January 22nd, 2017 at 10:34 PM ^
An elite goalie recruit.
This is what happens when you hold a program hostage.
Thanks Warde. I hope the year-long orientation ends with us making a hockey head coach hire.
January 22nd, 2017 at 10:47 PM ^
Sorry, but how is the Hockey program Warde's fault? Last year wasn't elite by any means, but given Red's history I don't think anyone could have expected this season to be so bad. Give him time, Red will probably retire after this year.
January 22nd, 2017 at 11:14 PM ^
He wanted to retire after last season.
Last year was a hell of a lot better than whatever is going on out there right now. Unfortunately the chickens have come home to roost. We can no longer outscore our mistakes.
Actually the problem isn't even the defense this season. It's the complete unorganization/lack of chemistry out there on offense.
c'est la vie. A team I have socks older than is ranked #1 in the country right now and is showing no signs of slowing down.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:51 AM ^
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:01 AM ^
January 23rd, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
I have to agree with Trueblueintexas. To expand, forcing Red out would have been a horribly Brandon-esque move that would have enraged most of the Michigan sports community. It would have sent a terrible message concerning the priorities of the University of Michigan.
Chalk this year up as "shit happens." Red will exit with class, as he should. Michigan will hire a new hockey coach. In the grand scheme of things, one bad year from the hockey team is pretty much a minor annoyance.
January 23rd, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:39 AM ^
January 23rd, 2017 at 7:20 AM ^
January 22nd, 2017 at 10:54 PM ^
January 22nd, 2017 at 11:59 PM ^
WD is being absolutely absurd in his irrational Warde-hate. Warde is not the party to blame here.
But St Cyr isn't decommitting because there is a crowded depth chart. If he is as good as we would believe, he will have every chance to play and play a lot. College hockey goaltending is not like quarterbacking in football, where you need to learn a lot before you can really get in your groove. If you have it, you have it.
Our goalies have been fine, but they aren't setting the world on fire. I don't think there's any way to view this other than concluding that St Cyr has gotten cold feet about joining this program in this point in time.
Maybe he's been told that Red is coming back. Maybe he's been told there's a coaching change coming and he wants no part of it. Maybe he doesn't care about that, but he sees Michigan giving up grade A chances and getting horrifically outshot in virtually every game and has concluded that his pro prospects won't look good if he's forced to carry water for everybody. Maybe he wants to play for a national title and doesn't think Michigan can get there during his career.
Whatever his reasons, they are a problem for the program.
January 23rd, 2017 at 9:39 AM ^
I see your point, Stephen, but you are stating unequivocally that "St Cyr isn't decommitting because there is a crowded depth chart." I don't think that this is true, and I would say that the depth chart absolutely must have played into his decision.
Right now, Michigan has 2 Freshmen getting significant playing time (Lavigne 35% and Lafontaine 33%). One of the two is an NHL draft pick, and the other one has a .932 save percentage behind Michigan's "defense."
I think St. Cyr would have to be at least a little concerned that if he went to Michigan, he might get fewer than 10 starts a year for the next 3 years. If he went to Windsor, the OHL team that holds his rights, he would get 20-30 starts a year even as a backup. I'm also sure that there are college teams out there where he could get 25 starts a year starting from day 1.
If he wants to advance his career beyond the next 4 years, I think he's making the correct decision, and the uncertainty around the program wouldn't have entered into his decision.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:14 AM ^
Every college team will carry 3 goalies. And they will start the goalie that plays the best. There's not a program in the country that he'll join as a true freshman that won't have existing goalies with more experience. This is a total cop out.
Michigan Hockey sucks right now. I know that term gets thrown around a lot, but they're shockingly bad. They look uncoached, undisciplined, unmotivated and unable to win hockey games. And on top of that, St Cyr has no idea who his head coach will be when he gets here.
Take off the block M and apply that recipe to any other program in any sport and you'll get decommitments.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
* Every college team will carry 3 goalies: TRUE.
* Michigan hockey sucks right now: TRUE.
I'm not arguing against any of those things, and if I implied that I was (although I don't see it), I retract those statements.
Goalies want experience, though, and if a goalie sees that he could easily end up third string, he's going to go somewhere else, if he has a better chance to play. St Cyr had a very real possibility of not playing 30 games total in the next 3 years. The decommit gives him a much better chance of playing 80 or more.
That this might be due to the coaching uncertainty would be a much more compelling argument to me if it were anybody other than a goaltender, or even if it were a goaltender who is clearly better than at least one of the two returning goalies that he would be up against.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^
So this is what you're saying:
He's not good enough to beat out the guys we have on our 8-win team, but at the same time, he's SO good that some other program is going to guarantee a 5'8" freshman the starting job over their other 2 netminders before even setting foot on campus.
Even worse, you seem to be implying that Goalies don't give a shit about winning. If it were any other position on any other collegiate sport, then yeah, the player would care about winning and program culture and coaching stability. But he's a goalie, so he doesn't have any concern that he may not have even met his coach for the next 4 years of his life - the one that's going to mold him into hopefully a professional goaltender.
That's what we're going with? Okay, then I'm all set here.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:21 PM ^
Listen, this shouldn't be controversial. (1) Michigan has 2 very good freshman goalies. (2) Many other teams do not. At no point did I mention guaranteed starting position. Mr. St. Cyr is smart, no doubt. He knows who he should be able to beat out, and who he might not be able to beat out.
Goalies care about winning. Goalies care about playing. Goalies care about getting scholarship money.
Indeed, that is what we're going with, and indeed we are absolutely all set here.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:47 PM ^
You know how many goalies have bolted for the O because they don't want to compete with 1 goaltender?
And your point of every college hockey team having 3 goalies is not correct in this situation. Most teams will have their starter, the backup is usually a project recruit or a late bloomer and the third is almost always a walk-on. Having 3 star goalies who are all on scholarship is unheard of.
January 22nd, 2017 at 11:04 PM ^
You're reaching here. The two freshmen goalies have been very good and it's natural for a recruit at that position to have second thoughts.
January 22nd, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^
I've been out of the hockey loop, but according to the DetNews article St. Cyr is draft eligible this summer. If he's an elite goalie recruit, shouldn't he at least be ranked by NHL Central Scouting? Recently released Midterm Rankings don't even have him listed among the 31 North American goalies ranked.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:40 AM ^
January 23rd, 2017 at 6:40 AM ^
We'll just keep cycling through ADs until you're satisfied.
January 23rd, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
January 23rd, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^
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January 23rd, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
Not even close to elite anymore. This was as much Michigan walking away as it was him walking away.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
Come on man. Nobody was held "hostage". The new AD came into a good situation and asked his HOF coach, coming off a solid season, to stick around another year. It hasn't worked out, but let's stop acting like Warde hasn't had a lot on his plate since taking over.
January 24th, 2017 at 5:58 AM ^
January 22nd, 2017 at 10:39 PM ^
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January 22nd, 2017 at 10:40 PM ^
January 22nd, 2017 at 10:46 PM ^
Going to be a few transition years.
January 22nd, 2017 at 10:47 PM ^
Who knew? Ugh.
January 22nd, 2017 at 10:53 PM ^
The current state of the program probably makes it an easier decision not to come to U-M, but even when things were better, players would opt out of playing college hockey.
But I imagine it would help immensely if our next coach improves our D, so goalies won't be hung out to dry so often.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:00 AM ^
Guys who opt out of college hockey don't decommit. They just go to another league, like the OHL. Decommitting seems like something someone does when they are pursuing a scholarship somewhere else.
January 22nd, 2017 at 11:17 PM ^
Does this mean his mom won't be seen hanging around Yost arena afterall??
(I'm asking for a friend!)
January 22nd, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
That is a real shame..
January 23rd, 2017 at 5:54 AM ^
Ouch. He seemed like he was pretty good
January 23rd, 2017 at 8:52 AM ^
He saw the fact that our top three goalies would all have French last names.
January 23rd, 2017 at 9:29 AM ^
with how this season has been going. It hurts as UM has been in need of an elite goalie for a while now. Let's hope UM can bring in a new coach to breathe some new life into this historic program and find us the talent we need to get back on top.
January 23rd, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
My first reaction when I saw the news was that UM let him call it a decommit to help him save face while UM got a freed up spot and a chance to go recruit a better goalie. Kid is very small by todays goalie standards, and has only been average in his play. I am on board for Red retiring at any point in the near future, but I would not be shocked if this was initiated by UM.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
Or is this just because we lost a commit? I never see anything about hockey recruiting in the paper. I rarely see anything about college hockey period. Now they care? I think the editors thought this was a football decommit.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
Any idea where he'll land? Hopefully not Georgia or Alabama.
January 23rd, 2017 at 8:05 PM ^