Irish

And we have done how? lately in the frozen 4's? Getting there is only half the problem

So it's way harder to win a championship now than when we last won one - I know it's a fact because many people say so, but hard to explain They haven't gone to a World Cup format and only play every 4 years have they? - No, ok, they still give one out each year. Well, there must be a lot more teams playing hockey. No, about the same? What could it be - oh, they changed the playoffs so that there are 16 teams instead of 12. I see, that must make it almost impossible to win - a magic occurance where everything has to align. Wait, what's that? Denver won back to back - what are the odds of that happening - what, the Gophers too - unbelieveable - what? BC has won how many? Impossible. You have to put together a streak how long? 4 games? and you need a what - "hot goalie" - what's that? Well, maybe some of the teams got new state of the art facilities that are nicer than most NHL programs - that might upset the balance - wait - that's us? Next you'll be telling me Duluth won one. I call BS on the "it's way harder now" theory. Same amount of teams - one wins every year - time to lace them up and get it done. When you're 1-5 in frozen 4 games, it's hard to blame the format

Not saying he should be fired - just saying that the expectations of Sioux Hockey are quite high and we're used to a lot of success and titles - this needs to be factored in when evaluating what kind of job he has done. My greatest fear is that we become a very good but not great team for the next 20 years and adjust to accept this as the new norm.

I see what you did there - couple of names for comparison you left off your list Gino Gasparini - 16 years - 3 titles - first one in his second year - took over a program that was in shambles Dean Blais - 10 years - 2 titles - first one in his 3rd year Cherry-picking coaches for comparison without including previous Sioux coaches is misleading at best

The title of this thread was done tongue in cheek - this isn't a fire Hak thread and most of the people venting are not calling for his job - We know it's secure This is a venting of frustrations thread where people can criticize our performances in the playoffs - not everyone that is frustrated is a poor fan or wants Hak's head. We do want him to improve his playoff strategies and prep. Hak is a very good coach - but not yet a great coach - many fans want him to go to the next level. There seems to be two camps regarding expectations for Hak and Sioux Hockey. One camp is what I think of as the Red Berenson/Michigan hockey group. They point to Michigan as a reason not to get upset because we have had a dry spell in Nattys. The other group thinks that a better comparison would be the Sioux program from the 80's and 90's. That group won titles at a rate of about one every 5 years and could say for about 20 years that we were the best program in college hockey. I am in the second group. It is frustrating this year because after the Gophs got beat it started to look like maybe we caught a break and the stars finally aligned. That we got outplayed by Yale in the 3rd and couldn't hold a lead with a trip to the frozen 4 on the line seemed incredible. This group of seniors has had their season ended by Yale twice. As has been pointed out, there are some commonalities among our frustrating losses - It never seems like we are the team with the hot goalie or the team that disrupts the other's game. This isn't a wait until next year thing - this year is "the next year". For some reason, this loss was more frustrating to me than some of the other painful letdowns. I know it's time to let go and look towards the future. I hope we can learn from this.

It really depends upon which program he took over - was it a bottom feeder or did he come into one of the top programs in the nation - also what resources did he have and what did his immediate predecessors do? The expectations for UND are quite different than those at Anchorage.

You're quite the smart ass aren't you

I'm so tired of hearing year after year that the championships will come that I could puke

You seem to forget that we aren't SCSU or Yale, we're the Fighting Sioux - once the best hockey program in the country, now not as much. At some point Hak's job requirements need to be to win a natty. How long should we give him? When was the last time we went into the playoffs and came up with a plan that disrupted the other team? This year after year is getting frustrating. Time to get it done!

But the standard here is top 1 in the country - He took over the best program in the country which had just moved into the best arena in the country - Time to get it done!

This is exactly why Saunders transfered here - Time to show your stuff - I feel confident he'll do it

Or sharks with lasers

Picture this team without the seniors - I don't see anyone who is playing like they will step it up next year. Not sure why not typing out MacWilliam on my phone is so funny.

What do you mean no pressure on them - we lose 2 Hoby finalists and Mac - do you think next year will be their year?

What's scary is that we are Average with two Hoby finalists and Mac. Lots of dead weight on this team. We need a crapload of talent coming in next year.

And no counter production from Gleason

Why oh why is Gleason still on the pp unit with the big boys?

How many goals has Gleason cost us this year?

Actually, I think the issue is the lack of development and improvement from our returners not named Kristo, Knight, or MacWilliam. We returned a solid group of defensemen from last years team and a solid corps of forwards (who I felt won on discipline and guts last year). We expected big things this year being we has such a nice run last year and got Gerimaldi back as well as a highly rated D-man (first rounder Jordan Schmaltz). While we have an ok record, we have seen almost unbelievable lackluster play at times given the number of veterans we have back. In addition, we can't seem to get it together - we score goals and give up easy ones back or we get great goaltending and can't score to save our butts. Overall, I expected much better from a lot of returners. No one has seemed to make the jump this year. When we are bad our entire play is disrupted and it is extremely frustrating to watch. This team is surprisingly easy to knock off their game.

I have never seen a recent Sioux team at this time of the year with this much dead weight. When Tech takes it to you at home it's time to wonder. We fired the coach that seemed to have the passion and got absolutely no upgrade defensively - especially with the number of returners. Time for Hak to get it done! Picture this group next year without Knight, Kristo, and McWilliams.

Look back at the Mankato games also - we are giving up a ton of shots consistantly - We are spending way too much of the game in our zone

I can't believe how many shots we consistantly give up - our team defense has definately taken a step back - the puck was in our end far too much for a playoff game at home. Time to get it together

Don't get me going on this - We should be a mover and shaker in the new league, but so far have taken it in the shorts on their decisions - Head of Officials and media contract. Time for us to assert ourselves and stop getting hosed.

Of course Jones has been coaching since 2007 - big difference than with the Women's program. You talk like there is no difference in the coaching situations which is not the case.

Congratulations to Huff - I think he has worked hard on parts of his game and made himself our MVP