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I've had to reconsider since Idalski announced his plan to disregard / ignore the verbal and steal the Lam twins away from Minnesota.brookyone wrote:A good hire. A guy quite capable of building a winner IMO.
I might have missed something on this elsewhere, but was it reported somewhere that the new North Dakota coach is actively recruiting these two after they gave their verbal committment to Minnesota? Or possibly that they were reconsidering their original choice?ghshockeyfan wrote:As much as I love the gophers, I'm not surprised that any UND coach may be accused of seeing how solid those verbals actually were from the twins.
From a Grand Forks Herald interview with the newly hired coach:MNHockeyFan wrote:I might have missed something on this elsewhere, but was it reported somewhere that the new North Dakota coach is actively recruiting these two after they gave their verbal committment to Minnesota? Or possibly that they were reconsidering their original choice?
Speaking of daughters of former Sioux, are you recruiting any players who have already indicated they are going elsewhere, such as Grand Forks' Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux, who have verbally committed to Minnesota? Their father, former UND goalie Pierre Lamoureux, was at the news conference introducing you as head coach.
I owe it to the program and the university to put the best product on the ice, so we're going to explore those options. . . . In football and basketball, a verbal means nothing. In hockey, it's a smaller-knit group and I think it's a little more taboo, but I think I owe it to the program, I owe it to the administration.
Players usually verbal early because they have made up their minds and no longer wish to receive all of the "attention" that highly recruited athletes receive. Coaches can either honor that wish or not. Many of the rumors of the Lamoureux sisters deciding to opt for UND assumed that their SSM coach was heading to Grand Forks as well. I don't blame Idalski if he wants to make his pitch to the twins once the time comes. But the problem that he and any coach of the Sioux would have is that they are going to have a talent deficit to most of the league in the classes which precede whoever arrives on campus in '08-'09. For any player who has a goal of winning a championship, that would be something to consider.xwildfan wrote:Verbal committments don't really mean anything; don't even know why verbals are even reported. There have been rumors that the twins were going to UND before Idalski was hired. I certainly don't blame them if they want to play closer to home; they have been away for four years.
There weren't any such rumors that I'm aware of after they gave Halldorson a verbal. I don't blame them if they want to play for UND. In that case they shouldn't have given their verbal to the U hockey program. While the reality of verbals not meaning anything isn't news to me, I don't see that as a positive thing in collegiate sports, just an unfortunate reality. As Idalski alludes to, in women's hockey verbals are (and have been over the brief history of the sport) more accountable, so to speak, than other NCAA "big time" sports. I think that's a positive thing...as it should be for all collegiate athletics. I believe at least one of the new Gopher men's coaches also stated he planned to pursue athletes already verbally committed to other programs. It's a widespread reality and practice that I personally don't think much of. A player changing their mind is fine...they certainly have that right. Coaches not respecting a players decision and meddling in their own behalf, I don't have any respect for that.xwildfan wrote:Verbal committments don't really mean anything; don't even know why verbals are even reported. There have been rumors that the twins were going to UND before Idalski was hired. I certainly don't blame them if they want to play closer to home; they have been away for four years.