Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 7:07 am
I feel so used and feel the need to impose a 72 hour wait period before commenting on any future threads.....
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From what Lee Smith was saying it sounded like Lucia was trying to pressure him into a last minute decision. Lucia seems to be the one with egg on his face this morning.Gopher Blog wrote:http://tinyurl.com/2ce82pe
Those of you that ripped Lucia in this situation have egg on your face once you read his dad's comments in the article above.
Lucia is worthy of criticism in a number of respects (I'm right there with people on some topics). But making kids leave HS early is not one of them.
So you are saying Rau's dad is lying? Because he made it pretty clear that Lucia has always maintained that the kid could do what was in his heart. I tend to believe a father over the overly emotional coach that had to rely on text messagesMrBoDangles wrote:From what Lee Smith was saying it sounded like Lucia was trying to pressure him into a last minute decision. Lucia seems to be the one with egg on his face this morning.Gopher Blog wrote:http://tinyurl.com/2ce82pe
Those of you that ripped Lucia in this situation have egg on your face once you read his dad's comments in the article above.
Lucia is worthy of criticism in a number of respects (I'm right there with people on some topics). But making kids leave HS early is not one of them.
12:58 in the interview
I think it was pretty obvious what Rau (the player) wanted to do all along. It seemed to me that the texts between coaches were pretty heated.Gopher Blog wrote:So you are saying Rau's dad is lying? Because he made it pretty clear that Lucia has always maintained that the kid could do what was in his heart. I tend to believe a father over the overly emotional coach that had to rely on text messagesMrBoDangles wrote:From what Lee Smith was saying it sounded like Lucia was trying to pressure him into a last minute decision. Lucia seems to be the one with egg on his face this morning.Gopher Blog wrote:http://tinyurl.com/2ce82pe
Those of you that ripped Lucia in this situation have egg on your face once you read his dad's comments in the article above.
Lucia is worthy of criticism in a number of respects (I'm right there with people on some topics). But making kids leave HS early is not one of them.
12:58 in the interview
For Lucia, desperate times call for desperate measures... thankfully in this case, Kyle and family saw the bigger picture and did the right thing. Kyle does not need to go to Sioux Falls to become a better hockey player. Those of us who have had the pleasure of watching him over the past many years realize that he is just one of those extremely rare kids who has an incredible innate hockey sense that can't be taught. In addition to all the natural talent he has, he will work harder than anyone else on the ice and he will take your head off if you piss him off. He has and will always be the best player on any team he plays for. He could go to the Gophers today and he would be the best player on that team period, end of story. Lucia did the right thing here as well, you do whatever is necessary to ensure you get that kid on your team. Good luck to Kyle and the rest of the EP boys this year, it should be fun!MrBoDangles wrote:From what Lee Smith was saying it sounded like Lucia was trying to pressure him into a last minute decision. Lucia seems to be the one with egg on his face this morning.Gopher Blog wrote:http://tinyurl.com/2ce82pe
Those of you that ripped Lucia in this situation have egg on your face once you read his dad's comments in the article above.
Lucia is worthy of criticism in a number of respects (I'm right there with people on some topics). But making kids leave HS early is not one of them.
12:58 in the interview
What do you expect his father to say? You're a Gopher insider - you know that the truth is that there was significant pressure being applied from multiple fronts including Lucia.Gopher Blog wrote:So you are saying Rau's dad is lying? Because he made it pretty clear that Lucia has always maintained that the kid could do what was in his heart. I tend to believe a father over the overly emotional coach that had to rely on text messagesMrBoDangles wrote:From what Lee Smith was saying it sounded like Lucia was trying to pressure him into a last minute decision. Lucia seems to be the one with egg on his face this morning.Gopher Blog wrote:http://tinyurl.com/2ce82pe
Those of you that ripped Lucia in this situation have egg on your face once you read his dad's comments in the article above.
Lucia is worthy of criticism in a number of respects (I'm right there with people on some topics). But making kids leave HS early is not one of them.
12:58 in the interview
He said, "The pressure came from Kyle wanting to become the best hockey player he could be. So he decided to commit to Sioux Falls, maybe without thinking about all the consequences that could come with it"shakey wrote:What do you expect his father to say? You're a Gopher insider - you know that the truth is that there was significant pressure being applied from multiple fronts including Lucia.
seemed to work out for Nick LeddyPlay 26 games with maybe 5 of those with any intensity at all, and then go in and try to play a 50 game tilt with men. Name the last player in the last 5-6 years that this has worked for
Raider Guy, you obviously have not even spent more than 5 minutes around Kyle. As I mentioned, he is not like any other hockey player I have ever seen or been around in my many years. Go watch him, not for just 1 game, but for a few games. Watch every shift he takes, count how many times he doesn't have an impact in one way or another during that shift. Let me give you a hint, you won't need more than one hand. He's one kid you won't have to worry about next year.Raider Nation Guy wrote:Supertacks, how can u say that Rau will not get better in the USHL? What a stupid comment!! What do you think that leauge is for. If the kid wants to play past the rotten Gophers he needs to move on, and play better competion. This is the exact thinking of the Don. He will be another Gopher that fails at the U because he has made the decision to come right out of high school and be a Gopher. Play 26 games with maybe 5 of those with any intensity at all, and then go in and try to play a 50 game tilt with men. Name the last player in the last 5-6 years that this has worked for!! This is why this Gopher program sucks. There not even a top 20 college anymore. Why would anyone pick this college?
You sound pretty sure that you have the facts in this case. Why should anyone take your word for it?The Exiled One wrote:Tally another vote for the side of college coaches. They DON'T tell recruits to leave HS early... they just don't. However, they WILL tell certain recruits that a year or two of juniors is expected (after high school is fine with them). This is where the Rau story got so mixed up. Kyle was NOT told he would have to play juniors when he verbally accepted his scholarship offer. Lee Smith led us to believe that Lucia had gone back to Kyle sometime during the Elite League season and told him that the deal had been altered... it hadn't. What happened is that Kyle started believing that playing in the USHL might make him more preparred for college next season... then he changed his mind... again.
That being said, it's not unheard of for college coaches to alter the "straight from high school" deal. The "straight from high school" deal is so uncommon these days that only exceptional players are offered it... and coaches try not to renege on exceptional players. However, it's happened
on occasion. This was NOT one of those occasions.
Not sure we're talking about the same thing. Lofquist, Schroeder, and O'Brien did not come straight from HS. Leddy and Bjugstad are exceptional players. I know more about Budish and Gardiner than I wish to share, but both of them are borderline exceptional. Regardless, all of those guys could easily have made a different WCHA roster as a "straight from high school" freshman.Raider Nation Guy wrote:Exiled one, how can you say it does not happen anymore. Bjustad, Gardiner,Ness,Leddy, Loftquist,Schroeder, O'Brein. I know for a fact that Vancouver wanted Schrads out of that mess, and the Hawks wanted Leddy out of there also since they don't have a def. coach. Not one of these players has it worked out for. Bjustad has 1 point in 5 games and is -6 Gardiner has 1 point and is -1 with no ice time. The only coach in the WCHA that takes kids straight out of high school is Don. Go back and look at the average age of the 4 teams in the Final Four last year. You will be stunned!! RIT who was in the Final Four last year is not getting the top recruits in the nation, they are getting 21 year old freshman from Canada. Until the Don figures it out he will continue to finish at the bottom of this leauge.
Because they don't NEED to tell their recruits to leave high school early. You don't have to take my word for it, just think about it. If they're asked to play a year of juniors, the pressure is on them to start college as a true freshmen is usually enough to do the trick. Just from the Huskies, Festler is one who bowed to the pressure, but Garrett Hendrickson is sticking around for his senior season. Hanowski is the only Husky in a while give the opportunity to come "straight from high school".shakey wrote:You sound pretty sure that you have the facts in this case. Why should anyone take your word for it?The Exiled One wrote:Tally another vote for the side of college coaches. They DON'T tell recruits to leave HS early... they just don't. However, they WILL tell certain recruits that a year or two of juniors is expected (after high school is fine with them). This is where the Rau story got so mixed up. Kyle was NOT told he would have to play juniors when he verbally accepted his scholarship offer. Lee Smith led us to believe that Lucia had gone back to Kyle sometime during the Elite League season and told him that the deal had been altered... it hadn't. What happened is that Kyle started believing that playing in the USHL might make him more preparred for college next season... then he changed his mind... again.
That being said, it's not unheard of for college coaches to alter the "straight from high school" deal. The "straight from high school" deal is so uncommon these days that only exceptional players are offered it... and coaches try not to renege on exceptional players. However, it's happened
on occasion. This was NOT one of those occasions.
I disagree. The skill level and average age of the Gophers is not so different than before 2007. The Gophers suck because their coaches suck. Namely, they've got an experienced guy who can't coach defense, an exuberent but inexperienced guy coaching the forwards, and a guy who knows how to coach but won't get rid of the other two.Raider Nation Guy wrote:Hey EXLIED ONE,exactly my point all three of those players acclerated there education and worse came in as 17 year olds. Not one of them did it work for. As far as Buddish goes theres no way he is a top 6 forward at ND, Duluth, Wisc, or Denver last year. The skill level is why they have been awful the last couple of years. High school players skill level does not mean they can compete with 22-23 year old men.