Jump to content
SiouxSports.com Forum

Okposo leaves the Gophers


Siouxpremacy

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 246
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Friend or no friend, I have a hard time believing that he would be discussing terms of a potential player's contract with you.

I am not sure why anyone would release that information. It's pretty personal type stuff.

I am going with the Source and THETRIOUXPER on this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anyone is more technically capable than me (and could post a link) it would be good for you to read the article Daggies is referring to about the interview in the Pioneer Press over the weekend. I was not surpirsed one bit to hear he was going Pro after the WJC. I also doubt that the NHL was putting pressure on him....I am guessing he was having a miserable time, felt the team was not playing up to the level he expected them to be at and he let it be known that he was open to an offer from the Islanders. And as soon as an offer came in he jumped on the first ship and didn't ask where it was going.

ps also agree most people don't discuss their pay...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow I'm impressed her name came up about that stuff before mine did :D:angry:

Sorry, I am a good 4 hours away from him right now and you are only an hour so it is up to you buddy. Hate to disappoint you guys, but I really don't care what Oshie got offered because I am pretty sure it wasn't a cheap offer. The Blues want him to come play for him and they realized that last year with him being on "the best line in college hockey", he wasn't going to be cheap. And it is himself, not hisslef. :ohmy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who you calling a panzy? :D

Okay, perhaps I shouldn't have referred to them as panzies. I'm old school in thinking that some traditions simply should change. One famous Navy tradition that has changed quite a bit, as you're no longer allowed to use shillelagh's. Blanket parties, as Dagies was referring to in his post, is something else that doesn't happen anymore (or at least not as often as it once did...Marines can be pretty fanatical).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hate to disappoint you guys, but I really don't care what Oshie got offered because I am pretty sure it wasn't a cheap offer. The Blues want him to come play for him and they realized that last year with him being on "the best line in college hockey", he wasn't going to be cheap. And it is himself, not hisslef. :D

I feel the same way, I got way too much going on to worry about what Oshie was offered.

I am sure it is more than I will ever make, win or steal. ???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel the same way, I got way too much going on to worry about what Oshie was offered.

I am sure it is more than I will ever make, win or steal. ???

I could care less what TJ's offer was, or is going to be in the future. I'm sure it will be substantial, that's the payoff for years of hard work. I'm just saying southernmn's "friend" on the inside must not be giving him accurate info. I guess he's not that good of a friend. As I said earlier, this guy was positive TJ wasn't coming back from the Blues development camp, maybe you (southernmn) need to find a new and better source.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could care less what TJ's offer was, or is going to be in the future. I'm sure it will be substantial, that's the payoff for years of hard work. I'm just saying southernmn's "friend" on the inside must not be giving him accurate info. I guess he's not that good of a friend. As I said earlier, this guy was positive TJ wasn't coming back from the Blues development camp, maybe you (southernmn) need to find a new and better source.

I wonder if Southernmin, is talking about the Blues Blogger over on hockey buzz Andy Strickland?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anyone is more technically capable than me (and could post a link) it would be good for you to read the article Daggies is referring to about the interview in the Pioneer Press over the weekend. I was not surpirsed one bit to hear he was going Pro after the WJC. I also doubt that the NHL was putting pressure on him....I am guessing he was having a miserable time, felt the team was not playing up to the level he expected them to be at and he let it be known that he was open to an offer from the Islanders. And as soon as an offer came in he jumped on the first ship and didn't ask where it was going.

ps also agree most people don't discuss their pay...

Per your request, that story is here.

"People doubt you when you don't play well," Okposo said.

Rocked by the early pressure of being a returning first-round draft pick, he said at times he felt "I was just going through the motions. I didn't feel good about where my game was at all."

He even wondered whether college was the right place for him - certainly not "the right mentality," he said.

"He wants to be a really great player, and when he's not doing that, he tries even harder," Johnson said. "Sometimes he grips the stick too tight, but he has the ability to calm himself down."

Johnson knows the drill. He feels less pressure playing for the Blues than he did playing for the Gophers, he said, because of expectations last year accompanying being a No. 1 draft pick.

Did Lucia's biggest fan help convince Okposo to move along?

It doesn't hurt that Johnson is able to concentrate solely on hockey. While Okposo took five classes for 14 credits during the first semester and confessed, "I feel like Monday through Wednesday I'm just trying to survive school. Obviously I love hockey and I want to focus on hockey, but it's tough because I've got to get through the week before I can get to Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

"I'm not making excuses, but it's kind of a tough point of my life right now."

I really doubt the Isles put much pressure on him to sign.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! All I can say is wow! This situation could get ugly, or in this case uglier. I can't believe that an NHL GM would blast a coach and program like that. I think everyone loses in this situation in the short term. Okposo is a puke for bailing on his teammates, but in the long run he will probably be alright. The Islanders show a lack of class for encouraging him to leave and a total lack of class for blasting a program that is one of the standard bearers in College Hockey and a coach who has had a pretty good track record over the years. The Gophers and coaching staff come out looking bad in this and it could certainly have a negative affect on recruiting as it is the nature of the business that a recruit will be asked by opposing coaches and recruiters if they are confident that going to Minnesota will be the best move for a kid who wants to play in the NHL. The whole thing stinks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Poor coaching, Says Mr. Snow!!!

New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow on Thursday criticized Don Lucia's coaching, saying that was the reason sophomore Kyle Okposo is leaving the Gophers hockey program and negotiating a contract with the Islanders.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/12692637.html

well that puts the islanders (okposo the quitter) and the flames (chucko) on the lucia pets shi$ list...wow

it was kyles decision in the end and he bailed, not a good situation all around

Still, Snow didn't feel the Gophers were a right fit for Okposo.

"It's well-known in hockey circles that the situation for college players is to develop and get better," Snow said. "And quite frankly, it's a big responsibility for a college coach -- a program -- to handle these kids.

"Whether it was Kyle or another player, until things change in that program we'd probably make the same decision. There should be a coach there that looks in the mirror."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How bout if Garth just said something along the lines of

we are happy to have Kyle in our system and it was a tough decision for him and us to make at this point in the season, but after talking with Kyle we just felt that this was the best decision to make at this time for all involved.

NO Class, kind of like some of the players and teammates of Garth's on the Maine teams who never attended class at Maine..... Sorry, felt like taking a potshot their.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How bout if Garth just said something along the lines of

we are happy to have Kyle in our system and it was a tough decision for him and us to make at this point in the season, but after talking with Kyle we just felt that this was the best decision to make at this time for all involved.

NO Class, kind of like some of the players and teammates of Garth's on the Maine teams who never attended class at Maine..... Sorry, felt like taking a potshot their.

exactly, i called complete bullshi$ on the islanders regarding lucia's coaching. where were they this summer when kyle wanted to leave and they wouldnt sign him?? so all of a sudden lucia cant coach in the last 3 1/2 months? what a bunch of crap from garth and that crappy ass team he has. im sorry but KO wanted out and then he blamed lucia to the isles for his !@#!$ year he was having. have fun coming back to YOUR HOME STATE kyle if the isles ever play the wild. kyle handled this pretty bad in my eyes ???

im gona take a wild stab here and say the islanders dont draft anymore gophers since lucia sucks at coaching so bad :D this is gona get good........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Feb. 9, 5:00

Isles at Wild

he will probably be in the WHL ??? well thats sweet if so...i hope they BOO the s&!t out of the guy as im sure 90% of those fans are also gopher faithful and by reading many things they arent too thrilled with KO and i think he is from st paul :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

bottom line - the NHL has the power to wave big cash in front of any college players' nose! Any high draft pick that CHOOSES to stay in college is doing it for reasons entirely his own! It's really a question of character...TJ and Dunc came back because they felt they had unfinished business in college - do you think either one of them would bail right now because their teams are basically .500 at the midpoint of the season? I don't think so...they committed for another year in college for better or worse. KO pulled the chute when things weren't going his way. Again - speaks volumes about character and I'll say KO has none.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure if this has already been posted, but...

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/12692637.html

Woah.

Snow absolutely rips into Lucia there.

New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow on Thursday criticized Don Lucia's coaching, saying that was the reason sophomore Kyle Okposo is leaving the Gophers hockey program and negotiating a contract with the Islanders.

"Quite frankly, we weren't happy with the program there," Snow said in a telephone interview. "They have a responsibility to coach, to make Kyle a better player, and they were not doing that."

Asked for specifics, Snow said, "[Okposo] just wasn't getting better -- bottom line. And to me, that's the frustrating part. We entrusted the coach there to turn him into a better hockey player, and it wasn't happening. We feel more comfortable in him developing right under our watch."

"It's well-known in hockey circles that the situation for college players is to develop and get better," Snow said. "And quite frankly, it's a big responsibility for a college coach -- a program -- to handle these kids.

"Whether it was Kyle or another player, until things change in that program we'd probably make the same decision. There should be a coach there that looks in the mirror."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...