Shipley: Gophers coach Bob Motzko signed up for the toughest job in college hockey

[BleedGopher]

per Shipley:

This is the landscape new coach Bob Motzko must navigate at the U while under the most intense scrutiny in college hockey. There are more teams comprising more good players from more places in the world, and not all Minnesota kids grow up hoping to play for the Gophers. UMD won a national title in 2011, St. Cloud State and Bemidji State have been to the Frozen Four, and Minnesota State spent much of the 2015-16 season ranked No. 1 in the country.

Something likely will have to change under Motzko, who will feel pressure to get the state’s NHL prospects despite the fact that they generally don’t help a program, something that plagued Lucia’s recent teams. He will feel pressure to increase attendance, even though Minnesota’s average of 8,726 this season at Mariucci Arena — in a market with all six pro sports leagues — ranked third in the country behind North Dakota and Wisconsin.

It’s a job like no other in college hockey, and Motzko, a Gophers assistant under Lucia before becoming St. Cloud State’s head coach, surely knows what he has signed up for.

“It looks really appealing, it looks great, and I think a lot of coaches would love to coach at the University of Minnesota,” Shafer said. “Whether very many of them would survive is a different story.”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/04/...igned-up-for-the-tough-job-in-college-hockey/

Go Gophers!!

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

per Shipley:

This is the landscape new coach Bob Motzko must navigate at the U while under the most intense scrutiny in college hockey. There are more teams comprising more good players from more places in the world, and not all Minnesota kids grow up hoping to play for the Gophers. UMD won a national title in 2011, St. Cloud State and Bemidji State have been to the Frozen Four, and Minnesota State spent much of the 2015-16 season ranked No. 1 in the country.

Something likely will have to change under Motzko, who will feel pressure to get the state’s NHL prospects despite the fact that they generally don’t help a program, something that plagued Lucia’s recent teams. He will feel pressure to increase attendance, even though Minnesota’s average of 8,726 this season at Mariucci Arena — in a market with all six pro sports leagues — ranked third in the country behind North Dakota and Wisconsin.

It’s a job like no other in college hockey, and Motzko, a Gophers assistant under Lucia before becoming St. Cloud State’s head coach, surely knows what he has signed up for.

“It looks really appealing, it looks great, and I think a lot of coaches would love to coach at the University of Minnesota,” Shafer said. “Whether very many of them would survive is a different story.”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/04/...igned-up-for-the-tough-job-in-college-hockey/

Go Gophers!!

The bold is what he has to ignore. Generally, if a coach wins, nobody cares about the other decisions. So if the coach really thinks one or two years of NHL talent will be less helpful to him winning then a four year player, take the four year player. If Tubby would have won the Big Ten, I don't think anyone would be saying "yeah, the banner is nice and everything, but I think he is too low energy." If Kill would have won the Big Ten, no one would have complained about vanilla offensive play calling. And if Motzco wins a national championship, nobody will criticize his recruiting decisions. At the end of the day, Motzco deserves what I think every coach does: to be judged based on their record and post season success, and not their press conferences or evaluations of their recruiting.

Note: I'm not saying he should ignore NHL talent. I am saying he should ignore whether or not the fans think it is important to get those players. He should just make the decision on what will help him win.