Lucia vs Brewster

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MNSpaniel

MNSpaniel

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I'm not happy with all the goings on with the football program but I think there are a lot of positives as well. I'm not going to go into all of them because that is not the nature of my thread. I have a hard time understanding how Brewster takes so much more heat than Lucia. I don't frequent the hockey site if there is one but the newspapers give him very little flack in comparison.

When it comes to hockey players Minnesota can be likened to Florida with their football players. A hockey team from Minnesota should be in the hunt for the national championship every year with the talent we have. Brewster has no such stable to choose players. I'm not out to get Lucia because I really don't follow hockey. I just think the state of hockey in much worse right now in comparison than is football given the local talent available. However, for the most part the newspapers seem to be giving him a pass. The papers comment on the state of hockey but they don't attack Lucia like they do Brewster.
 

I'm not saying you have an invalid point at all, but one of the very first thoughts that popped into my head when I read this is a track record of success. Coach Lucia had already become an established head coach before coming to Minnesota and does have two National Championship rings with the Maroon and Gold, something Minnesota hadn't claimed (though coming close several times in the interim) since the 1970s. Rings aren't an excuse for falling into mediocrity, but they certainly lend credibility that a coach understands how to win.
 

Personalities

Point well taken. It seems that it should almost be like a Notre Dame football situation. They are used to winning at one point and now they are getting beat by small universities within the state. I would think our negative press would have a field day with this. What would they be saying if Mankato or Bemidji State beat the U in football. They would be going bonkers. There are definite pluses and minuses with the football program but I think it is more personalities than product
 

Amen parkinglotgopher. You have got to cut a coach some slack if he has won
your program two national championships - he obviously knows what he is doing.
We have lost a lot of talent to early entry into the NHL and we are in a rebuilding mode.
It's still early in the season and I expect the team to get better as the season goes on
as a good coach will be working with the players to come together and gell.

There is no comparison here. Brewster is an unproven 3 year coach trying to prove he knows
what he is doing and Lucia is an experienced veteran with two national championships.
 

What about Pam Borton?
Just kidding....but how does she still have a job?

My problem the past few years with the Gopher hockey program is the development of the players. I'm not seeing very much improvement from year to year with the kids that do stay in the program. Guys like Mike Carmen, David Fischer and Patrick White seem to be the same players as they were as freshmen. Go back a few years and guys like Guyer and Chucko seemed to flatten out after their first years as well. Kangas was great as a freshman and now seems to be giving up much easier goals he use to save.

Also, I do think there are some weird things going on behind the scenes with the coaches themselves. Why did Guentzel leave? Why did the assistant leave this past year with only a year on the job only then to give it to Potulny? John Hill did absolutely nothing when Lucia was sick, and were basically unwatchable.

Just my thoughts.
 


The whole Lucia situation is an interesting one. He's more than proven he can coach. The problem is that for the last two years, the team has floundered badly on the ice. And with the prospect of yet another subpar year looming, Lucia's seat will start getting hot soon enough.

The question is whether or not Maturi will do anything about it. To this point, he has been noticeably silent on what is happening with the men's hockey program. At the rate things are going, it figures to become an issue pretty soon.
 

Lucia is done very soon. Maybe the same time as Brewster.
 

I'm indifferent about Lucia. On one hand he has those 2 National titles, but on the other hand, those were 6 years ago and they haven't been close since. What have you done for me lately? He should be bringing in the best talent but he suffers from losing some of those players early to the NHL. Regardless, they should be a Frozen Four team every year simply because the NCAA Tournament is nothing more than a glorified WCHA playoff with a few teams from out east sprinkled in. I mean, almost every team is either ranked or receiving votes (which the Gophers currently are not).
 

MNSpaniel said:
I'm not happy with all the goings on with the football program but I think there are a lot of positives as well. I'm not going to go into all of them because that is not the nature of my thread. I have a hard time understanding how Brewster takes so much more heat than Lucia. I don't frequent the hockey site if there is one but the newspapers give him very little flack in comparison.

When it comes to hockey players Minnesota can be likened to Florida with their football players. A hockey team from Minnesota should be in the hunt for the national championship every year with the talent we have. Brewster has no such stable to choose players. I'm not out to get Lucia because I really don't follow hockey. I just think the state of hockey in much worse right now in comparison than is football given the local talent available. However, for the most part the newspapers seem to be giving him a pass. The papers comment on the state of hockey but they don't attack Lucia like they do Brewster.
Click to expand...


There is one. Gopherpucklive.com

They are giving him a ton of heat over there....similar to here, several people calling for his head, several people saying lets wait and see....
 



Comparing a man who has won two national titles to another who can hardly win a conference match is ambiguous at best.
 

magpie said:
Lucia is done very soon. Maybe the same time as Brewster.
Click to expand...

I don't follow hockey so I am not sure of the circumstances but having a down year occurs occasionally. A sequence of down years is a bad thing where you should dominate.
 

thestl said:
Comparing a man who has won two national titles to another who can hardly win a conference match is ambiguous at best.
Click to expand...

You're right.

It's absolutely absurd to compare a coach who has, by far, the best and deepest pool of talent in the nation to draw from in his own backyard to a coach who has to (with a few exceptions) travel thousands of miles to get quality players for his team.

What's even more insane is that many people, with a straight face, honestly hold the latter to a higher standard than the former. Bizarre.
 

Look at it this way. Lucia is in the hot-bed of Hockey and similar to Florida for football. Making the NCAA tourney for Hockey is a must for a program like the Gophers, our history, talent, etc.
Lucia missed this tourney last year because of a bad record, and is on pace to miss again this year. Can you imagine Florida missing a bowl game two years in a row, or Duke, North Carolina, etc missing the NCAA basketball tourney two years in a row? I like Lucia, but some of his criticisism is warranted.
 



I hope this thread is a joke.

Lucia...
2 NCAA Titles
2 WCHA Titles
3 Frozen Fours
3 WCHA Playoff Titles
8 NCAA Tournament appearances

Brewster...
14-23 overall record
6-18 Big Ten record
0-9 in trophy games
zero big ten wins in November
Lied about his overall coaching record
Numerous other embarrassing comments

Don't insult Lucia by comparing him to Tim Brewster.
 

Two rings give you a great defense against ciritics, but it doesn't last forever. Ask Mike Shanahan. The heat is on Lucia, whether you see it or not. The expectations for Gopher hockey are and should be higher then any other sport at the U.

That said, comparing him to Brewster is a joke. He was proven before he came here and he won it all once he arrived. The fact that the program has slipped since doesn't change that. Brewster's never won a damn thing as a head coach, despite what his 'career coaching record' BS may say.
 

Aren't there like 30-35 Division 1 hockey teams? All this talk about 2 "National" titles is a little overblown.
 


I still wonder a bit about Lucia's health. He missed several games last year to a mysterious illness. His doctors eventually thought they had it diagnosed, but then I heard the diagnosis was incorrect and no one was sure. Has anyone heard anything more about this?
 

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