Irish

It's not like we don't have resources - I believe that the future of our program depends on how stubborn and resistant to change Berry is. Our lack of recruiting success has put us in a hole we need climb out of. No way we should be here but we need to turn this around immediately.

One team recruited a lot of high end talent and the other didn't.

Nailed it - the big question is do the Coaches recognize this and do they have a plan to get us on track? I really thought that after 2016 we would be lights out for recruiting - especially with Karl. Now we can't even keep our goalie stream going and are in the portal for a goalie for the third year. Also we have to replace our entire defense. Development overall has been a problem. How many scorers have we had fizzle out? The thing I worry about is that coaches can be very blind when it comes to their approach and programs. And I don't count on Chaves to correct things. The ship needs to be righted very soon or we could be in serious trouble especially since Denver and Minny are nailing it.

I don't think anyone is arguing that having a great culture for a program is not important. It's just that when we have a miserable season like this one while our enemies prosper it is frustrating and hearing Berry talk "culture" once again. After we give up a lead in the third the "culture" talk after the game is somewhat incongruent. We need to have culture and skill - some high end talent. So far one of those is missing. Focus on getting some blue chippers, upping the style of play, and getting our recruiting straightened out. Then we can have culture and a winning program.

No one wants any individual players to be "publicly lashed". The info I would like is much more big picture. Both Football and Hockey have had trouble when it comes time for the playoffs - and it has been going on for a while. Most of the problems generally involve recruitment, development, and possibly program philosophies. The specifics have been mentioned many times on the boards - what are some specific things we are planning as a program to improve this situation? Are we going to do what we have always done only more-so or will some changes be made? And we absolutely can't afford to get behind in the NIL race. How many years are we going to wait for a playoff win in either program?

This should be a big concern to all of us. It used to be that every small town had a contingent of fans of both schools and there was a wonderful rivalry. Because of short sighted decisions by administration we are late to DI and are light years behind the Bison. We used to counter by saying "but we have a top hockey program" but now not so much. In addition, changes here seem to move glacially and we seem to have settled for slightly above average - add the years that we had Muss for head coach or Rudy for OC and you will see what I mean. Part of the frustration shown by posters on this site is that we get absolutely no useful info into what we are doing to correct things. Coaches indulge in "super coachspeak" - "Shucky darn we need to get better" from Bubba and "culture culture culture" from Berry. Our AD seems to be missing in action and is not setting any goals that we know of for our programs (I know he has laid out our plans for the Athletic Complex, but we get no info as to what we need to do for individual programs). No NIL initiatives that I can see. I get the message that we need to support our programs monetarily, but many of us are maxed out and have season tickets and a Coaches Club membership. I like the "money for Bubba" idea but it looks like it maxed out at $60,000. We need something to rally around or we will end up being second tier.

Sadly "recruited" is the proper tense of the word lately.

I know in this small market he has to maintain a relationship with coaches but a little probing that might offer some insight into what is happening in our program would be great and probably calm down this board if we can understand what went wrong and how it is being addressed. All coaches use "coachspeak" but Berry is a master of it leading to the "culture" comments on this board because that is basically all we get out of him. A little info that coaches have a plan to change things would be great - When we speculate on this board we often assume the worst and many are worried that we are on the road to being in a group that includes Wisconsin.

And our goalie play among the worst - and portal goalie for the third year. That being said, it's hard to tell what is going on internally. I'm hoping that what we're seeing is Berry and Co. realizing there was a problem and trying to correct it. We'll know more when we see our portal pick ups.

Top programs shouldn't have either problem.

Nailed it

I hope so - but we have "subtracted" our entire defense.

Is what has happened so far in our off season "roster management" or a free fall? What is going on with recruiting? - we are once again in the portal for a goalie and now have zero returning defensemen. Not sure we are going to catch the top teams with this approach (if you can call it an approach)

After watching Day 1 it is pretty clear that we really need to up our recruiting game. Not saying we don't have some nice players coming in, but wow there is some elite talent buzzing around in this tournament. Hopefully we're on it. We need the portal this year but need to rebuild a steady pipeline that is balanced in numbers and by position.

Exactly - we need to sell our program to top talent. We've had a good track record in the past.

Wow - that big brain of yours has uncovered the root of our problems.

A great game followed by a long slide. It showed our potential and what possibly could have been. We expected a team like this for the season and a top 5 team nationally.

As long as we have seasons and droughts like this one - yes. Are you happy with how things are going with our program?

In summary - this season was a disaster - we are offloading some guys who didn't develop at all here including some draft picks. We are hoping to get home ice next year - it will be the third year we get a portal goalie. Meanwhile in the big picture - 3 of our big rivals are loaded, top seeded, and playing fast and with skill - Gophers, Michigan, and of course Denver. Even if next year pans out like we hope we will be light years away from the top. Look at the Gophers top line and then look at ours. Berry and Co. need a course correction now or we could be in for a long slow ride. We need top talent again and soon. So far all we hear from Berry is the "culture" talk.

Desperate times call for desperate measures - hey, it's worth a shot.

They should also be forced to watch all of the Gopher, Michigan, and Denver playoff games to see what teams with talent and speed look like. However, if looking at our goalie situation doesn't dial them in I don't know what will. It's been a long long time since I have seen a Sioux Hockey coaching staff flounder this much.

This is exactly accurate - and quite an eyeopener as to how our current coaching staff operates - throw in slow play and here we are.

The odds of Berry seeing the light are around zero percent. Coaches are notoriously stubborn with their systems. And other than this board and the fanbase there is no demand for excellence in our athletic department. Be prepared for more of the same. Sadly.

Nailed it. My worry is that there are no short leashes in the AD's office and Berry won't make the necessary changes on his own. If this happens we will be like Wisconsin. Also I thought when we got Karl as assistant he would give us a boost in recruiting and that our goalie play would be outstanding. Not sure what is going on there. We need to be a team that is hard to play against and has speed and skill again. We look and play slow and high end talent doesn't want to play like that.