2015-16-alums-nhl There are 6 Badger Forwards in the NHL. Rene Bourque wasn't an Eaves guy, so the other 5 are his. They all only played 1 or 2 years. Most of these forwards already had the skill they needed to be in the NHL or would have been there had they spent a year or so in the minors.
Click to expand...

Borque did play 2 years for Eaves. Winchester played one, but I'm sure Eaves counts him too.

There are a lot of examples of 1st and 2nd round picks that presumably had the skills they needed but didn't ever make it to the NHL so I'm not entirely sure you can just say the guys that did, would have made it anyway. Pavelski was a 7th rounder and while he only played two years, he developed a lot and he was 22 when he left. Ryan Suter was just about ready for the NHL at 18. It's a bit of a mixed bag.

Mike Mersch will probably be held up as the shining example here before long, as I will be shocked if he isn't called up this year. And the way this season has started, he's going to be contrasted with Kerdiles (who has 1g 0a -2 in 7gp so far and is slipping down the depth chart) if he doesn't get going, as another reason to stay in school.
I never really thought Tyler Barnes had NHL talent but he is getting a lot out of what he does have. Tore up the ECHL last season, was player of the week last week and is again a point+ per game player this year. Even if he never makes the show, he could go to Europe right now and make great money. Will Zengerle ever make the show? Probably not, and nobody ever thought he would, but he had a very good AHL season last year. There's at least some other examples they can point to of how guys that came in and worked hard were able to really develop the talents they did have while at UW. Granted, that probably means less to a 5 star recruit who is being told that after a year in the CHL they'll be millionaires.

On another front, can anyone give me some good examples of guys that left college to go to CHL that have then gone on to great success? Especially vs. guys that have stayed in school? I mean how do they actually convince a kid it's in their best interests?
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Almington said:
One final thing, you can't blame this on Eaves and his results, this is far more an issue with the way that the NCAA and MJ leagues are structured with MJ holding a significant advantage in terms of the NCAA not having a way to prevent the poaching of players than a specific issue to UW. BC with all their success over the last few years just lost a player to MJ.
Click to expand...

Let me see if I can sum up what others will say...

You sure can blame this on MM!!! And here are the reasons why:
He doesn't have the talent on the team to push Kunin in practices.
He doesn't have the talent on the team to give Kunin a chance to shine during games.
He doesn't allow a style of play that gives talented young forwards like Kunin a chance to shine on the ice.
He looked at my baby the wrong way and made him cry.
He drinks pumpkin spice lattes.
He uses Internet Explorer and Bing.
He listens to Nickleback.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Wisko McBadgerton said:
On another front, can anyone give me some good examples of guys that left college to go to CHL that have then gone on to great success? Especially vs. guys that have stayed in school? I mean how do they actually convince a kid it's in their best interests?
Click to expand...

Duncan Keith

I think he falls into the category of being successful no matter what path he takes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top