dagies

My memory has been proven wrong enough times that I shouldn't risk saying this without checking first, but stretch my neck I will. jk already referred to it, but I think BC lost 3, count 'em, 3 hobey finalists after we beat them in 2000 and they came back to beat us in 2001. Someone already mentioned the Sioux coming back after heavy losses and winning in 2000. And the Gophers have recently had success after losing Leo, Taffe and Pohl in the same year. So yeah, I think teams can come back and it's not that unusual. Thing to remember is every team is losing someone each year. Some more than others. It would have been awfully sweet to have Bo back but such is life. This team still has plenty of talent. There is more ice time opening up for guys who can make a difference. Think of it this way. Guys like Massen and Canady who struggled in the past have a new coach, maybe a new outlook on "life", and suddenly a much better chance to believe they have a shot to make a difference. Could be just the spark to get them going. Massen was about as good a scorer as Bochenski that last year in juniors. He's shown flashes. Last year was a washout, but players have and can rebound. Should James rebound and build from his sophomore season, it will go a long way to mitigating the loss of Bochenski.

Everybody's neglecting Canady. Brian had a much better year last year. He may yet be a real factor.

Agree with Sprig. Even if true, someone with his talent is going to be having their strings pulled until the last moment. So even if he says now he wants to go the NCAA route he easily could have his mind changed before he made it to campus. He's a 2005 recruit at the very earliest, right?

That is a great story, Pat.

HA! Probably just the bad memories of drunk Mankato fans accosting you in the concourse. Or should I say sidewalk. It's no wider than one.

I've had opposite experiences from you. I've generally found UMD fans to be knowledgeable, yet involved. I can't stand Mankato fans. I've pretty much decided that's not a place I could take my kid to. SCSU has generally been a good experience. Usually a pretty involved crowd. Mariucci has generally been fine too, if you can put up with the whining.

yep. You can look back at archives 4 months old for free if you wish.

Amen

I need to quit relying on memory

This was a good article. Always liked Armbrust, even though he wasn't always a regular. Always busted his butt. Will NEVER forget sitting at the Civic Center in St. Paul in 1997, Final Five championship game, watching that big juicy rebound come out front and PA burying the biscuit in OT to win that championship. Incredible game. Peter, I think, was captain of the Sioux in 2000 even though he didn't play every game, or was a checking line player most of the time.

Reading Grande Prairie's game summaries last year it seemed Radke scored a lot of goals on the power play. That's my impression anyway. People are forgetting Canady. Brian had a better year last year than he's had. I think he can build on it this year if he wants to. A fresh change in the head coaching ranks might be just what rejuvenates guys like Massen and Canady. McMahon is a great player, but so good defensively I hate to see him on a top scoring line. He plays his role so well. As I see people's line combo's I don't know if I'm even going to try. There's so many interesting options. Last year I was probably right for about 13 or 14 seconds of game time, so not sure I'll bother this year. Hak's got a lot of options to choose from. It will be interesting to see if he'll play with the line combo's as much as Blais did, or if he'll stick with them longer to see what happens.

But he stopped at the chewy center

MafiaMan, read back a bit. I'm not the one who brought up the heir apparent questions. I agree with you. Oh, I see jk already answered this.

a note from Hockey's Future on Atlanta's Prospect Camp:

Let me try to be more clear. I'm not suggesting Hakstol needs someone to tell him how to be a head coach. What I'm saying is that Hakstol, right now, needs coaches who will best assist him to WIN right now. He doesn't have the luxury of having a winning reputation as a head coach. He doesn't have the slack that might allow him to hire an aspiring coach and develop them. He needs an established coach to help the program as a whole right now. As per other comments about Johnson being hired as the heir apparent, or developing an assistant who can be the heir apparent. What about our current Associate Head Coach? Why can't he be the heir apparent?

Since I'm being consulted on this decision, here's my thoughts. Hakstol is a new D1 head coach. He's been a head coach in the USHL but not at this level. He's had a lot of responsibility under Blais, but he's had someone else's aura to back him up. Now, the load rests on his shoulders. Hakstol needs to be successful. That's plain to read. I believe he needs to hire an assistant coach who will bring ready credibility with him. Someone with an established reputation. Someone who will help bring respect and stability to the coaching staff. Names like Johnson, Eades, Hastings fit that bill, if we can get them. I'm sure there are others out there that I'm not aware of that would too. Names like Kallay, Davidson, Gasparini don't excite me as much. Don't get me wrong. They might make mighty fine coaches. I don't know anything about them. But they don't have the track record that the aforementioned candidates possess. Right now Hakstol needs to hire someone who will help develop him as the head coach. Not someone he has to develop as an assistant coach.

I missed it then, I guess.

PCM posted this article on another board. It's relevant to the Beaverson discussion. Since he hasn't posted it here I will, but he gets full credit. Beaverson article

good article, jk. I've often seen assistant captains referred to as "captains". That could account for the comments on either Jones or Greene being "captain".

I think one of the articles mentioned Hakstol's salary at about $63,000, so not too bad. As for Hrkac, just from what I have seen in interviews and all, he doesn't strike me as the coaching type.

I'll bet there's a number of candidates who weren't on that Herald list as well. Wouldn't surprise me if the final choice wasn't listed. Just a guess on my part, though.

That's a great article, PCM!

Good luck Coach Hakstol!

As usual you said what I wanted to say, but much better than I could have. Perfect example. Hakstol should be held accountable as any coach in his position should be. On the other hand, we can't hold him accountable for whatever the process was, right or wrong. It's not his fault that he applied for the job. Ok, THAT's funny!

My dead grandmother called me.