No Blais

[mulefarm]

Blais just signed extension with Neb-Omaha and said he'd like to finish his career there. Good news for Lucia.

[blueblood]

All contracts can be bought out.

If Blais doesn't work out, bring on the Miami-OH coach!

[MJ]

What makes you think Enrico Blasi would ever want to coach the U. He is Miami (OH) alumnus. HE is successful, the next step for him is the NHL, not lowering his standards and coaching the Gophers

[MNHockey75]

Miami University hockey coach Enrico Blasi has signed a new agreement that will keep him in Oxford through the 2016-17 season.

[Gopher Blog]

Anybody who thinks a contract extension prevents a coach from changing addresses to another college program is completely out of touch with how college sports work these days.

[MJ]

Agreed. But anyone who thinks Enrico Blasi would want to come to the Gophers doesn't know too much either. He's happy where he is, and his star will only rise (NHL) not fall (UofM) from here on out.

[blueblood]

3 reasons:

1) WCHA vs. CCHA

2) 4,000+ seat rink vs. 10,000+ seat rink

3) Other top earning opportunities besides coaching

He would be a fool not to listen if he was called....

[northwoods oldtimer]

What makes you think Enrico Blasi would ever want to coach the U. He is Miami (OH) alumnus. HE is successful, the next step for him is the NHL, not lowering his standards and coaching the Gophers

Well contrary to current lack of success the U of M still remains one of the premier programs in the country for reasons highlighted in other posts. That alone would draw interest from any coach to at least consider the offer.

[northwoods oldtimer]

What makes you think Enrico Blasi would ever want to coach the U. He is Miami (OH) alumnus. HE is successful, the next step for him is the NHL, not lowering his standards and coaching the Gophers

Well contrary to current lack of success the U of M still remains one of the premier programs in the country for reasons highlighted in other posts. That alone would draw interest from any coach to at least consider the offer.

[MJ]

What makes you think Enrico Blasi would ever want to coach the U. He is Miami (OH) alumnus. HE is successful, the next step for him is the NHL, not lowering his standards and coaching the Gophers

Well contrary to current lack of success the U of M still remains one of the premier programs in the country for reasons highlighted in other posts. That alone would draw interest from any coach to at least consider the offer.

I , along with most other people (maybe not on this board), would consider Miami to be one of the premier programs in the country, no need to consider an offer.

[blueblood]

Not a premier job until they win multiple NCAA titles. To date, they have a big fat 0 on their resume. There are only 7 premier NCAA college hockey NCAA PROGRAMS in the country:

Denver
UND
Wisconsin
MN
BC
BU
Michigan

[MJ]

Not a premier job until they win multiple NCAA titles. To date, they have a big fat 0 on their resume. There are only 7 premier NCAA college hockey NCAA PROGRAMS in the country:

Denver
UND
Wisconsin
MN
BC
BU
Michigan

I'd be willing to bet the people at Miami, Harvard, Mich. State, Col. College, Cornell, and Maine would disagree with you. You mean to tell me that Ron Mason wasn't considered to coach at a premiere program because they didn't win multiple national titles? I believe your judgement of this is flawed, if winning multiple national titles makes you a premiere program, then Lake State should be in your consideration. (which they clearly are not)

[blueblood]

They can disagree all they want. Premier programs have history, top players and titles to their credit.

Those schools are not the first to be discussed when it comes to college hockey: Boston (both schools), Minnesota and Michigan will always be the first to be mentioned.

I'll give you that Lake State WAS a top program in the late 80's and early 90's under Jeff Jackson. But what have they done in the past 15 years? As for the others:

Maine - 2 titles and the Kariya's. I will consider them a 2nd tier premier program.

Cornell - 2 titles and Ken Dryden. Last title was 1970.

CC - 2 titles with the last one coming in 1957. There's some history for ya. Can't think of any GREAT players.

MSU - 1 title and Ryan Miller. Coach Mason is a great coach but the CCHA was historically an average league at best with only Michigan as the dominant program. Any decent coach could have racked up a lot of wins in the 80 and 90's in that league. Miami-OH is a good team, but that didn't happen until the last few years.

Harvard - 1 title in 1989 (lucky) and the Fusco's

Miami - 0 titles and who?

[gorilla1]

BB, I agree with you to an extent. However, to state that both Boston schools, Michigan and Minnesota are the first schools you think of when you think hockey is a little misguided. First, it depends on what part of the Country oyu are from.

Second, both UND and Denver has been 9both historically and currently), more successful than Minnesota. Denver and UND have more national championships, more WCHA titles, and more successful programs. That's not to say the Minnesota has not been successful, because they have. Wisconsin has as well. Unfortunately, Minnesota continues it's slide into the middle tier of the WCHA--and it looks like that is where they will end up again next year. They need to get that turned around.

Third, if you go by the fact of how long teams go without winning titles, remember Minnesota went from 1948 until the mid 70's before winning a title. And then they went from the 70's to the 2000's before winning another one. Those are about 30 year gaps in time that they have gone without winning a title.

[MJ]

They can disagree all they want. Premier programs have history, top players and titles to their credit.

Those schools are not the first to be discussed when it comes to college hockey: Boston (both schools), Minnesota and Michigan will always be the first to be mentioned.

I'll give you that Lake State WAS a top program in the late 80's and early 90's under Jeff Jackson. But what have they done in the past 15 years? As for the others:

Maine - 2 titles and the Kariya's. I will consider them a 2nd tier premier program.

Cornell - 2 titles and Ken Dryden. Last title was 1970.

CC - 2 titles with the last one coming in 1957. There's some history for ya. Can't think of any GREAT players.

MSU - 1 title and Ryan Miller. Coach Mason is a great coach but the CCHA was historically an average league at best with only Michigan as the dominant program. Any decent coach could have racked up a lot of wins in the 80 and 90's in that league. Miami-OH is a good team, but that didn't happen until the last few years.

Harvard - 1 title in 1989 (lucky) and the Fusco's

Miami - 0 titles and who?

Lets dissect your post a little further, so in order to be known as a premier program you have to have multiple titles, top players, and have history. Lets look at Mich. St. alone here:
History-Coach with the most wins of all time in Ron Mason. played in the most attended game ever.
Nat'l titles- 3, they didn't have as long of a gap as the gophers did, only 15 years
Top Players- Shawn Horcoff, JM Liles, Jim Slater, Duncan Keith,Kelley Miller, Bob Essensa, Craig Simpson, Kip Miller (Hobey Baker), Rod Brind'Amour (2 time selke winner), Bryan Smolinski, Anson Carter, and of course Ryan Miller (hobey baker, Mvp Olympian) all of these players had lengthy NHL careers.
Yet somehow MSU isn't considered a top tier team, you call them 2nd tier?
You called the CCHA an average league during ron masons tenure their? While he was there, the ccha made it to the championship game at least 11 times (Michigan was that team only once). That is just one team i looked into.

Third, if you go by the fact of how long teams go without winning titles, remember Minnesota went from 1948 until the mid 70's before winning a title. And then they went from the 70's to the 2000's before winning another one. Those are about 30 year gaps in time that they have gone without winning a title.

Very good point gorilla. If we're considering the U of M top teir, yet they had to wait 30 years at a time for their title runs, then i would say that lake st. still is dominant, they just have about 15 more years to prove it to ya

[blueblood]

MN drought was 23 years between 1979 and 2002 titles (not 30).

I named a wcha team (west), ccha team (midwest) and 2 hockey east teams. What part of the country did I miss? Is there some new geography I'm unaware of?

MSU has a good program, but again, the WCHA teams have been better in their history, including MN.

Have the gophers sucked lately? Yes. Part of the reason for the poor seasons has been the defections and injuries. Kessel, Johnson, Okposo and now Schroeder.

Can they get better in a short period of time? Yes. With the #1 recruting class, I would expect then to have a legitimate shot at the 2012 title.

Will they be better next year? Yes, but I wouldn't expect a big jump. Maybe a 4th to 5th place finish.

[gorilla1]

A couple of things. Please don't use "ealry departures" as a reason for the Gophers lack of success. Other teams have lost similar talent and do just fine. In addition, Schroder was a non-factor last year.

Just because they have the alleged Number 1 recruiting class doesn't mean anything. We have all heard this before and it has meant nothing. It appears they are going to make the same mistake again and bring in some of these kids straight from high school. Worked out well for NEss didn't it?

Finally, you covered the parts of the Country--however my point was it depends where you're from. In the WCHA country, people will think Denver and UND before Minnesota, in the midwest people will think Miami, and out East I think you are right that people will think Boston. Just depends what part of the country you're in to determine who you think of first.

[Gopher Blog]

Just because they have the alleged Number 1 recruiting class doesn't mean anything. We have all heard this before and it has meant nothing. It appears they are going to make the same mistake again and bring in some of these kids straight from high school.

I agree that you can't weigh things too heavily on a recruiting class. At the same time, there is more parity in the game right now and it doesn't take as much to make a leap up. A few impact players can do a lot for a team's chances.

I recognize you aren't a Gopher fan but you should have a better grasp of their recruiting situation if you are going to make a remark like "It appears they are going to make the same mistake again and bring in some of these kids straight from high school".... because (as of right now) Bjugstad (edit - and Alt) are coming in straight from HS without junior hockey experience. Some of the other HS kids like Holl are (as of right now) heading to the USHL. The vast majority of their incoming class for 2010 has a year or more of junior hockey under their belt and many of them have been pretty productive. So I do think the impact level of this class could be rather good.

With graduations and departures of some key players, some teams will likely take a step back, etc. Particularly teams like UW and DU. I think things are much less predictable on a year to year basis these days than they were even five years ago. I don't look around the league and see any "great" teams that are a lock for anything next season.

Finally, you covered the parts of the Country--however my point was it depends where you're from. In the WCHA country, people will think Denver and UND before Minnesota, in the midwest people will think Miami, and out East I think you are right that people will think Boston. Just depends what part of the country you're in to determine who you think of first.

Quite frankly, I'm not the discussion on who is thought of first with people/fans (which is highly debateable anyway) really matters in reference to the discussion on which are the elite coaching jobs. A coach is going to look at what a job can offer now. Who won more titles in the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc won't mean jack squat to a guy looking at a job opportunity in the present tense. Don't get me wrong... the legacy of a program is a nice bonus but that isn't how a college coaching candidate is going to judge when it comes down to it.

Like it or not, Minnesota has more financial power behind it than any other program in college hockey. Period. It has a larger budget than anywhere else (as it should since it brings in more money with attendance, TV, etc) Nobody makes in total compensation (over $500,000) what Lucia does and whoever replaces him will find a similar pay day. If you can essentially up your pay 30% to 50% (which is what would happen for most college coaches that leave for the U), it is going to be a tempting opportunity to listen to.

Of course, money isn't everything but its not like that is all there is to the offer a coach at Minnesota either. When you add in salary with all the perks of coaching at a Big Ten school (facilities, etc)... and the major advantage the Gophers have as being the main choice with most high end recruits from the best hockey state in the nation... well, it starts looking more and more attractive as a job destination.

I'm not here to say that every guy approached is just going to drop his current job if he was offered the job at Minnesota since some guys won't leave their alma mater, won't want to uproot their family, etc. But that job can offer more benefits than any other when you look at the entire picture.

[blueblood]

Thanks GopherBlog for picking up the discussion with GorillaMonsoon and MJ.

Gorilla - I said "part of the reason" for the lack of Gopher success. There are many more factors including the departure of their defensive coach, roller coaster goaltending, etc, etc.

Look at Wisconsin this year - did they lose anyone of importance? The answer is no. Same thing can be said of Denver. When players stay around for more than 2 years (like Geoffrion who could have turned pro), their team will "most likely" be better.

Gorilla, unless you know what's happening at the U, don't make your blanket statements regarding players. Maybe Lucia has learned hos lesson. I agree, Ness was mistake to play as a 17yr freshman defensemen in the WCHA.

However, as the blogger said, Bjugstad and possibly Alt may be the only true freshman next year. I have several sources who I know that have confirmed this.

[Gopher Blog]

Yes, I left out Alt. My mistake. I guess I was locked in at forwards because that is where I suspect we'll see the most impact coming from the 1st year guys. Alt should be a steady stay at home type of d-man and that is all we should expect of him anyway

[gorilla1]

Thanks for the info GB. With respect to the recruiting by the Gophers, my post specifically states it looks like the Gophers are going to bring in SOME players again straight out of high school. And, you confirmed, they are bringing SOME players right out of high school. There are very, very few players ready right out of high school. Ness was morely highly touted than either Bjugstad or Alt. Who, knows, they may do just fine, and hopefully they do for their sake. They do have others coming in from the juniors as well. So please tell me what my mistake is, because when I said there will be some players coming in from high school, and there are at least 2, that fits the definition of some. I never said they didn't have players coming in from juniors as well. Maybe I'm missing something.

I agree that next year's WCHA will be interesting. With some of the turnover, and the addition of the two teams, and some scheduling changes, it will be hard to predict what will happen. UND will come in as the favorite--although I understand the favorites in the beginning of the year often times don't end the year on top.

With regard to the money, let me ask where your figures come from. Blais' current base salary is higher than Lucia's. Hakstol's is basically the same, as is the Miami Coaches' base salary. They all have summer programs and other activities they engage in. While many would consider Minnesota a plum coaching job, there are numerous other hockey programs that offer as much, if not more right now, than Minnesota. The University system in Minnesota is hamstrung right now and they don't have the financial clout you seem to suggest.

BB, you're right when you say that's only part of the reason. I agree with the other reasons you put out there as well. Regarding blanket statements, I said it appears they are going to bring in SOME kids right out of high school. I think Gopher Blog confirmed that they are bringing in some kids straight from high school. This is very, very rarely a good idea. It takes a special kid. I hope Bjugstad can do it, as well as Alt. But Ness was morely highly touted than both and it ended up not working out well so far.

[DubCHAGuy]

BB, you're right when you say that's only part of the reason. I agree with the other reasons you put out there as well. Regarding blanket statements, I said it appears they are going to bring in SOME kids right out of high school. I think Gopher Blog confirmed that they are bringing in some kids straight from high school. This is very, very rarely a good idea. It takes a special kid. I hope Bjugstad can do it, as well as Alt. But Ness was morely highly touted than both and it ended up not working out well so far.

Ness also wasnt 6'4" and 200 lbs. like Bjugstad and Alt... I agree bringing in HS kids has been part of their problem, I also think they are getting commitments way too early. Gopher fan or not, I think we can all agree that the U pretty much gets first pick of all the MN kids, but its hard to pick out who the best players will be at 20 years old when you scout them at 15.

[gorilla1]

Size helps (neither are 200 lbs) but it still is a rare kid. With all due respect, the U doesn't get their first pick of Minnesota kids. As an example, highest rated Minnesota player and highest rated Minnesota goalie are both going to UND. Minnesota gets alot of Minnesota kids, but gone are the days they think they get the pick of the litter.

[DubCHAGuy]

Size helps (neither are 200 lbs) but it still is a rare kid. With all due respect, the U doesn't get their first pick of Minnesota kids. As an example, highest rated Minnesota player and highest rated Minnesota goalie are both going to UND. Minnesota gets alot of Minnesota kids, but gone are the days they think they get the pick of the litter.

Section 8 might be a little different, but, typically not too many kids tell the U no unless there is just a better offer (more scholarship, less time in Jrs, etc.) from somewhere else. I'm sure there have been a few over the years (Zach Parise and Tom Gilbert come to mind) but not many from MN sections 1-7. I still think the bigger problem is looking for commitments from 15 year olds.

Anyone know if Forbort, Faulk, or Nelson were made offers by the Gophers? I assume they didn't go after Gothberg since they had already grabbed Wilcox.

[Gopher Blog]

Thanks for the info GB. With respect to the recruiting by the Gophers, my post specifically states it looks like the Gophers are going to bring in SOME players again straight out of high school. And, you confirmed, they are bringing SOME players right out of high school.

The problem is "some" in your original post seemed to allude to a lot. As if that was the bulk of the class and Lucia "hadn't learned". Take a closer look and that is hardly the case. 2 players out of around 9 or 10 is hardly a whopping amount of straight from HS guys.

Ness was morely highly touted than either Bjugstad or Alt.

Yeah... not like Bjugstad isn't considered a mid first rounder or anything.

With regard to the money, let me ask where your figures come from. Blais' current base salary is higher than Lucia's. Hakstol's is basically the same, as is the Miami Coaches' base salary.

On base salary, you are correct. They are roughly the same. But you vastly overrate what the others makes outside of that in comparison. For instance, Gwoz makes mid $300,000 in total compensation. Something the Denver beat writer acknowledged in his blog last year that was far surpassed by Lucia. You add in the other aspects and Lucia makes around $500,000.

the U doesn't get their first pick of Minnesota kids.

Do they get every kid they go after? Of course not. Nobody does. But they didn't even land every kid they wanted during the days of Herb Brooks. Like anything in life, there are going to be a percentage of exceptions... but the Gophers beat out programs like UND and UW on a rather regular basis for the best MN kids.