Greatest college hockey coaches

Our friends (?) at INCH have posted their list of "greatest college hockey coaches" here:

[insidecollegehockey.com]#

What's left unsaid in the paragraph on Ned is that through 1970 only four of the 23 NCAA championships were won by eastern teams, and three of those four were coached by him.

Anyone think Schafer will eventually make the list? What do you think it'll take (aside from the obvious, championships and wins)?

One of the guys who got revenge on Volonnino wrote:

Anyone think Schafer will eventually make the list?

Well, for what it's worth, later in the week INCH will give us their "take on the best coaches of the future."

If Schafer were to last 24 years and keep winning games and titles at his current rates, then he could make a list of top 25 coaches of all time (hey -- I'd vote for him .

His hypothetical numbers at 3 times his current tenure:

807 Games: 468-264-75 .626
24 Seasons
18 ECAC Final Fours
15 ECAC Championship Games
12 Ivy Titles
12 NCAA Tournament Appearances
9 ECAC Championships
6 ECAC RS Titles
3 #1 Overall Seeds
3 Frozen Fours


Top 10 ought to be restricted to guys who took teams to multiple finals and won at least one.



Post Edited (09-18-03 12:19)

9 league titles is (would be) impressive but the glaring failure to win a national title, despite 3 No. 1 overall seeds and 12 NCAA appearances might stick him with the label of "not able to win the big one".

On the other hand, in the next four years, that problem might get taken care of.

That's hysterical CULater. I was thinking about writing something similar but it just seemed too silly.

INCH predicts the top college coaches five years from now:

[insidecollegehockey.com]

Glad to see Schafer recognized for his potential greatness. Also glad to see Mazz up there, because I can't deny he's done Harvard a world of good these past few years. But most of all, I'm glad to see Schafer ranked five spots above Mazz.

Heh - and above Umile, who's been in the title game at least twice that I know about (Anaheim and Buffalo). Way cool!

Interesting ranking. Nice to see Ron Rolston get kudos and those of us who knew him at Clarkson could see his potential, and his work ethic back then.

I think George Roll is very similar, has the same strong attributes as Rolston but is below the radar til now as his coaching experience has been at D3 Oswego. Give him a few years at Clarkson and I think he'll be recognized.

Agree with Schaefer's inckusion but sorry, I can't put Mazz that high.

Robb '94 wrote:

Heh - and above Umile, who's been in the title game at least twice that I know about (Anaheim and Buffalo). Way cool!

I think he was above Umile because Umile was on the cusp of making the first list - he was one of the coaches in the sidebar. They probably had trouble thinking of him as a coach of the "future" becuase his resume is already so impressive. Only one thing missing . . .

> They probably had trouble thinking of him as a coach of the "future" becuase his resume is already so impressive.

Lucia is #1 and Blais is #3 on the future list. They have fairly impressive resumes.



Post Edited (09-22-03 12:14)

Greg Berge '85 wrote:

> They probably had trouble thinking of him as a coach of the "future" becuase his resume is already so impressive.

Lucia is #1 and Blais is #3 on the future list. They have fairly impressive resumes.



Post Edited (09-22-03 12:14)

Hmmmmm. That's true and it makes it even stranger.

Well perhaps it's because Umile is 5 or 6 years older than Blais, and about 10 years older than Lucia, so in about another 5 years, Umile might end up being too old/washed up to make the list. That's the only reasoning I can think of.

Schaefer belongs in that spot. Recruitment is proving to be his strong suit [look at the 07 class] and our program, with smaller ups and downs, is due to stay on the national stage for the next decade.

Mazzoleni deserves a lot of credit, and i admire his style of play. Harvard is mature and smart on the ice, the exact opposite of a team like Brown.

I almost wanna see Kevin Sneddon (formerly of Union, now UVM) on that list. He has done great things for the Dutchmen and I believe he can turn around the UVM program in the next few years.

Umile has health problems. Maybe they think he'll retire.