AJS

With a student pilot.

We want Raboin! Chavez is going to nail this! When this happens, nice little stick tap for Rydell for offering up the plane. Chavez treating this like a big-time hire. Very D1 move.

I mean…Rydell doing the University a favor?! Gotta be our guy! Tail numbaz don’t lie!

Interesting flight departing Joe Foss Fld in an hour! Chavez get his guy?! @gfhockey what do those tail numbaz tell us?

any activity today? anything out of Joe Foss?

This makes me feel *a bit* better. If it was close ties to the AD office, I would be much more nervous.

Hand up, I am officially nervous. I always expected Jax to be interested and for him to be listed as a finalist when the new coach is announced. I still cannot fathom him getting the job logically, but who else is being named? I just keep telling myself, you don't fire Berry with one year left, pay him $500K just to hire his Assistant who you could have just hired a year from now. Need some other rumors though for my sanity.

@jdub27 will absolutely hate this and will say it feels like cherry picking, but what happened in the NIL era / last few years has to be weighted more heavily. IMO, the state of the program in 2025 is far worse than it was in 2022. Things are changing quickly in the collegiate landscape. I'm listening to what @yzerman19 is saying about recruiting. It's a different conversation about Berry's overall legacy. For the current state of this program and the future, it's absolutely what have you done for me lately.

Something would have to give for Jax to be a viable candidate. The blame for the state of the program (the reason Berry was let go) would have to shift entirely to Berry’s shoulders. It would be Jax that would have to explain that to the fanbase. The Jordan Schmaltz video holds no water. The message could not be, Berry is this awesome guy / coach and so is Jax. You clearly cannot have more of the same. Illogical.

This is in response to @Speed_Kills post about Jax being the frontrunner. Which I do not doubt his information. I was shocked at first, but giving it a bit more thought, maybe I shouldn't have been. Even in this expedited process, I think what we'll see is a shift from emotional to logical. At the same point, looking at what is to be expected from certain segments. Current / former players from the Berry / Jackson era. I'm making two assumptions. The first being, of course they were recruited and play for those coaches. There's no doubt they will throw their support publicly towards Jackson. Or if not publicly, the rumor mill will favor Jackson for those with connections to the hockey circles. We all remember in the past few years, social media campaigns from current players wanting Freuchte / Roehl to get the open job. This goes beyond the players, this would also include current staff, they would also want to keep their jobs and the status quo. Side note, I would also think that if a player didn't feel that way, they clearly wouldn't feel comfortable enough to come out against their current coach. I also believe that if Jax was a lock to be the guy, they would have announced it by now. As far as him being the frontrunner, Monday morning / Monday afternoon. Vs who? Himself? Had anyone else applied? Do they know who Chaves and his small circle has on their wish list? Unless @Speed_Kills source is from the AD's office, I think we'll see a shift. The shift we should see is to the logical, which is anyone but Jax. The President / AD who fired Berry because of performance is not going to hire his Assistant. Let's not forget they paid 500K because they felt the direction needed to change.

I’m really leaning this way as well. Seems incredibly short sided if you think there’s a viable candidate and you don’t at least see if they get knocked off in the regionals. The way I see it, nobody is going to enter on Sunday that wasn’t going to already. If they are going to at least hear the new coach out, they would wait an extra couple days. I do think waiting until after the Frozen Four would be too long, so those 4 would be out. You start the interview process with the other candidates as scheduled.

Why would anyone step down then?

Firing Berry based on performance and then hiring his top assistant is completely nonsensical. We're officially at the Fruechte is the frontrunner portion of the process.

No reason to discuss Dane or anyone else currently on staff. You aren’t going to fire the head coach based on performance just to hire the assistant coach under him. No chance.

Schloss must have truly been blindsided by this. No way he lets that out if he thinks there's a chance Berry was getting fired. He was doing a great job as always of laying the tracks as to the next "unlucky" incident to hit Berry.

Good news is it appears more and more people are learning his playbook. Unlike the women's hockey decision, which caused pure vitriol, where he wanted to take down the University, this feels like more embarrassment. Embarrassment has turned into anger. Hopefully short lived. He's spiraling right now. The way I see it, give everyone 48 hours to completely process (I'm talking current players, recruits). Hope for no rash decisions. Clearly, they all liked Berry as a person. My $ is on they winning a lot more. Let the buzz start building on who the new coach will be and the excitement that surrounds it. I still believe that the damage will be less because of this decision than if Berry was still in place.

Looks like the new coach is going to have to win over Schlossman. He’s throwing a fit like we haven’t seen since women’s hockey was dropped.

At find it so hard to believe if offered he would turn it down to stay at Augie. No chance.

It’s @Shawn-O & @gfhockey time to shine!

Bubba announcement was Nov 30 - Schmidt announced Dec 8 Can this be done by Friday?

Not like he’s only coached out East. Resume is exactly what I’d hope we’re looking for.

Not against bringing in a St. Clair as an assistant, but want the new HC to have no previous ties.

Greg Moore or Raboin

Nice call on Berry not going anywhere. No way to know, but I’m convinced it would have been worse if no change would have been made. Exciting times ahead.

I go back and forth. I could be giving too much credit for Chaves with what happened with the football program, but we’ll find out in the next two days how loud the alarms really are within the hockey program. If they are truly loud, an announcement will be made and Berry will no longer be the coach. Chaves is a bad AD and Berry is a bad coach, but no way Berry lets the program burn. That would happen if 1/2 of what is rumored takes place.