Jeff Blashill is a candidate for Michigan Hockey job per Spath
If Red comes back, just lol.
What I get from this is those are the two candidates, if Michigan misses on both, Red will come back.
Source told me the 3 best candidates to be #MichiganHockey coach next year are Red Berenson, Mel Pearson or Jeff Blashill. (in no order)
— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) March 22, 2017
but it used to be THE place. The party atmosphere was terriffic.
The issue is not the windows, the issue is how they achieved ADA compliance. Pre-renovations there were students all along the glass. Now there are big empty spaces in each corner. The 2nd row seats I had as a student don't exist. It's not that they're now old folks' seats, they're just gone.
Combine the seating changes with the hockey team's decline and the basketball team's success and you have a less exciting hockey venue. I went to one basketball game as a student (05-09) but had season hockey tickets. I couldn't have justified the expense for 3 sports of season tickets, I'm guessing many more of today's students are going Football/Basketball rather than the Football/Hockey I did.
I think the real issue is that the administration decided that they didn't like the atmosphere that we (as students) enjoyed tremendously. Moving the students into a corner by the band to drown them out is the problem. Moving the students, who actually show up to the games, away from center ice and reducing the presence is the problem.
March 22nd, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
Well, they're not selling nearly the number of student tickets they were five, or even ten years ago. There was a moment (must have been 2009ish?) where there were so many student tickets they were putting them in overflow sections on the other side of the ice. Nowadays, student support is way down, and these "Children of Yost" people don't help with the way they've fragmented the things the student section does.
Agreed. I'm not even talking the highest-level 80's / 90's or anything -- even like '07 - '11 when I was there was absolutely rocking compared to now.
Doesn't Spath have a reputation of making things up?
Remember when Randy Shanahan and Butch Davis and three other high profile coaches who were not named Don Brown were the finalist for the DC job?
Randy Shanahan is not a name I know.
Spath also said Harbaugh was a serious possibility to go to the New York Jets. Jeff Blashill ain't leaving an original 6 team to come to Michigan (and thank god for that because he's a very average coach).
says with a grain of salt. He has some connections, but doesn't know as much as he leads on to know.
Red will not have another season like this one if he comes back for a last hoorah. MARK IT
I'm just so happy to be on the cusp of him not coaching the Wings anymore! Once that happens I'll calm down from his stupidity of continuing to play a forward who hasn't scored a goal (which is now a record) in over 70 games amoungst other things.
Glendening?
Sheahan
I'd enjoy seeing Michigan go national and see if Montgomery or Leaman are options. Blashill is probably a good candidate as well. We know Pearson can coach, but can he really get this program revving for a long period at his age? I don't know.
If they hire him I'll hype myself into it. Any of those guys, really. But they need to make a good hire, and that hire needs to happen this offseason.
I don't know where Jim Montgomery came from but I think Brian just picked it out of a hat like he did with Norm Bazin. Denver is not Northern Michigan; that's a program that can compete for a title every year and right now they're doing that.
I don't see any reason why he would leave to come here.
I can see one reason: $$$
Edit: The reason Brian is picking names out of a hat is because he (and I did the same thing) was considering national alternatives to program-guy Mel Pearson, so college coaches that seem to be doing terrific jobs at their programs are the guys you think of. Michigan and Minnesota may not be higher on the college hockey pecking order than places like North Dakota and BU, but they have things that places like that have (success, facilities, dedicated fanbases) and one resource that nobody else does: Piles and piles of money that they are willing to spend.
So I think Montgomery and Leaman are legit considerations because Michigan, if it wants to, can bring resources to the table that only one or two other programs in the country can match.
He's already getting paid. Denver forked over big money to keep him when he was linked to the Calgary Flames job.
His salary is not disclosed; Michigan has the resources to trounce anything Denver can pay him.
Whether Michigan is inclined to spend that kind of money on a hockey coach is a much more open question. They have the money, but certain salary levels could require the program to take a loss just to afford the coach, and most athletic directors aren't big fans of doing that.
Anyway, I think Montgomery is a guy worth looking up, but he is already in a big conference in the west in a good place to live in a program (Denver) that takes its hockey pretty seriously. He is less of a flight risk than someone like Leaman, whose Providence program has a lower ceiling.
Will it flip to all zeroes at 99,999,999 or 999,999,999?
I would wager that it will rollover at 2147483647 MGoPoints, at which point he will find himself in Bolivia with –2147483648 for angering the Integer Gods.
as any programs in the country. They are one of the top programs going right now and that school has plenty of money. I would love to see Michigan get Montgomery, but I don't think it's as easy as your implying.
I hope Michigan goes national with their search if a Pearson or Blashill is not interested, just don't want to see Red back.
It's not easy. It's not impossible, and if Michigan were to engage in a national search he should be one of the names they look over.
The "not impossible" bit comes with a grain of salt I've mentioned elsewhere, which is that I'm not sure how much of Michigan's vast resources Warde Manuel or any other rational athletic director would be willing to invest in a sport that is third in its own department. They could throw millions at Montgomery if they wanted to, but those millions would drop hockey from modestly profitable to an annual deficit, and most people aren't willing to do that.
I think it's more likely that Montgomery winds up at Minnesota in a couple of years, whenever they finally break ties with Lucia.
March 23rd, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
as I think Denver would be willing to pay a good chunk of money to keep Montgomery. For Michigan to pry him away they would have to make him the highest paid hockey coach in the land, by probably double what the next highest makes.
He has a good thing going on at DU and just don't think he would leave unless it was for huge money and like you said then Michigan hockey would probably go into the red, which they don't want to do.
I think a national search is best. If it ends up being Pearson, that's great; Tech's Corsi numbers have been outstanding the last three seasons. At the least, though, M should look at everyone and see whether a guy like Leaman, Bazin, Montgomery, or Pearson is interested.
And yes, my assumption is that Michigan can conduct a national search because of the athletic department's resources (read: money) and the program's status as one of the elite programs in college hockey, which is buoyed by that first point. Maybe a guy like Montgomery is happy in Denver. He's got a lengthy contract that's purportedly rich enough to scare away suitors (though I haven't found terms of the deal anywhere; it's a private school so they don't have to disclose that). It's worth Manuel making calls, finding out firsthand, and assuming nothing.
Why would Mel Pearson want to leave Michigan Tech?
Maybe because he misses civilization?
1. Ann Arbor became home for 20 years. He didn't want to leave and almost declined the Tech job.
2. Michigan is a better job.
3. Michigan has much higher success potential.
4. Michigan pays more.
5. Loyalty to Red, if Red asks him to come back.
Haven't heard anything official to back this up, but there are dots to connect: Mel left when DB was the AD. DB's non-football/basketball policies were running off some coaches and Mel was initially reluctant to leave Michigan. However, I think (this is just my dot connection here, I have no source) that he was told that he would definitely not just inherit the program from Red, that if Red retired under DB there would be a search for someone with head coaching experience.
sure sounds like a real d-bag
dave brandon?
has been hinted at for the Michigan job. The first time was a week or so ago when Datsyuk's agent tweeted that Michigan was going to get a fantastic coach. That was deduced to be Blashill. fwiw
I was one of the guys deducing. I actually think that the agent heard real stuff--just discussion, but real--and falsely concluded that Blashill was the guy. Put that together with Spath's report and it's reasonable to think that there have at least been feelers put out somewhere even if no decision has been made.
suited for college and would love to see him at UM. Would take either him or Pearson in a second. If they miss on both of them keep looking as there are other top coaches out there. Love Red, but it is definitely time for him to retire, do not want to see him behind the bench next year.
It'd be a smart career move for Blashill IMO. Red Wings are going to start a rebuild and his best hope is to hang onto that job for two more seasons while they suck (through no fault of his own).
Get bashill away from the red wings !
that the only serious candidate mentioned with a Michigan connection is Mel Pearson. Given the success Red has had in the 33 yrs here as head coach, you'd think there would be more. Brian Wiseman or Billy Powers don't do much for me and i hope they're not in consideration. The only other former player or coach that comes to mind is Bill Muckalt and he just doesn't have the resume. Not yet, anyway.
to say this thread is a cesspool. some of you can't be real.
March 24th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
Basically said Manuel will ask Red " Do you want to coach another year?". If he says "yes" ,it is the end of the discussion period.
If he says "no" the next call is to Mel Pearson, who will very likely jump at the chance.