Doug Woog Era About to Begin?

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stocker08 said:
Need to even pump the brakes there. We are led to believe that Johnson's reputation locally and within the AAU ranks might help keep some kids here....and that was a reason for his hiring. But let's see how that works out in the next couple of recruiting cycles. Let's see how much better he does with in-state kids....and whether or not he can land one of those top 25/50 kids that has recently gone elsewhere.
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Huh? Brakes have been pumped. I’ve been more critical of this hire than anyone on GH. It was a hypothetical that I answered. Like “could 500 penguins kill a lion”.
 


MennoSota said:
The whole premised is based upon the idea that kids out of high school actually want to stay near home
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I didn't play basketball and I wanted to get away from home for college. I also would rather be in a college town for that experience but there are lots of reasons to want to be in MPLS to.

That said, I could see how kids who grew up going to Gopher games might think it would be cool to play for them. Everyones different.
 





Bob_Loblaw said:
After 5 conference championships, 12 NCAA tournament appearances and 6 Frozen Fours.
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And about 3 inches from a national title in '89 if Skarda doesn't ring the post in OT. That's one those boys will take to their graves. I'm sure Wooger did.
 




Rouser said:
If this is the basketball version of the Woog years I’m done. Coach needs the best players from MN. But not all players. This is where his strength for talent evaluation comes into play.

I would hope that we still bring in the Mason/Murphy’s of the world as well. But we can obviously use more of the solid MN guys.
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The idea the U needs to offer every Minnesota kid or every Minnesotan in the transfer portal is mind boggling.

Johnson said himself they can’t take them all but need to get the right ones. Under Johnson I would assume there might be a few more local recruits but he doesn’t need a roster full of them.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
After 5 conference championships, 12 NCAA tournament appearances and 6 Frozen Fours.
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0 National Titles, which could have been attained with a few key players beyond the state line (or if Skarda hadn't hit the post). 2 straight missed NCAA Tourneys got him bounced.

I didn't cheer any less when a player from N Dakota (G Potulny) got the game winner in 2002 or a kid from Austria (Vanek) was lighting it up in 2003.

Regardless, he deserves more credit than most remember for that 2002 team. Those seniors (Pohl, Leopold et al) were his guys.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
And about 3 inches from a national title in '89 if Skarda doesn't ring the post in OT. That's one those boys will take to their graves. I'm sure Wooger did.
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I’ll take it to my grave too. National Championship in hometown in a packed civic center. Maybe the best hockey game I’ve ever seen other than the heartbreaking result.
 




PMWinSTP said:
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I think that's Tom Mees on the call.

I swear every time I hear a puck hitting the pipe, my brain flashes "Skarda!". It's only been 32 years, I am sure I will stop obsessing over it pretty soon. The Potulny goal helped.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Good grief.
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So you are happy with being a runner up. Then again I'd be happy with the Gopher BB team making it to the tourney as long as they do so consistently and make it to the final four and are crowned Champs before my dad dies..he's 89.
 

Ope3 said:
0 National Titles, which could have been attained with a few key players beyond the state line (or if Skarda hadn't hit the post). 2 straight missed NCAA Tourneys got him bounced.

I didn't cheer any less when a player from N Dakota (G Potulny) got the game winner in 2002 or a kid from Austria (Vanek) was lighting it up in 2003.

Regardless, he deserves more credit than most remember for that 2002 team. Those seniors (Pohl, Leopold et al) were his guys.
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Loved his loyalty. I always thought it was homage to Mariucci. I don't think that was the reason he never got a championship.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Loved the Wooger. RIP. Definitely a guy I'd have grabbed a beer with...the stories he'd tell.
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He was a good guy. Very down to earth. He'd walk around the hills in South St Paul and through the practice football field a block from his house. I think he lived his life in the same house just below the South St Paul High School. He'd stop and watch baseball games being played on the North Field. He is missed.
 

PhiloVance said:
So you are happy with being a runner up. Then again I'd be happy with the Gopher BB team making it to the tourney as long as they do so consistently and make it to the final four and are crowned Champs before my dad dies..he's 89.
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The guy won almost 400 games as Gophs coach. Countless great memories for tens of thousands of gopher hockey fans. Minnesota hockey legend through and through. So yeah, I'm happy and content I got to witness part of the greatness of the Wooger.
 

Ope3 said:
Doug Woog got fired with an All Minnesota roster, just sayin'.
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Woog got fired because he couldn’t coach and got enamored with filling the team with legacy players, not the best players.
 

Guys, the objective is to fill the team with very good players, not Minnesota players! The hope is that Ben has connections that will help him get more of the very good players from Minnesota. A B1G roster does not have room for all of the Minnesota players that can “fill rosters” on a D1, D2, etc team. Only a few of the best can be added each year. As other have repeatedly pointed out, none of the top level college teams have rosters dominated with home state players.
 


I don’t understand the obsession with Minnesota kids. Why does it matter unless you know them personally?

I’m not sure Johnson will have any more “success” with local recruitment. He was after all the previous coach”s primary Minnesota recruiter for five years. What has changed in the last three years? Kids like Michael Hurt and Daniel Oturu wanted to be Gophers and probably would have come almost regardless of the coach. Others will see the grass as greener elsewhere. I don’t think that changes until we start winning consistently. How well can he coach? That is my biggest concern.
 

alchemy2u said:
Woog got fired because he couldn’t coach and got enamored with filling the team with legacy players, not the best players.
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He literally had two bad seasons and then those players you're talking about were a huge part of the reason they won a national championship.

Woog couldn't coach? LOL.
 



PMWinSTP said:
Loved the Wooger. RIP. Definitely a guy I'd have grabbed a beer with...the stories he'd tell.
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Twice I got to talk to him on Gopher hockey road trips (he was there as a broadcaster). Absolutely great guy.
 

Woogs teams at the very least had identity.

Part of that identity was high flying wide open attack hockey. Absolute blast to watch. Pushing sixty shots a game, don't take a leak cause you're going to miss something hockey. Down by three with five minutes left? Not a problem. Rarely did it feel like they were out of a game.

You wanted to be a part of it.

Part of that identity was being the Minnesota All-Star team. The best of the best in Minnesota.
Kids growing up wanting to be part of it. The entire state was involved. If you played hockey, you were involved.

You wanted to be a part of it.

The BB team could use a little more of that. Frankly, they could use a LOT more of that.

There is enough talent here. If Johnson can just figure out how to keep the best players of the state here at the U, he will have great success.

Maybe a coach with the ties to the local scene and the COMMITMENT TO IT is exactly what is needed to resuscitate this program. It's a two way street.

It's not about being ALL Minnesotan, it's about breeding the desire to be part of it.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
He literally had two bad seasons and then those players you're talking about were a huge part of the reason they won a national championship.

Woog couldn't coach? LOL.
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The offense on Woog's later teams depended upon a great stick handler zipping into the zone and others just standing around waiting for passes or rebound shots. It had no flow or cycling. When they lost Bonin it fell apart. It was a coaching clinic when every CC would come to town and you could see them cycle the puck and feed wide open guys in front of the net.

Woog won a lot because of the talent he had, not so much on the coaching. And yes, Woog was a great guy with great stories. A lot of those old hockey guys have great stories.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Seeing all the buzz in the transfer portal got me thinking we could be headed in the Doug Woog direction of MN kids making up the majority of the roster. It would be pretty cool and probably pretty sustainable if we're getting the elite in-state kids. I'm not endorsing it, but it would be cool to see.

In basketball, in balanced recruiting, you're only getting about 3 kids per year. If you have to go to 4-5 kids then out of state kids have to be in the plan.
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I wasn't a fan during Monson's tenure but I did look back on his rosters. Starting with his last year (the partial one) and looking at the years where hometown identification is available, I see the following numbers for players from Minnesota on the roster who received significant amounts of playing time:

2007: 7
2006: 7 (an 8th player from Minnesota played in only 9 games but averaged about 15 minutes a game)
2005: 4
2004: 6
2003: 7
2002: 6

Considering that, on average, only about 10 players at most receive significant playing time in a year, I would say Monson recruited heavily from Minnesota and certainly utilized those players. But Monson is considered a failure by the long time fans here and his overall record was slightly worse than Pitino's. So, those wanting a majority native team might be careful what they wish for.
 

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