UConn's Next Hockey Coach just free up? National power DU fires coach | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn's Next Hockey Coach just free up? National power DU fires coach

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Whale22 said:
Michigan have MSOC? I know not many realize but BIG12 doesn't have MSOC. Come to think of it, what did WVU do with their MSOC program. I do believe Baseball could draw with the right facility.
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Michigan isn't in the Big 12...
 
Landon Donovan just trained with Wisconsin men's soccer during their spring practice in order Get back into form.
 
Whale22 said:
Aware of that, was more trying to point out BIG12 didn't have soccer, and wondered if B1G did. Random run-on thoughts.
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Ah, gotcha.
 
Whale22 said:
Michigan have MSOC? I know not many realize but BIG12 doesn't have MSOC. Come to think of it, what did WVU do with their MSOC program. I do believe Baseball could draw with the right facility.
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WVU plays in the MAC now.
 
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There are really 2 problems with college baseball in New England being a huge draw. first the season is too short. UConn's regular season ends May 18. Second, and related is that the weather for most of it is at best iffy. I stopped by a game this weekend, not UConn, and it was brutal. Nice and sunny but it was cold, and when the wind picked up it was really pretty uncomfortable. Not good for the players or the fans really.
 
freescooter said:
There are really 2 problems with college baseball in New England being a huge draw. first the season is too short. UConn's regular season ends May 18. Second, and related is that the weather for most of it is at best iffy. I stopped by a game this weekend, not UConn, and it was brutal. Nice and sunny but it was cold, and when the wind picked up it was really pretty uncomfortable. Not good for the players or the fans really.
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I never understand this sort of reasoning. When it comes to fans, you can't watch a game on a sunny day in 60 degree weather, even when wind chill seems like the 40s? By covering up? Just prepare. Cover yourself. I see this at football games all the time. Cover yourselves.

As for the players, it is a good thing. Many of them will be playing ball up north. The minor leagues are already underway up here in the north. Baseball players have to learn to play in Spring weather. If they want to succeed.
 
upstater said:
I never understand this sort of reasoning. When it comes to fans, you can't watch a game on a sunny day in 60 degree weather, even when wind chill seems like the 40s? By covering up? Just prepare. Cover yourself. I see this at football games all the time. Cover yourselves.
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Baseball is supposed to be enjoyable. I don't find it enjoyable to wear my snow pants, goulashes, mittens, ski hat and north face to baseball games.

Football? Fine, that's the culture and you expect to dress that way late in the season because there are only six/seven home games on a college schedule and most ticket holders have invested too much to miss even a single game.

Baseball is much different. The diehards might be there, but for the majority it's a cocktail party. People go to sun themselves, have a couple drinks and relax. The stuff on the field is just a nice addition to the party.
 
Different games. Baseball is played best in warm weather. Something by the way major league baseball ought to take under advisement when scheduling the World Series.
 
MattMang23 said:
Baseball is supposed to be enjoyable. I don't find it enjoyable to wear my snow pants, goulashes, mittens, ski hat and north face to baseball games.

Football? Fine, that's the culture and you expect to dress that way late in the season because there are only six/seven home games on a college schedule and most ticket holders have invested too much to miss even a single game.

Baseball is much different. The diehards might be there, but for the majority it's a cocktail party. People go to sun themselves, have a couple drinks and relax. The stuff on the field is just a nice addition to the party.
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golashes, mittens, snow pants, ski hate and north face for 60 degree weather. I suggest you toughen up.
 
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freescooter said:
Different games. Baseball is played best in warm weather. Something by the way major league baseball ought to take under advisement when scheduling the World Series.
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Not buying. They play baseball in the northeast. Up here, you're not going to get summer weather except for 3 1/2 months tops. You HAVE to play in 50 degree weather.
 
Larry Brown is coaching at SMU for one reason. Instant credibility.
He is there for the now.

I am not at all familiar with the coaching scene in hockey, but if Uconn is looking to make a splash, hiring a great coach that will bring credibility isn't bad.

Imagine if Uconn hired the winningest coach in Big East to give the football program some credibility... Woops, never mind. wrong turn there...
 
Marty Jackson said:
Larry Brown is coaching at SMU for one reason. Instant credibility.
He is there for the now.

I am not at all familiar with the coaching scene in hockey, but if Uconn is looking to make a splash, hiring a great coach that will bring credibility isn't bad.
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This is correct, if nothing else, Gwoz would be a clear sign that UConn is serious about upgrading the program to that of a Hockey East school and taking the necessary steps, not just adding a few coats of paint to the existing structure. Whether or not he's interested in the job would be another story.
 
upstater said:
golashes, mittens, snow pants, ski hate and north face for 60 degree weather. I suggest you toughen up.
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In your example, you said the wind chill made it 40. Whatever. I grew up playing hockey on outdoor rinks at 6am in January. I can take cold weather.

But maybe I don't want to toughen up to watch baseball?

Maybe I just don't want to go to baseball games in that weather when there are baseball games played in July and August to go to and not be cold?
 
Would love to see guy Boucher Tampa ex coach get a shot. He did great in the minors and I think he is one of those coaches that is better with the younger kids
 
MattMang23 said:
In your example, you said the wind chill made it 40. Whatever. I grew up playing hockey on outdoor rinks at 6am in January. I can take cold weather.

But maybe I don't want to toughen up to watch baseball?

Maybe I just don't want to go to baseball games in that weather when there are baseball games played in July and August to go to and not be cold?
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Well, you certainly don't need arctic gear to watch a game a game played in 60 degrees with 45 wind chill. You just have to use some sense. Do you need a knit cap? Yes. Regular old gloves? Yes. A good windbreaking jacket? Yes. You're good for 3 hours. Definitely not snow pants and boots though.
 
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upstater said:
Well, you certainly don't need arctic gear to watch a game a game played in 60 degrees with 45 wind chill. You just have to use some sense. Do you need a knit cap? Yes. Regular old gloves? Yes. A good windbreaking jacket? Yes. You're good for 3 hours. Definitely not snow pants and boots though.
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I know. I certainly went over-the-top on gear. My point is, I don't think many people want to watch baseball and feel like they're in an icebox when there are games to go to in the summer and feel much more comfortable. Baseball is a summer game. It doesn't feel right in 45 degrees in March.
 
MattMang23 said:
I know. I certainly went over-the-top on gear. My point is, I don't think many people want to watch baseball and feel like they're in an icebox when there are games to go to in the summer and feel much more comfortable. Baseball is a summer game. It doesn't feel right in 45 degrees in March.
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Spring is less a problem than the late fall games at the MLB level. The season and longer playofs extend too long. In Spring, 50-60 feels warm coming out of winter. At 60 right now, all I need is a short sleeve shirt. In fall, it feels pretty cold.
 
Getting back to the original post, though, I agree that hiring a big name coach would give the program a jolt. But I think they could get an equal benefit buy announcing a plan to expand/upgrade/replace Freitas and hire a younger coach. I'm not against hiring Gwoz by any means. He's a terrific coach. And if he's interested they need to have a conversation. Even if he isn't they need to have a conversation and find out what it would take to get him interested.
 
MattMang23 said:
I know. I certainly went over-the-top on gear. My point is, I don't think many people want to watch baseball and feel like they're in an icebox when there are games to go to in the summer and feel much more comfortable. Baseball is a summer game. It doesn't feel right in 45 degrees in March.
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When I was at Boston U., I used to leave class and go sit in the Fenway bleachers for free during games. Granted, it was only for 3 innings, because that's the time when they used to open up the gates and let anyone walk off the street without paying, but that's when I most fell in love with baseball. Nothing like watching a Red Sox game at Fenway after a Calculus class, drinking beer in the sunshine in early April. We used to do this practically every single day.
 
freescooter said:
Getting back to the original post, though, I agree that hiring a big name coach would give the program a jolt. But I think they could get an equal benefit buy announcing a plan to expand/upgrade/replace Freitas and hire a younger coach. I'm not against hiring Gwoz by any means. He's a terrific coach. And if he's interested they need to have a conversation. Even if he isn't they need to have a conversation and find out what it would take to get him interested.
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So is Berard the guy then? The team was better in the second half than the first, so he did the job. He's got the connections locally. He went to Bishop Hendricken, might help recruiting there. I assume he is not related to Bryan Berard right?
 
freescooter said:
Getting back to the original post, though, I agree that hiring a big name coach would give the program a jolt. But I think they could get an equal benefit buy announcing a plan to expand/upgrade/replace Freitas and hire a younger coach. I'm not against hiring Gwoz by any means. He's a terrific coach. And if he's interested they need to have a conversation. Even if he isn't they need to have a conversation and find out what it would take to get him interested.
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A meaningful facilities upgrade plan would be another help. The problem I'd see in hiring an assistant from the previous coaching staff would be, even if he did well this season, it's a sign that you're just staying with what you've done for the past 20 years, which hasn't worked. Yes, there's the bit about no scholarships, etc., but from a competitive standpoint, when there's a national championship winning coach (presuming he's interested) interviewing for your position, you'd better have a damn good reason not to hire him. As a relatively uninformed outsider, if they chose Berard over Gwoz, I'd see that as a terrible move. And recruits likely would ask the same question, why would you choose the assistant of an unsuccessful period of time in your history over a guy who's less than 10 years removed from winning two consecutive national titles?
 
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brasssbonanzaa said:
A meaningful facilities upgrade plan would be another help. The problem I'd see in hiring an assistant from the previous coaching staff would be, even if he did well this season, it's a sign that you're just staying with what you've done for the past 20 years, which hasn't worked. Yes, there's the bit about no scholarships, etc., but from a competitive standpoint, when there's a national championship winning coach (presuming he's interested) interviewing for your position, you'd better have a damn good reason not to hire him. As a relatively uninformed outsider, if they chose Berard over Gwoz, I'd see that as a terrible move. And recruits likely would ask the same question, why would you choose the assistant of an unsuccessful period of time in your history over a guy who's less than 10 years removed from winning two consecutive national titles?
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I they went for Gwoz, is there any reason to think Berard couldn't stay on as an assistant?
 
HuskyHawk said:
So is Berard the guy then? The team was better in the second half than the first, so he did the job. He's got the connections locally. He went to Bishop Hendricken, might help recruiting there. I assume he is not related to Bryan Berard right?
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No top D1 college players are recruited out of HS anymore. As far as minor league coaches, similar to football and bball they need connections to the recruiting world so rules most of them out.
 
kingdobbs said:
I think they were always planning to open up a national search at the end of the year once Marshall left, regardless of the performance of Berard in the interim. Berard's great performance this year just put his name a little higher on the list, AFAIC.

I think UConn would be foolish not to consider Gwozdecky if he's actually interested in the job. Whether that means they hire him is a different story, but he merits a serious look-see. One thing in UConn's favor re: Gwoz's interest is that there are few openings this year in D-I (other than DU's, which is not a job he can get for obvious reasons, and UConn's, there's only Anchorage and possibly Maine* open at the moment), and I can't believe after the way he was ousted he doesn't want to at least stay at this level, if not make a run upwards (and he's got the resume to at least pull an pro assistantship or a minor league head gig).

*And we would know the exact moment when that happens, for we be able to hear the seismic screams of joy down here in Connecticut if Whitehead is formally canned.
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Hmmm...

MikeMcMahonCHN 1:11pm via TweetDeck
Source: Maine will announce at 4pm press conference that Tim Whitehead is out as head coach at Maine.

goalmouthradio 1:14pm via Web
If Whitehead is out at Maine, that makes things more interesting for UConn search. Now not the only available HEA job.
 
brasssbonanzaa said:
A meaningful facilities upgrade plan would be another help. The problem I'd see in hiring an assistant from the previous coaching staff would be, even if he did well this season, it's a sign that you're just staying with what you've done for the past 20 years, which hasn't worked. Yes, there's the bit about no scholarships, etc., but from a competitive standpoint, when there's a national championship winning coach (presuming he's interested) interviewing for your position, you'd better have a damn good reason not to hire him. As a relatively uninformed outsider, if they chose Berard over Gwoz, I'd see that as a terrible move. And recruits likely would ask the same question, why would you choose the assistant of an unsuccessful period of time in your history over a guy who's less than 10 years removed from winning two consecutive national titles?
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I agree with you that if Gwoz wanted the job they'd be foolish not to give it to him, but I'm less than convinced that he would want it for all the reasons already discussed. As for the rest of your argument, if not Gwoz, who are they going to get? Most likely an assistant from a higher profile program or a real retread. Not sure even a startup program like UConn would want Timmay nor would they want Toot Cahoon and while you could argue that Berard is just another assistant, if you look at his background he comes from a Hockey East program, and was recruiting coordinator for Providence AND he has now shown some ability to actually do the job as a head coach. Again, if its Gwoz or Berard, its an easy choice. But if Gwoz is out of the equation, unless you can land another successful current head coach,(Bennett has been mentioned occasionally and I'd take him too) I'm not sure Berard isn't as good at least on paper as the assistants at UNH or Vermont. And while I'm not sure it is completely comparable, Pecknold coached in the Atlantic Hockey league before he took Quinnipiac to the ECAC. He has done ok. And UMass apparently offered Pearl from Holy Cross before Michelletto.
 
kingdobbs said:
*And we would know the exact moment when that happens, for we be able to hear the seismic screams of joy down here in Connecticut if Whitehead is formally canned.
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Cue seismic screams of joy.

Good news, it seems at this point, Maine isn't interested in talking to Gwoz.

Re: UMass job, they offered just about everyone but Carl Spackler the job before they got someone to take it.
 
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