Offseason 2024

[pdt1081]

From Mike McMahon this morning:

Yes, Swankler is back in the transfer portal. He had a short run at Michigan Tech with three assists in 10 games. He didn’t appear in a game after Feb. 3 and, per a source, was not with the team for much of the last two months.

Nice to see he likely wore out his welcome in Houghton too.

Could've used some of his "-4" action when Tech came to BG.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

From McMahon just now, Miami State has their guy. Anthony Noreen.

https://x.com/MikeMcMahonCHN/status/177 ... 75056?s=20

[pdt1081]

Northern currently has 11 players in the portal. 5 returning skaters and 1 goalie for next season. Have to think Potulny's seat is getting a bit warm.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I read on the Tech board that Potulny is doing a reset. They have a bunch of incoming kids (some who are pretty good) then filling in with whatever studs he can get from the portal. I'm a) not sure if that's what's actually happening or if it's another internet rumor and he's totally screwed or b) if true that it's a viable strategy. We'll see I guess.

[pdt1081]

I read on the Tech board that Potulny is doing a reset. They have a bunch of incoming kids (some who are pretty good) then filling in with whatever studs he can get from the portal. I'm a) not sure if that's what's actually happening or if it's another internet rumor and he's totally screwed or b) if true that it's a viable strategy. We'll see I guess.

That's a bold strategy, especially after 7 years of being in charge.

[mbenecke]

Honestly wouldn’t be shocked if Swankler ends up in Marquette.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I read on the Tech board that Potulny is doing a reset. They have a bunch of incoming kids (some who are pretty good) then filling in with whatever studs he can get from the portal. I'm a) not sure if that's what's actually happening or if it's another internet rumor and he's totally screwed or b) if true that it's a viable strategy. We'll see I guess.

That's a bold strategy, especially after 7 years of being in charge.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Honestly wouldn’t be shocked if Swankler ends up in Marquette.

I was wondering about RMU. He'd then get the last laugh over Eigner's 1-game suspension.

[pdt1081]

I was wondering about RMU. He'd then get the last laugh over Eigner's 1-game suspension.

He'd definitely get laughed at, that's for sure.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

The rumors that have been swirling around for the past couple of days are now confirmed, Eric Pohlkamp is officially in the portal. Ouch.

Here's a kid who was overlooked by all the blue bloods, decided to stay close to home, has a career season after Serratore invests a bunch of time and effort in developing him only to see the blue bloods come along and sweep him away without so much as a thank you for the reach-around. Hard to conclude anything other than our league is going to face "challenges." Ouch. He's heading to one of two Nacho teams. Sigh.

[mbenecke]

The CCHA is a mid-major league at this point. Unless the schools in our league seriously invest in their hockey programs, we’re going to be left in the dust. BG has seemingly taken their first step towards doubling down on hockey by hiring Willy back into the fold and paying him handsomely. Let’s see some other schools in the CCHA do the same type of thing.

A thought: Ferris needs to stop letting Bob Daniels tank their program. He had a good (and extremely long) run, but they clearly need a reset. After 8 straight losing seasons, you’d think they would pull the trigger. I’d contend that the best hire they could make is Jeff Blashill, who played there and coached there previously. Getting them out of the bottom 5 teams in college hockey would be a big help for our league’s image.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Ferris and Lake State have core issues I'm not sure are ever going away. Lake State is barely hanging on as an institution while Ferris is pumping their athletic dollars into football - and seeing a heckuva return. Their rink sucks, their geography sucks, so why would they dump money they don't have into hockey? Northern is going to "Northern" and I don't know how Potulny can ever build a sustained power up in Marquette. When he took that gig the word was he'd take over from Motzko when he retired, but that's now a non-starter. We haven't been setting the world on fire lately but I think we're all hopeful again. Then Bemidji comes along and does everything right with Pohlkamp, it's clear he likes the place, but (I'm speculating here) SJS comes along as says you need to play where the competition is better, get out of the CCHA ASAP. Mid-major is right, but that's not a good place to be as every stud Willie brings in will be looking for greener pastures.

tl;dr - If you've been reading the basketball thread regarding the portal, copy/paste here and you're caught up.

[Critical Thinker]

A thought: Ferris needs to stop letting Bob Daniels tank their program. He had a good (and extremely long) run, but they clearly need a reset. After 8 straight losing seasons, you’d think they would pull the trigger. I’d contend that the best hire they could make is Jeff Blashill, who played there and coached there previously. Getting them out of the bottom 5 teams in college hockey would be a big help for our league’s image.

Who are they going to get whose better? They can't afford Blashill if he can still get gigs for pro teams. Daniels has gotten them to a frozen four. Coaches at the caliber of Bergeron and Eigner haven't even gotten us a tournament win with all our advantages.

[mbenecke]

A thought: Ferris needs to stop letting Bob Daniels tank their program. He had a good (and extremely long) run, but they clearly need a reset. After 8 straight losing seasons, you’d think they would pull the trigger. I’d contend that the best hire they could make is Jeff Blashill, who played there and coached there previously. Getting them out of the bottom 5 teams in college hockey would be a big help for our league’s image.

Who are they going to get whose better? They can't afford Blashill if he can still get gigs for pro teams. Daniels has gotten them to a frozen four. Coaches at the caliber of Bergeron and Eigner haven't even gotten us a tournament win with all our advantages.

Daniels’ Frozen Four was in 2012, 12 seasons ago. It’s a much different game now, escoailly when it comes to recruiting. They haven’t had a winning record since 2016. I was in high school then - now I’m 26 years old. At some point, you’d figure they would take a little pride in their program and demand more. He’s clearly just coasting at this point in his career.

I threw Blash out there because he’s an alumnus, he has NHL, AHL, and college experience, and his brother runs the arena up there. Just made sense to me as their ideal candidate with a lot of connections. You’re right that they probably can’t afford him, but I think that’s also a huge part of the issue for this league. The CCHA schools collectively need to invest more resources into their programs to become relevant nationally again. We should strive to be a multi-bid league each year. We should be having our conference champion win at least a game when they get on the big stage, not losing by 5.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Wayne is the CHN COY.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/ ... -Wayne.php