ESPN's John Buccigross: Michigan a "Top 3 most desired job in college hockey"
Guessing BU and BC are the other two. Also it sounds like Pearson might be staying put, although he didn't issue a 100% firm denial and it looks as if Red would like him to be the successor.
Top 3 most desired job in #CawlidgeHawkey. The list is long. https://t.co/gr6IxsUL81
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) April 11, 2017
Thread here with quotes from Mel Pearson. Still no 100% firm denial, but certainly sounds like he's staying at this point. https://t.co/eAloMuUETE
— Chris Dilks (@ChrisDilks) April 11, 2017
Many of those same coaches believe Red wants Mel Pearson to succeed him w/ Bill Muckalt on that staff.
— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) April 10, 2017
Probably North Dakota and Minnesota.
April 11th, 2017 at 11:13 PM ^
Minnesota, hmmm, is their new slogan "Row the Zamboni"???
/I'll show myself out now
April 12th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
Moon over my hammy...
BC is not close to the quality of job that North Dakota is. BU isn't there either; Michigan has an argument but it's a tight one.
How many people want to live in Grand Forks, ND though. I agree that it's a top 5 job, not sure I'd go any higher than that.
April 11th, 2017 at 11:52 PM ^
I live here and I don't want to.
North Dakota is a great gig. Yes, it has tremendous pressure, but that school is focused on hockey and hockey only. They are basically a minor league team with fan support better than several NHL teams. Plus, they're one of the only schools that have a legitimate recruiting foothold out in Manitoba, Alberta, etc. For the right coach, that might be the #1 job in college hockey,
April 12th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
Englestad Arena is supposed to be pretty much a BMW with ice on it. "Each seat is green leather and padded with cherry wood arms." OK, BMWs are not made of wood, but my point is it's nice.
Hey, comeon man. That movie Fargo wasn't how it went down and that guy was like from an east coast city somewhere who did those murders. There is way more money here in the Red River Valley than most places in this country could ever dream. Take away your big cities in most states and ND blows many of them out of the water there player. So maybe there isn't a lot to do but at least there is always a lot of money to be made. Now we have all of your outcasts and freaks walking around asking for food who are out of work from the oil fields.
I like Buccigross. He openely laments how much coverage hockey gets on espn.
Bucci is good, but I legitimately despise him trying to force the whole "Cawlidge Hawkey" thing.
yup. couldnt agree more.
I like his weird way he has of talking about "college hockey" more than the way most other sports commentators have of not talking about "college hockey."
Not the worst thing in the world that hockey is mostly kept away from the cesspool of ESPN.
Hockey Night in Canada for me. Loved the intro.
April 11th, 2017 at 11:11 PM ^
Its one of the best intros in TV history.
Wasn't it ESPN that first came up with "puck tail" on televised games? That alone should consign them to the scrap heap of hockey. (If I'm wrong about who invented it, my apologies to ESPN for that -- but not for all the other shit they are responsible for.)
April 12th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
That was Fox Sports, not ESPN. The Fox "glo puck."
I used to enjoy NHL live when it was on. An hour dedicated to hockey coverage on ESPN. Now a days you're lucky to get three minutes of coverage on Sportscenter. Which consists of Barry Melrose trying to talk as fast as he can to fit in as much hockey as possible in that little window of time. It's brutal. Then again I haven't watched Sportscenter in about three years so maybe that's changed.
Back up the Brinks truck & get the home run hire we all want
I don't think any of those jobs are "better" than Michigan.
Michigan talent isn't like Minnesota but it's definitely up there. We also are right next to Canada and a down MSU has made it easy to draw instate guys like Larkin.
This year in the NHL there were 44 players from the state of Minnesota and 42 from the state of Michigan. Last year Michigan had 41 players and Minnesota had 40. People are severely underestimating the youth hockey community in Michigan. It's enormous and filled with exceptional talent. High school hockey is simply bigger in Minnesota because they allow their players to play both AAA and HS, whereas in Michigan the seasons run concurrent to each other and players have to pick one. The two states are extremely comparable in terms of talent produced and the misnomer that they aren't really needs to die.
High school hockey is bigger because it is a cultural way of life here that is completely different from Michigan. Has nothing to do with AAA or any other level. Hockey is ingrained in the culture in Minnesota in a way that it isn't in Michigan.
Nonetheless, Michigan still has a great talent base and a terrific infrastructure for the sport. The NHL number is misleading, of course--a huge number of Michigan's best prospects play in the OHL, while very few of the best prospects in Minnesota do the same. Michigan's biggest recruiting battles were not with Michigan State, but with London and Windsor and Kitchener (remember the Jacob Trouba situation?) As a result, Minnesota has a much larger college recruiting base.
That translates to a higher volume of successful teams in Minnesota and to a huge potential for success for the flagship, the University of Minnesota. As well as the expectations that go with it. It is what it is.
You are talking out of pocket here. I played AAA hockey in Michigan growing up so I'm speaking from experience. HS hockey would be much bigger here if the best players participated. As it is most of them choose to play for the AAA clubs, a choice Minnesota players don't have to make. They only defect to the OHL if they decide they don't want to attend college. So it absolutely does have something to do with AAA hockey. And you are underestimating the talent that comes through programs like Compuware, Little Caesars, Belle Tire, Victory Honda, and Honeybaked. It's insane.
As for the NHL numbers, why are they misleading? It's simply players in the NHL born by state. If you want to talk about the University of Michigan vs the University of Minnesota in terms of producing NHL talent, know that NO SCHOOL IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY has produced more NHL players and draft picks than Michigan in the entry draft era. So what are we really arguing here. Minnesota is a great hockey state, but so is Michigan. It's every bit as good in fact.
It's the same thing in the Toledo area. All of the elite kids play AAA or Juniors in either Michigan or the Cleveland area. There's good high school talent, but the best players are playing elsewhere.
No, you're just being uninformed.
at a junior level, Detroit churns out junior teams that are legitimate nationally and it's not just one club. I was able to go to the Junior Nationals a few years ago and I was amazed how well Michigan was represented. Little Caesars, Belle Tire, Compuware, Victory Honda, and even what I think was West Michigan.
If all we had was hockey, Detroit would be nuts for it, but we also generate a lot of football and basketball talent so the strong hockey in the area gets overshadowed a bit. Cities like Minneapolis, Buffalo, and Boston tend to generate more hockey talent than anything
BU is a good program but nowhere near Michigan, UND, BC, and Minnesota.
BC has won three since 2008 though.
Yeah but compare them to North Dakota and BC and they are not as good. Minnesota and Michigan are more alike. Michigan has the most titles and Minnesota has the most wins but both haven't been as good as North Dakota/Boston College in the last 20 years. Both Minny and Michigan have BTN money which probably bumps them up.
by 2025, we will be talking about the 4 NC titles Michigan has won in the last 8 years.. Great hockey area and comparibly to North Dakota this is Miami beach.
I realize we are all a bunch of Michigan homers, but in reality Michigan is not a top 5 program, boarderline top 10. Being in the B1G conference is the sole reason for that.