BREAKING: Coyle Hires Brett Larson as New Gophers Coach




1 championship game appearance in the last 11 years, I'd say that's kind of irrelevant. 2 Frozen fours in the last 11 years, I guess that's kind of relevant. But no Natty's, and really only getting close once in the last 11 years makes me say that. For Minnesota to be relevant they have to win it all occasionally, and have a run. Factor in this last season, MN hasn't been a threat to anyone outside of once in over a decade.
Counting this year, BC has been one national title in the last 10 years, guess they are irrelevant. Wisconsin not since 2010 (irrelevant). BU has been to one (also irrelevant).

Teams that have been in more than one title game in that time frame
Denver: 3 (have won them all)
UMD: 3 (2-1)
UMass: 2 (1-1)
QU: 2 (1-1)
Teams that have 1 and are pending for this year: WMU, Mankato, UND

I guess if you want to make it 11 instead of 12, BU gets to be on the list. If you make it 12, MN does too.

FFs over the last 10 years
DU 6
Michigan 4
UMD 4
BU 3
Notre Dame 2
BC 2
MN 2
QU 2
Kato 2
UMass 2
SCSU 1 (woo go Brett)
Providence 1
OSU 1
Harvard 1
UND 1
WMU 1
PSU 1

I agree its been way too long since we've won one, and in that span DU has won 5, UMD 3, BC 3 and Wisco and UND 1 which makes it feel far worse. that said, the team is far from irrelevant. Same as Texas football isn't (hasn't been to a title game since 2009).
 

YAWN.....totally uninspiring hire.

BUT, I'm trying not to hold Larson's lack of wins at SCSU against him. I will say this as an SCSU alumnus.....when I went there it was "the fastest growing university in the upper Midwest" (their words not mine). They had a football team off a conference championship (rarity) and a D1 hockey team with a new arena (it was a big deal). Sports facilities were top notch.

Today? Football program has folded. The university enrollment has rapidly declined, and the city is a shithole and kinda scary. I'm sure the NIL is minimal. I can't imagine any recruit wanting to go there.

Maybe I'm trying to talk myself into something, but I'll let it play out.
 




YAWN.....totally uninspiring hire.

BUT, I'm trying not to hold Larson's lack of wins at SCSU against him. I will say this as an SCSU alumnus.....when I went there it was "the fastest growing university in the upper Midwest" (their words not mine). They had a football team off a conference championship (rarity) and a D1 hockey team with a new arena (it was a big deal). Sports facilities were top notch.

Today? Football program has folded. The university enrollment has rapidly declined, and the city is a shithole and kinda scary. I'm sure the NIL is minimal. I can't imagine any recruit wanting to go there.

Maybe I'm trying to talk myself into something, but I'll let it play out.
yeah right there with you on all accounts (minus being an alum, but family was in the past so spent some time there as well as in town for youth hockey quite a bit).

Trying to take encouragement from there have been numerous coaches who say he is a good coach. we shall see. he has work to do and this team has been cited as coming together as lesser than the sum of its parts this year. Clean it up, play a system, do your job and we'll see what happens.
 

Trying to take encouragement from there have been numerous coaches who say he is a good coach.
What do you expect? You'd get the same kind of quotes if they hired Kurt Giles.
 



Same things plaguing Mpls and now Hennepin County and even further. It's irreversible.
Don't compare Minneapolis with St Cloud in terms of potential attractions for a recruit. All the major sports teams, playing in front of huge crowds, great arena, MOA, etc......

SCSU has.......Lake George??? LOL
 

Don't compare Minneapolis with St Cloud in terms of potential attractions for a recruit. All the major sports teams, playing in front of huge crowds, great arena, MOA, etc......

SCSU has.......Lake George??? LOL
Not what I meant. I called out why St Cloud went down the tubes and it's the Cedar Riverside problem
 

This talk about Minnesota being irrelevant now is absolutely hilarious. One bad season and people turn into idiots. Before this season we were pretty much in the thick of contention for 5 straight years.

It was an underwhelming hire and that’s not necessarily acceptable, but now it’s time to just see how the offseason goes. If they make the right hires at GM and assistants we could be sitting better than it looks right now. He definitely needs to win the fanbase over with the offseason though.
 






I hope he does well and he’s here for a long time which would mean he has done well. I’m just not real optimistic about this hire but gotta give him a chance before one writes him off
 

I hope he does well and he’s here for a long time which would mean he has done well. I’m just not real optimistic about this hire but gotta give him a chance before one writes him off
Considering the built in advantages for hockey at the U, Larson will probably have some success but this hire does not move the needle at all.
 


Now it's teenagers stealing cars and since they're under 18 you don't get any accurate reporting and they get let right out, plus they now encrypt the police radio to hide it more.
That isn't unique to Minneapolis and wasn't non-existent in the 90's either lol.
 


Minneapolis has its problems right now but I promise you it’s not making big enough of an impact to argue about in this situation. Kids still want to go to the U. Coaches still want to coach here (and they wouldn’t live in Minneapolis anyways). You’re talking about something that maybe impacts a recruit or two every 1-2 years.

A big hint that this doesn’t matter: Schneider and Fitzhenry are still favoring to come to the U with the coaching debacle and have been waiting for the new coach to be named.

And side note: the college areas can still be a very fun experience as someone who went there somewhat recently. Security is increasing in the important areas.
 


Larson could end up being a great hire, it's just that it's obviously a bit of a gamble. Sounds like SCSU hockey might be on a path to being a perennial cellar dweller, not much money for the program. Who knows, they may not even be long for the NCHC. The hunch is that Larson will be better than Motzko. I mean Larson has been a winner ever since high school.
 
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I am curious:

1.) What are his relationships in Minnesota Hockey like?
2.) What is his relationship like with the Cullen family?
3.) Will he recruit well in he CHL, internationally and locally. Will

To me this hire is an interesting one. I understood bringing in Bob - he won big at SCSU. This moves seems to be driven by age, recruiting, something else. I don't know enough about the situation, but I am guessing there is more to this story then just hiring a middling coach.
 



That isn't a true statement
A topic for another day and another forum.

So far in this press conference, Larson hasn't said anything interesting or out of the box.

Structure and play gritty is apparently going to be the big difference. lol at least maybe they'll finally hit somebody.
 
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A topic for another day and another forum.

So far in this press conference, Larson hasn't said anything interesting or out of the box.

Structure and play gritty is apparently going to be the big difference. lol at least maybe they'll finally hit somebody.
What did you want him to say? I thought he did fine.
 

A topic for another day and another forum.

So far in this press conference, Larson hasn't said anything interesting or out of the box.

Structure and play gritty is apparently going to be the big difference. lol at least maybe they'll finally hit somebody.
please for the love of god yes. And hopefully this means he's going to be honest with the guys that don't do that they won't be playing.

I do enjoy winning games 6-3 in track meets, but you are then highly reliant on out talenting teams. Add talent to structure and you are perennially Denver under Carle. We'll see if he can actually do that and bear it out or not

And hey, sound like Carle stuck his neck out for Larson, and that style I'd be very on board with
 
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