Hockeybullets: Yep, #chaoshockey
[Bill Rapai]
I don't know man. I literally don't know about Sunday's game, which was not televised. I also do not know about the Friday game, during which Michigan gave back all of their defensive gains over the past month and then some. It sounds like that continued Sunday:
Glad we got those D issues ironed out
— Yost Built (@YostBuilt) March 6, 2016
RT @umichhockey: 19:02 1st |Racine makes a great save as 2 OSU players broke into the zone all alone
After giving up a 2-on-0 breakaway a minute into the game, Michigan fell down 5-1, tied the game up, had a go-ahead goal waved off, and then lost in OT. I did not see this game, but I've seen this game.
What I did see on Friday was the same kind of stomach-churning frustration on one end and joyous awesome goal-scoring on the other end I imagine Sunday was. The reason people started watching hockey in the first place is so they could see the kind of tic-tac-toe goals the CCM line bangs in with regularity; the reason they got really angry and burned down the White House in 1812 is an inability to adjust to forechecking.
Michigan looks really really talented and not too bright, same story as always post-Mel. This year they've put together one of the best lines in Red Berenson history and it's keeping them above water. Except when it doesn't. Since Berenson is almost certainly retiring there's not much to do at this point but get to the tournament and hope things bounce the right way. Change is coming either way.
But at least they gave themselves enough breathing room. We can put away the RPI calculators and fancy graphs. Per College Hockey News, Michigan is 100% in the field and highly unlikely to end up outside the 7-10 range. At that point your seeding is unimportant. We'll be hoping the ping-pong balls come up in the right way to send Michigan to Cincinnati, where a 20% capacity crowd will provide an advantage to nobody. That means Michigan wants to get bracketed with whichever NCHC team ends up third or fourth, but it's impossible to figure out how to do that.
Michigan really just wants to go three periods without having Mad Max break out.
Speaking of "not televised." You know, I'm not as down on Big Ten hockey as everybody else seems to be. It was necessary for the growth of the sport to go from two Western conferences to three. Does Arizona State exist today if it's looking at two absolutely full conferences and the prospect of a long and lonely road as an independent? I doubt it.
But I do kind of expect that a game on Sunday between blood rivals is on TV. The only basketball game between 4 and 7:30 was on CBS. To not even have a streaming option is ridiculous.
Hockey is, or at least can be, a revenue sport. It should be treated as such. I see zero evidence the Big Ten is doing this. The BTN didn't bother televising a nonconference series against BU even though they certainly could have bought rights to televise an NESN broadcast of the Friday game; Saturday wasn't televised by anyone at all.
On the next coach. The fact that Berenson is retiring after this year has entered worst-kept secret territory. It is very like Red to not tell anyone publicly, but you can expect this weekend's Penn State series to be Red's last at Yost. His legacy is such that someone's going to put his name on something important; I'm not going to handle it in a random bullet point.
No, this bullet is for looking towards the next guy. Since Michael Spath is more or less the entirety of the Michigan hockey beat he's the only person with a list of candidates, which is in some order:
- Michigan assistant Brian Wiseman
- Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson
- Providence head coach Nate Leaman
- U18 NTDP head coach Danton Cole
- Springfield Falcons head coach Ron Rolston
Spath's been issuing lists for a couple months now and there isn't a ton of commonality between them except for the obvious guys connected to Red. I get the feeling that nobody really knows because Red keeps his own counsel and Michigan just imported a new athletic director. The names other than Pearson and Wiseman on that list are probably educated guesses.
Set aside Pearson for a moment. I would be fine with Leaman, who turned Union into an excellent program and then turned around and did it again at Providence. Providence is in the running for a one seed this year; they are they defending national champs. I'm listening.
He would be in for some major culture shock, though: he's one of those guys importing 20 and 21 year old freshmen. Michigan doesn't recruit like that and will not recruit like that through the next, oh, three or four recruiting classes since those are all but wrapped up already. I'm pretty sure he'd be able to cope with extremely talented younger guys, but you never know. And would he be able to recruit going forward?
The other guys on the list are all major risks. Wiseman has never been a head coach and is a current assistant on a team that can't find its ass in two tries on defense. (It's in the net.) Danton Cole is a Spartan whose only college job was a dismal three-year run at UAH. Rolston does have about a decade of college coaching under his belt plus a long spell with the NTDP and a couple years as the Sabres' head coach; he hasn't been in college for a decade.
A couple of those guys might be good if you end up moving to fallback options. But then there's Mel.
I was going to put a vertical line on the chart when Mel left for Tech and then I realized it was already more or less there. It's the blue uptick and red downtick in 2012. Pearson got Tech in the tourney for the first time since 1981 last year. This year the Huskies won their first conference title since 1976. (I realize this WCHA is not the old WCHA but when you're Tech hockey any hardware is a miracle.) They've currently scrapped their way onto the bubble again. Pearson immediately made Tech much better and now that it's his program they're at a level they haven been at since Pearson was playing in Houghton.
Yes, he's a bit older than is ideal at 57. On the other hand, Red was 57 in 1997. He won a national title the year before and the year after. Michigan has the raw tools to win a national title every year; there need be no building phase. Even if Pearson does retire at around 65, you get almost a decade out of him. That decade is immediately productive. He is obviously a top-level coach who was a linchpin of Michigan's success under Red.
This isn't hiring Brady Hoke; it's more like hiring Harbaugh, insofar as hiring anyone other than Harbaugh is like hiring Harbaugh. Knowing the culture is an asset; it just can't be the only asset. Pearson was clearly a major reason Berenson succeeded and is currently in the midst of the most impressive rebuild job in college hockey.
Hire Mel Pearson.
As an MTU alumnus, I plead with you... Let the man be!
I would love the Mel hire if only it wouldn't make my father cry (Tech grad).
A quick review of UConn's records over the years doesn't lead to me thinking he was pressing hard to make that a competitive program.
Warde Manuel knocked their hockey hire out of the park when he hired Mike Cavanaugh, who spent 18 years behind the bench at Boston College as an assistant.
Manuel will defer to Berenson on hockey program's future
It was my understanding, and this is just things I've gleaned, not actually been told, that Mel took the MTU job because, in part, a certain former athletic director was not keen on hiring career assistants and that he left with, if not Red's blessing, certainly his understanding. By showing that he can be a head coach, Mel has proven he's the worthy successor of Red's coaching tree.
this was my understanding as well. Brandon was quoted saying that any head coach at M should have HCing expereince (it's not a proving ground or w/e). Within 18 -24 months of DB arriving, Mel was out to MTU. IN fact, I think Tech approached him at about this time of year (4 years ago was it?) and MEl turned them down. Then, DB was quoted as such and 2-3 weeks later he accepted MTUs offer upon reconsideration.
don't take this as gospel, but this is what I recall.
strange thing was, about 2 years later didn't he hire a soccer or track coach that no HCing experience?
I always thought that was the story too but then I thought I saw someone here or at the Yost Post who I recall being well connected saying that rumor was untrue.
Then again, I've also noticed that a lot of people really close to the program have their blinders on with respect to Red's performance lately
Please no...
Michigan better hire Pearson before Minnesota moves on from Lucia, because he'd be at the top of their list as well.
I don't think that's true. I think Mike Hastings among others would be considerably higher on their list. I'm also not convinced that the public's anger at Lucia translates to their athletic department wanting change.
The bigger problem, embedded in your reply, is that there is no "athletic department" functioning at Minnesota right now. That's a huge problem.
Lucia is the second best hockey coach at Minnesota right now. Maybe Frost should get the mens' job?
Don Lucia takes a ton of shit for not being an alum. It wouldn't be better for Mel Pearson.
Doug Woog took an insane amount of crap and he played at Minnesota.
The reason Lucia has a lot of heat on him is the fact he hasn't won Minnesota a national title since 2003.
Wondering if the hockey team should learn defense from this blog. Cause we were all shut out yesterday.
I would be interested in seeing the scenario that somehow gives Michigan a >0% shot at the #1 overall seed.
Hard to believe that even exists...
Ron Rolston would be an excellent hire. He's from Fenton, played at Tech, coached at Lake State and was the USNTDP coach during which the likes of Kevin Porter, Chad Kolarik, Treais, Merrill and so on ended up at Michigan.
His NHL stint was a disaster because the team had just fired their longest tenured coach in team history and was in the process of selling every asset they had.
Tech had been bad for 30 years before Mel got there. The improvement that he is done there is amazing.
He would have huge success at Michigan.
and this program is in need of new blood. I love Red and UM owes the guy a great debt of gratitude and also think something should be named after the man. But, the last few years I have seen a program with no fire, always making the same mistakes and even though they have as much talent as anyone in hockey always come up short in the regular season or playoffs, if they make them.
I just don't think Red relates to kids as well as he used to and it's tough at his age anymore. Thanks for everything Red, but it's definitely time for him to move on.
" You know, I'm not as down on Big Ten hockey as everybody else seems to be. It was necessary for the growth of the sport to go from two Western conferences to three. Does Arizona State exist today if it's looking at two absolutely full conferences and the prospect of a long and lonely road as an independent? I doubt it.
I'm sick and tired of this Bettmanesque way of growing the game in places where it doesn't belong. Hockey will always be a regional niche sport and I'm fine with that. How about helping the game by fixing the awful officiating and making sure the real hockey fans enjoy it.
So why not go to areas where people who are from where hockey is said regional sport and try to establish a foothold there. From what I have seen the people who like hockey, REALLY like hockey, so why not give them a local team to root for. It won't always work, but it's better than doing nothing.
This reminds me that I am really not looking forward to the day Hutch retires
Danton Cole is probably destined to replace Anastos in East Lansing being a Ron Mason guy and all.
As for Michigan, Billy Powers has been sitting here since what 1986 with Jeff Norton and Warren Sharples! I would expect the reason Powers stayed is the same reason Mel left.
More likely that Don Granato gets the call than Danton Cole. Granato is the other USNTDP coach.
Step 1 - Make Mel Pearson an offer he can't refuse. End process.
It was pretty clear when Mel was here that he was more involved than your typical assistant coach. That's become even more clear since Wiseman replaced him. We just don't look like a well coached team anymore. The team makes the same mistakes over and over and the lousy effort against the bottom teams in the B10 has killed us for 3 years now. Meanwhile, Tech is at a different level than they have been in forever.
Red's a legend. He took a terrible hockey program and built it to the best program in the country. But it's time to turn that program over to the person that most helped him build it.
How is Rick Bennett not on the list of potential coaches? He's absolutely killing it at Union.
Bennett took the team the previous guy built (who moved on to Prov.) and won a NC with it.
Credit is due for that, but not all of it. Union has been a solid team under Bennett, but they have fallen off a bit this year.
What about the Yale coach? or Quinnipiac? If they guy from Union/prov can be considered, why not these other small schools that have produced recently?
1814! However, as long as "an inability to adjust to forechecking" = "unabated whomping on upper Canada" -- and I think historians would agree that it does -- this is a viable claim.
I used to know a lot about Hockey. Now, not as much, but I hope enough to comment.
I remember being a Penguins fan in the early 70s (why a pisant expansion team and not the Wings would require too much explanation) and Red and his Blues dominated the expansion side of the league. He was a hell of a player and team leader; I'd give him a YMRMFSPA of Jonathan Toews. I only vaguely knew Red had been a SA at Michigan and I was a student before he returned to be Head Coach. But I've been rooting for Wolverine hockey teams ever since I was in High School. (I was at Olympia Stadium when UM lost to Wisconsin in OT in the NCAA final. That sold me.) After all these years, it's hard not to look up to Red as an essential part of Michigan.
So, I just wanted to say here, today, that Red Berenson should occupy the Mount Rushmore of Michigan Athletic legends if said Mount could accommodate a few more than four heads:
Yost
Crisler
Schembechler
Harbaugh (if not too soon, then consider it my prediction)
Red
Agree entirely, but would also add Carol Hutchins to your pantheon list.
and I dont care..for the last 3-4 years in EVERY SINGLE Big game where a title or banner or something important was on the line (Not counting GLI as super important) but this team has CHOKED..Thats the only way to describe it...for all that so called NHL talent its been one choke after another...bomb away
so you can voice unpopular opinions to your hearts delight
Here's my slightly unpopular one: Red has never been able to coach defense. It's obvious now that Mel is gone that the Michigan hockey juggernaut of the 90's was a two-headed monster. Red on offense and Mel on defense. Ever since Mel left, Red hasn't been able to figure out how to make a team of NHL players play above average defense. Clearly he gets offense, but goodness he has no clue what defense is
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so I'm sure he's ready for a change.
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