fargosioux Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 In this week's WCHA preview, INCH suggests that Dean Blais may be back behind the bench next season at a WCHA school. It even hints at Blais as a possible replacement for Rivard as women's coach at UND. Considering the source, I don't put much stock in this. Especially the notion that he'll be coaching the women's team. Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cujo2 Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Beat me to it. I have a hard time believing Blais will ever coach a woman's team. I am thinking maybe Minnesota-Duluth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxmama Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I say, if we can't have him...nobody can! Just kidding. I wish him well, no matter where he is coaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I've heard from many that coaching women/girls is a lot more rewarding than the men/boys. Less politics, less stress, they listen better and mouth off less. The only downside is I doubt the money compares, but to a guy like Blais it probably isn't the biggest issue at this point. Personally I'd like to see Blais replace Lucia after another NCAA title or two, but I probably shouldn't put the cart before the horse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I know people think INCH stinks, but they do talk to people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I've heard from many that coaching women/girls is a lot more rewarding than the men/boys. Less politics, less stress, they listen better and mouth off less. The only downside is I doubt the money compares, but to a guy like Blais it probably isn't the biggest issue at this point. Personally I'd like to see Blais replace Lucia after another NCAA title or two, but I probably shouldn't put the cart before the horse. If you are looking for another coach in the Lucia mold, Mike Keenan is available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proudsioux Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 That would be one expensive womens coach. But id bet it would attract more fans jsut to see the magical dean's team play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cujo2 Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I've heard from many that coaching women/girls is a lot more rewarding than the men/boys. Less politics, less stress, they listen better and mouth off less. The only downside is I doubt the money compares, but to a guy like Blais it probably isn't the biggest issue at this point. Personally I'd like to see Blais replace Lucia after another NCAA title or two, but I probably shouldn't put the cart before the horse. From a Gopher fan's perspective that would be nice. Now this is off the subject but, I was told by some folks that after Woog left Minnesota Blais wanted the job. Then the UofM administration said we want Lucia. Then Blais stated he was happy at UND. Is this just speculation or is there any truth to it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 The only thing I know about that is that when Woog announced his retirement the alumni department came up with a lot of money to get Blais to sign. Now what alumni would fund a coaching job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloos Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I think Blais was pretty happy in Grand Forks/Northern MN. He may want to take the womens job to try and build up the program. I would think this is pretty unlikely, but a possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernmn Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 From a Gopher fan's perspective that would be nice. Now this is off the subject but, I was told by some folks that after Woog left Minnesota Blais wanted the job. Then the UofM administration said we want Lucia. Then Blais stated he was happy at UND. Is this just speculation or is there any truth to it?? When Woog "retired", the administration had only 2 people in mind for the job. Blais & Lucia. As soon as Blais heard about the openning, HE contacted UM and told them he would not be interested in switching jobs at that time. This was partially due to a rather large annuity set up for him by UND, that was payable only if he stayed on at UND till the end of his contract. The U then went after Lucia hard, and signed him within 5 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Where's BDB on this? I'm surprised we haven't had the "We should fire Hakstol immediately and hire Blais if this is true" stuff yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianvf Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 If Blais doesn't want to coach the women's team, then he could always be brought in as an assistant coach under Hakstol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernmn Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Where's BDB on this? I'm surprised we haven't had the "We should fire Hakstol immediately and hire Blais if this is true" stuff yet. Wait for it.............. Especially if this week-end doesn't go well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMT Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Blais was on the Bernie Burgraff hockey show about 3-4 weeks ago. Bernie asked him about coaching college hockey again. Blais said that he was focused on his job right now, but he would sit down and look at things when the year was over. He also talked about college recruiting, saying that he doesn't like recruiting 15-16 year olds and that he would go after the older kids (he mentioned Maine's team). From the way he was talking about it, he sounded exited about college hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1 Sioux Fan Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 If UND could get Blais back and coach women's hockey - that would be huge for the program and for attendence. This would be a huge turning point in the womens program! Could Buns have something hiding up his sleeve?? It is very exciting to think so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 UND Athletics Employment Opportunities POSITION: ASSISTANT WOMEN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Blais' expirement with NHL may have satisfied his itch. He's always said he likes developing players, so it wouldn't surprise me to hear he was back in college or something like that. I do wonder if chasing prospects is something he might be tired of doing, I don't know. As for coaching the women's team, someone closer to that sport has told me that it's tougher to coach women's hockey because the women don't have pro leagues to look forward to, therefore a lot of them are playing for fun, but aren't as interested in developing themselves to their utmost potential if they aren't going to be playing on the Olympic team. You can't push them as hard as you can the men who often have a chance to make some money in the game after college, whether it's the NHL, minor leagues or Europe. If that is true, I wonder if Blais would be happy in that environment. Of course, after his highly successful run at UND, scratching his NHL itch, and working through all of the difficult family circumstances, maybe coaching a squad of talented players who are interested in having fun and playing the game would be a good fit for him. I also wonder if he would go to UMD depending on the circumstance surrounding Sandy's departure. I'm only bringing this up since someone mentioned it above. He and Sandelin were very good friend when they coached together at UND. When Sandy left I think I remember Blais saying something like "Not only did we lose a great coach, but I lost a pal". If Sandy is dumped, I have to wonder if Blais would want to take the job. Where else in the WCHA would he go? MN - Lucia appears to be the guy for the forseeable future WI - Unless Eaves takes a pro job, does anyone see a change coming there? Denver - Gwoz seems firmly entrenched. Has anyone heard any rumors of him wanting to leave? CC - Owens has been there a while, but is doing fairly well. There hasn't been much rumormongering on the internet about his job that I'm aware of. I suppose this could be a possibility. UMD - already addressed above Mankato - Jutting seems to be doing ok, but I suppose this would be one possibility. St. Cloud - they've got a new coach, that probably won't be changing next year. AA - another fairly new coach. Tech - Russell might be a question-mark, but this year might be a better year for him and I think they've got another good recruiting class coming next year. I suppose this could be another possibility, though. I guess you never know, but there doesn't appear to be a plethora of obvious opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I wonder, if he is wishing to develop players, why not become head coach of the Lowell Devils? Ok, they don't have an opening, but seriously, AHL would be an inbetween if there are no WCHA slots available. I'm sure he could go to a CCHA team if he wanted to be like Michael Jordan's career with the Wizards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewey Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 With regard to Mankato, Jutting is a good coach but has not had much to work with talent-wise other than a few very outstanding players like Shane Joseph, David Backes, Grant STevenson, TRavis Morin, etc. He usually has a lot of young players and that doesn't help matters. I think recruiting is pretty hard in Mankato. It may pose a challenge to Blais that he would like but I really don't see him coming down here. Sure, some are losing some confidence in Jutting but I think he's still viewed pretty favorably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iramurphy Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 From a Gopher fan's perspective that would be nice. Now this is off the subject but, I was told by some folks that after Woog left Minnesota Blais wanted the job. Then the UofM administration said we want Lucia. Then Blais stated he was happy at UND. Is this just speculation or is there any truth to it?? No. Not to say he wouldn't have listened if they called, but he is a Sioux hockey guy. Very few coaches won't listen to a great job offer. The Mn college job is one of the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Whistler Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 If I had to guess I'd say that Blais would only take a coaching job where he's close to his Northern Minnesota roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terbele Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 How about - FIRE Bruce McCloud, bring in Dean Blais Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I was hoping he was going fishing & Living Happily Ever After Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walsh Hall Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I didn't see it, but I heard that he was on between periods last weekend with Sweeney. Supposedly he appeared a bit frustrated with the Columbus situation and seemed to regret the decision to leave UND and the college scene. Anyone see this interview? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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