Mike Randolph

[O-townClown]

Ikola was done coaching before age 60. You are correct there were no loud groups calling for his removal.

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

How old was Willard Ikola when he decided to retire? If memory serves he coached high school hockey for over 30 years, and I don't recall folks calling for him to retire.

I've noticed a couple of reasons guys like Ikola choose to leave when they want. One is that if you've had a good, long run, it's nice to leave when you're at the top. And Ike's last team was not great, but you can't always control that. In the late 70's Steve Martin was the absolute king of stand up comedy. He sold out arenas all around the US. He walked away at the peak of that part of his career, rather than wait until he was playing half full houses. For a lot of us, our egos make that difficult to do.

Another reason is that old coaches get to the point they start coaching their older players' kids. A lot of them take that as a hint, that it's time to think about moving on. I think Ike mentioned this.

It can also get to be a bit of a grind. Granted, high school seasons are short relative to college season, but still, it's pretty well six days a week, for quite a few weeks every winter. At some point, sitting my the fire with Ma can become more appealing than another 3 hours in a cold arena. When it stops being fun, it's time move on. Back in my day, often coaches were involved in sports during two or even three seasons.

And some people figure, "This is a great gig, and it's time I let someone else have their turn at the wheel." As a part of the generation that waited for the Boomers to finally start moving out the way, I like this one. Coaching a HS team for 25 or 30 years is like two generations. (Closed circuit to Mike Grant: do you want to screw someone out of their chance, like Gags did to you?)

None of these really apply to Randolph. It ended up badly for him, and I personally doubt he was at fault for that. I'm not sure what his motivations are, but I'll not question them.

[Stang5280]

How old was Willard Ikola when he decided to retire? If memory serves he coached high school hockey for over 30 years, and I don't recall folks calling for him to retire.

Not saying that Randolph deserved his fate, particularly in the manner it happened, but comparing him to Ikola is inapt. Ikola’s teams never had a significant drop off near the end of his career (16-9 and section final his final season, with a state championship three years earlier) and he left the program in good shape. I can’t even imagine the most rabid Hornet fan was calling for Willard to be pushed out the door.

[northwoods oldtimer]

Are the East parents enjoying the 0-8 start at the hands of sacking Randloph? Enjoy the suck you sorry assed hockey parent losers!!

[East Side Pioneer Guy]

Are the East parents enjoying the 0-8 start at the hands of sacking Randloph? Enjoy the suck you sorry assed hockey parent losers!!

Up high!!! Down hard!!!

[headsupsticksdown]

Are the East parents enjoying the 0-8 start at the hands of sacking Randloph? Enjoy the suck you sorry assed hockey parent losers!!

The folks up dere all say it isn’t due to coaching, but what a mess…. Wonder how many kids will bail after this cluster of a season.

[Goose21]

Anybody who knows anything about the East program knew it was going to be a down year. Nobody or Nothing (other than an influx of talent) was going to change that. Best case scenario was probably to start 2-6 instead of 0-8, given the strength of the schedule. The Hounds schedule does lighten up with a number of winnable games with Brainerd, Rock Ridge, CEC (2x), Denfeld, Mounds View, Superior, and St. Cloud still to come. The changing demographics of AA hockey mean that East is going to go thru the cycles that other outstate programs do. It will be interesting to see if they can rebound and stay relevant and be an annual section contender.

[Getitright]

Tough times for sure. I would add though that even the most ardent supporters would agree that program was in the decline before he left. I would also add that most hockey people familiar with the current talent would say it’s not real good.

[Nostalgic Nerd]

What were the reasons again for why he left East?

[The51]

How far has this story gone in regards to figuring out what exactly happened with him getting pushed out? I've seen bits and pieces over the past year or however long its been but I don't know well enough where to go to see the most recent updates that have been made public. Anybody have anything they could share

[Puckguy19]

Depends on who you ask, and there perspective. Coach resigned prior to any result of the investigation being released. That usually indicates it will never be released.

[ryguyMN]

Sounds like Randolph is considering the STA opening, per the MN Hockey Hub article.