Wisconsin Badgers 14-15

Hilltopper99 · Post by **Hilltopper99** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:30 am

Currently the Badgers sit at 4-24-4. I understand a down year, a year of getting the young-uns up to speed, but this team is one of the worst in D1 college hockey (according to the Pairwise Rankings) and certainly the worst in the history of the program. I love the game, but don't know much about its technical aspects. Can anyone who has watched the Badgers elaborate on their problems. Is this a skill thing? Poor recruiting? Style of play? Is it Eaves? Is his job on the line? What can we expect to see in the upcoming years?

DrGaf · Post by **DrGaf** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 2:11 pm

Hilltopper99 wrote:Currently the Badgers sit at 4-24-4. I understand a down year, a year of getting the young-uns up to speed, but this team is one of the worst in D1 college hockey (according to the Pairwise Rankings) and certainly the worst in the history of the program. I love the game, but don't know much about its technical aspects. Can anyone who has watched the Badgers elaborate on their problems. Is this a skill thing? Poor recruiting? Style of play? Is it Eaves? Is his job on the line? What can we expect to see in the upcoming years?

Not to be too terribly snide ... but ef'fem it's the Badgers.

mulefarm · Post by **mulefarm** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:37 pm

Watched them a couple of times, slow, small and weak. They might not have 4 wins if it wasn't for their goalie.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 5:35 pm

Hilltopper99 wrote:Can anyone who has watched the Badgers elaborate on their problems. Is this a skill thing? Poor recruiting? Style of play? Is it Eaves? Is his job on the line? What can we expect to see in the upcoming years?

How much time do you have?

I think anybody would say it is a series of issues.

They have done a poor job over the years of balancing out their recruiting classes (which is on Eaves). It makes for either very inexperienced teams (like this year) or very experienced teams (like last year). If you don't capitalize on the experienced teams by winning a championship, you are going to have bigger droughts than you'd hope for.

I also think their stereotype for style of play (being less about creativity with the puck and more about systems) hurts them when going for some of the high end forwards. Not that they don't get any talented forwards ever but there are a number of other high profile programs that tend to encourage more skill play than UW does and I believe it hurts them in head to head recruiting (once again, Eaves is most responsible for that).

They have definitely been hurt by the quality of assistants they have had since Osiecki left town. Their current staff (and Bill Butters when he was there) couldn't hold a candle to what Osiecki brought to the table. I suppose you could put that one on Eaves too since he has to fill the roles... but it is tough to replace a high quality assistant like Osiecki so that may just be tough circumstances in general.

I know Badger fans seem to want Eaves gone ASAP but my bet is he is back next year. There might be a casualty or two among his staff (create a fall guy besides himself) but I'd bet he is back another year. If he has another crappy year, then all bets are off in my book.

As much as their fans would probably scoff at my remark here... UW isn't a hockey school. As long as football and basketball are going relatively well, the pressure on the hockey program isn't going to be all that great. Alvarez seems to like Eaves and appears to be willing to give him more rope.

Hilltopper99 · Post by **Hilltopper99** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:10 am

Gopherblog - Thanks. Very insightful.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 12:33 pm

Gopher Blog wrote:
Hilltopper99 wrote:Can anyone who has watched the Badgers elaborate on their problems. Is this a skill thing? Poor recruiting? Style of play? Is it Eaves? Is his job on the line? What can we expect to see in the upcoming years?
How much time do you have?

I think anybody would say it is a series of issues.

They have done a poor job over the years of balancing out their recruiting classes (which is on Eaves). It makes for either very inexperienced teams (like this year) or very experienced teams (like last year). If you don't capitalize on the experienced teams by winning a championship, you are going to have bigger droughts than you'd hope for.

I also think their stereotype for style of play (being less about creativity with the puck and more about systems) hurts them when going for some of the high end forwards. Not that they don't get any talented forwards ever but there are a number of other high profile programs that tend to encourage more skill play than UW does and I believe it hurts them in head to head recruiting (once again, Eaves is most responsible for that).

They have definitely been hurt by the quality of assistants they have had since Osiecki left town. Their current staff (and Bill Butters when he was there) couldn't hold a candle to what Osiecki brought to the table. I suppose you could put that one on Eaves too since he has to fill the roles... but it is tough to replace a high quality assistant like Osiecki so that may just be tough circumstances in general.

I know Badger fans seem to want Eaves gone ASAP but my bet is he is back next year. There might be a casualty or two among his staff (create a fall guy besides himself) but I'd bet he is back another year. If he has another crappy year, then all bets are off in my book.

As much as their fans would probably scoff at my remark here... UW isn't a hockey school. As long as football and basketball are going relatively well, the pressure on the hockey program isn't going to be all that great. Alvarez seems to like Eaves and appears to be willing to give him more rope.

Gopherblog, has some things right and some not so much...

This years debacle is mostly about the current assistant coaches and their complete inability to teach and one's complete inability to recruit and the others inconsistency in recruiting.

He hit the nail on the head almost on the Osiecki reference. But it wasn't just Osiecki, we also had Kevin Patrick, who left about same time as Osiecki. Picking your staff is totally on Eaves, in Osiecki and Patrick you had two highly experienced coaches who had great success as assistance at D1 programs and Oz also had great success and experience as a head coach in the USHL... Eaves response to losing these guys was to bring in Bill Butters (a guy who was a great coach back in the day but hadn't been on a real coaching bench in like 15+ years give or take) to replace Osiecki (yikes) and then he brought in Gary Schuchuk to replace Patrick. Schuchuk had a great playing career but his entire coaching resume consisted of coaching Team Wisconsin (our before and after AAA program for high school players in WI). He had ZERO coaching experience at any level of college or juniors and had zero experience recruiting.. That said he has done ok but great in getting certain commits, but he's also lsot many of them as well at the eleventh hour which has caused reactionary recruiting and brining in guys before they were ready. A current senior and co-captain on the team by the name of Brad Navin was brought in two years too early because of this and the guy is somewhat respectable right now as a senior but in reality he should be a somewhat respectable sophomore wit two more years to grow and develop (in essence they screwed his career because they effed up).

Then Butters left weeks into his second season (again on Eaves). SO witht he season already started they were in a pinch to get a coach. So they hired Matt Walsh. Walsh is a former Badger who coached WI high School hockey in the late 80's and early 90's for like 5 years. Then he spent a couple seasons as an assistant coach for Team Wisconsin in the 1990's. Since then he had been USA Hockey's central district coach in chief (which is a fancy way of saying he was running coaches clinics for CEP Level 1,2 3 & 4 youth hockey coaches. He had ZERO practical experience for coaching college hockey and zero experience in recruiting. Also if you know him he can be a real hard guy to figure out and doesn't come across very well in first impressions, which makes him a recruiting liability and he really doesn't do hardly any of it for them. Yet, even after the interim year they stayed with him, for some unexplained reason. So they are really at a disadvantage recruiting wise.

The reality is this years group is the first group with ZERO Osiecki or Patrick recruits or influence and you see the results. Fans are clamoring for Eaves firing down here and I am 50/50 on whether he will be retained but if he is my guess is that both of his assistants will be gone, that would be the ONLY way I could foresee Alvarez agreeing to keep him on but I am not so sure he will. Eaves has always had unbalanced classes but the recruiting always kept them competitive even in the inexperienced years, that is no longer the case with the current regime.

This is where I think gopherblog has it wrong. Wisconsin is very much a hockey school. The reality is ALL major BigTen schools are football and basketball schools first and foremost. Sorry to burst your bubble but even Minnesota is a football and basketball school first over hockey. It's because THAT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS, even at a Minnesota. Remember Wisconsin lead the entire nation in hockey attendance for lord knows how many years straight and is still in the top three this year despite how awful the season has been. Also remember that Wisconsin was one of very few schools in the country that had THREE money making programs, football, basketball and men's hockey (this year not withstanding). The program this year has been hit hard by season ticket nonrenewals, it is the first time in like 20 years the program hasn't been in the black. Our hockey program is a blue blood hockey program, so it is as much of a hockey school as there is in the country. I think Barry pays attention to those numbers and that won't stand, not for long and this season may be the straw, for sure for the assistants and probably for Eaves. I think Eaves is actually a good coach but he didn't manage his staff or his recruiting properly the last 5 years and it's biting him in the arse big time now.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 5:58 pm

JSR wrote:This is where I think gopherblog has it wrong. Wisconsin is very much a hockey school. The reality is ALL major BigTen schools are football and basketball schools first and foremost. Sorry to burst your bubble but even Minnesota is a football and basketball school first over hockey. It's because THAT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS, even at a Minnesota. Remember Wisconsin lead the entire nation in hockey attendance for lord knows how many years straight and is still in the top three this year despite how awful the season has been. Also remember that Wisconsin was one of very few schools in the country that had THREE money making programs, football, basketball and men's hockey (this year not withstanding). The program this year has been hit hard by season ticket nonrenewals, it is the first time in like 20 years the program hasn't been in the black. Our hockey program is a blue blood hockey program, so it is as much of a hockey school as there is in the country. I think Barry pays attention to those numbers and that won't stand, not for long and this season may be the straw, for sure for the assistants and probably for Eaves. I think Eaves is actually a good coach but he didn't manage his staff or his recruiting properly the last 5 years and it's biting him in the arse big time now.

It is a matter of opinion on hockey school or not. It is hard to see things that way from a Minnesotan point of view.

If it was about love of the game, their attendance wouldn't be dropping like a rock in recent years (even when they've had relatively good teams in recent years, attendance has still dropped). I certainly don't argue that UW has a rich history but the program has mostly taken steps down in prestige over the past 20 years. Sauer's final 10 years were mostly marked with mediocre results (especially in the post-season) and Eaves tenure has been very schizophrenic. Not a lot of consistent high caliber success over those two decades.

Your idea of UW making money on hockey also needs some perspective. I checked the numbers for 2013 using government data and UW had made roughly 400K on hockey that fiscal year. That same year Minnesota had made roughly 4 1/2 times that on hockey.

Personally, I think Eaves is going to get one more season to show he can turn it around. I do think he's going to have to do something about his assistants because somebody is going to have to be a "fall guy" for the season. Lucia was essentially forced to dump John Hill to pacify the wolves after the Gophers slumped for a few seasons (although UW's results this year make the brief Gopher slump look downright decent). I can't see UW not making any staff changes... whether the assistants are to blame or not... if Eaves stays, somebody else will probably need to be sacrificed.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 12:33 pm

It is a matter of opinion on hockey school or not. It is hard to see things that way from a Minnesotan point of view.

Only for a gopher fan, lol. I understand that for those who live in MN they equate the great youth and high school hockey tradition right along with the University but the rest of the world does not. The University stands alone and is a separate entity from the rest. Just liek the pro team is as well (otherwise you wouldn't have lost the North Stars if that wasn't true)... The Badgers are a blue blood college hockey school with a fan base that only UND and the Gophers can rival. I get that we are the enemy but try and be objective, no other schools can call themselves hockey schools more than UND, Minn and WI and you will see why in a sec

If it was about love of the game, their attendance wouldn't be dropping like a rock in recent years (even when they've had relatively good teams in recent years, attendance has still dropped). I certainly don't argue that UW has a rich history but the program has mostly taken steps down in prestige over the past 20 years. Sauer's final 10 years were mostly marked with mediocre results (especially in the post-season) and Eaves tenure has been very schizophrenic. Not a lot of consistent high caliber success over those two decades.

Attendance "dropping" is a relative term. I mean the Badgers, Gophers and UND are the only programs that average over 200,000+ spectators per season. Fourth place comes in around 115,000. So it's really a three horse race and everyone else is "also rans". Believe it or not attendance figures in 2013-14 were actually UP for Minn, UND and Wisconsin compared to 2012-13. That being said Wisconsin had a run between 2004 through 2010 where their attendance figures were so much greater than even Minn and UND it was ridiculous. I mean 356,000 ridiculous for one of the seasons while UND and MN couldn't even touch that figure (regardless of stadium constraints or whatever, Wisconsin was KING). Before that the attendance figures were closer to what they've been since 2011 or so before 2004. So maybe Eaves title success and some other economic factors (my industry absolutely BOOMED from 2001-2008 for example) lead to greater attendance during that stretch and maybe because of lack of success AND the economy those figures have just come back to reality of the "mean", but lets remember even in this "down year" WI is still about 75% greater than fourth place, and still on par with the other two schools in the top three..... these numbers substantiate us being a "hockey school" relative to the D1 hockey universe.

Your idea of UW making money on hockey also needs some perspective. I checked the numbers for 2013 using government data and UW had made roughly 400K on hockey that fiscal year. That same year Minnesota had made roughly 4 1/2 times that on hockey.

Well first of all that particular season that $400k was profit not revenue, as in after ALL expenses were paid including coachessalaries, ADs salaries, travel, scholarships etc... etc.... Revenue was closer to $5mil, so turning a decent profit is a good thing. Also, considering three programs (Minn, UND and WI) are the only three schools that are perennially in the black I actually think I have a pretty good perspective. Also, remember that 2004-2011 stretch of astronomical attendance figures I mentioned. Yea during that stretch the amount WI made on hockey dwarfed Minn and UND in that category as well. So my "idea" of making money actually is pretty solid and grounded in reality, as opposed to a single year stat taken without any perspective or history or relativity to the field at large. A single year comparison between WI and Minn doesn't yield anything objective. I mean if I compared Minn and WI in say, 2009-2010 when the Badgers had 316,00 in attendance and the gophers had 187,000 that year I wonder how the financials between the two might look? I'm guessing it would be pretty huge gap.... So a single cherry picked season isn't useful. An overview of what they've done consistently for 20+ years is my perspective on men's hockey making money. So I think it's your perspective that needs adjusting not mine....

Personally, I think Eaves is going to get one more season to show he can turn it around. I do think he's going to have to do something about his assistants because somebody is going to have to be a "fall guy" for the season. Lucia was essentially forced to dump John Hill to pacify the wolves after the Gophers slumped for a few seasons (although UW's results this year make the brief Gopher slump look downright decent). I can't see UW not making any staff changes... whether the assistants are to blame or not... if Eaves stays, somebody else will probably need to be sacrificed.

I basically agree here, except Schuchuk and Walsh deserve to get the "axe" absed on performance of the team and recruiting unfortunately, so to me that's not being sacrificial lambs that is just performance based evaluation. You can argue Eaves deserves to be fired too, but I'd say it's still 50/50 whether or not he survives. Whether it's Barry likes him, or he still thinks he is a good coach just needs better assistants like Lucia or whatever. that one is up in the air, I don't think the other two are.... so I guess we pretty much agree here.

blueblood · Post by **blueblood** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:19 pm

[quote="JSR"][quote]The Badgers are a blue blood college hockey school
[/quote]

Any reference to the real blueblood on this board is strictly coincidental.

As any true Gopher fans know and would attest to, "Better dead than Red."

-bb

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:45 pm

JSR wrote:I understand that for those who live in MN they equate the great youth and high school hockey tradition right along with the University but the rest of the world does not.

I'd say you'd be in the minority on that. Most people equate the entire state for its hockey and the University has always been a flagship of that. Even in the days when pro hockey was around.

The North Stars point is a tad ridiculous because that move was due to one man... and part of his motivation was avoiding the spotlight of sexual harassment.

As I said, I don't deny the Badgers have a rich history... but they really haven't been a consistent threat for most of the last 20 years. You can say it is an "enemy" thing but you'd be wrong on that... North Dakota is more hated by many Gopher fans than UW is... yet I don't say the same things about UND that I say about UW. If it was simply an "enemy" thing, I certainly wouldn't be giving UND any credit either. But the reality is they have been a pretty consistent contender over the past 15 to 20 years. UW has been very inconsistent in that time frame. I think that has had an impact on the prestige factor for UW. You don't... that's fine. Agree to disagree.

I really won't belabor the attendance point much more. We both know the stats you cite are represented by tickets sold... not actual attendance. Even the most rabid of UW fans have recognized how awful the ACTUAL attendance drop has been at games in recent years. Its just starting to show more now with actual tickets sold.

Also, remember that 2004-2011 stretch of astronomical attendance figures I mentioned. Yea during that stretch the amount WI made on hockey dwarfed Minn and UND in that category as well.

Since you brought up those big attendance years for UW (2004 to 2011)... we'll focus on those years and give you the benefit of that.

Men's hockey revenue numbers from the US Department of Education (in other words, these are officially reported by the schools to the government)

2004: Minnesota revenue at 6.7 million vs. UW at 4.5 million.

2005: Minnesota revenue at 6.8 million vs. UW at 4.6 million.

2006: Minnesota revenue at 6.6 million vs. UW at 5.3 million.

2007: Minnesota revenue at 6.7 million vs. UW at 4.8 million.

2008: Minnesota revenue at 6.0 million vs. UW at 5.3 million.

2009: Minnesota revenue at 6.5 million vs. UW at 5.0 million.

2010: Minnesota revenue at 6.7 million vs. UW at 5.3 million.

2011: Minnesota revenue at 7.0 million vs. UW at 6.7 million.

In addition to this, the lowest profit difference between MN and UW in any of these years was when MN made 2.5 million dollars more. One year MN profited almost 4 million dollars more than UW hockey. Outside of the one year I mentioned above, MN profited $3+ million more than UW every year.

I'd also point out that the worst hockey of Lucia's tenure (much of which when he was ill) was 2008 to 2010... and they still were bringing in more money during that time.

You didn't do your homework or you never would have made the claim that UW dwarfed MN in revenues in hockey. Clearly that was not the case.

But this is getting off point. This was about what was wrong with UW right now. Not a MN vs. UW thing.

Personally, I just have this feeling that Alvarez being an ex-coach that had faced adversity in his own right (albeit far earlier in his tenure as a UW coach) is going to give Eaves a chance to get himself out of it. Especially considering the guy did win a title at UW. I don't think it would be a smart move though... but I do think that is what will happen. I suspect the assistants won't be so lucky.

The problem with canning the current assistants is who would they bring in as replacements? If the perception out there is Eaves is on thin ice and might get canned if he has another down year, it is going to be pretty tough to convince any quality assistant to join the program. After all, nobody wants to take a job and then worry about job security a year later. Those might be tough spots to fill if they do fire the current guys.

mulefarm · Post by **mulefarm** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:08 am

Could Eaves and Osiceki make up like Lucia and Guentzel?

DrGaf · Post by **DrGaf** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:06 am

Gopher Blog wrote:
JSR wrote:... North Dakota is more hated by many Gopher fans than UW is...
SUE'S A GIRL'S NAME

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 5:37 pm

http://host.madison.com/news/local/city ... z3UxUKF0ZH

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:51 am

Looks like Eaves is staying. I think it is a mistake but I am not surprised.

BodyShots · Post by **BodyShots** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 8:26 am

Gopher Blog wrote:http://host.madison.com/news/local/city ... z3UxUKF0ZH

I would love to see a chart for Minnesota Hockey. It always amazes me the number of empty seats in the building, when they announce the attendance figures at Mariucci.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 12:03 pm

You didn't do your homework or you never would have made the claim that UW dwarfed MN in revenues in hockey. Clearly that was not the case

I actually did mistype what I had intended. I didn't mean to put revenues but I was typing and editing and looking at a lot of stuff and msut have blended them together. Regardless, I don't think someone is doing a very good job of accounting though because I don't see how the Gophers could have possibly made more money in 2009-2010 when "actual tickets sold" were 316,000 to 187,000. The math just doesn't add up at all. Either MN is inflating their revenue (which I doubt) or WI is hiding revenue or reporting it differently in other places (which I totally believe). Makes me wonder how the accounting is actually being done and what the actual time periods being reported on are. Is it a season or a calendar year either way it doesn't add up... Cuz you have to admit something seems awry with a difference in attendance figures being that huge.

Regardless it is off topic like you said.... Looks like Eaves will stay, which I never argued would not happen, now if he retains his staff then the guy needs to have an MRI of his brain.

Could Eaves and Osiceki make up like Lucia and Guentzel?

They never had a falling out, Osiecki just had a chance to be a head coach at a legit D1 school and he took it and Eaves supported him. I think Eaves would take back Osiecki in a second, but his stint at tOSU really soured him on the college game not sure if he'd want back in the college ranks or not as it looks like he's trying to forge a Pro career path right now with the Ice Hogs it would seem.

DmanDad1980 · Post by **DmanDad1980** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 3:16 pm

JSR

Premium seat charges per seat for Gopher Hockey tickets...

Buy seat for $1000+, then buy season ticket... adds revenue in a hurry...

\just a guess at why Gophers have higher revenue stream...

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:32 pm

DmanDad1980 wrote:JSR

Premium seat charges per seat for Gopher Hockey tickets...

Buy seat for $1000+, then buy season ticket... adds revenue in a hurry...

\just a guess at why Gophers have higher revenue stream...

Good point. Is the $1000 an annual thing? I know the Badgers have a premium seat "fee" for hockey but it's only like $50 per seat, not $1,000. If that is the case and it's every single year and it ALOT of seats then that could be a major factor right there. Hadn't considered that.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:50 pm

JSR wrote:They never had a falling out, Osiecki just had a chance to be a head coach at a legit D1 school and he took it and Eaves supported him. I think Eaves would take back Osiecki in a second, but his stint at tOSU really soured him on the college game not sure if he'd want back in the college ranks or not as it looks like he's trying to forge a Pro career path right now with the Ice Hogs it would seem.

I doubt Osiecki would look at it as a step in the right direction in his career to come back as a UW assistant again. Especially after being a head coach elsewhere. Guentzel never wanted to leave the U and I believe his #1 goal is to be the head coach there some day. Different circumstances for each guy.

OSU definitely screwed up by letting go of Osiecki. They'd be in much better shape right now if they had managed to find a way to work with him on what he wanted for improvements, etc.

I'll be curious if UW makes any staff changes. I think it would be a PR disaster if they stayed status quo across the board. At the same time, I question whether they could attract any top notch guys for the assistant roles under the current circumstances. You want to feel like you have job security when you take on a new role and if your fate is tied to Eaves, you could very well be looking for another job in 12 months if next season isn't very good.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:40 pm

Gopher Blog wrote:
JSR wrote:They never had a falling out, Osiecki just had a chance to be a head coach at a legit D1 school and he took it and Eaves supported him. I think Eaves would take back Osiecki in a second, but his stint at tOSU really soured him on the college game not sure if he'd want back in the college ranks or not as it looks like he's trying to forge a Pro career path right now with the Ice Hogs it would seem.
I doubt Osiecki would look at it as a step in the right direction in his career to come back as a UW assistant again. Especially after being a head coach elsewhere. Guentzel never wanted to leave the U and I believe his #1 goal is to be the head coach there some day. Different circumstances for each guy.

OSU definitely screwed up by letting go of Osiecki. They'd be in much better shape right now if they had managed to find a way to work with him on what he wanted for improvements, etc.

I'll be curious if UW makes any staff changes. I think it would be a PR disaster if they stayed status quo across the board. At the same time, I question whether they could attract any top notch guys for the assistant roles under the current circumstances. You want to feel like you have job security when you take on a new role and if your fate is tied to Eaves, you could very well be looking for another job in 12 months if next season isn't very good.

Definitely agree on this. Not to mention, lost several good recruits after he was let go....(Dougherty, Sheehy just off top pf my head)

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:20 am

Gopher Blog wrote:
JSR wrote:They never had a falling out, Osiecki just had a chance to be a head coach at a legit D1 school and he took it and Eaves supported him. I think Eaves would take back Osiecki in a second, but his stint at tOSU really soured him on the college game not sure if he'd want back in the college ranks or not as it looks like he's trying to forge a Pro career path right now with the Ice Hogs it would seem.
I doubt Osiecki would look at it as a step in the right direction in his career to come back as a UW assistant again. Especially after being a head coach elsewhere. Guentzel never wanted to leave the U and I believe his #1 goal is to be the head coach there some day. Different circumstances for each guy.

OSU definitely screwed up by letting go of Osiecki. They'd be in much better shape right now if they had managed to find a way to work with him on what he wanted for improvements, etc.

I'll be curious if UW makes any staff changes. I think it would be a PR disaster if they stayed status quo across the board. At the same time, I question whether they could attract any top notch guys for the assistant roles under the current circumstances. You want to feel like you have job security when you take on a new role and if your fate is tied to Eaves, you could very well be looking for another job in 12 months if next season isn't very good.

I agree I think it would be a step backwards for Osiecki to become an assistant again. The right college "head coaching" job might peak his interest but I doubt he'll ever be a college assistant again.

Also agree that tOSU made a huge mistake letting him go. They made promises, didn't keep their end of the bargain and their program took a step backward from where he was taking them IMHO.

As for UW, I get what you are saying but the assistants that are there are a train wreck and came in with zero experience. I think you could get a couple of good assistants though just because it is still a high profile program at a huge high profile university. I think it would be tough to not get someone better than what we have now and I think even though he retained Eaves, his words were not minced that Eaves is being mandated to "tear the program apart" (Those are Barry's words from the presser). TO me that means, fire your assistants and get someone new in here... who that will be I have no idea but it's got to be better than what we have, lord know the results can't be any worse than this year, right?

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 1:33 pm

JSR wrote:As for UW, I get what you are saying but the assistants that are there are a train wreck and came in with zero experience. I think you could get a couple of good assistants though just because it is still a high profile program at a huge high profile university. I think it would be tough to not get someone better than what we have now and I think even though he retained Eaves, his words were not minced that Eaves is being mandated to "tear the program apart" (Those are Barry's words from the presser). TO me that means, fire your assistants and get someone new in here... who that will be I have no idea but it's got to be better than what we have, lord know the results can't be any worse than this year, right?

I get what you are saying on some of this. I do think it is a risky proposition for a prospective assistant to take on though. That's just being realistic given the tenuous nature of the position Eaves is in right now.

The thing I don't get though is if working with Eaves at UW was so attractive, why hire such duds? Butters is a good guy but his best days were long behind him. Then the current two guys? I know we can say Eaves just picked the wrong guys but maybe the pool of applicants just wasn't good in the first place? And would it really be any better of a pool with Eaves being on thin ice? I don't know...

It is definitely a tough situation. Which is why I think they'd be better off just blowing it all up and hiring a new coach now. I think prolonging the Eaves tenure is only going to set UW back longer.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:16 am

Gopher Blog wrote:
JSR wrote:As for UW, I get what you are saying but the assistants that are there are a train wreck and came in with zero experience. I think you could get a couple of good assistants though just because it is still a high profile program at a huge high profile university. I think it would be tough to not get someone better than what we have now and I think even though he retained Eaves, his words were not minced that Eaves is being mandated to "tear the program apart" (Those are Barry's words from the presser). TO me that means, fire your assistants and get someone new in here... who that will be I have no idea but it's got to be better than what we have, lord know the results can't be any worse than this year, right?
I get what you are saying on some of this. I do think it is a risky proposition for a prospective assistant to take on though. That's just being realistic given the tenuous nature of the position Eaves is in right now.

The thing I don't get though is if working with Eaves at UW was so attractive, why hire such duds? Butters is a good guy but his best days were long behind him. Then the current two guys? I know we can say Eaves just picked the wrong guys but maybe the pool of applicants just wasn't good in the first place? And would it really be any better of a pool with Eaves being on thin ice? I don't know...

It is definitely a tough situation. Which is why I think they'd be better off just blowing it all up and hiring a new coach now. I think prolonging the Eaves tenure is only going to set UW back longer.

Schuchuk was hired because of three reasons:
A) he is a former Badger legend and former NHL player with tight connections to Eaves and
B) he was coming off of having won a Tier 1 AAA midget national championship with Team Wisconsin and Eaves thought his exposure would give him in roads to other Tier 1 AAA programs that produce good talent (it has but the success of those kids has been erratic at best) and
C) because he was the TW head coach Eaves thought this would help keep top end in state recruits coming to the Badgers (this one hasn't worked out so well)
To me Schuchuk can still become a good coach and is actually starting to become a better coach and recruiter recently but we had to endure him working out all the "kinks" and gaining his experience with us. In hindsight he should have taken a step by going to a smaller D1 program or a USHL team and gaining experience there before coming to a high profile D1 program despite his obvious Badger ties.

Butters and Eaves go way together and Eaves thought that Butters defensive experience and college coaching experience would allow Schuchuk to grow into his position while also replacing all that he lost in Osiecki. It was a gamble at the time and it did not pay off at all..

Walsh was brought in because Butters quit 4 games into his second season with the Badgers. His timing made it so there were literally ZERO candidates to bring in for the job because everyone's season had already started and everyone was in place. So he brought in Matt Walsh (another famous Badger defenseman). Walsh was only supposed to be an interim replacement to help get them through the season. But for some unknown reason in the following off season he was retained full time. No one but Eaves could tell you why because he has had zero impact on recruiting and it's rumored he is the reason Keegan Ford left and our defense has been down the drain obviously. I know there were more qualified candidates that applied in tat off season but it's mind boggling on why he went the way he went. It's understandable why he was brought in for the interim position but not understanding why he was kept. Head scratcher. Again another gamble by Eaves that did not pay off.

The only thing I can say about assistants coming in is maybe Eaves job is not as tenuous as it appears from the outside. I mean if this season didn't get him fired what will???? And maybe it will be sold to prospective assistants that way by Barry and Eaves so to speak.... All I know I would have preferred a complete change from Eaves on down but this is what we have now so try and make the best of it I guess :/

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:26 am

Gopher Blog wrote:
JSR wrote:As for UW, I get what you are saying but the assistants that are there are a train wreck and came in with zero experience. I think you could get a couple of good assistants though just because it is still a high profile program at a huge high profile university. I think it would be tough to not get someone better than what we have now and I think even though he retained Eaves, his words were not minced that Eaves is being mandated to "tear the program apart" (Those are Barry's words from the presser). TO me that means, fire your assistants and get someone new in here... who that will be I have no idea but it's got to be better than what we have, lord know the results can't be any worse than this year, right?
I get what you are saying on some of this. I do think it is a risky proposition for a prospective assistant to take on though. That's just being realistic given the tenuous nature of the position Eaves is in right now.

The thing I don't get though is if working with Eaves at UW was so attractive, why hire such duds? Butters is a good guy but his best days were long behind him. Then the current two guys? I know we can say Eaves just picked the wrong guys but maybe the pool of applicants just wasn't good in the first place? And would it really be any better of a pool with Eaves being on thin ice? I don't know...

It is definitely a tough situation. Which is why I think they'd be better off just blowing it all up and hiring a new coach now. I think prolonging the Eaves tenure is only going to set UW back longer.

Well regardless of outcome it is what it is now. Eaves fired both assistance:

http://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wiscons ... matt-walsh

I am reading between the lines and sounds like Barry made him do it, but either way they are out.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 2:10 pm

JSR wrote:I am reading between the lines and sounds like Barry made him do it, but either way they are out.

Yeah, I think we knew the writing was on the wall on this move. If Eaves wasn't going to get canned, somebody had to be the fall guy.

Alvarez understands the PR of it all. No doubt he said, "Mike... we can't keep it as is. If you aren't going to be the sacrificial lamb, then somebody else has to be sacrificed." I don't know that most UW fans are going to feel like this is the right move (most of the opinions I read want a whole new staff) but I guess they will just have to accept it.

HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

Wisconsin Badgers 14-15

Wisconsin Badgers 14-15

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 14-15

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 14-15

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 14-15

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 14-15