Ohio State Buckeyes 2019-2020: Muzzling All Detractors

[pgb-ohio]

The new schedule is out!

September 27-28 ST. LAWRENCE

October 4-5 @St. Cloud State
October 11-12 WISCONSIN
October 18-19 @Minnesota State
October 25-26 MINNESOTA

November 1-2 @Bemidji State
November 15-16 MINNESOTA-DULUTH
November 22-23 @Colgate
November 29-30 CORNELL

December 13-14 Princeton

January 10-11 MINNESOTA STATE
January 17-18 @Minnesota
January 24-25 QUINNIPIAC
Jan. 31- Feb. 1 BEMIDJI STATE

February 7-8 @Minnesota-Duluth
February 14-15 @Wisconsin
February 21-22 ST. CLOUD STATE

Feb. 28-Mar. 1 WCHA First Round Playoffs
March 7-8 WCHA Final Face-Off
March 14 NCAA Quarter-Finals
March 20-21 NCAA Frozen Four


For a more visually appealing version, complete with Home Start Times:
https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/w-hockey/schedule/

[pgb-ohio]

Schedule Notes:

1. Just 1 Football Saturday on this year's schedule. In a joint expression of B1Gness, Ohio State hosts Minnesota in Women's Hockey & Wisconsin in Football on October 26th.

2. In addition to the usual WCHA games, it looks we're spending a season as an affiliate member of the ECAC. 10 -- count 'em 10 -- games against ECAC competition.

3. After trying out a couple of Sunday Home Games last season, we're currently scheduled to play the Friday/Saturday format for all Home Games this year.


Should be a fun year; Go Bucks!

[whoop87]

Schedule Notes:

3. From November 22 through December 14, we get to see how the Ivies live -- for 6 straight games.

Only 4 straight games against the Ivies. Colgate is Ivy-ish, but not Ivy. They are not a member of the Ivy League.

[pgb-ohio]

Only 4 straight games against the Ivies. Colgate is Ivy-ish, but not Ivy. They are not a member of the Ivy League.

The error has been removed. Thanks for the graciously phrased correction.

Good to hear from you, btw.

[Still Eeyore]

1. Just 1 Football Saturday on this year's schedule. In a joint expression of B1Gness, Ohio State hosts Minnesota in Women's Hockey & Wisconsin in Football on October 26th.

This pretty much seals that I'm going to make my one long distance regular season trip to Nashville this year.

[vicb]

Schedule Notes:

1. Just 1 Football Saturday on this year's schedule. In a joint expression of B1Gness, Ohio State hosts Minnesota in Women's Hockey & Wisconsin in Football on October 26th.

2. In addition to the usual WCHA games, it looks we're spending a season as an affiliate member of the ECAC. 10 -- count 'em 10 -- games against ECAC competition.

3. After trying out a couple of Sunday Home Games last season, we're currently scheduled to play the Friday/Saturday format for all Home Games this year.


Should be a fun year; Go Bucks!

And you failed to mention that the Princeton games are in Lost Wages, Nev. Neat.

[pgb-ohio]

This pretty much seals that I'm going to make my one long distance regular season trip to Nashville this year.

Good choice. Everyone I've spoken to about Nashville agrees that it's a great time. Hope to get there myself someday. Maybe the Men's Frozen Four will make it to Nashville eventually.

And you failed to mention that the Princeton games are in Lost Wages, Nev. Neat.

Mildly mixed emotions on this one. "Vegas For The Holidays" is one of the last things I'd come up with. If I were headed that way for the break, Lake Tahoe would be much more tempting.

That said, Vegas will certainly be a fun change of pace. I'm guessing the those making the trip will experience it as an end-of-the-semester reward. With luck, some great hockey as well. Definitely a neat thing from that perspective.

[ARM]

Unusual that after years of playing a lot of CHA opponents, they are suddenly all gone. I would think that Penn State in particular would make a nice annul opponent. This almost looks calculated to try to maximize RPI by getting the Opponents' win % and Opponents' Opponents' win % as high as possible, with all of the top of the ECAC minus Clarkson. Can't blame them for that one after two goalies went there.

[pgb-ohio]

Unusual that after years of playing a lot of CHA opponents, they are suddenly all gone.

It's a striking difference, for sure. And a little uptick in the travel budget.

In fairness, Colgate & Quinnipiac were on last year's schedule. Those two weekends are return engagements. But yes, the total absence of CHA opponents is still a major change.

I would think that Penn State in particular would make a nice annul opponent.

Strictly one person's personal opinion: But as I've posted in the past, I'd play Penn State every year, perhaps with a traveling trophy on line. The schools share a 25 year history as BIG Conference Mates. The Football rivalry goes deeper still. PA is a neighboring state. Bringing that match-up to Women's Hockey strikes me as a good thing. No, not as some sort of prelude to a Women's BIG Hockey Conference. A rivalry on its own merits.

This almost looks calculated to try to maximize RPI by getting the Opponents' win % and Opponents' Opponents' win % as high as possible, with all of the top of the ECAC...

Is Coach Muzzerall smart enough & aggressive enough to pursue that strategy? I would say yes.

But I think it's more basic than that. My observation is that Coach tries to put together the strongest possible schedule. Consider last year's exhibition game. Historically that's been a match against a manageable opponent, in a September tune-up. Last year OSU joined the group of schools scheduling the Whitecaps, and played the game in January. Irrelevant to the pairwise, but another chance to play against top talent.

...minus Clarkson. Can't blame them for that one after two goalies went there.

Purely guesswork on my part: But I highly doubt the OSU Coaching Staff is boycotting or ducking Clarkson. Again, I think the lead factor is a desire to play the strongest possible competition, within the limits of mutual availability. With luck, OSU & Clarkson will find mutually agreeable dates in the future. Unless Clarkson is ducking Ohio State.

[osualum86]

Pgb, thanks for starting this thread! I like your subtitle better than the one I was going to have. My subtitle this year was going to be "Lessons Learned or History Repeats Itself." By that, I mean I want to see if this team shows up every game and plays like it's Minnesota or Wisconsin, or if we continue to stumble against inferior teams. Two seasons ago, we had some hiccups against teams we should have beaten, but there were enough quality wins in the 2017-18 season to overcome the few bad losses. Last season, we ended up on the outside looking in because of a number of bad losses, and there were not enough quality wins to overcome that. My hope is obviously that the team learned from last season so that history does not repeat itself. Having said all that, love your subtitle "Muzzling The Detractors." Hope the team does just that, but they need to get back to what they were doing in 2017-18 ... playing with a chip on their shoulder in every game ... not just when they play Minnesota or Wisconsin.

As for the friendly little debate about scheduling, if you look at the league we play in, as well as the non-league schedule that was put together, it becomes fairly obvious that Ohio State ducks no one. Add to that the fact that years ago, Ohio State had a chance to leave the WCHA for the CHA and ultimately decided, correctly, to stay in the WCHA.

I cannot wait until the season gets going. We miss the girls. We were actually looking at the schedule to see if we could make one of the road trips this fall. We like to make one road trip in the fall, then start saving up for the postseason.

[shelfit]

Did one of the assistant coaches leave? That's what I just heard. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

[joecct]

Did one of the assistant coaches leave? That's what I just heard. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

I can confirm that Clarkson did not add an assistant.

[Puckdrop14]

I can confirm that Clarkson did not add an assistant.

That is funny! Seems like assistant coaches at OSU have a short shelf life. Muzzy looks like someone who would be enjoyable to work for!🤪

[Lindsay]

Did one of the assistant coaches leave? That's what I just heard. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

Which assistant? I know Cassels is expected to coach his kid’s AAA Blue Jackets team this fall (as he was this past season). Muzerall gave him a favorable work life schedule so he could parent and work, and coach his kid’s team, which is commendable on her part. I don’t know how long to expect Cassels to stick in women’s hockey. Maybe it’s a stepping stone for him, maybe he’ll stick around.

[Lindsay]

That is funny! Seems like assistant coaches at OSU have a short shelf life. Muzzy looks like someone who would be enjoyable to work for!🤪

It’s really gross how various posters on this board are so antagonistic about women coaches. I’ve seen it for almost twenty years on this board. You guys are total embarrassments.

[Puckdrop14]

It’s really gross how various posters on this board are so antagonistic about women coaches. I’ve seen it for almost twenty years on this board. You guys are total embarrassments.

You are a wee bit paranoid. The comment has nothing to do with gender so take a deep breath. It has more to do with the constant change with this team’s staff and it extends beyond the assistant coaching changes.

[shelfit]

Did one of the assistant coaches leave? That's what I just heard. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

Using my own advice from another post, I found this link on OSU's employment site:

https://www.jobsatosu.com/postings/95203

So, they do officially have a posting for an assistant coach but my guess is it's a formality intended to shore up things for Cassels since he's currently listed as an "interim" coach on Muzzy's staff. The job listing shows it will be open only from 5/25/19 until 6/2/19. That's a very small window if they were actually looking for a new assistant coach. I think this answers the rumor quite easily.

[pgb-ohio]

Pgb, thanks for starting this thread! I like your subtitle better than the one I was going to have. My subtitle this year was going to be "Lessons Learned or History Repeats Itself." By that, I mean I want to see if this team shows up every game and plays like it's Minnesota or Wisconsin, or if we continue to stumble against inferior teams...

Your title would have been fine. But once Muzzerall = Muzzling All occurred to me, I couldn't resist.

As for the friendly little debate about scheduling, if you look at the league we play in, as well as the non-league schedule that was put together, it becomes fairly obvious that Ohio State ducks no one.

Haven't done any checking, but it's hard to believe anyone in the country is playing a tougher schedule. I thought that was noteworthy, which was another reason to crank up the presses.

Add to that the fact that years ago, Ohio State had a chance to leave the WCHA for the CHA and ultimately decided, correctly, to stay in the WCHA.

As I'm sure you recall, I was strongly in favor of staying in the WCHA. I do believe that decision looks wise at this point. I'd only emphasize that it was a decision FOR the WCHA, not a decision against the CHA.

I cannot wait until the season gets going. We miss the girls. We were actually looking at the schedule to see if we could make one of the road trips this fall. We like to make one road trip in the fall, then start saving up for the postseason.

Well, there's the road trip to Vegas. From there, you'd be attending either both Frozen Fours or neither, depending on how it goes in the casinos.

[pgb-ohio]

Well '86, it seems that some of our esteemed guests decided to have a bit of a kerfuffle at our place. Guess I'll toss in a couple of quick takes.

I can confirm that Clarkson did not add an assistant.

This is wicked funny. Even for an OSU fan. And a welcome contrast to the grim, judgmental tone over on the Transfers thread.*

*EDIT:For the record, I am aware that the Transfers thread has done a 180 & is now in silly talk mode...

You are a wee bit paranoid. The comment has nothing to do with gender so take a deep breath. It has more to do with the constant change with this team’s staff and it extends beyond the assistant coaching changes.

For my part, I don't believe your intent was sexist. My sense is that you're a call-it-as-you-see-it guy, and that you would have been willing to make the exact same comment about a male coach.

HOWEVER: Let's not go into denial. Lindsay is not paranoid. Big picture, female coaches sometimes do get a "shorter leash" than their male counterparts.

Every new coach deserves a chance to put their program in place. Regime change generally means more turnover than normal. Of course stability remains the goal. But given the situation Coach Muzzerall inherited, I would say she's entitled to a little extra slack, not less than usual.

Last, and certainly least. But curiosity compels me to ask. What in the heck did you try to use as an emoticon? At least on my screen, it was blocked.

[Lindsay]

Yea CCT’s comment was definitely funny. I agree with that. Also, sure it’s a fact OSU is going through a lot of asst coaches. Couldnsee them losing either asst and not being surprised, just bc if the nature of the business, and in Cassels case cause he just joined woho a year ago. It’s a worthy topic of discussion, especially for a program that is high profile like Osu. And by high profile, I mean, has a thread on this board, haha. While on that topic - there are other programs going through assistants at the same rate, it’s just that this program is being talked about. It’s not always because the coach is difficult to work for, but even if it is, so what? It kind of comes with the territory of working/playing D1. Some coaches are tough, whether out of intention due to necessity, or just because they are still figuring out their style. In my opinion, a place like OSU needs to be going all out, all the time on account of the league they play in and the various challenges they have as far as depth or lack their of, compared to other teams. Not to mention, the school is massive, it IS a football school despite the work of the hockey folks and the school has had at least 2 scandals in the past 12 months, that probably only complicate things as far as recruiting coaches or players, in a state not known for girls hockey. It probably is exhausting for everyone, but until they build up a winning program and the ability to recruit the best exhausting and intense might be how it is.

Separate from that though, for me it’s impossible not to notice the lengths people go to to be diplomatic in their criticisms (or not) depending on the person they are talking about. I don’t really care for the coaches sake. The coaches can handle it, and hopefully are smart enough not to waste time on the boards.

Does it suck for a fan who just wants to able to be informed about and click on a puff piece in a coach without having to read “she doesn’t love her self at all” or some snark like that though? Yes it gets annoying after a while.