1500 ESPN: For Gophers, Don Lucia remains the right man to right the ship

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Today there are five WCHA schools in the state and the competition from the likes of North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nebraska-Omaha and even farther-flung programs like Notre Dame and Boston College to poach the state's top talent is more intense than ever.
Have I missed the top recruits that spurned the Gophers for the 5 other in-state WCHA schools? Which players have gone to ND, WI, UNO, ND and BC (beside Oshie and Parise) that resulted in the Gophers free falling in the conference? The point is any good coach that hasn't dropped significantly in their ability would have had the previous 3 teams in the NCAA tournament and vying for a title.
 

goldengophers said:
Today there are five WCHA schools in the state and the competition from the likes of North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nebraska-Omaha and even farther-flung programs like Notre Dame and Boston College to poach the state's top talent is more intense than ever.
Have I missed the top recruits that spurned the Gophers for the 5 other in-state WCHA schools? Which players have gone to ND, WI, UNO, ND and BC (beside Oshie and Parise) that resulted in the Gophers free falling in the conference? The point is any good coach that hasn't dropped significantly in their ability would have had the previous 3 teams in the NCAA tournament and vying for a title.
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Completely agree. I saw our recruiting rankings somewhere on another thread, but we have consistently ranked in the top 5 in all of college hockey the past several years. Lucia is getting the top players, but he isn't getting them to perform. This completely falls on the coach in my opinion. I also think the "too many players are leaving early" argument is bogus. Guys are leaving early because they see they aren't getting any better under Lucia. They realize they're better off turning pro and playing for a coach that can develop them, even if they aren't necessarily ready to play professionally.
 

What a silly article. The thing is full of erroneous assumptions and unsubstantiated logic. To me, and I've been around Gopher hockey before Glen Sonmor's day, Lucia is a wonderful hockey guy who has somehow wandered down a path toward oblivion. That's where M Tech went, and it happened a lot quicker than anyone thought possible. Lucia's team building philosophy, which emphasizes an overabundance of skilled NHL draft picks for forwards, supported by small, puck-handling d-men is a recipe for getting kicked around in the WCHA. Watch the bench during a game. Where is the intensity? Watch the ice. Where is the big hit that turns momentum our way when the other team's goaltender is hotter than a furnace? Where is the nasty attitude? Where the heck are the Paul Holmgren type guys? Hockey has been, and still is, a game for workaholics. You need a couple of slick scorers, but primarily you have to come to the rink with a nasty attitude and a willingness to muck it out in the corners. Itty bitty d-men who would rather stickhandle than cross check to clear out the front of the net get eaten alive and quickly turn into liabilities rather than guys you can count on in a tight spot. Anybody notice the difference between what we've seen from the Gophers the last few years and what was on display this weekend at the X? How long has it been since the boards rattled at Mariucci?
 

maxwellsmart said:
Lucia is a wonderful hockey guy who has somehow wandered down a path toward oblivion. That's where M Tech went, and it happened a lot quicker than anyone thought possible. Lucia's team building philosophy, which emphasizes an overabundance of skilled NHL draft picks for forwards, supported by small, puck-handling d-men is a recipe for getting kicked around in the WCHA. Watch the bench during a game. Where is the intensity? Watch the ice. Where is the big hit that turns momentum our way when the other team's goaltender is hotter than a furnace? Where is the nasty attitude? Where the heck are the Paul Holmgren type guys? Hockey has been, and still is, a game for workaholics. You need a couple of slick scorers, but primarily you have to come to the rink with a nasty attitude and a willingness to muck it out in the corners. Itty bitty d-men who would rather stickhandle than cross check to clear out the front of the net get eaten alive and quickly turn into liabilities rather than guys you can count on in a tight spot. Anybody notice the difference between what we've seen from the Gophers the last few years and what was on display this weekend at the X? How long has it been since the boards rattled at Mariucci?
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+1 (although I don't think we're headed quite as far as Michigan Tech)
 


maxwellsmart said:
What a silly article. The thing is full of erroneous assumptions and unsubstantiated logic. To me, and I've been around Gopher hockey before Glen Sonmor's day, Lucia is a wonderful hockey guy who has somehow wandered down a path toward oblivion. That's where M Tech went, and it happened a lot quicker than anyone thought possible. Lucia's team building philosophy, which emphasizes an overabundance of skilled NHL draft picks for forwards, supported by small, puck-handling d-men is a recipe for getting kicked around in the WCHA. Watch the bench during a game. Where is the intensity? Watch the ice. Where is the big hit that turns momentum our way when the other team's goaltender is hotter than a furnace? Where is the nasty attitude? Where the heck are the Paul Holmgren type guys? Hockey has been, and still is, a game for workaholics. You need a couple of slick scorers, but primarily you have to come to the rink with a nasty attitude and a willingness to muck it out in the corners. Itty bitty d-men who would rather stickhandle than cross check to clear out the front of the net get eaten alive and quickly turn into liabilities rather than guys you can count on in a tight spot. Anybody notice the difference between what we've seen from the Gophers the last few years and what was on display this weekend at the X? How long has it been since the boards rattled at Mariucci?
Click to expand...

+100. I was tickled the day the Gophers got Lucia. But we have never seen the creative play making that made his CC teams so powerful.

It is very obvious when you watch the team that they have a great deal of talent (usually much more than their opponents), but they are constantly being out played.

- They are very weak on skating effort. They typically lose the race to open pucks and usually don't come out of the battle with the puck. The back checking on the forwards is very weak and they don't man-up to cover people in their own zone. That is all effort (just like rebounding in basketball). The team is in desperate need of large dose of Herby's (again, again, again, again,....)
- The players without the puck are lazy about making sure they have open passing lanes.
- They don't follow through with their checks
- and player disappear after their sophomore year, the effort drops and they don't develop. Just look at how many freshmen are counted on each year and how they lose ice time to the next crop of freshman each year. I know they have lost a couple star players, but look back and see how well those star players performed in the world jr's as compared to how they played with the Gophers.

All those little things point to coaching as the problem. It is easy to say players at that level should know what to do, but the coach is there to "remind" them and work on their weakness.

Lucia really needs to replace his assistant coaches. Hill has never been any good and Potulny may be some day, but this is not the level where you learn how to be a coach. Lucia has to stop hiring his buddies and needs to bring in the top Jr coaches he can find and if that doesn't work he needs to move on.

I for one will stop buying my season tickets, they are not fun to watch. I know of a couple others that are considering the same thing.

It is a major problems when you can't even give away your extra tickets!
 

maxwellsmart said:
What a silly article. The thing is full of erroneous assumptions and unsubstantiated logic. To me, and I've been around Gopher hockey before Glen Sonmor's day, Lucia is a wonderful hockey guy who has somehow wandered down a path toward oblivion. That's where M Tech went, and it happened a lot quicker than anyone thought possible. Lucia's team building philosophy, which emphasizes an overabundance of skilled NHL draft picks for forwards, supported by small, puck-handling d-men is a recipe for getting kicked around in the WCHA. Watch the bench during a game. Where is the intensity? Watch the ice. Where is the big hit that turns momentum our way when the other team's goaltender is hotter than a furnace? Where is the nasty attitude? Where the heck are the Paul Holmgren type guys? Hockey has been, and still is, a game for workaholics. You need a couple of slick scorers, but primarily you have to come to the rink with a nasty attitude and a willingness to muck it out in the corners. Itty bitty d-men who would rather stickhandle than cross check to clear out the front of the net get eaten alive and quickly turn into liabilities rather than guys you can count on in a tight spot. Anybody notice the difference between what we've seen from the Gophers the last few years and what was on display this weekend at the X? How long has it been since the boards rattled at Mariucci?
Click to expand...

I agree. Its good to have a few 'stars' who can handle the puck. But what happened to the big defensemen the Don was getting when he was at CC. The Gophers should (and still can) get high level 'grinders', we need more of that. I cringed whenever we played the Sioux and the puck went to Ness side in the corner. We also don't harrass opposing forwards in front of the net. To much finesse.
 

I don't cry easily, when Maturi extended Lucia's contract I wept like a 3 year old girl.
 

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