Gophers Hockey – Page 32 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

UM News Near on Coach J Robinson?

Posted on August 22, 2016August 22, 2016 by David Shama

Here is what I know—or think I know—about news-making Gophers coaches J Robinson and Don Lucia, and major changes coming in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Sources tell Sports Headliners the University of Minnesota may make an announcement tomorrow regarding Robinson, the suspended head wrestling coach. The University has been investigating Robinson this summer over how he handled allegations his wrestlers used and sold the drug Xanax.

Speculation is Robinson, 69, will not be allowed to return for a 31st season as Gophers wrestling coach. A source reported Robinson and the University are trying to reach a financial settlement, but recently were far apart in determining a final compensation amount—more than $500,000.

In June both Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis declined to file charges that Gophers wrestlers used and sold the anti-anxiety drug, and that Robinson covered up the alleged activity. The University’s investigation of Robinson has been going on since at least May and he was placed on paid leave June 1.

Robinson is one of the legendary coaches in U history. He has coached the Gophers to three national championships, and has a long list of Big Ten team and individual champions, and All-Americans. He made the Gophers a regional and national power while also impacting the lives of his wrestlers and the thousands of youth attending his summer camps.

A former University employee talked about an encounter a few years ago with a stranger he met while travelling for the athletic department. “Saved my life,” the stranger said about Robinson. “I went to coach’s camp. He changed my attitude. He changed my approach to life. He saved my life—tell him that I owe him a lot.”

A former U.S. Army ranger who served in Vietnam, Robinson is known for his philosophies about life. His experiences have been shaped not only by the military and coaching but also his own successful amateur wrestling career when he won national championships. He is also regarded as one of America’s better Olympic wrestlers of the 20th century. …

Although an announcement has been anticipated for awhile, there has been nothing made public about Lucia and the University agreeing to a new contract. There were media reports last month of an alleged two-year extension providing the Gophers men’s hockey coach security through the 2019 season.

It could be that both sides, including legal representatives, are still finalizing paperwork for signatures. It’s not unusual for U athletic department contracts to move through a process taking months for finalization. The contracts are detailed—and key provisions and wording can require sorting out and consensus.

Lucia’s present deal with the Gophers ends next year. Without a contract extension, he is at a disadvantage in recruiting, with other schools able to tell prospects the Gophers don’t know who the coach will be in the fall of 2017 and beyond.

Lucia has been Minnesota’s head coach since 1999. In his early years at Minnesota he knew Mark Coyle who worked in marketing for the athletic department. Coyle, who became athletic director last spring, is regarded as supportive of Lucia.

The Gophers didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season but did win the Big Ten Conference championship. Minnesota has made program history by winning consecutive regular season league titles the last five years, with two championships in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and the last three in the Big Ten including 2016.

The move in 2013 to the six-team hockey startup Big Ten from the history-rich WCHA hasn’t been received well by many Gophers hockey fans. There’s been a lack of excitement about the program in recent years, with empty seats at Mariucci Arena characterizing some of the apathy. Fans who are critical of the program point to last season’s un-Gopher-like 20-17 overall record and no national championship since 2003.

Lucia, who had a young team last season, has coached Minnesota to national titles in 2002 and 2003. The Gophers’ all-time winningest coach, Lucia told Sports Headliners last March he planned to continue indefinitely at Minnesota: “Yeah, I would like to come back,” said Lucia who had head coaching jobs at Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado College before coming to Minnesota. “This is my 29th year as a head coach and I will be 58 this summer, but I still love what I do.”

Lucia turned 58 last Saturday. …

The innovative WCHA expects to make changes for next season involving overtimes, points awarded and its nets. Announcement about the changes for men’s regular season games is expected as soon as this week.

Sports Headliners has learned that next season games tied after regulation and the NCAA-mandated five-minute 5-on-5 overtime period will advance to a second five-minute overtime period of 3-on-3 play. If games are still tied, they will be settled in a sudden death shootout (each team receives a minimum of one shot).

A WCHA regular season game will be worth three points in the standings next season. Games decided in regulation and in 5-on-5 overtimes will award three points to the winning team (two points last season). Games decided in 3-on-3 overtimes and shootouts will award two points to the winning team and one to the losing.

WCHA arenas will use 40-inch goal frames on the nets for next season after using 44-inch frames in the past. The 40-inch model is consistent with that used by the National Hockey League. The WCHA’s intent with the change is to open space on the ice for skaters and make games more entertaining.

The WCHA, with league offices in Edina, starts its 65th year of competition next season. The 10-team Division 1 conference consists of schools ranging from Alaska to Alabama, and includes Bemidji State and Minnesota State. The men’s commissioner is Bill Robertson whose career experiences include leadership positions with the Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Timberwolves and Anaheim Angels.

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Cheeseheads & More in Today’s Column

Posted on June 6, 2016June 6, 2016 by David Shama

Notes collected before, during and after a weekend trip to Appleton, Wisconsin for a family event:

I talked to two Vikings prior to departure last week—seeking reassurance Minnesotans are safe in Packerland. “They treat us well, as tough and as hard fought as the rivalry is,” safety Harrison Smith said. “For instance, my family went to the week 17 game last year and they had nothing but good things to say about Packer fans. The way they were treated not only before the game—but after we won the division (in Green Bay) they were very congratulatory.”

Tight end Kyle Rudolph had a simple message: “If you’re going to Appleton, my only advice is to make sure you stop by Lombardi’s and get that tomahawk steak. That’s the only good thing I know that’s in Appleton. …”

Lombardi’s is a steakhouse in the Radisson Hotel named after legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi. The Radisson is a road hotel for visiting teams like the Vikings. Rudolph isn’t sure, but he thinks the tomahawk is a rib-eye cut. Not only does he like eating there, but in a separate interview Smith also praised the food at Lombardi’s.

Harrison Smith (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings).

Smith talks to the media tomorrow about the five-year contract extension he has signed with the Vikings. Since his first NFL season in 2012, Smith is one of two NFL players (Reshad Jones, Dolphins) to have at least 12 interceptions and five sacks.

The Packers will play their first two regular season games on the road in 2016, then the next four at Lambeau Field. Their second road trip is to Minneapolis for the first ever regular season game in U.S. Bank Stadium against the Vikings. StubHub.com listed tickets yesterday starting at $275.

As the Packers practice this spring, potential bad news for Vikings’ pass blockers and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is that linebacker Clay Matthews is likely moving from the inside to his more natural position of outside linebacker. Personnel circumstances dictated Matthews on the inside in recent seasons but the mobile veteran linebacker has been taking a lot of snaps on the outside this spring where his speed can make a difference going after passers.

Vashti Cunningham, the daughter of former Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham, is the subject of a four-page feature in the June 6 issue of Sports Illustrated. The Nevada-based 18-year-old is “poised to become the world’s best high jumper,” according to the magazine.

Minneapolis businessman, author and former Gophers golfer Harvey Mackay was close to Muhammad Ali who died late last week. The two men bonded through their mutual love of magic tricks.

The first time they met Mackay travelled to Ali’s home in Michigan. “I went to a magician and brushed up on my magic before the trip,” Mackay remembered in a column I wrote two years ago. “When I met Ali I not only did a magic trick for him, but showed him how it was done. It was something that turned him on.”

It will be interesting to watch new Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle during the next 12 months. Here are a few key items:

How effectively does Coyle manage the crisis situations in the men’s basketball and wrestling departments?

If there are new coaches, who does Coyle hire?

The Gophers men’s hockey program is in the doldrums? What does Coyle do about coach Don Lucia having one more year on his contract?

Exceptional leaders have vision. What’s Coyle’s vision for the major revenue sports of men’s basketball, hockey, and football?

Can Coyle fast-track fundraising for the $166 million Gophers Athletes Village?

One more thought on Lucia: he has high regard for associate head coach Mike Guentzel. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the soon to be 58-year-old Lucia announces shortly before next season that he is retiring effective immediately and presumably creates a “tryout” for Guentzel to permanently become head coach.

Twins first baseman Joe Mauer makes $23 million this season as part of an eight-year deal he signed in 2010. With the Twins on pace to win perhaps 50 games and have the lowest attendance in Target Field history, the long criticized contract looks worse than ever. When judged by directly impacting the outcome of games and generating revenues for a team, Mauer could be baseball’s most overpaid player by season’s end.

The 16-40 Twins have won only six of 19 series of games against opponents so far this season.

Rookie center fielder Byron Buxton had three hits in yesterday’s home loss to the Rays. It was only the second time in his career for three hits in one game. Buxton is hitting .435 in the six games since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester.

With conjecture about the Timberwolves and Wild making playoff runs within a couple of years, optimistic local fans wonder if Minneapolis-St. Paul could some spring host both the NBA and NHL championships. That kind of speculation is prompted because of the Bay Area’s Warriors and Sharks being in the pro basketball and Stanley Cup finals. No one area has ever emerged as champions in both basketball and hockey in the same year. So if you want to dream big, muse about it happening in MSP during Hillary Clinton’s second-term as president. Umm, or is that Bernie Sanders?

Author Patrick Mader willl speak to the “Breakfast with Leroy” group Saturday at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd West. Mader wrote “Minnesota Gold: Conversations with Northland Athletes Competing on the World Stage.” Mader, whose book came out last October, profiles 57 Minnesotans, including past Olympians, and details their lives and accomplishments. A breakfast buffet starting at 9 a.m. precedes Mader’s remarks, with more information available by contacting Pat Rickert at 612-861-3981. Group attendees are mostly athletes from the Minneapolis public schools in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, many of whom went on to college and professional careers.

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Pieces Fit with Gopher AD Finalist Coyle

Posted on May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 by David Shama

It’s understandable why Mark Coyle has emerged, according to numerous sources, as the preferred candidate to become the Gophers’ next athletic director.

University of Minnesota representatives are reportedly meeting with Coyle today. Media outlets say he has resigned as athletic director at Syracuse. His willingness to travel to Minneapolis and have his named revealed in national media as the lone finalist for the U job indicates an agreement is all but completed. High profile candidates don’t put their names in the spotlight without intent to move on from present positions.

Coyle, 47, is a surprise name but Sports Headliners was told by a source close to Gophers athletics earlier in the week the short list of candidates for the job could include someone who hasn’t drawn media speculation. Coyle was hired at Syracuse last June with assignments that included dealing with a troubled athletic department facing image and NCAA concerns.

The Gophers Athletic Department has its own problems including a basketball program with issues specific to winning, academic performance and behavior of its players. University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler no doubt believes Coyle can provide guidance with basketball and other top priority issues at Minnesota.

Among those tasks will be completing the fund-raising for the $190 million Athletes Village project. Coyle was athletic director at Boise State from 2011-2015 and was credited with raising millions of dollars including seven-figure gifts. Prior to taking over at Boise, Coyle was Associate Athletics Director for Development at Kentucky where his responsibilities included fund-raising. He reportedly raised more than $140 million while at Kentucky.

Coyle joined the Wildcats after working for Gophers athletic directors Tom Moe and Joel Maturi. Coyle’s responsibilities while at Minnesota included overseeing corporate sponsorships and suite sales, marketing and promotions, athletic communications, video services, the ticket office, licensing and gophersports.com.

While Coyle was at Boise State, his teams posted the highest grade-point average in school history, with 18 teams establishing GPA records and more than 72 percent of the athletes earning GPAs above 3.0. The Broncos placed the most student-athletes on the Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete team in late 2014.

Coyle has a football background that includes playing the sport at Drake University in Des Moines. He also hired successful Boise football coach Bryan Harsin. After last season at Syracuse he replaced Scott Shafer with one of the hot names in college football coaching, Bowling Green’s Dino Babers.

Moe was impressed with Coyle’s skills and personality back when Coyle was developing his career. “You could see that he had a great future in athletics administration,” Moe told Sports Headliners today.

Media reports indicate Syracuse officials are sorry to see Coyle move on. “You can just tell from the places he’s been and the reviews he’s received, he’s been consistently highly thought of,” Moe said. “I think Syracuse was…both surprised and sorry to see him leave.”

Kaler no doubt finds a lot to like in Coyle who fulfills several criteria considered to be essential for the Gophers’ AD job. Those include prior administrative success, experience in fund-raising and other revenue producing areas, football knowledge, and a familiarity with the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul and the state.

Kaler might be as right with this hire as he was off on Norwood Teague who he made Gophers athletic director in 2012.

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