Is it time to Fire Hak?

[yzerman19]

Here's an interesting thought...is Mike Eaves the best coach in the WCHA right now? His coaching record looks earily like Blaiser's at UND. If they win it this year, he might be the guy.

Clearly Donny isn't what he was 7 years ago.

Hak get us there, but has yet to win one. 2 years in a row one and done.

Gwoz has just had his third ocnsecutive one and done.

Motzko finally got an NCAA win.

This is not an indictment of Hak, it is simply a comment on Eaves.

[SiouxFanatic]

If we don't get into the NCAA Tournament next season or are one and done again. Then I think it is fair to start questioning Hakstol. Next years team looks very special on paper, hopefully it'll be the same on the ice.

Right now:

In Hakstol, I still trust.

[Goon]

Michigan was in the 2008 Frozen Four.

So they lost what three out of four, that's quite a few first round losses before they made it back to the frozen four.

[yzerman19]

Is the WCHA season too long and brutal?

I love the western style, but it was clear in this tourney that the Eastern style prevailed. They play a shorter season and IMHO a less physically draining one.

Wisconsin beat a fellow WCHA team to go to the 4...RIT, BC, and Miami...at least tjhe NCAA got a mix of established programs, the recent power (miami) and the upstart underdog. That along with 4 conferences represented...they are probably thrilled.

[redwing77]

Nope. Still not time.

Next topic.

[Big A HG]

So they lost what three out of four, that's quite a few first round losses before they made it back to the frozen four.

Michigan was an over-achiever a bit this year, like us. They have great skill, but they didn't have much goaltending all year. Hunwick came in thanks to Hogan's injury, and kind of carried Michigan for their stretch run, but he was still their backup. The 2008 team seemed like a team that should have won it all, but it's the tournament, and anything can happen, and Notre Dame put an end to that in Denver. Then, you look at the 2006 and 2007, they played two championship-calibre Sioux teams, so I can't say they really choked those years.

Michigan, yes, has been a disappointment with their talent, but I wouldn't say they had a poor loss except for the Notre Dame Frozen Four game in '08 out of the past 4 years.

However, the Sioux have had some great teams to win a title with in recent memory (especially the 05-06 and 06-07 years), but failed to win one...so I'd call it unfair to chastise Michigan when we haven't been much better despite our recent Frozen Four one and dones.

[rochsioux]

Overall, Hak has done a pretty good job.

The bar is always high, as it should be, for Fighting Sioux hockey. Any year we don't win the NC$$ championship is a disappointment to me...with that expectation I know I am going to have many, many disappointing results. No matter how disappointed I am at the end of a season, I am equally stoked at the start of a new season because I know the team will compete for a title.

We have now had 10 "disappointing" seasons in a row. Over those 10 years, Hak was the coach for 6 and Blais for 4. We have been in the NC$$ tourny 9 times, the frozen four 5 times (championship game 2 times), first round loss 3 times, and regional championship loss once.

Overall a pretty damn good record. Unfortunately no titles, which is the measuring stick for this program. Certainly Haks record over the past 6 years should allow him room to get that title. Personally, if there is no title during the next 4 years, regardless of frozen four appearances, I would probably be ready for a change.

My one concern with Hak has been the slow starts. The first 5 years they started so slowly that they had to battle to get back into the NC$$ tourny. This year looked different as they started out 7-1-1 till Chay got hurt. I understand that was a huge blow to the team but it took approx. the next 20 games for them to get their act together again...no matter how important one player is I find it hard to understand this, and given Haks slow starts in the past it makes me wonder if they may have slumped to some degree anyway if Chay was not injured. There has been an awful lot of talent rolling thru the program and I find it difficult to comprehend how these slow starts can happen all the time.

Basically every year under Hak they have had to have the peddle to the meddle the last 15-20 games of the year to ensure they would make the tourny. I just wonder how much energy is drained from the team as they try to get back in the race? It seems like the team is always pretty banged up come tourny time...is that a result of the effort that is needed to get back in the race and the feeling that players cannot sit out even though maybe they should cause we can't afford to lose a game ? Sometimes when you expend that much energy to get back in the race it is only natural for there to be a bit of a dropoff once you make it...it is too hard to maintain that high of a level for so long.

Over the past years hockey has been more competitive from top to bottom. Since the tourny was expanded to 16 teams there are no first round byes for anyone. Even seemingly sure things have resulted in upsets (Holy Cross, RIT). In a one and done all a big underdog needs to do is play a good defensive system, get good goaltending and try to keep within striking distance. They don't need to be the better team they just need to win the battle on that particular day. Does anyone really believe that in a best of 7 series that Yale would prevail ? Or New Hampshire last year ? Or how about RIT over Denver in 7 games ?

It was much tougher for a team years ago to pull an upset when there were an average of 8-9 goals a game...it is much easier now when the the games are closer to 5 goals a game. As the goal scoring in hockey decreases the upsets will increase.

[Goon]

I think one thing I have learned in my 43 years of life is nothing is a given and you have to work for everything you get. This team learned a lot this year and I have think one of these days something going to go UND's way. Think about this UND lost an all American out of their line up and still won 25 games. That has to be good coaching.

[Old Barn Guy at Home]

Don't forget that this team had 7 or 8 freshmen playing regularily in their lineup and still did a pretty good job (most of their losses were by one goal) and also managed to win the WCHA Final Five without the most dynamic defensemen in college hockey.

The coaches and players are certainly disappointed, but if they can keep this nucleous together and the goal tending continues to improve, I think we'll all enjoy next season a lot.

Thanks for a great season guys, and especially for sending the Gophers home early!

[Big A HG]

I have think one of these days something going to go UND's way.

Amen Goon.

[ticklethetwine]

okay...sorry. i'd like to strike yzerman19's handle from my post, but ticklethetwine is staying (i think he was probably a skippy anyways).

Krangodance,

A skippy huh. Wow.

It was my opinion at the time. I am not asking you to agree with me. Cut me some slack.

[MafiaMan]

I think Hak still has one more hurdle to clear....win a National Championship. Getting to the Frozen 4 is nice (4 times), but getting there and being embarrassed is not my idea of a great season. Hopefully we can get there and NOT give up 6 goals in a losing cause. There...some pessimism in this optimistic post :-) Go Sioux!!!!!

Dude, you realize that Jack Parker went 20some years between national titles and Red Berenson has won exactly two in I believe 25 years at Michigan. Those guys are legends. I bet they're glad, though, that you're not the AD at their schools.

Dave Hakstol will win the national title. Someday. Someday SOON. Bank on it. But let's not be like Gopher fans who were on the "I love you Don Lucia" bandwagon after winning titles in 2002 and 2003 only to scream for his head now and how the only titles he won were with "Woog players." C'mon, Sioux fans. The sun will come out in 2011.

[nodak hockey fanatic]

Dude, you realize that Jack Parker went 20some years between national titles and Red Berenson has won exactly two in I believe 25 years at Michigan. Those guys are legends. I bet they're glad, though, that you're not the AD at their schools.

Dave Hakstol will win the national title. Someday. Someday SOON. Bank on it. But let's not be like Gopher fans who were on the "I love you Don Lucia" bandwagon after winning titles in 2002 and 2003 only to scream for his head now and how the only titles he won were with "Woog players." C'mon, Sioux fans. The sun will come out in 2011.

great post, i completely agree. now we do have to understand the frustation that has come with some of these "no show" losses in the ncaas, but we have had top notch teams to cheer for ran by a top notch coaching staff, and i hope hak is here for a long time. and i REALLY hope he gets the monkey off his back and wins a national title next year! i agree hak will bring a national title or two to grand forks, and soon. i think another thing to put into perspective about this years team is that i feel they overachieved. i'm not saying it makes the yale loss any easier to swallow, but yale is a good team (with bad goaltending, which is what makes the loss sting a little more) and the sioux were riding another second half surge that stopped a little short. lets go get em next season sioux!!

[hrkac]

there isn't another coach in the league I'd rather have than Hakstol. His success as coach combined with the history and tradition he continues to instill in the players, I don't think there's a better man for the job. I think the job he did this year with a young team was great. He's won a league title, the conference tourney, and reached the FF 4 times out of 6 tries. Winning the big one is the next step and I have confidence that will be done in the next few years.

[iramurphy]

Pretty entertaining stuff on this post. Do you really think the coaching staff could learn anything from any of these blogs??? These are coaches who have played in the WCHA, for national titiles, played pro hockey and have been on coaching staffs of state and national championship teams. They watch film and they scout.

Hakstol was recommended by Dean Blais. Why would he do that? He did that because he knew the guy can coach. The coaches job is to recruit kids who can play and then put them in a position to win and he has done that every year he has been here. Somehow he got them ready to sweep through the WCHA playoffs. Do you think he quit coaching or was going to do something different when they played Yale? UND controlled the game most of the first period and dominated the third. Gregoire's stupid penalty was one of the biggest factors in the game. A goal then would have been huge. Do you think there is a coach at any college who doesn't remind the players not to take dumb penalties? We think the WCHA is such a tough league. If Hakstol can guide the team to a league title and playoff title the past two years and a FF appearance in each of the previous 4 years he must know something about coaching.

You can't win a Championship unless you get to the playoffs and the Sioux have been there year after year. The Sioux should have beaten Wisconsin in 1983 when we had more talent and Zombo coughed up the puck in our own end and they tied it up with seconds left. Some of Blais's teams didn't accomplish what they were capable of. The last Sioux team that should have won it all was the year the FF was in Boston. Hak wasn't the coach that year either.

The guy can coach. He will get us there. The players need to play and stuff happens. Anyone who thinks UND should dump Hakstol needs to get off the bar stool once in awhile.

Those fans who continue to badmouth him don't do the program any good and don't help recruiting when recruits will be told they are hearing he may be in trouble. His job is secure and nothing on this board will change that. If you don't believe that talk to Presidient Kelly and the AD.

I would love to sit down and listen to anyone have an intelligent discussion on why he should go. It would require them to be sober and I would like to know what (other than playing third line for their Pee Wee or HS team) would qualify them to know anything about coaching. One of my friends who is a Gopher fan emailed me after the WCHA playoffs and said he would be watching the Sioux and the Beavers. He said he thought Hakstol is a hell of a coach to get the Sioux to the playoffs year after year with a chance to win and he thought he was a class act. He seems to know more about our coach than some of our so called fans.

[Knickball2]

Today on talk radio, Tim Hennessy bent over backwards in his support of Hakstol and the season's performance. He pointed to the great late season rush, and how

in his opinion the players simply had fatigued legs against Yale. He also indicated that the team was heavily dinged up with injuries. He's as big a homer as there is,

but he does have insight gained by travelling with the team all year. So good season, crappy finish, but we'll have to live with it. Next season, Go Sioux.

[mikejm]

Fans of every team save one have all summer long to rant and commiserate over season-ending losses.

Fans of 42 teams have all summer long to feel badly their team didn't make the NCAA tournament.

At least we, as UND fans, have good reason to always look forward to next season.

[Goon]

may be in trouble. His job is secure and nothing on this board will change that. If you don't believe that talk to Presidient Kelly and the AD.

I would love to sit down and listen to anyone have an intelligent discussion on why he should go. It would require them to be sober and I would like to know what (other than playing third line for their Pee Wee or HS team) would qualify them to know anything about coaching. One of my friends who is a Gopher fan emailed me after the WCHA playoffs and said he would be watching the Sioux and the Beavers. He said he thought Hakstol is a hell of a coach to get the Sioux to the playoffs year after year with a chance to win and he thought he was a class act. He seems to know more about our coach than some of our so called fans.

I agree I think this season might have been some of his best work yet.

[MissSioux85]

From Brad's Twitter

Believe it or not: Next year will mark six years since DU has won an NCAA tournament game.

And some fans want to fire Hakstol because the Sioux haven't won an NCAA tournament game in two years. It could be worse.

[farce poobah]

From Brad's Twitter

Believe it or not: Next year will mark six years since DU has won an NCAA tournament game.

And some fans want to fire Hakstol because the Sioux haven't won an NCAA tournament game in two years. It could be worse.

OK then, its settled. We'll have to fire Gwozdecky.

[yababy8]

OK then, its settled. We'll have to fire Gwozdecky.

That would be a bad bad idea!

It would take away some of our greatest fun, especially since DU is probably going to be not so good next year and he will be coming to the ralph to enjoy front row tickets for the Blood and Chay beatdown!

Count down

213 days 22 hours 0 min left until the Gwaaaaaaaaaz show begins!

[MissSioux85]

OK then, its settled. We'll have to fire Gwozdecky.

But if we do that we won't get to see him do this... or maybe we will.

[oldralph]

Today on talk radio, Tim Hennessy bent over backwards in his support of Hakstol and the season's performance. He pointed to the great late season rush, and how

in his opinion the players simply had fatigued legs against Yale. He also indicated that the team was heavily dinged up with injuries. He's as big a homer as there is,

but he does have insight gained by travelling with the team all year. So good season, crappy finish, but we'll have to live with it. Next season, Go Sioux.

That's exactly the problem under Hakstol. Every year we have to push down the stretch to get home ice and into the NCAA's. Our players have nothing left once we get there. They are either pooped out or hurt. This is a pattern I would like to see changed. Let's come out early and play well; lots of other teams do it, why can't we? Let's try to rest some of the key players prior to the NCAA's instead of playing them with injuries just to get there. UND needs to put it together sooner during the season so we're not in playoff mode in January! Playoffs wear a team out. Being in playoff mode for 2 1/2 months wears a team out. I don't like this pattern and if we keep doing it we'll keep getting the same results. Hak needs to figure out how to motivate his teams earlier. For once it would be nice to go into the playoffs healthy and with some energy. We had none in the first 2 periods against Yale....and BC scored 9 goals on them! Ok, I'm done.....

[Brasco]

That's exactly the problem under Hakstol. Every year we have to push down the stretch to get home ice and into the NCAA's. Our players have nothing left once we get there. They are either pooped out or hurt. This is a pattern I would like to see changed. Let's come out early and play well; lots of other teams do it, why can't we? Let's try to rest some of the key players prior to the NCAA's instead of playing them with injuries just to get there. UND needs to put it together sooner during the season so we're not in playoff mode in January! Playoffs wear a team out. Being in playoff mode for 2 1/2 months wears a team out. I don't like this pattern and if we keep doing it we'll keep getting the same results. Hak needs to figure out how to motivate his teams earlier. For once it would be nice to go into the playoffs healthy and with some energy. We had none in the first 2 periods against Yale....and BC scored 9 goals on them! Ok, I'm done.....

I completely agree!

I know Hakstol can push the right buttons (he's proven that with late run after late run) so why not push them earlier? No harm in costing into home ice against a lower WCHA opponent.

[BringDeanBack]

That's exactly the problem under Hakstol. Every year we have to push down the stretch to get home ice and into the NCAA's. Our players have nothing left once we get there. They are either pooped out or hurt. This is a pattern I would like to see changed. Let's come out early and play well; lots of other teams do it, why can't we? Let's try to rest some of the key players prior to the NCAA's instead of playing them with injuries just to get there. UND needs to put it together sooner during the season so we're not in playoff mode in January! Playoffs wear a team out. Being in playoff mode for 2 1/2 months wears a team out. I don't like this pattern and if we keep doing it we'll keep getting the same results. Hak needs to figure out how to motivate his teams earlier. For once it would be nice to go into the playoffs healthy and with some energy. We had none in the first 2 periods against Yale....and BC scored 9 goals on them! Ok, I'm done.....

Yale probably did UND a favor. Even if UND had squeaked out a win against Yale, it appears that BC would have hung another 6-1 on UND.