Yea, fan base wise I'd say 95% wanted all of them, including Eaves gone, but like you said that isn't going to happen. Barry wasn't willing to pay the $800,000 buyout to fire him and apparently Eaves wasn't willing to fall on the sword so here we are... That said I don't think Eaves suddenly forgot how to coach overnight... I think he made poor hiring decisions in his last three assistant coach hires and he'll get an opportunity to hire two new guys. I believe he has two years left on his buyout so I am guessing that is how long he will get to turn things around. It can be done, look at Minnesota State, but he's going to have to make the right hires and he has to do better in recruiting, which was just made a lot harder with the announcement that Morgan Zulinick is leaving the program (there goes our best player). He has a son back home and he's leaving to be with him, it's too bad but I can respect that..... but anyway guess we will see what happens.Gopher Blog wrote:Yeah, I think we knew the writing was on the wall on this move. If Eaves wasn't going to get canned, somebody had to be the fall guy.JSR wrote:I am reading between the lines and sounds like Barry made him do it, but either way they are out.
Alvarez understands the PR of it all. No doubt he said, "Mike... we can't keep it as is. If you aren't going to be the sacrificial lamb, then somebody else has to be sacrificed." I don't know that most UW fans are going to feel like this is the right move (most of the opinions I read want a whole new staff) but I guess they will just have to accept it.
Wisconsin Badgers 14-15
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
About $236,000 per year in base salary with cost of living increase each year (there are some other things bring it up to around $306,000 per year in actual money to him). His last contract extension called for a lot of guaranteed money. According to the buyout clause in his contract for termination without cause, Eaves would be paid his yearly salary for the next four years if fired after this season.This is directly from an article written in February of this year. Technically if you did the math the contract actually calls for almost a million dollars in buyout but according to some agents that have spoken on the matter, these buyouts are often "re-negotiated" at the time they want the person out and it was "estimated" it would get negotiated down to about $800,000 realistically if they actually decided to fire him.Tigers33 wrote:What does he make per year as a base salary?
This is why most believe his position is safe for "atleast" two more seasons until he either turns things around or the buyout becomes more reasonable
If you are of the ilk that you do not believe Eaves can turn things around no matter what he does, then I'd say you are absolutely correct...Sats81 wrote:Either way, things aren't looking up for them.
If you are an optimist and decide that since Eaves is going nowhere and want to think positive then you could say we had 13 first year players on the team this season and they'll only be better next season, that our leading goal scorer and best defenseman are both returning as part of that mix, and our top three returning scorers from last season were two freshman and a sophomore, that Eaves has a chance to hire two new assistants and if he hits a home run they could help turn the program around quickly (look at MN State how quickly they turned it around), that we have some pretty solid recruits including arguably the best goaltender recruit in the nation coming in next season, and that we are only one season removed from finishing a close second in the BigTen and winning the BigTen conference tourney and a NCAA tourney bid..... So if you choose to think that way then you could say things are looking up compared to this season
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I agree Sats.Sats81 wrote:Either way, things aren't looking up for them.
UW's guys looked relatively lost on the offensive side of things. Not a lot of skill there. The assistants were canned and I don't think it is a stretch of the imagination is some of it was due to inept recruiting. Frankly, Besse is about the only guy I would even want out of their forwards and even he hasn't exactly lit the sky in college.
Their young guys had ample amount of opportunity but really didn't produce much with it. You can use youth as an excuse for that but it's not like young, first year guys haven't produced pretty well at other schools on a pretty consistent basis so I am not sure that is a valid reasoning.
No matter who they get for assistants, they are going to have a big hill to climb. Not only getting a team that isn't overly talented to win significantly more in the short term but also convincing recruits that the current head coach is even going to be there when all is said and done.
I hope he proves me wrong, but I don't think Besse will turn out to be the college player many had thought/assumed. He has always had a national hockey league shot/release and that is what has helped him thus far. He needs to have a big breakout season next year though and I still don't think that will be enough for the Badgers to be competitive.
Cameron Hughes, freshman this past season, is still considered one of the top young forwards in the country with NHL upside. Adam Rockwood is also a young talented freshman forward, and Jedd Soleway is a solid big body guy who could be a good third line winger so I think you forgot about those guys when mentioning forwards. Beyond them I can't disagree with you though forward wise. I do think the defense has a couple horses and the incoming goalie is the top recruit in the country by most measures in goal so there is some reason to believe things could pick up. I mean lord knows it can't be worse than this year,....Gopher Blog wrote:I agree Sats.Sats81 wrote:Either way, things aren't looking up for them.
UW's guys looked relatively lost on the offensive side of things. Not a lot of skill there. The assistants were canned and I don't think it is a stretch of the imagination is some of it was due to inept recruiting. Frankly, Besse is about the only guy I would even want out of their forwards and even he hasn't exactly lit the sky in college.
Their young guys had ample amount of opportunity but really didn't produce much with it. You can use youth as an excuse for that but it's not like young, first year guys haven't produced pretty well at other schools on a pretty consistent basis so I am not sure that is a valid reasoning.
No matter who they get for assistants, they are going to have a big hill to climb. Not only getting a team that isn't overly talented to win significantly more in the short term but also convincing recruits that the current head coach is even going to be there when all is said and done.
The incoming goalie is gonna get tested often, early on.JSR wrote:Cameron Hughes, freshman this past season, is still considered one of the top young forwards in the country with NHL upside. Adam Rockwood is also a young talented freshman forward, and Jedd Soleway is a solid big body guy who could be a good third line winger so I think you forgot about those guys when mentioning forwards. Beyond them I can't disagree with you though forward wise. I do think the defense has a couple horses and the incoming goalie is the top recruit in the country by most measures in goal so there is some reason to believe things could pick up. I mean lord knows it can't be worse than this year,....Gopher Blog wrote:I agree Sats.Sats81 wrote:Either way, things aren't looking up for them.
UW's guys looked relatively lost on the offensive side of things. Not a lot of skill there. The assistants were canned and I don't think it is a stretch of the imagination is some of it was due to inept recruiting. Frankly, Besse is about the only guy I would even want out of their forwards and even he hasn't exactly lit the sky in college.
Their young guys had ample amount of opportunity but really didn't produce much with it. You can use youth as an excuse for that but it's not like young, first year guys haven't produced pretty well at other schools on a pretty consistent basis so I am not sure that is a valid reasoning.
No matter who they get for assistants, they are going to have a big hill to climb. Not only getting a team that isn't overly talented to win significantly more in the short term but also convincing recruits that the current head coach is even going to be there when all is said and done.
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Honestly, I didn't forget to mention them. I simply don't think they are particularly special players. Both Rockwood and Hughes only scored 3 goals and 13 pts. while seeing a good amount of playing time. I am sure they will improve on those numbers (pretty tough not to) but I don't see guys that really appear to be destined for stardom.JSR wrote:Cameron Hughes, freshman this past season, is still considered one of the top young forwards in the country with NHL upside. Adam Rockwood is also a young talented freshman forward, and Jedd Soleway is a solid big body guy who could be a good third line winger so I think you forgot about those guys when mentioning forwards. Beyond them I can't disagree with you though forward wise. I do think the defense has a couple horses and the incoming goalie is the top recruit in the country by most measures in goal so there is some reason to believe things could pick up. I mean lord knows it can't be worse than this year,....
At one time Hughes was being hyped as a high draft possibility yet he was ranked 196 among North Americans in the final draft rankings... his stock clearly has dropped like a rock.
They might have a good goalie recruit but goaltending wasn't a weakness for them before when they struggled. It was everything else that stunk.
I'd expect them to win more next year (haven't studied their schedule though). But it won't shock me at all if they still end up as a well below .500 team.
I actually would bet on this happening. I don't think they will be close to having a 'winning season'.Gopher Blog wrote:Honestly, I didn't forget to mention them. I simply don't think they are particularly special players. Both Rockwood and Hughes only scored 3 goals and 13 pts. while seeing a good amount of playing time. I am sure they will improve on those numbers (pretty tough not to) but I don't see guys that really appear to be destined for stardom.JSR wrote:Cameron Hughes, freshman this past season, is still considered one of the top young forwards in the country with NHL upside. Adam Rockwood is also a young talented freshman forward, and Jedd Soleway is a solid big body guy who could be a good third line winger so I think you forgot about those guys when mentioning forwards. Beyond them I can't disagree with you though forward wise. I do think the defense has a couple horses and the incoming goalie is the top recruit in the country by most measures in goal so there is some reason to believe things could pick up. I mean lord knows it can't be worse than this year,....
At one time Hughes was being hyped as a high draft possibility yet he was ranked 196 among North Americans in the final draft rankings... his stock clearly has dropped like a rock.
They might have a good goalie recruit but goaltending wasn't a weakness for them before when they struggled. It was everything else that stunk.
I'd expect them to win more next year (haven't studied their schedule though). But it won't shock me at all if they still end up as a well below .500 team.
Thoughts on Besse Hammy? Personally, I'm glad he didn't come to the U.
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I don't know... maybe he makes a strong push in the next year or two in college but I don't know that I see a guy that I wish my team had. At least not for the scholarship amount he is likely getting at UW.Sats81 wrote:Thoughts on Besse Hammy? Personally, I'm glad he didn't come to the U.
I always felt he would have been better off in a different program than UW. The way they have traditionally played under Eaves (very structured system, etc) didn't seem to lend itself to his strengths.
The funny thing is if he played UW's entire schedule with the same energy that he has against the Gophers, I'd probably say, "I like him! Wish he were on our team!" But he hasn't done it that way.
So true!Gopher Blog wrote:I don't know... maybe he makes a strong push in the next year or two in college but I don't know that I see a guy that I wish my team had. At least not for the scholarship amount he is likely getting at UW.Sats81 wrote:Thoughts on Besse Hammy? Personally, I'm glad he didn't come to the U.
I always felt he would have been better off in a different program than UW. The way they have traditionally played under Eaves (very structured system, etc) didn't seem to lend itself to his strengths.
The funny thing is if he played UW's entire schedule with the same energy that he has against the Gophers, I'd probably say, "I like him! Wish he were on our team!" But he hasn't done it that way.
I will respectfully agree to disagree with you. I still think they are excellent individual players. I think they ended up on a bad team with no depth and no one to help them contribute. Hockey is still the ultimate team game and a single player, especially a freshman of their age, aren't going to be able to "carry" a team or a scoring load. In a normal season you would pair them with some other high end or veteran players capable of complimenting them and their strengths. On a different team or with different linemates I still see the talent and think they'd be an asset to any team, they just need better help around them.Gopher Blog wrote:Honestly, I didn't forget to mention them. I simply don't think they are particularly special players. Both Rockwood and Hughes only scored 3 goals and 13 pts. while seeing a good amount of playing time. I am sure they will improve on those numbers (pretty tough not to) but I don't see guys that really appear to be destined for stardom.JSR wrote:Cameron Hughes, freshman this past season, is still considered one of the top young forwards in the country with NHL upside. Adam Rockwood is also a young talented freshman forward, and Jedd Soleway is a solid big body guy who could be a good third line winger so I think you forgot about those guys when mentioning forwards. Beyond them I can't disagree with you though forward wise. I do think the defense has a couple horses and the incoming goalie is the top recruit in the country by most measures in goal so there is some reason to believe things could pick up. I mean lord knows it can't be worse than this year,....
At one time Hughes was being hyped as a high draft possibility yet he was ranked 196 among North Americans in the final draft rankings... his stock clearly has dropped like a rock.
They might have a good goalie recruit but goaltending wasn't a weakness for them before when they struggled. It was everything else that stunk.
I'd expect them to win more next year (haven't studied their schedule though). But it won't shock me at all if they still end up as a well below .500 team.
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Losing Opilka is bad for UW. I still think it was a huge mistake to not fire the whole coaching staff after last season. I think retaining Eaves will only set UW back a few more years in the rebuilding process. The perception is he is on borrowed time and that is going to be a tough mountain to climb when recruiting against elite programs with more stability.
Losing Opilka is huge. And it's a bit mind blowing honestly because Wisconsin has a long history of developing quality goaltenders and he was going to be the starter day one so I'm not sure what happened here. Word of mouth is the NHL team that drafted him forced his hand but still seems like a bad move in my opinion regardless.Gopher Blog wrote:Losing Opilka is bad for UW. I still think it was a huge mistake to not fire the whole coaching staff after last season. I think retaining Eaves will only set UW back a few more years in the rebuilding process. The perception is he is on borrowed time and that is going to be a tough mountain to climb when recruiting against elite programs with more stability.
As I've said before I would have liked to have seen the whole staff fired as well but Eaves wasn't so we have to make the best of it. Luke Strand was a good hire, I don't know a lot about the other new guy. I guess we will see how it plays out
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Yea that one hurts, losing Opilka is still a bigger loss but this one definitely hurts and adds insult to injury for sure. A little surpsied by Dougherty honestly, the reality is he could have used one more year of college, the new assistant coaches are WAY better than the two jackholes that just left, not really sure what went into the decision but oh well...Gopher Blog wrote:Just lost Jack Dougherty. That's a big hit in my mind as I think he had the best potential out of their D group to be a very good player the next few seasons.
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The feeling I had from talking to somebody that knows the family is he picked UW mainly for the playing time he'd get right away. When I asked this same person during last season how the kid was handling all the losing, he said it didn't seem to matter to the kid as long as he got enough ice time. Kinda figured that UW might not be a long term priority when you hear stuff like that.JSR wrote:Yea that one hurts, losing Opilka is still a bigger loss but this one definitely hurts and adds insult to injury for sure. A little surpsied by Dougherty honestly, the reality is he could have used one more year of college, the new assistant coaches are WAY better than the two jackholes that just left, not really sure what went into the decision but oh well...Gopher Blog wrote:Just lost Jack Dougherty. That's a big hit in my mind as I think he had the best potential out of their D group to be a very good player the next few seasons.