Barr is probably the closest thing to a “proven winner” out there, seeing as he recruited the Union, Providence & UMass natty teams, and turned around Maine as a HC.
These accomplishments make for a very legit candidate.
What do you consider an S tier coach? Who was the last coach hired by someone who would fit that criteria?Exactly, this is gopher mens hockey, we shouldn't be taking flyers on coaches. If there's going to be a coaching change, we need to get a proven winner.
this isn't meant to be antagonistic, but a serious question.
What's your definition of a proven winner (is Barr with 5 years as a HC, career 14 games over .500 with 2 NCAA tournament trips with no wins and 1 conf tourney title; is Raboin with 3 years as a HC, career 9 games over .500 with NCAA tournaments nor CT titles)?
And of the proven winners, who is attainable?
Think the above combination of things is what makes this hard, coupled with those who want an "M" person. Don't think there's a right or wrong, but I do agree hiring someone with no HC experience is a major no-no to me at a place like the U.
Those are reasonable questions. And maybe one of Barr or Raboin are the right guys for the job and would do great things here. But honestly, as the details of your comment kind of allude to, neither really has an amazing pedigree. I'm not very high on any of the options mentioned so far, and maybe it's just really poor timing in college hockey at the moment, but we should be able to get an S tier coach at the U and there is nobody near that level that's been mentioned yet.
Really depends how you determine who's an S tier coach to begin with, if you're using NCAA tourney wins then Carle is the only one I can think of currently coaching. Could maybe put Sandelin in that conversation though that program goes through its ups and downs due to being a smaller program. If you're talking about coaches who consistently put forth a good team then Nightingale gets included and maybe a few others. None of these are realistic options for the Gophers as far as I know so going with a young guy who had some success somewhere and has local ties is fine.
Ferschweiler is an obvious one but he’d never leave his Alma mater right as they’re building a new state of the art facility.
Carle and Ferschweiler weren’t known commodities when they got their jobs.
Nightangale had a good run at the NTDP but no one knew if that was due to the immense talent pool at the program or his coaching prowess. Turned out to be both.
My point is finding “proven winners” can be a harder task than people realize. At a certain point, taking a chance at a promising young coach is just as reasonable of an avenue to find your guy. Raboin seems to be that option. Barr is probably the closest thing to a “proven winner” out there, seeing as he recruited the Union, Providence & UMass natty teams, and turned around Maine as a HC.
Agree with your take.
For those who are curious, Fersch was an internal hire who took over after Murray retired at almost 70 and Fersch had been a former Grand Rapids and Red Wings assistant who was well known and respected in the area in addition to coaching at the U18 team as an assistant. Ditto on Carle who bridged multiple winning teams under Gwoz and Montgomery. Same way Dane Jackson was hired at UND. It is part of why a guy like Ben Gordon will get an interview if/when Bob retires as it's one of the two viable strategies for college coaches. Nightengale had deep Michigan roots both as a player and dev of youth talent. It's part of the bummer of our pipeline of former U guys being pretty bleh. But it also can be held that its pretty damn rare someone sucks coaching here because the program is a premier program and will win purely if you don't totally fuck up in state recruiting. I mean cripes, Herbie has the lowest win % of any coach here in the last 50 years and I think we'd be alright with another coach like him
I feel as if you get an elite recruiter the rest can take care of itself. Bob has never been good here but he had two great recruiting classes in a row and almost won a title. I think Potulny could do that.
I feel as if you get an elite recruiter the rest can take care of itself. Bob has never been good here but he had two great recruiting classes in a row and almost won a title. I think Potulny could do that.
this is again not to be antagonistic, but why? that's actually a little bit of what I'd worry about Potulny. He has legacy here both as a player and an assistant, but its been 10 years and he's been in the A now for a couple. He did recruit MN ok while at NMU while they were still in the WCHA and landed some other guys looking for big roles elsewhere in Schlaine, but he's a long way away from his time where he was with the U20 team and recruiting aggressively in MN. He did recruit a ton in Canada (which makes sense at NMU) so he would have those connections.
It does worry me that NMU seemed to kind of fall apart while he was there and obviously he doesn't have a huge say in the Rangers, but they've also taken a dive and Hartford also sucks. A lot of that is a top down standpoint, but it gives me some pause though I get what you're saying about if one can recruit here, the x's and o's don't matter as much if you can have all the Jimmys and Joes
Here is a name:Tom Ward - Shattuck St Mary’s director of hockey, Shattuck prep coach ALOT of national championships and a gopher hockey alumni.
Shattuck’s prep team playing in those USA Hockey competitions is sorta like the Gophers in the early B1G, it’d be more surprising if they weren’t stacking those banners. Again, it’s not nearly the same as NCAA coaching, might as well rehash the Curt Giles discussion people had
Tom Ward would be a fabulous idea if he was 20 years younger
I think Bob knows what program he’s at and will make the necessary roster moves this offseason. This team NEEDS a facelift on D:
x-x
Whipple-Gruba
Rombach-Grimes
Phillips-McLaughlin
At minimum 2 meaningful additions on D is an absolute NECESSITY.
I think Bob knows what program he’s at and will make the necessary roster moves this offseason. This team NEEDS a facelift on D:
x-x
Whipple-Gruba
Rombach-Grimes
Phillips-McLaughlin
At minimum 2 meaningful additions on D is an absolute NECESSITY.
and I’d argue 2-3 forwards. We have plenty of guys that should be asked nicely to look elsewhere.
@maroon_and_gold you can't make the tournament with that top 6. We should have better players than that.
If Bob decides to call it a career.
#1 Get a GM for the team
#2 Time for a young coach that understands the current player and landscape of college hockey
Do not like how this board is run?
Get your own board!
♃
@maroon_and_gold you can't make the tournament with that top 6. We should have better players than that.
Tgats the whole point of the post. Get 2 top d this offseason is a priority
I get why Potulny wouldn’t be high on some’s HC boards but if we were going the GM route, he’d be pretty high on mine.
If you told Grant all you have to do is sell the program to 16-17 year olds, I think he could do a great job. Personable guy, legend of the program. A good face to have on the frontlines representing the program.
I gotta assume that guy wants to be more directly involved in the sport (ie on the bench somewhere) but yes he'd definitely be good at that.
Would Martin be a good fit at GM? Just finished a lengthy NHL career, would he want to be away from home as much as would be required.
Maybe the younger the better. Any recent grads come to mind? Mason Nevers I always felt would get into coaching after his playing days. Then again any recent grads wouldn’t exactly have a ton of “connections” either.
Would Martin be a good fit at GM? Just finished a lengthy NHL career, would he want to be away from home as much as would be required.
Maybe the younger the better. Any recent grads come to mind? Mason Nevers I always felt would get into coaching after his playing days. Then again any recent grads wouldn’t exactly have a ton of “connections” either.
Martin or potulny would be OUTSTANDING in this role. All about recruiting and selling the pathway. Have amateur and pro connection (the connecting guys to pros is really the key) and both are relatively young. Either would be a slam dunk in that job if they wanted it. A guy like nevers is too young and with too few connections. Even a recent retiree like Erik Johnson would be better. Selling the path is the key provided you can at all assess talent
Martin or potulny would be OUTSTANDING in this role. All about recruiting and selling the pathway. Have amateur and pro connection (the connecting guys to pros is really the key) and both are relatively young. Either would be a slam dunk in that job if they wanted it. A guy like nevers is too young and with too few connections. Even a recent retiree like Erik Johnson would be better. Selling the path is the key provided you can at all assess talent
I agree, with this. Especially your concern about younger or less-experienced former players in a GM role. I get the appeal of someone who feels relatable to high school seniors and traditional recruits. But this is big business. Top-end players care about, as you point out, who can genuinely improve their path to the NHL —cynically, who can maximize their ROI, and that includes NIL deals.
Team building matters just as much. It’s not about collecting talent, but building a roster that fits the head coach’s vision. That means using the portal intentionally, especially for physical maturity, because NHL-caliber players don’t stay long. This shouldn’t be treated as a backup plan or emergency fix for early departures. It needs to be a standing pillar of the recruiting strategy, deliberately targeting the needs the portal is best suited to fill, like size, strength, and experience.
That’s why Miracle still nails it. Herb Brooks said, “I’m not looking for the best players, Craig. I’m looking for the right ones.”
If we’re talking GM route, any reason Bob couldn’t do that? Every year but 2 ago I have been blown away by his recruiting. His in game coaching has always been most people’s gripe with him. Put him in the GM role to continue selling this program to kids. Get a young coach who can push more for chl or transfer portal kids but have his main focus be between 6 and 9 pm most Fridays and Saturdays.
If we’re talking GM route, any reason Bob couldn’t do that? Every year but 2 ago I have been blown away by his recruiting. His in game coaching has always been most people’s gripe with him. Put him in the GM role to continue selling this program to kids. Get a young coach who can push more for chl or transfer portal kids but have his main focus be between 6 and 9 pm most Fridays and Saturdays.
I agree that Bob has been very good at selling the path to the NHL. That’s clearly one of his strengths. My hesitation is that he still seems resistant to fully using NIL, the portal, and the CHL as team-building tools. He treats them more like necessary evils to be managed than assets to be leveraged strategically in building the best possible team.
My guess is he’d just retire when he’s done coaching seeing as he’s at that age. He’d be good at it if he wanted to do it though.
It’s been a long time since the Gophers had to play a Conference playoff series on the road, I think if I remember correctly it was at Mankato State where the won the series, or a terrible weekend at UMD where they lost the series
Aloha!
That North Dakota road series where Wehrs got destroyed in the corner is the last I remember. After that the team was good enough to host home series and then the B1G happened (I don’t recall any road series).
It’s been a long time since the Gophers had to play a Conference playoff series on the road, I think if I remember correctly it was at Mankato State where the won the series, or a terrible weekend at UMD where they lost the series
If you really want to get pedantic about it, they were on the road for the 2021 B1G tournament (all games played at Notre Dame due to the pandemic). I know they won the tournament title by beating both Michigan teams and Wisconsin, but other than the championship game, I'm not sure who the "home" team was for each game (Wisconsin was the 1 seed, so they were the home team for the championship).
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
It’s been a long time since the Gophers had to play a Conference playoff series on the road, I think if I remember correctly it was at Mankato State where the won the series, or a terrible weekend at UMD where they lost the series
It was 2018, Lucia's last year. The season ended with 4 straight losses at Penn State.
They were swept in the final regular season series, where just a single point would have given them home ice, and then went right back out there again the next weekend and were swept again.
Winning or even getting a tie in any one of those games also would have put them in the NCAAs.
They also played a road game at Notre Dame in 2019, but that was the semifinal.
It’s been a long time since the Gophers had to play a Conference playoff series on the road, I think if I remember correctly it was at Mankato State where the won the series, or a terrible weekend at UMD where they lost the series
It was 2018, Lucia's last year. The season ended with 4 straight losses at Penn State.
They were swept in the final regular season series, where just a single point would have given them home ice, and then went right back out there again the next weekend and were swept again.
Winning or even getting a tie in any one of those games also would have put them in the NCAAs.
They also played a road game at Notre Dame in 2019, but that was the semifinal.
Was that the year they missed out because 6 games cut the right way for UMD to advance over Minnesota?
I saw Lucia at Herbie's the weekend before those games were played and wished him good luck in the tournament. He smiled and said rather prophetically, "We're not in yet."
@streakygopher Yes it was. Which is why it's clear that even a tie in one of those 4 games would have been enough to clinch an NCAA spot, and keep eventual champs UMD out of the tournament.
It’s been a long time since the Gophers had to play a Conference playoff series on the road, I think if I remember correctly it was at Mankato State where the won the series, or a terrible weekend at UMD where they lost the series
It was 2018, Lucia's last year. The season ended with 4 straight losses at Penn State.
They were swept in the final regular season series, where just a single point would have given them home ice, and then went right back out there again the next weekend and were swept again.
Winning or even getting a tie in any one of those games also would have put them in the NCAAs.
They also played a road game at Notre Dame in 2019, but that was the semifinal.
Was that the year they missed out because 6 games cut the right way for UMD to advance over Minnesota?
I saw Lucia at Herbie's the weekend before those games were played and wished him good luck in the tournament. He smiled and said rather prophetically, "We're not in yet."
man this interaction would keep me up at night for years afterward
Pretty sure it was a lot more games than six…it was something like 1 in 64 scenarios that had us not making the tournament and at least a dozen games went the wrong way.
Ziemer & Mooney look like future All-Americans.
I love the trajectory of guys like Moe, Moore, Hendrickson & Pritchard.
I like older guys like Clark & Ludtke to supplement.
Stud freshmen like Kvasnicka, Cullen, Conboy, Harper coming down the pipeline.
They have their goalie in Luca.
I just can’t find positives with the d core. Gruba, Whipple, Rombach & McLaughlin just seem like “guys” to me. Fine if they’re your third, maybe second pair. But shouldn’t be the guys carrying the mail, so to speak. It’s imperative they go portal/CHL shopping for 2 top pair caliber guys. If they make the proper additions I really do like this group long term.
Talk about brainstorming, might as well bring in Matt with all of the Cullen skaters.
Talk about brainstorming, might as well bring in Matt with all of the Cullen skaters.
might as well bring Cooley and Knies back during the Olympic break, it’s not like the NCAA will push back
Agree 100%...not sure what kind of relationships are in place with the CHL but Minny should be an easy sell for the portal. Also, I would think there's got to be plenty of $ laying around for NIL.If we’re talking GM route, any reason Bob couldn’t do that? Every year but 2 ago I have been blown away by his recruiting. His in game coaching has always been most people’s gripe with him. Put him in the GM role to continue selling this program to kids. Get a young coach who can push more for chl or transfer portal kids but have his main focus be between 6 and 9 pm most Fridays and Saturdays.
I agree that Bob has been very good at selling the path to the NHL. That’s clearly one of his strengths. My hesitation is that he still seems resistant to fully using NIL, the portal, and the CHL as team-building tools. He treats them more like necessary evils to be managed than assets to be leveraged strategically in building the best possible team.
Talk about brainstorming, might as well bring in Matt with all of the Cullen skaters.
might as well bring Cooley and Knies back during the Olympic break, it’s not like the NCAA will push back
Umm no. To coach?
no, to turn our team around and score some goals again
Exactly, this is gopher mens hockey, we shouldn't be taking flyers on coaches. If there's going to be a coaching change, we need to get a proven winner.
this isn't meant to be antagonistic, but a serious question.
What's your definition of a proven winner (is Barr with 5 years as a HC, career 14 games over .500 with 2 NCAA tournament trips with no wins and 1 conf tourney title; is Raboin with 3 years as a HC, career 9 games over .500 with NCAA tournaments nor CT titles)?
And of the proven winners, who is attainable?
Think the above combination of things is what makes this hard, coupled with those who want an "M" person. Don't think there's a right or wrong, but I do agree hiring someone with no HC experience is a major no-no to me at a place like the U.
Sure. IF you look at his overall record. But Barr first season, 21-22, Maine was 5-17-2, 11th in Hockey East. Then 9-11-4 the next season, 6th in Hockey East. 23-24 season 23-12-2, 3rd in Hockey East and made NCAA. And 24-25 24-8-6, 2nd and again made NCAA.
That is a proven record.
Exactly, this is gopher mens hockey, we shouldn't be taking flyers on coaches. If there's going to be a coaching change, we need to get a proven winner.
this isn't meant to be antagonistic, but a serious question.
What's your definition of a proven winner (is Barr with 5 years as a HC, career 14 games over .500 with 2 NCAA tournament trips with no wins and 1 conf tourney title; is Raboin with 3 years as a HC, career 9 games over .500 with NCAA tournaments nor CT titles)?
And of the proven winners, who is attainable?
Think the above combination of things is what makes this hard, coupled with those who want an "M" person. Don't think there's a right or wrong, but I do agree hiring someone with no HC experience is a major no-no to me at a place like the U.
Sure. IF you look at his overall record. But Barr first season, 21-22, Maine was 5-17-2, 11th in Hockey East. Then 9-11-4 the next season, 6th in Hockey East. 23-24 season 23-12-2, 3rd in Hockey East and made NCAA. And 24-25 24-8-6, 2nd and again made NCAA.
That is a proven record.
Then your definition of “proven winner” is pretty small imo and you will be happy with pretty much any coach (5 total years, 2 NCAA tourneys and looking increasingly likely they will miss this year barring a turnaround, and 0 postseason wins).
That’s fine. I just see they must be a “proven winner” thrown around and the number of guys who have actually won something are pretty finite and even smaller if you’re looking at guys we could reasonably go buy. Raboin will also be acceptable by that metric. As would be Blasi at UST. Luke Strand of Mankato too and maybe Noreen from Miami.
Going in to the Saturday of the conference championship games, there were 6 games left to be played, which works out to 64 possible scenarios total. (2x2x2x2x2x2=64) And yes, there was only one of those 64 scenarios where Duluth made it instead of the Gophers.Pretty sure it was a lot more games than six…it was something like 1 in 64 scenarios that had us not making the tournament and at least a dozen games went the wrong way.
EDIT: I just went back and looked. I think it was even worse, because NCHC still had their 3rd place game that year. Meaning there were 7 games, and 192 possible combinations (there could have been a tie in that 3rd place game). But, it was still only 1 possible scenario out of the entire stack that led to MN missing the tourney.
Exactly, this is gopher mens hockey, we shouldn't be taking flyers on coaches. If there's going to be a coaching change, we need to get a proven winner.
this isn't meant to be antagonistic, but a serious question.
What's your definition of a proven winner (is Barr with 5 years as a HC, career 14 games over .500 with 2 NCAA tournament trips with no wins and 1 conf tourney title; is Raboin with 3 years as a HC, career 9 games over .500 with NCAA tournaments nor CT titles)?
And of the proven winners, who is attainable?
Think the above combination of things is what makes this hard, coupled with those who want an "M" person. Don't think there's a right or wrong, but I do agree hiring someone with no HC experience is a major no-no to me at a place like the U.
Sure. IF you look at his overall record. But Barr first season, 21-22, Maine was 5-17-2, 11th in Hockey East. Then 9-11-4 the next season, 6th in Hockey East. 23-24 season 23-12-2, 3rd in Hockey East and made NCAA. And 24-25 24-8-6, 2nd and again made NCAA.
That is a proven record.
Then your definition of “proven winner” is pretty small imo and you will be happy with pretty much any coach (5 total years, 2 NCAA tourneys and looking increasingly likely they will miss this year barring a turnaround, and 0 postseason wins).
That’s fine. I just see they must be a “proven winner” thrown around and the number of guys who have actually won something are pretty finite and even smaller if you’re looking at guys we could reasonably go buy. Raboin will also be acceptable by that metric. As would be Blasi at UST. Luke Strand of Mankato too and maybe Noreen from Miami.
yea I’ve been toying with the idea of Rico Blasi as well, though I didn’t much like his UST squads’ thuggery or their lack of talent in our last two series vs. the Tommies. He seems like kind of a mercenary type so maybe he’d be attainable, and his glory years at Miami are roughly on par with Bob’s SCSU accomplishments.
Yeah no hard pass from me. Barr, Raboin and honestly Potulny before Blasi
Big NO to Blasi. He’s not the personality you want leading the M.
if you are looking at the UST staff, you’d look at Laylin way before Blasi.
Out of the names mentioned, I like Raboin. Young guy, who’s been in the Gophers coaching system. Knows the expectations and pressures. Plus, you can’t complain about his accomplishments at Augustana. Brand new to D1 and Sioux Falls, SD isn’t an ideal location for most hockey players. Plus key thing for me is, relationships with players and recruiting.
tbh I dislike pretty much all the names I mentioned but more was providing an example of additional guys who have been "winners" with a metric of taking a team that and improving their win total.
Hell of them, Blasi has by far the best track record but as many of you allude to, I do not think the fanbase would at all be fired up about that choice. Rohlik would be another name that will get thrown out there who would meet the aforementioned criteria as well
re: Fire Coach M.
Much discussion has and will occur regarding the performance of the current Gopher HC and whether he should be replaced. I will provide my view below, but wanted everyone to have a record context to properly evaluate. In general the current Gopher HC has a very favorable record to historic blue-blood programs during his tenure - Denver being the one exception.
Overall NCAA
2018/19-2024/5 W L T Win % W L Win% NCAA App Frozen Four App NCAA Champ
Minnesota 161 82 21 61% 7 5 58% 5 2
Denver 179 74 17 66% 12 3 80% 5 4 2
North Dakota 155 84 18 60% 2 3 40% 3
Boston College 145 84 20 58% 4 3 57% 3 1
Michigan 144 92 22 56% 6 3 67% 3 3
Boston U 139 84 20 57% 8 4 67% 4 2
UMD 129 108 18 51% 6 2 75% 3 1 1
Michigan State 115 114 19 46% 1 2 33% 2
Wisconsin 110 128 16 43% 2 0% 2
Yes, the current Gopher HC played the end of the NCAA championship game wrong, hasn't figured out how to win face offs or shootouts, and his teams have consistently lost talent and given reduced effort the past three years. However, I believe the vitriol for his head are overstated. His body of work speaks well. Yes, the Gopher program should be in the NCAA every year, in the frozen four 50% of the time, and win a championship every 4 years. However, these are aspirational goals that no program has achieved.
I do believe it is time to fully evaluate, and likely replace, the Gopher HC due to the new college hockey landscape (NIL, transfer portal, etc.) and not because of failure. Please, keep your comments civil knowing there is a human you are speaking about and that human has a very good record.
re: Fire Coach M.
Much discussion has and will occur regarding the performance of the current Gopher HC and whether he should be replaced. I will provide my view below, but wanted everyone to have a record context to properly evaluate. In general the current Gopher HC has a very favorable record to historic blue-blood programs during his tenure - Denver being the one exception.
Overall NCAA
2018/19-2024/5 W L T Win % W L Win% NCAA App Frozen Four App NCAA Champ
Minnesota 161 82 21 61% 7 5 58% 5 2
Denver 179 74 17 66% 12 3 80% 5 4 2
North Dakota 155 84 18 60% 2 3 40% 3
Boston College 145 84 20 58% 4 3 57% 3 1
Michigan 144 92 22 56% 6 3 67% 3 3
Boston U 139 84 20 57% 8 4 67% 4 2
UMD 129 108 18 51% 6 2 75% 3 1 1
Michigan State 115 114 19 46% 1 2 33% 2
Wisconsin 110 128 16 43% 2 0% 2Yes, the current Gopher HC played the end of the NCAA championship game wrong, hasn't figured out how to win face offs or shootouts, and his teams have consistently lost talent and given reduced effort the past three years. However, I believe the vitriol for his head are overstated. His body of work speaks well. Yes, the Gopher program should be in the NCAA every year, in the frozen four 50% of the time, and win a championship every 4 years. However, these are aspirational goals that no program has achieved.
I do believe it is time to fully evaluate, and likely replace, the Gopher HC due to the new college hockey landscape (NIL, transfer portal, etc.) and not because of failure. Please, keep your comments civil knowing there is a human you are speaking about and that human has a very good record.
I do not understand why so many people want Bob fired after this season? And to hire a non Minnesotan head coach, I want another National championship with Minnesota connections
Aloha!
re: Fire Coach M.
Much discussion has and will occur regarding the performance of the current Gopher HC and whether he should be replaced. I will provide my view below, but wanted everyone to have a record context to properly evaluate. In general the current Gopher HC has a very favorable record to historic blue-blood programs during his tenure - Denver being the one exception.
Overall NCAA
2018/19-2024/5 W L T Win % W L Win% NCAA App Frozen Four App NCAA Champ
Minnesota 161 82 21 61% 7 5 58% 5 2
Denver 179 74 17 66% 12 3 80% 5 4 2
North Dakota 155 84 18 60% 2 3 40% 3
Boston College 145 84 20 58% 4 3 57% 3 1
Michigan 144 92 22 56% 6 3 67% 3 3
Boston U 139 84 20 57% 8 4 67% 4 2
UMD 129 108 18 51% 6 2 75% 3 1 1
Michigan State 115 114 19 46% 1 2 33% 2
Wisconsin 110 128 16 43% 2 0% 2Yes, the current Gopher HC played the end of the NCAA championship game wrong, hasn't figured out how to win face offs or shootouts, and his teams have consistently lost talent and given reduced effort the past three years. However, I believe the vitriol for his head are overstated. His body of work speaks well. Yes, the Gopher program should be in the NCAA every year, in the frozen four 50% of the time, and win a championship every 4 years. However, these are aspirational goals that no program has achieved.
I do believe it is time to fully evaluate, and likely replace, the Gopher HC due to the new college hockey landscape (NIL, transfer portal, etc.) and not because of failure. Please, keep your comments civil knowing there is a human you are speaking about and that human has a very good record.
I do not understand why so many people want Bob fired after this season? And to hire a non Minnesotan head coach, I want another National championship with Minnesota connections
because... reasons...
In reality, because we came close and failed and people think that you'll only get the same thing with Bob and he won't change and will only recruit locally. Minus the fact that Cooley wasn't from here, Knies wasn't from here. Ryan Johnson wasn't from here.
Nor are Mooney, Grimes, Harper, LDP, or McArthur.
Or that he won't recruit transfers, despite that Lafontaine, LDP, Ludkte, and Wood all were.
Or that he won't recruit Canadians, despite that Wood, Airey, Close, Lafontaine, and McLaughlin all are
Or that he won't use NIL, despite having no idea how much money he actually has and that there are reports he has
People are frustrated and think going with someone younger with fresh blood will equate to more top tier recruiting success and that they will recruit nationally better. I don't know if I agree when historically we are as good as the state talent is and you supplement with out of state talent that gets you over the top (see 22-23) or adding Vanek to the prior Natty teams, the 11-12 with Haula, etc.
The in-state talent has been a little dry (and a lot that was here was 218 talent who has historically not come here, which is a huge bugaboo of mine that we do not recruit that territory well but we haven't for a long time) and we're seeing the results of not having the supplement come in with some guys leaving earlier than they should've. And rather than pulling that all together, that comes to people just blaming coach and he gets no grace for Frozen Fours or league titles because he fell short, so now he gets booed during intros, particularly because the year is one of huge change already, but this was going to be a "down" year with or without the CHL/transfer portal, it just looks worse right now with the hardest schedule we've played maybe ever (current NPIs 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 14, 21, 34, 36, and 52 are the schedule, with Notre Dame being the worst team) and a ton of new faces in a league that has had 3-4 top ten teams all year.
Unfortunately you can't just make there be more in state talent, but I think some people would be fine with us going aggressive in the CHL. That said, I don't think any of these guys make us "better" because you can't change the instate talent and that is the lifeblood of Gopher hockey.
It will get better again folks. The current players look markedly better than to start the year and will be battle tested. Cullen is rated as a borderline 1st round talent. Harper has set the rookie Dman scoring record in Saginaw with 20 games to spare. Kvasnicka is 7th in the Dub in scoring. Plug a couple extra holes with veteran defensemen and this team is an NCAA team next year without a doubt.
I get it and get people wanting to move on because the drought has been too long and we missed a golden opportunity 2 years ago. This year has felt unacceptable and particularly painful because of that and because of the record, but the guy hasn't lost the locker room, the team has improved this year, and he has landed some pretty solid recruits going forward. It's pretty obvious the hockey community must still think he can coach or Cullen isn't sending his kids here and you're not landing guys with options (either of the 2 NTDPers or Harper).You move on if he says he wants to move on. Put a GM in place if you think he needs help with Canadian networking and pipeline management. Moving to Barr, Raboin, etc., doesn't add experience, NIL, or change what is there in state top recruit to. Team feels eerily similar to Bob's first 2 years where they took awhile to come together, they were just protected by a way larger Sr class and a big ten that sucked.
Ok sorry for ranting. I'll be done haha
All valid points, I think the question is how much longer does he want to coach and what that timeline looks like. I'm not opposed to the idea of him coming back next year but I do think people make some valid points about future recruiting pipelines and establishing a brand with the new potential sources of talent.