Will Lucia survive?

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I hate to say this. but i don't think Lucia is the problem here. we will get back to winning as time go bye. but you cannot alway blame the coach.

but that just me. we swept CC this weekend, so that a start.
 

A lot of people talk about the talent level we have here, but I really don't think there is as much talent as it seems. Almost all of these guys are very heavily recruited in high school and most of them have been drafted, but the talent level is overrated in my opinion. Look at a guy like David Fischer, he was a first round draft pick, but watching him on the ice he just does not look like that caliber of a player. Mike Howe, who graduated a couple years ago, was also a first round pick, but never really became the type of player he should have. Patrick White is another guy who was probably drafted too high. These guys appear to have talent, but I think a lot of them are just not as good/talented as people think.
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I still believe this team has to much "ME" and not enough of a team mentality. It seems to me like so many of these guys are just passing time until they can punch their ticket to the NHL and cash that first check.
 

Lucia can turn this around, there's too much talent NOT to succeed. I also don't want his recruiting to change, if Minnesota ever started recruiting like the canadian team in grand forks, then he will lose a ton of fans.
 

GopherFan75 said:
A lot of people talk about the talent level we have here, but I really don't think there is as much talent as it seems. Almost all of these guys are very heavily recruited in high school and most of them have been drafted, but the talent level is overrated in my opinion. Look at a guy like David Fischer, he was a first round draft pick, but watching him on the ice he just does not look like that caliber of a player. Mike Howe, who graduated a couple years ago, was also a first round pick, but never really became the type of player he should have. Patrick White is another guy who was probably drafted too high. These guys appear to have talent, but I think a lot of them are just not as good/talented as people think.
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A lot of rumors going around that NHL scouts think that it's not the talent that is questionable but rather the coaching the talent is receiving. A few documented instances come to mind: When Islanders GM Garth Snow called out Lucia regarding Okposo, when Erik Johnson left and said that he didn't think he was being used properly at the U and more recently when Leddy was included in the Cam Barker trade, an unnamed scout was quoted as saying the U wasn't doing a good job of preparing/developing players.

In Lucia's defense, his job is to develop a team rather than individuals. You don't give a guy more playing time just because he's a first round pick.
 


The Leddy comments from the Wild we're pathetic, the guy missed half the year with a pretty serious injury and has played in what, 20 games of his freshman season, not to mention that he's been one of our best players the past three weeks and his developement looks just fine. Wild just covering there asses for Tommy Thompson's terrible drafting and another first round pick that will never make it to St Paul.

The problem with Eric Johnson was he was the #1 pick and he and the Blues expected him to play first unit D from the day he stepped on campus and he wasn't ready for that and whether people like it or not, Lucia was going to do whats best for the team and that was to bring Eric along slowly just like Martin, Leo, Ballard, Goligoski all did there first season. Kids in all sports want immediate results and playing time and we've seen plenty here who transfer if they don't get major ice time right away.

Okposo was just really struggling his second season for a number of reasons but the coaches weren't doing anything to hold him back.

How did Kris Chucko work out for the Flames when they yanked him early, the answer is very bad and how is Jimmy O'Brien doing in juniors, the answer is the same.
 

The reality is NHL GMs strongly prefer their players in juniors or minors rather than the NCAA. In junior you bring them into NHL training camp every year and, if you like, send them to minor league if they are too good for junior (or you don't like the junior program). Addtionally junior leagues and minor leagues play NHL type schedules while NCAA teams play about half as many games.

I have no doubt it is more fun to play for U Minnesota than Moose Jaw but if you are a legit NHL prospect, you are probably better off in Moose Jaw.
 

umgh23 said:
His first few years had me convinced Don could walk on water, but he won with much of the core being Woog recruited players. I think he has a penchant for small offensive minded players who don't like to hit or be hit, and consider defensive obligations beneath their skill level. Get some tough grinders who actually go to the net with determination and things would change.
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This isn't true at all. I could give you the numbers but I don't know them off the top of my head.

Winnipegopher said:
The reality is NHL GMs strongly prefer their players in juniors or minors rather than the NCAA. In junior you bring them into NHL training camp every year and, if you like, send them to minor league if they are too good for junior (or you don't like the junior program). Addtionally junior leagues and minor leagues play NHL type schedules while NCAA teams play about half as many games.

I have no doubt it is more fun to play for U Minnesota than Moose Jaw but if you are a legit NHL prospect, you are probably better off in Moose Jaw.
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This also isn't necessarily true. The WCHA (college in general but definitely the WCHA) is more physical and the players are older which is why many teams like seeing players develop there. It's similar to the kids who come to the U from high school versus the USHL. The USHL is more physical and those players tend to be more physically ready to step up to the next level.
 

The NHL is about control. They have far less control over players in University than in juniors or minors.

If you ever meet any NHL people (even to the scout level) they will tell you that. No one will go on the record because it makes them look like they don't care about education (they don't).
 



The guy who took McDonald's to the height of the business world once said "It's not that we don't want the Harvard grads, it's that we can't hire them. They won't clean the toilets." Back in the 70's (I think) Lou Nanne commented on a North Star team that had graded out on paper as one of the best in the NHL, only to horribly underachieve each season: "You can't win without muckers."

The Gophers need size, physicality and a blue-collar mentality because that's what wins hockey games. The slick puck handlers have a role, but there should be a limited number on any one team and especially not very many offense-minded players at the blue line. Someone before me mentioned elite players. We have enough of those. We need guys like a Minnesota kid I know who is playing in the W. Why the heck is Minnesota not paying him to go to school instead of a tier I junior team? He's a crowd favorite in Canada because he's a smallish, strong, tough kid who would just as soon knock your head off as carry the puck. There's another big Minnesota kid who is making a splash out east and never got a look from the Gophers.
 

maxwellsmart said:
The guy who took McDonald's to the height of the business world once said "It's not that we don't want the Harvard grads, it's that we can't hire them. They won't clean the toilets." Back in the 70's (I think) Lou Nanne commented on a North Star team that had graded out on paper as one of the best in the NHL, only to horribly underachieve each season: "You can't win without muckers."

The Gophers need size, physicality and a blue-collar mentality because that's what wins hockey games. The slick puck handlers have a role, but there should be a limited number on any one team and especially not very many offense-minded players at the blue line. Someone before me mentioned elite players. We have enough of those. We need guys like a Minnesota kid I know who is playing in the W. Why the heck is Minnesota not paying him to go to school instead of a tier I junior team? He's a crowd favorite in Canada because he's a smallish, strong, tough kid who would just as soon knock your head off as carry the puck. There's another big Minnesota kid who is making a splash out east and never got a look from the Gophers.
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Who?

Good win by the way today especially on senior day. Will be a tough match-up in Grand Forks, cant wait!
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
I'm a Lucia guy, but this is beyond ridiculous and the last three years have been a steady regression. He used to fall back on the loss of players to the NHL, but as pointed out in today's Pioneer Press, they have 20 NHL draft picks (including four first rounders!) on the roster! The team has absolutely quit on him.

Who has Dean Blais's number?
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It's been 11 months and my opinion still stands.
 

Will Lucia please make Patterson the starting goalie for the rest of the season. If he does that, Minnesota in the NCAA book it. Patterson way better then Kangas right now.
 



I dont think Blais is coming. He's almost 50, and may choose to stick with the U20 development team and UNO. What about Guentzel?
 

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