Coach Lechner

[Tape2Tape]

For years I have read what a great high school hockey coach Bill Lechner is. I'm not sure I would categorize him as a "great coach", but rather, a "successful coach".

Hill/Hill-Murray has a long-storied tradition of high school hockey success. From Andre Beaulieu to Terry Skrypeck to Jeff Whisler to Steve Rohlik to Bill Lechner. These coaches all share a similar quality....they were successful.

As a private school, HM receives students from a wide geographical area. Almost every year, the Pioneer hockey program begins the year with more talent than every team in their section and often have the talent to compete with any team in the State. These players are often some of the better players from their local youth programs. They can come to the school for a variety of reasons, but one of which, is to wear the HM jersey. They quickly learn the Pioneer tradition and use that as motivation to continue the history of success.

I just wonder if we would know Coach Lechner's name if he were coaching at the likes of Woodbury, Tartan, or East Ridge. He would then have to compete against a HM team that may have received some talented players that may have attended the school he coaches at. I'm not saying he is a bad coach, I'm just saying let's keep things in perspective. Coach Lechner didn't create the identity of success of the Pioneer Hockey Program, but the Pioneer Hockey Program did create the identity of success of the Coach Lechner.

Hill-Murray was successful before he arrived and I predict they will remain successful after he hangs up his whistle.

[wbmd]

Hill-Murray was successful before he arrived and I predict they will remain successful after he hangs up his whistle.

Agreed with.

[Sparlimb]

He coached Stillwater HS before he came to HM and I believe he was about .500 there. Agree the talent level has helped him for sure. That said, he does have a style of play that has led to championships. I like his defensive style even though it gets boring. He keeps the kids away from fire wagon hockey. So he does get credit for molding those kids into a team all these years.

[TourneyEarnie]

Since managing the HM team 7-8 years ago I agree. I've said this multiple times, Lechs has the ability to elevate any team he coaches. From good to great, great to elite, and from elite to world beaters. He understand the building blocks his teams need, at the start of the year and goes from there. Take for example this years team is on the younger side and they had to run through the gauntlet of one of the toughest schedules in the state. If better competition makes better players, then with all the returning players in the next 2-3 years, they will be more than battle tested.

[BlueLineSpecial]

In most cases, coaching success is a direct byproduct of talent level on the team. Bill Belichick & Phil Jackson are roundly considered great coaches - or at least successful coaches - but saddle them with the Lions or Twolves rosters back in the day and they'd have far fewer wins and a lot less hardware. So it's easy to say: well give that team to any coach and they'd be successful. And in part they'd be right. But there's a nuance that's missed by looking at it that way. Lechner & Schafhauser are game planning masters. They're great at understanding their team strengths/weaknesses, their opponent, and then coming up with a game plan that gives them the best shot at winning. They're also very good at player/team development. That's been a knock on WBL's Sager for a long time; as long as I've been on this board. Hill's teams are almost always playing their best hockey at the end of the year.

I think it was mnpuckster that said Lechner is constantly teaching'/coaching during the game. That struck a cord with me after watching Hill play Gentry, with one very specific example. In the 2nd period Riley Zupfer got a matching roughing penalty and by all indications he wasn't the instigator. After that penalty was over and Zupfer skated back to the bench, I watched Lechner talking to him for like a full 30 seconds. He may have been giving him the business a little, but I have to believe it was more teaching him about composure and situational hockey. Zupfer is an 8th grader. This was a teaching opportunity that didn't need to wait until after the game or in practice later in the week.

So yeah, give the Hill roster in any given year to another coach in section 4AA and they're going to do just fine. But it's the little things that Lech & Co do that don't necessarily get seen on the scorecard that makes them top notch. I'm not convinced Hill wins both their last two titles ('08 & '20) without this coaching staff. And in a game like we saw against Gentry, Lech & Co came up with a near-perfect game plan. Gentry was as hot as any team in the state going into that game, and Hill made them look downright bad.

[Zamman]

There is more to being a good coach than winning. He is a coach who does not care about the trophy case, but about the whole team and how they grow. A few years back he dismissed a couple of his star players because of something they did, does not matter, and that team still was a success. Yes his playrers come from all areas, but he loses players just like all teams and then takes these players and molds them into a team. Something other schools do not need to do for the most part. One other aspect of this coach is, he is the first one one in the arena will shake hands with the staff and will be the last one on the bus making sure that his teams respoect the facilitied and if they are not up to the arena standards will get his players off the bus and make sure the locker room is in perfect shape. Now other teams do that now, but he has been that way as long as I can remember at Richfield when HM plays there. Just my opinion.

[SEC Scotty]

Lechner is a good coach who every year gets some of the best players in the East Metro. Cretin, St. Thomas, and now Lucias Academy are skimming players for the glory of starry eyed parents. Don’t put this guy on a pedestal. He doesn’t walk on water. I’m sure most east metro coaches wish they had to work with what “Lex” has to endure.

Section 3AA teams have to play through Cretin and St. Thomas. Section 4AA teams have to go through Lucias Academy and Hill Murray.

Time for a private school tourney.

I may give up my AA seasons tickets and go to the single A games. 7 of 8 teams return in AA. Boring.

[yesiplayedhockey]

14 of the past 18 season Hill has made it to state

Either they have one very large recruiting budget or it's time to seriously think about realignment

But SEC Scotty is correct. I'm bored with the AA tournament and probably won't watch a game this year

[stpaul]

72,000 people in the Xcel Center for the four AA sessions and a large statewide TV audience disagree with both of you. As for a private school tournament, that issue was decided 49 years ago. HM, AHA, CDH and BSM have won 8 of 48 AA titles in those years. Not exactly domination. Edina alone has won 10 times during that same time.

[Yoopskater]

There are plenty of coaches with lots of talent that manage to screw it up. Kudos to Lech for getting it done consistently.

[yesiplayedhockey]

St Paul

I agree...Hands down a bucket list event for any hockey fan in the world

But are you saying you are perfectly fine with the same schools returning every year?

Are you perfectly fine with one team going 14 out of 18 years?

Are you perfectly fine with the level of recruiting currently going on with high school kids

This tournament is great. But even greatness deserves to be tweaked.

It's okay to be a huge Hill fan and bury your head in the sand like there isn't any issues. No one will arrest you for bleeding Hill Green

But let's call a spade a spade....If Lechner was coaching Tartan, or South St Paul, his record would be very similar to whomever was coaching those teams this past year.

You win with talent...But in todays world, if you don't have talent, then you simply need to recruit harder...

He's a very good coach in a very fortunate situation

[Smooth]

We need to go back to the private school tournament

[BodyShots]

St Paul

I agree...Hands down a bucket list event for any hockey fan in the world

But are you saying you are perfectly fine with the same schools returning every year?

Are you perfectly fine with one team going 14 out of 18 years?

Are you perfectly fine with the level of recruiting currently going on with high school kids

This tournament is great. But even greatness deserves to be tweaked.

It's okay to be a huge Hill fan and bury your head in the sand like there isn't any issues. No one will arrest you for bleeding Hill Green

But let's call a spade a spade....If Lechner was coaching Tartan, or South St Paul, his record would be very similar to whomever was coaching those teams this past year.

You win with talent...But in todays world, if you don't have talent, then you simply need to recruit harder...

He's a very good coach in a very fortunate situation

Amen

[OldManRiver]

There are plenty of coaches with lots of talent that manage to screw it up. Kudos to Lech for getting it done consistently.

I agree with this take.

There are plenty of Coaches who have talent and manage to keep the team average. Conversely, there are some coaches without as much talent who sometimes get more out of the players.

If you get a good coach who develops players (wherever they come from) and give that coach talent, the result is usually the type of run that Lechner is having.

I would say that examples of coaches who "overreached" with the talent they have is whomever is running the programs in Champlin Park or Buffalo.

[hawkhockey]

14 of the past 18 season Hill has made it to state

Either they have one very large recruiting budget or it's time to seriously think about realignment

But SEC Scotty is correct. I'm bored with the AA tournament and probably won't watch a game this year

It isn't the fault of Hill that White Bear and Stillwater crap the bed when they have better teams than Hill like this year. I would think it speaks to Lechner's abilities that he gets his teams to play their best in the playoffs unlike White Bear.

[BlueLineSpecial]

14 of the past 18 season Hill has made it to state

Either they have one very large recruiting budget or it's time to seriously think about realignment

But SEC Scotty is correct. I'm bored with the AA tournament and probably won't watch a game this year

It isn't the fault of Hill that White Bear and Stillwater crap the bed when they have better teams than Hill like this year. I would think it speaks to Lechner's abilities that he gets his teams to play their best in the playoffs unlike White Bear.

Using the last 18 years as our barometer:

Hill - 14 trips to State
#1 seed - 9 times
#2 seed - 4 times
#3 seed - 1 time

WBL - 2 trips to State
#1 seed - 1 time
#2 seed - 1 time

Stillwater - 2 trips to State
#1 seed - 1 time
#2 seed - 0 times
#3 seed - 1 time

5 of 18 times, Hill won the section as a lower seed (~28% of the time)
1 of 18 times, WBL won the section as a lower seed (~5% of the time)
1 of 18 times, Stillwater won the section as a lower seed (~5% of the time)

One could draw the conclusion then, that Hill rises to the occasion when playoffs come and when it matters most. One could also draw the conclusion that WBL and Stillwater do not.

[inthetwine]

14 of the past 18 season Hill has made it to state

Either they have one very large recruiting budget or it's time to seriously think about realignment

But SEC Scotty is correct. I'm bored with the AA tournament and probably won't watch a game this year

It isn't the fault of Hill that White Bear and Stillwater crap the bed when they have better teams than Hill like this year. I would think it speaks to Lechner's abilities that he gets his teams to play their best in the playoffs unlike White Bear.

And Sager’s inabilities!

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

We need to go back to the private school tournament

Life's such a drag when you live in the past.

[norcon]

I had the opportunity to meet coach Lechner while I worked at the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids a few years back. Hill Murray has been coming up to scrimmage Rapids a couple weeks before the regular season starts for a number of years now. Coach Lechner would find those of us working and and thank us for taking care of the ice and having such a well maintained facility. He made sure that his players cleaned up after themselves and left those locker rooms looking better than when they arrived. Never heard him ever yell at his players on the bench whether it was a scrimmage or regular season game. Total class act guy as far as I’m concerned!

[Cobber]

Am I a Hill fan, Never
Am I a Lechner fan, Respect
He always has his team ready for playoffs and he does it the right way. They usually over perform.
You look at the quality of teams that come into the AA tourney and everyone had to go through some very talented teams to get there and every team has enough talented players to win it all.So what stands out are these coaches that know how to get the most out of their team. There are teams that are in this tournament and many other years as well that are very talented and do very well in the youth programs but can’t ever win the big one. I know the kids play the game but these teams that win championships have a very classy and knowledgeable coach and some teams don’t.

[szellman]

Lechner is a good coach who every year gets some of the best players in the East Metro. Cretin, St. Thomas, and now Lucias Academy are skimming players for the glory of starry eyed parents. Don’t put this guy on a pedestal. He doesn’t walk on water. I’m sure most east metro coaches wish they had to work with what “Lex” has to endure.

Section 3AA teams have to play through Cretin and St. Thomas. Section 4AA teams have to go through Lucias Academy and Hill Murray.

Time for a private school tourney.

I may give up my AA seasons tickets and go to the single A games. 7 of 8 teams return in AA. Boring.

If you give up your tickets, let me know.

[szellman]

We need to go back to the private school tournament

Records by school type/region:
Private Schools – 5 wins - 4 losses
North/Iron Range - 5 wins - 6 losses
Non-north Public - 12 wins - 12 losses

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

Lechner is a good coach who every year gets some of the best players in the East Metro. Cretin, St. Thomas, and now Lucias Academy are skimming players for the glory of starry eyed parents. Don’t put this guy on a pedestal. He doesn’t walk on water. I’m sure most east metro coaches wish they had to work with what “Lex” has to endure.

Section 3AA teams have to play through Cretin and St. Thomas. Section 4AA teams have to go through Lucias Academy and Hill Murray.

Time for a private school tourney.

I may give up my AA seasons tickets and go to the single A games. 7 of 8 teams return in AA. Boring.

If you give up your tickets, let me know.

Yeah, a lot of people thought it was a boring AA tournament. It was hard to tell if you were at an A or AA session, the crowds were so sparse. Could have held it at Aldrich.

[MNHockeyFan]

72,000 people in the Xcel Center for the four AA sessions and a large statewide TV audience disagree with both of you. As for a private school tournament, that issue was decided 49 years ago. HM, AHA, CDH and BSM have won 8 of 48 AA titles in those years. Not exactly domination. Edina alone has won 10 times during that same time.

Actually Duluth Cathedral won five consecutive State Catholic Tournaments from 1965 to 1969. During this timeframe Hill High School won twice, in 1965 and 1969.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

72,000 people in the Xcel Center for the four AA sessions and a large statewide TV audience disagree with both of you. As for a private school tournament, that issue was decided 49 years ago. HM, AHA, CDH and BSM have won 8 of 48 AA titles in those years. Not exactly domination. Edina alone has won 10 times during that same time.

Actually Duluth Cathedral won five consecutive State Catholic Tournaments from 1965 to 1969. During this timeframe Hill High School won twice, in 1965 and 1969.

Ok smarty pants. It was the Independent State High School League.