Jamie Russell

[www.uscho.com]

Congrats, Jamie. Good luck at MTU.

Nothing like going back to be head coach at your Alma Mater. Hate to see him go, but best of luck to Jamie with the Huskies!

So, do you think we'll be making a trip to the Upper Penninsula anytime soon?

I'll suggest that this be the main thread to discuss this, as opposed to the one I started ...

So does anyone know of any plans for us to get a new assistant? Were they looking for one perhaps in anticipation of Russell leaving?

As a selfish Cornell fan, I have to admit that my heart sank a bit upon hearing this news. I'm thrilled for him, of course. But I give a lot of credit for the last few years to outstanding recruiting which Jamie was responsible for.

This reminds me of losing Dave Pietramala as Lacrosse coach to his Alma Mater, Johns Hopkins after the 2000 season. The Lax program had turned the corner and started looking like it was moving towards becoming a very focused machine again under his watch. The defensive system, the recruiting, everything. Then, just like that, the Hopkins gig opened up; nobody blames him for jumping for his dream job. Damn, the timing of it all. BTW, JHU enters the NCAA tournament as the #1 seed this season.

Best of luck Jamie. I've never really followed Michigan Tech. Now I have reason to.



Post Edited (05-07-03 00:55)

Way to go, Jamie. Everything I've read gives him a lot of credit for Cornell's recruiting and defense over the last few seasons - tough to see him go, but definitely sounds like a well deserved honor.

It will be interesting to see if he can turn MTU around - with the "big name state schools" seeming to become more and more dominant in the media, facilities, $$$, and recruiting battles, can MTU hope to dominate (or even compete) the way they did in their golden years? Or are they destined to remain PWR fodder for the "big 4/5" in the WCHA for the foreseeable future due to factors beyond a coach's control?

[Q]This reminds me of losing Dave Pietramala as Lacrosse coach to his Alma Mater, Johns Hopkins after the 2000 season[/Q]

There's something of a difference between a program losing an assistant coach and a program losing a head coach, obviously.

[Q]Or are they destined to remain PWR fodder for the "big 4/5" in the WCHA for the foreseeable future due to factors beyond a coach's control?[/Q]

Who would have thought a few years ago that Mankato would climb to prominence? All it takes is a desire and a budget. We'll see if Michigan Tech have either over the next few years.

Good luck, Jamie!

JH

MTU was an NCAA power back in the 50's and 60's. Hopefully Jaime can bring them back. It's also nice that Cornell now has a connection with the WCHA.

[q]MTU was an NCAA power back in the 50's and 60's. Hopefully Jaime can bring them back. It's also nice that Cornell now has a connection with the WCHA.[/q]

Its not unreasonable to assume that an exchange similar to WMU could be in our future, correct?

During Jamie Russell's tenure as an assistant at Cornell, we had 4 straight winning seasons. Michigan Tech had four straight losing seasons. Here are some numbers...

During the past 4 years,

Cornell went 87-39-10
Michigan Tech went 30-110-10

Note that Tech had the same number of wins in the past 4 years COMBINED as we had this season alone - and in 14 more games played!

With their program's poor performance in the last few years (they've also been swept in the first round of the WCHA tournament 5 straight years, and they haven't finished in the top 6 in the league since 1992-1993), I was really impressed with Russell's comment in that USCHO article, "I know people are anxious for Michigan Tech to get back to its winning way and I can assure all those with a vested interest in the program that we will do exactly that."

It will also be interesting to see him implement a defensive system in the high scoring WCHA. Tech allowed an astounding 154 goals in 38 games this season...a little higher than our 49 goals in 36 games. And in case you're wondering, which you probably aren't , it's taken us our last 97 games to give up that total of 154 goals!

Russell is going from the #1 defense in the country this season to #57, who allowed over 4 goals a game and who had a penalty killing percentage of under 75 %. So he obviously has a lot of work to do, although 14 of their top 16 scorers are returning next season. Had to end on a positive note .

Now I really have to start studying......

I think we should also see this as an accomplishment for Schafer: the first of his assistants to go on to be a head coach somewhere. First of the Schafer Disciples.

its great for jamie that he is going. But I also fell like, is the cornell recruits going to be as strong in the following years. We would need a great replacment for an assistant to replace what he has done for cornell.

Maybe he'll hire Bâby.

I think Bâby will probably give the NHL a go before taking any college assistant coaching jobs....since the Thrashers did draft him, it might be a good idea to at least see if he can rise through the ranks in the minors and make it to the show.

I wouldn't be surprised if Schafer asks him, he's said more than once that Bâby has what it takes to be a successful coach.

If Bâby sticks around as an assistant coach of Cornell, can the Pep Band still play "Hey, hey Bâby...?"
In fact, it occurs to me this morning that, if Bâby does become a new assistant coach for Cornell, that would mean that two of the three coaches have Pep Band songs dedicated to them. Then it will be time to look for a song for Brent Brekke...



Post Edited (05-09-03 12:05)

There are simply too many bad pun possibilities for a "Brekke" song. I cringe at what is to follow.

Speaking of sucessful coaches returning to therir alma mater.... and no offense to the current women's hockey coach (that may be more of a pun than I intended), let's try to steal Digit Digidio (or whatever her married name is) back from Brown. She built a sucessful program there and was a heck of a player for Cornell.

She also taught my intramural hockey class and I developed a mean crush on her**)

[brownbears.ocsn.com]

Digit Murphy these days...

The question is, can Andy Noel afford her???



Post Edited (05-09-03 17:34)

In fact, it occurs to me this morning that, if Bâby does become a new assistant coach for Cornell, that would mean that two of the three coaches have Pep Band songs dedicated to them.

. . . and two coaches with group requests for a homicide.

Although I do, for some strange reason, enjoyed the dancing banana...

I feel that Bâby can and should first go and try to see if he can play successfully at the professional level. The 2 former players that, for some reason, struck me as coaching material are Kyle Knopp and Steve Wilson. Of course, I admit that I have no idea what I'm talking about most of the time.

[Q]Digit Murphy these days...[/Q]
Well that eliminates her. We can't possibly ever hire a Murphy for Cornell hockey.

Yet another Murphy on somebody else's payroll.

JH