It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

[WCHFan]

I'll go first Minnesota play 4 lines consistant and wear teams down for pete's sake. You should be #1 in the country.

[TonyTheTiger20]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

BU needs to drop their program back down to club status.

[EastFan1]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

I'll go first Minnesota play 4 lines consistant and wear teams down for pete's sake. You should be #1 in the country.

Right on. More bench time for the 40 to 50 point kids and more ice time for the 1 to 5 point kids.

[D2D]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

Right on. More bench time for the 40 to 50 point kids and more ice time for the 1 to 5 point kids.

Maybe those 4th liners wouldn't be "1 to 5 point kids" if they did get more ice time! But in fairness, for quite a few games this year the Gophers haven't had 4 lines worth of healthy forwards.

[ARM]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

But in fairness, for quite a few games this year the Gophers haven't had 4 lines worth of healthy forwards.

They've usually had a full four lines, though seldom what they perceive to be their top 12 forwards. Were Downey available, maybe they would play four lines a bit more. But this weekend, it seemed like they always wanted to be subbing their "extra" wings off the fourth line for the same person. Depth only really helps if everyone is getting a break.

Coaching staffs don't seem to be able to see the forest for the trees at times. They identify their best players to use 5-on-5, 4-on-4, on the PP and PK, and seem unable to recognize that it is always the same people. Then a game comes along with a ton of specialty teams play, and they note that the best players got worn down like they are innocent bystanders and weren't the ones that painted the team into a corner with their rotation decisions.

If a staff has good forward depth and can't be more creative than I've seen to date in how those players are used, they are just wasting players. All these forwards may not be able to finish as well, but they have the tools to be good on the PK or to run out the clock at the end of the game. Minnesota failed in both on Saturday, and tired legs and a bad change figured heavily into the first goal against.

[EastFan1]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

Trust me. I'm on your side. I would fully support giving Kessel and Schoullis more bench time. I would also support giving more bench time to Decker, Knight, Coyne, Bramm, Spooner, Lams and Johnston.

And if anyone wants to transfer because they are getting too much ice time, please let me know.

[brookyone]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

I'll be a bit more specific...

SCSU was 1-31-1 last year. Right now, 5-19-2, already a vast improvement over last year. Recruited a strong goalie (Friend). Seems like they're turning the corner.

I hope AggiesHockey doesn't mind my moving this from the "Cellar Dwellers" thread to this thread. Wanted to comment yesterday to say I'm probably a little less optimistic when it comes to whether the Huskies have begun a turnaround at this point. One of the more pressing needs for SCSU is for forwards who can score...and score consistently, IMO. Friend is a solid starting point for Goose and staff. Hanmer is a fine blueliner and SCSU has a couple / few who can put the puck in the net but overall there's a fairly evident shortage of support for them in the offense mode. Stronger recruiting, getting back to something much closer to the kind of success the program has had in the past (in state) and elsewhere will be pretty key / vital. Especially if you look at the recruiting classes of the U, UW, UMD and UND lately. No easy task to remain competitive or become competitive under those circumstances. The SCSU staff seems to have possibly been bitten by some recent recruiting results that didn't pan out, with some complaints of less than astute assessment of talent from the gallery. I don't know about that...could be they're recruiting the right talent and merely not succeeding often enough. The "poaching" of Minnesota kids by highly regarded universities elsewhere has had an affect on St. Cloud IMO. There's some disagreement on that though. Recruiting competition has intensified but the staff has to combat that. That's the job.

So...stronger recruiting.

[rugrats]

I think many non-coaches or casual fans fail to understand the use of four lines during the course of a hockey game. Each line has a purpose and a role. Through the course of any given hockey game things happen that can dictate who plays when and what the line's job or purpose is for that shift, period, game.

Anyone care to explain the purpse and role of lines 1 through 4?

[rugrats]

I think many non-coaches or casual fans fail to understand the use of four lines during the course of a hockey game. Each line has a purpose and a role. Through the course of any given hockey game things happen that can dictate who plays when and what the line's job or purpose is for that shift, period, game.

Anyone care to explain the purpse and role of lines 1 through 4?

Come on Fiver... I know you know.

[CanHockGuy]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

If you're deep it's:

1. score
2. score
3. score
4. check

[WCHFan]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

I've seen the Gophs play about 14 times this year and feel they are one of the few teams that could run 4 lines out at 45 seconds and not miss a beat. And ok I'll take 3 lines consistently. Schoulis, Kessel etc would have just as many points and be fresh the whole game. Wear teams down! Of course play the top girls on the PP.

I just see Frost play 6-7 consistently and then mix in a few kids with those 6-7 which creates no cohesiveness in my opinion. If you have 10-12 studs. Play them. Quick shifts and wear teams down.

[WCHFan]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

To head coach of SCSU it's not the refs fault and try not to scream at them every game. Players feel it.

[EastFan1]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

I hope AggiesHockey doesn't mind my moving this from the "Cellar Dwellers" thread to this thread. Wanted to comment yesterday to say I'm probably a little less optimistic when it comes to whether the Huskies have begun a turnaround at this point. One of the more pressing needs for SCSU is for forwards who can score...and score consistently, IMO. Friend is a solid starting point for Goose and staff. Hanmer is a fine blueliner and SCSU has a couple / few who can put the puck in the net but overall there's a fairly evident shortage of support for them in the offense mode. Stronger recruiting, getting back to something much closer to the kind of success the program has had in the past (in state) and elsewhere will be pretty key / vital. Especially if you look at the recruiting classes of the U, UW, UMD and UND lately. No easy task to remain competitive or become competitive under those circumstances. The SCSU staff seems to have possibly been bitten by some recent recruiting results that didn't pan out, with some complaints of less than astute assessment of talent from the gallery. I don't know about that...could be they're recruiting the right talent and merely not succeeding often enough. The "poaching" of Minnesota kids by highly regarded universities elsewhere has had an affect on St. Cloud IMO. There's some disagreement on that though. Recruiting competition has intensified but the staff has to combat that. That's the job.

So...stronger recruiting.

True, SCSU needed to replace a couple elite goal scorers from a couple years ago and hasn't been able to do it. There's not enough of these players.

The good news is that it looks a few WCHA teams graduate more of these elite goal scorers then they have brought in. Compare the freshman stats of some elites leaving against current freshman. There are only a couple WCHA freshman with 15 or more goals. It will be very interested to see how far Wisconsin, Ohio State and others may drop. That should help SCSU.

[WCHFan]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

Can someone coach from the stands and tell me MSU's problem? They skate well and hustle but don't win? Of course scoring. Anything else?

[AggiesHockey]

Re: It's easy to coach from the stands - what teams need to do.

I hope AggiesHockey doesn't mind my moving this from the "Cellar Dwellers" thread to this thread.

Not at all...

Interesting comment on "poaching." I wonder if the MN talent that landed at Providence or Harvard feels like they got used, or poached.