From: Gopher Puck Live
Having missed the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years and the program on a downward slide, University of Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia needed all the ammo he could find to hopefully make a return to the field of 16 come this spring. However, the chances of that happening were dealt a major blow as sophomore Nick Leddy will forgo his final three seasons at the U in favor of signing with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Also, fellow sophomore-to-be forward Josh Birkholz has left the team and will resume his hockey career this fall for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL after violating team rules. The former Blake star allegedly failed multiple drug tests this summer.
Also, fellow sophomore-to-be forward Josh Birkholz has left the team and will resume his hockey career this fall for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL after violating team rules. The former Blake star allegedly failed multiple drug tests this summer.
9 comments:
This is a great cautionary tale...
Honestly, I really do feel for Gopher fans. The WCHA needs Minnesota to be a strong program for a variety of brand image and economic reasons. I think complacency in a number of areas has eroded the UM program's effectivness, and needed change will come...
DU needs to look very hard at Minnesota's slide, because while the Pioneers have not slid to Minnesota's level of decline, the Pioneer program is not where it was five years ago and similar downward erosion could happen here if some things are not corrected.
DU is better in most areas than it was five years ago. The only difference is that now DU must deal with early departures.
The Gophers decline this decade traced to five areas.
1.) Coaching - Lucia has been weakened with that muscular condition for the past two seasons.
2.) Recruiting - Elite US born players from non-traditional areas are now equal or better than their Minnesota born counterparts. Factor in that many of these non-traditional players have traveled the world, lived with billet families and are physically and mentally more mature than the Minnesota high school players.
3.) Over Saturation - Five colleges playing WCHA hockey in one state is going to deplete the dwindling talent pool in Minnesota.
4.) Failure to adapt to the "low scoring / shot blocking / goaltender driven" WCHA style of play.
5.) Early Departures - No school has been devastated by early departures as much as the Gophers.
The DU program may be in good shape league standings-wise, Gold pan-wise, recruit-wise and academic wise. DU is a top 10 fixture now, which is nice.
But the reality is that DU has not
won an NCAA game since 2005, and has fallen to lesser seeded teams in all of the NCAA appearances since winning it all in Columbus. They no longer sellout every game, and the team depth seams to be an issue with increasing frequency.
All I am saying is that DU needs to find some answers to the late season issues if they want to beat back the current symptoms of a program fighting complacency...
Making the NCAAs is very good. but you need to beat the teams seeded lower than you are....
DU is "good gold pan wise" - that is shit! Bitches will be brining that shit some this season!!!
I agree with Puck Swami. I think that a lot of it has to do with mindset. Look at the top programs that are contenders each year and have been for years. BC & BU expect to be in the FF each season. Anything less is considered a failure. DU has done well during the regular season recently but then has fallen apart at the end of the season/playoffs. Ditto Minny. With all of the talent that DU had last season and all of the talent that has been coming in, anything less than a FF appearance should be considered a failure.
"Anything less than a FF appearance should be considered a failure."
Wow, maybe, YOU were partying with Birkholz a bit too much.
"Failure" is a pretty strong word there, bub. A TRUE PIO WOULD NEVER CONSIDER THEM "FAILURES", ASS WIPE. "Disappointed" sure, but to consider that you would view the true efforts of 18-24 year old STUDENT-athletes to be "failures" if they do not meet your on-ice expectations is asinine. Win, lose or draw, I have never considered the Pios to be "failures" at any time, EVER.
Get your priorities straight, become a true Pio, and then appreciate them for who and what they are -- and not your silly, childish expectations of glory year-in and year-out...flippin' idiot.
The only asinine thing that 11:54 said was putting BU in the class of BC. UND and BC are two teams over recent history that have consistently made it far in the tourney.
I could be wrong, but I think all that 11:54 meant was that our main/#1 goal going into each season should be the frozen four. I believe that we have the recruits, talent and coaching to make this a realistic goal.
By not reaching that goal, yes, you failed in obtaining your goal. However, that's not to say that the season or the players were a failure. There's plenty of things a team can accomplish during the season that makes the overall season a success even if you fail to reach your ultimate goal. For example, last year.
I don't expect Frozen Four every year for DU, but I expect the team should beat lower-seeded NCAA teams more often than not. DU has faced three lower seeded teams in it's last 3 NCAA appearances, and lost all 3. The UW loss in 08 was in Madison, so we'll excuse that one. DU should have been better against Miami in 09, and last year's turd against RIT was an embarrassment.
Turd is a nice way to put it...... how about a coach induced team failure of historic proportions. ...that sounds more like it
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