Coach of the year

[Tenoverpar]

Ritch Menne - Centennial
Jim Mcelmury - Tartan

either of these guys..who have teams that are very very quietly having great seasons

[WarmUpTheBus]

Should'nt it be the coaches who have done the most with less??

My Vote- Chris Lonke, New Prague. Lost top two players to defection and still have them ranked and contending for Missota conf. title. Or does class A not count unless you are a private school or Hermantown!

Always better to do your homework before you start to whine...they give out separate awards to AA and A coaches.

http://www.mnhockeyhub.com/news_article ... r_id=32770

I guess that wasn't specified on the topic , Einstein!

"Nobody in the game of football(hockey) should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein."
Joe Theismann, Former quarterback

[Slap Shot]

O'Leary over Giles no question. Not saying it's down to those two, but come on Giles isn't even in the discussion overall.

[12to14]

As we have seen, it's not the Coach of the Year award. It's the Last Coach to Beat Bill Lechner award.

Hands Down Lex - Why wouldn't you give it to a coach who threw Faust's jeresys out of the locker room last year and now this year yelled at the kids after the second period (Sat's game) for not giving Lavalle the puck so he can score more so he can beat his record. To bad he lost his good players to the USHL and now he needs to try to create one this year.

[TennJed]

LaRock (spelled correctly to reflect personality) should not be mentioned in a statement preceded by "coach of the year", This team is talented enough to win in spite of him being on the bench. His personal agenda is destroying a very talented group.

[blueblood]

This is becoming a Jekyll and Hyde topic with disgruntled fans, parents venting.

[SuperStar]

This is becoming a Jekyll and Hyde topic with disgruntled fans, parents venting.

And to think I was gonna start another thread called "Worst Coaches" - that would have gotten out of hand real quick.

[blueblood]

SuperStar:

I'm beginning to like your style: supportive of your team with a bit of " let's stir the pot and see what gets everybody riled up".

[SuperStar]

Thanks BB - Don't tell anyone though!

[northwoods oldtimer]

Want to vote Rich Menne over at Centennial. Timing not the best after the 3-3 tie with Champlin Park. Not a quality tie by any stretch for Centennial this time of year. Also will plug Tim Berglund up at Thief River Falls for getting TRF back into the 8A hunt. Guy does a great job! Love em or hate em Mike Randolph at East hands down the best coach in MN year in year out.

[TennJed]

Not sure if I would label Randolph"best coach" in Mn. That award should encompass more than just W/L's. However, he certainly is successful on the ice and you can't argue with that if.

[thorhockey]

I was gonna post my usual sarcastic remark that Lechner is nothing but a glorified door opener behind the bench, but after reading PPG's well thought out post on Tartans coach I now hold your comments in high regards on this forum.

[Pioneerprideguy]

Lex is a good guy and has followed a long line of successful coaches at HM. The Pioneers were very successful before he took the helm & I suspect they will continue to be after he leaves. He is has the luxury and talent year in & year out, howver, he & his staff (Shaf is fantastic) tend to get the most out of his kids each year.

Coaching at a private school can be more difficult as parents have already put in large sums of money for their kids to play youth hockey (just like public school parents) but then they fork out more money for tuition. Lex has done a decent job of handeling this.

Let's be honest, Lex never got to State while he was Stillwater's head coach. I don't think he became a better coach at HM, just more talent to work with. Flip flop him & Housely, and I suspect Housley would have managed to get Hill to State at least once & not sure Stillwater would be that much better off then they are now. Kids flock to HM primarily for their tradition, not so much for the coach.

Now don't get me wrong, Lex is a great embassador for the school and handles himself well with the media. The school likes that & parents do as well.

I'm glad we have him, but let's not make more out of him then what he is.

[Wallyworld]

Maybe Lechner gets overlooked because he does this so often - takes rebuilding years and ends up with champ caliber team performances..

Somebody was just commenting how Hill has no D1 committed players yet (though Dugas, Willie Brown, Slattery, & possibly Lavalle will eventually go D1) so he doesn't have the BSM superstar type talent - or Edina - but still gets his kids to buy into his system and play as a team... Look at Hill's schedule With 10 games against top 10 teams so far and besides winning the Schwann's Cup they are 17-2 (counting shootout win over STA in Schwanns) with a 1.37 Goals against. Does any other top AA team have less than 4 losses.. Just think if Guentzel and Heinrich hadn't bolted to USHL.. But It doesn't seem to phase Lech as he throws together a #1 ranked team anyways..

Somebody have a better argument than that.. Wayzata is close but we'll see how they finish as they just lost two in a row to teams that Hill beat..

[BodyShots]

Lex is a good guy and has followed a long line of successful coaches at HM. The Pioneers were very successful before he took the helm & I suspect they will continue to be after he leaves. He is has the luxury and talent year in & year out, howver, he & his staff (Shaf is fantastic) tend to get the most out of his kids each year.

Coaching at a private school can be more difficult as parents have already put in large sums of money for their kids to play youth hockey (just like public school parents) but then they fork out more money for tuition. Lex has done a decent job of handeling this.

Let's be honest, Lex never got to State while he was Stillwater's head coach. I don't think he became a better coach at HM, just more talent to work with. Flip flop him & Housely, and I suspect Housley would have managed to get Hill to State at least once & not sure Stillwater would be that much better off then they are now. Kids flock to HM primarily for their tradition, not so much for the coach.

Now don't get me wrong, Lex is a great embassador for the school and handles himself well with the media. The school likes that & parents do as well.

I'm glad we have him, but let's not make more out of him then what he is.

Very well said. I agree 100% with all comments (esp SHAF).

[mnhockfan99]

Cretin's staff should be considered as of today. Having seen them a few times since early on, they have clearly had many players improve as the season has gone on, develop nicely, and contribute regularly. Not a lot of high end talent on that team but they are playing well.

[justme]

Jay Moser at Park Cottage Grove

[slyer]

randolph is a good coach but having talent like he does every year helps, maybe the best at recruiting though

[Tenoverpar]

You can't say the words RECRUITING and mention a public school on the forum..now this subject is going to get locked

[east hockey]

You can't say the words RECRUITING and mention a public school on the forum..now this subject is going to get locked

Nobody pays attention to what slyer has to say, anyway. It's just recycled garbage.

Lee

[northwoods oldtimer]

randolph is a good coach but having talent like he does every year helps, maybe the best at recruiting though

That is so common up here we do not even discuss it as an open forum topic slyer! HAHA

[OGEE OGELTHORPE]

Ken Pauly

[MNHockeyFan]

Ken Pauly

Only if he manages to repeat as State Champs without the 15 year-old phenom.