Prospective Recruits

[fightingsioux4life]

55 minutes ago, burd said:

I certainly agree that UND should be in the mix for most high end, NHL-bound kids, but Minn and Mich have just as much tradition and UND is no match for any big ten school's range of academic offerings.  I have two degrees from UND and am grateful for them, but there are many high end hockey programs out there at schools with quite a bit more to offer in academics, fellowships, internships, etc.    

Also, Michigan's last title was in 1998. Minnesota's last title was in 2003. Explain that away.

[scpa0305]

16 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Then explain Duluth and Denver. They don't seem to have problems recruiting top talent. Nor St. Cloud State for that matter. And nobody can beat REA for facilities. Enough excuses.

Duluth had a nice run there and do have Howard coming in next year (that’s a head scratcher)…but they aren’t pulling blue chips either. Denver too, they’re not pulling blue chip after blue chip but seem to be getting kids that we typically get. Not sure what’s going on there.

[iluvdebbies]

11 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Also, Michigan's last title was in 1998. Minnesota's last title was in 2003. Explain that away.

That can't be right ....with all the top talent we lose to them.....Google it again. 

[fightingsioux4life]

3 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Duluth had a nice run there and do have Howard coming in next year (that’s a head scratcher)…but they aren’t pulling blue chips either. Denver too, they’re not pulling blue chip after blue chip but seem to be getting kids that we typically get. Not sure what’s going on there.

What is the definition of blue chipper? That word gets thrown around way too much.

[fightingsioux4life]

3 minutes ago, iluvdebbies said:

That can't be right ....with all the top talent we lose to them.....Google it again. 

I couldn't agree with you more. The Little 7 does not have some gigantic advantage over UND or any other top NCHC school.

[cberkas]

20 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

What is the definition of blue chipper? That word gets thrown around way too much.

For most a 1st rounder or at least 1st and 2nd round pick. 

[N of GF]

11 minutes ago, SiouxFanSince1990 said:

Honest question here. How does the recruiting process work? Does Berry drive around and talk to these kids? Do we really know which players Berry is keen on? Please explain. Thanks.

Great question! Back in the Fire Hakstol!1! days, around here the word was that you couldn't give Hak any credit for the talent that was brought in because in college the assistant coaches do all the hard work involved in recruiting. You see, it was Brad Berry that was the genius recruiter that brought in those high end players back then! All depends on who you want to fire today, I suppose.

Unless there are still some former players hanging around, I would guess that almost (I'm tempted to leave out the 'almost') no one here has any clue what goes on behind the scenes.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

4 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Is this where you tell me how tropical St. Cloud, Denver, Ann Arbor, Duluth and Minneapolis are compared to Grand Forks? That argument doesn't wash with MBB and it doesn't wash here.

All of those places (other than St. Cloud) are more desirable places to live than Grand Forks. Real estate prices and population growth over the past 20 years reflect that.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

1 hour ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Then explain Duluth and Denver. They don't seem to have problems recruiting top talent. Nor St. Cloud State for that matter. And nobody can beat REA for facilities. Enough excuses.

Duluth, St Cloud and Mankato all seem to get more from their players than anyone else in college hockey. Denver is a blue blood like us. ASU will hopefully steal some of the CA recruits they've been hoarding.

[SIOUXELEVENS]

So we lose recruits we had committed or didn’t want and now we can’t close the deal on blue chip recruits , sounds good for the hockey program. 

[N of GF]

1 hour ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Also, Michigan's last title was in 1998. Minnesota's last title was in 2003. Explain that away.

Good point. UND has had a lot more success than Michigan and Minnesota have in the last 20-ish years.

Just think how much better things would be if UND could recruit as well as them!

[burd]

2 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Then explain Duluth and Denver. They don't seem to have problems recruiting top talent. Nor St. Cloud State for that matter. And nobody can beat REA for facilities. Enough excuses.

Sorry if you thought I was giving anyone excuses.   Just don't think our academics are a recruiting advantage.   

[tnt]

2 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Also, Michigan's last title was in 1998. Minnesota's last title was in 2003. Explain that away.

I’m confused, are you making an argument for or against recruiting these types of players!

[tnt]

2 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Then explain Duluth and Denver. They don't seem to have problems recruiting top talent. Nor St. Cloud State for that matter. And nobody can beat REA for facilities. Enough excuses.

Didn’t someone point out that we had more first round picks over the last couple decades than the rest of our league combined?

[scpa0305]

2 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

What is the definition of blue chipper? That word gets thrown around way too much.

1st rounder/projected to go 1st rd 

[tnt]

2 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

What is the definition of blue chipper? That word gets thrown around way too much.

It does get thrown around too much, but the same people that get upset about losing an undisputed blue chipper like Cooley, get bent out of shape by losing guys that could be hit and miss.

[iramurphy]

3 hours ago, N of GF said:

Great question! Back in the Fire Hakstol!1! days, around here the word was that you couldn't give Hak any credit for the talent that was brought in because in college the assistant coaches do all the hard work involved in recruiting. You see, it was Brad Berry that was the genius recruiter that brought in those high end players back then! All depends on who you want to fire today, I suppose.

Unless there are still some former players hanging around, I would guess that almost (I'm tempted to leave out the 'almost') no one here has any clue what goes on behind the scenes.

Our head coaches including Hakstol have been very involved in recruiting. The fire Hakstol crowd showed little knowledge of coaching, recruiting, building a winning program beyond whether or not we won a National Championship and thinking a “bag skate” is a motivational tool at this level. 

[The Sicatoka]

14 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

All of those places (other than St. Cloud) are more desirable places to live than Grand Forks. Real estate prices and population growth over the past 20 years reflect that.

We're not recruiting players to live in town fifty years. They're here for school (and vocational training). 

[The Sicatoka]

13 hours ago, burd said:

Sorry if you thought I was giving anyone excuses.   Just don't think our academics are a recruiting advantage.   

First, hockey players are picking based on ... academics? 

That said, I stand by my belief: It's not the school you put the kid into; it's what the kid puts into school.

[SIOUXELEVENS]

Why would a player not want to play here / NCHC? 
Barn is best in the country, training area is world class , charter flights to away games very few bus rides. Play in a full barn with very loyal fans. Basically get treated like royals, Berry better figure this out because this will fall on his shoulders if we have a very hard working team but lacking on talent.no reason not to play here unless Berrys style of play or personality does fit with there players. I can’t quite figure out what the draw of the big 10 is especially in Minnesota , no fans no excitement .

[Blackheart]

6 minutes ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Why would a player not want to play here / NCHC? 
Barn is best in the country, training area is world class , charter flights to away games very few bus rides. Play in a full barn with very loyal fans. Basically get treated like royals, Berry better figure this out because this will fall on his shoulders if we have a very hard working team but lacking on talent.no reason not to play here unless Berrys style of play or personality does fit with there players. I can’t quite figure out what the draw of the big 10 is especially in Minnesota , no fans no excitement .

“Come play for the Gofers...We’re the #7 attraction in town!”

[The Sicatoka]

6 minutes ago, Blackheart said:

“Come play for the Gofers...We’re the #7 attraction in town!”

7?
What closed?  

[skateshattrick]

14 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

All of those places (other than St. Cloud) are more desirable places to live than Grand Forks. Real estate prices and population growth over the past 20 years reflect that.

I disagree if you are including Duluth. Duluth is a dirty, depressing city with even worse weather than Grand Forks. Minneapolis aka Gotham City used to be nice before it turned into the crime capital of the Midwest, but hockey is also not the top sport. Ann Arbor is nice, but hockey is way down on the list behind football, basketball and probably other sports. I get Denver and ASU, but not the other ones. On the other hand, we do out recruit Duluth and St. Cloud most years. 

[tnt]

For all we know it could just be a friends thing with Moore and Chesley that had Cooley picking Minnesota.  We saw how a young Minnesota defense did a few years ago against Pinto, Kawaguchi etc., and I imagine Minnesota will be losing some guys like Faber and Johnson.   They may only get one year with Cooley, so we'll see if they are too young on the back end to take advantage of that.   

[Walsh Hall]

 

9 minutes ago, skateshattrick said:

I disagree if you are including Duluth. Duluth is a dirty, depressing city with even worse weather than Grand Forks. Minneapolis aka Gotham City used to be nice before it turned into the crime capital of the Midwest, but hockey is also not the top sport. Ann Arbor is nice, but hockey is way down on the list behind football, basketball and probably other sports. I get Denver and ASU, but not the other ones. On the other hand, we do out recruit Duluth and St. Cloud most years. 

I don't know what you guys expect.  Compared to comparable communities we get way more blue-chippers.   Like it or not, Michigan, Minnesota, Boston Schools, etc... have a huge advantage with many kids over a GF, Duluth, Mankato... based on the city.  For a kid from a metro area, moving to GF is more of a shock than someone from GF moving to Hazen for college.

Throw in that there are around 5 "blue-chippers" each year we aren't getting one every year.  The number of high end guys we get is really quite amazing.