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Ohio State Men's Ice Hockey (2019 B1G Champions)

I would bet the money that when Oseicki was hired that he was promised quite a few things that never came to fruition and that all falls on our illustrious athletic director:evil: No head coach would want their team to play a playoff game in an ancient facility and that is exactly what happened this past year. Oseicki had to play playoff games against Ferris State in the old ice hockey arena. It will be interesting to see if the comments on his resignation.
 
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From the two guys on twitter I see breaking down the situation the best...

Craig Merz@icer1217m
There is absolutely no way to ever put a good spin on the current Ohio State hockey situation. Much like the search...

Craig Merz@icer1216m
for a women's basketball coach, OSU shouldn't be surprised to learn that it is not a top tier destination for best coaches in the country.

Craig Merz@icer1216m
For all of the $20 million or so in renovations at VCA, the hockey team got a new locker room door.

Craig Merz@icer1211m
Osiecki brought viability and visibility to key recruiting areas needed in Big 10 and student support best its ever been.

Craig Merz@icer126m
OSU got it right hiring Osiecki. Now must hit grand slam or the program will be eaten alive in new Big 10 conference. No margin for error.

Craig Merz@icer125m
Lots of recruits, many from Minnesota, got to be wary of OSU and its commitment to successful program...

Craig Merz@icer123m
This is huge step back. I'd like to say I have faith the setback is only temporary but philosophical change at top needed.

AND

Jeff Svoboda@JeffSvoboda3m
Just talked to OSU associate AD Chris Schneider. When asked whether Osiecki leaving was mutual or an OSU decision, he said it was the latter

Jeff Svoboda@JeffSvoboda2m
Schneider said it is not related to any issues with NCAA. The decision was not based on performance of team, just management going forward

Jeff Svoboda@JeffSvoboda1m
Schneider said Ohio State will have more information about the plan going forward tomorrow.
 
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Had lunch today with a friend of mine who is a graduate of the Class of 2003.
I showed him this thread and he was floored.

Craig Merz@icer126m
OSU got it right hiring Osiecki. Now must hit grand slam or the program will be eaten alive in new Big 10 conference. No margin for error.


Above quote is particularly relevant. Replacing teams like Bowling Green and Lake State with Minny and Wisky is good for the pocketbooks but makes it fucking hard to win.
 
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From the two guys on twitter I see breaking down the situation the best...

Craig Merz@icer1217m
There is absolutely no way to ever put a good spin on the current Ohio State hockey situation. Much like the search...

Craig Merz@icer1216m
for a women's basketball coach, OSU shouldn't be surprised to learn that it is not a top tier destination for best coaches in the country.

Craig Merz@icer1216m
For all of the $20 million or so in renovations at VCA, the hockey team got a new locker room door.

Craig Merz@icer1211m
Osiecki brought viability and visibility to key recruiting areas needed in Big 10 and student support best its ever been.

Craig Merz@icer126m
OSU got it right hiring Osiecki. Now must hit grand slam or the program will be eaten alive in new Big 10 conference. No margin for error.

Craig Merz@icer125m
Lots of recruits, many from Minnesota, got to be wary of OSU and its commitment to successful program...

Craig Merz@icer123m
This is huge step back. I'd like to say I have faith the setback is only temporary but philosophical change at top needed.

AND

Jeff Svoboda@JeffSvoboda3m
Just talked to OSU associate AD Chris Schneider. When asked whether Osiecki leaving was mutual or an OSU decision, he said it was the latter

Jeff Svoboda@JeffSvoboda2m
Schneider said it is not related to any issues with NCAA. The decision was not based on performance of team, just management going forward

Jeff Svoboda@JeffSvoboda1m
Schneider said Ohio State will have more information about the plan going forward tomorrow.
Props to my uncle, bringing it there with those top tweets. :wink2:
 
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The normal MO when it comes to bad PR for Ohio State...OSU will be announcing Pro Combat uniforms :biggrin:

I understand hockey schools (like Miami) and soccer schools (like Akron), but the flagship school in the state of Ohio should, at the least, have everything in order in hockey and women's basketball.

With at least hockey, that doesn't seem to be the case.
 
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Totally Unexpected

In a surprising move, Ohio State announced Monday that men's hockey head coach Mark Osiecki will not return after three seasons in charge.

"We are making a change in our head hockey coaching position," athletic director Gene Smith said in a statement. "There
was a difference of opinion over the management of the program that could not be resolved."

Associate athletic director Chris Schneider, who oversees the hockey program, told BSB that the decision was not based on any NCAA rules violations or the team's performance the past three seasons under Osiecki. Instead, he went back to the phrase about differences in the management of the program that appeared in Smith's statement.

"I keep going back to the statement," Schneider said. "It's a difference in the management, so it's an overall management of the program that we had a difference in. We addressed it with Coach this morning."

Schneider would not elaborate on what those differences might be, but Osiecki told BuckeyeSports.com the administration at Ohio State had the decision made before today's 15-minute meeting.

"Obviously it was a surprise," Osiecki said. "Shocked might be a good word. I didn't expect it at all."

Osiecki said all conversation with the administration to that point had been positive and that there had not been any conflict or discussions about the state of the program between himself and the administration before the decision.

"Nothing led up to it," he said. "There weren't any discussions leading up to that. Where we stood as a staff, we felt good about the players. We felt great about the kids that were coming in and the families. The kids were all doing it the right way.

"Obviously we were trying to create a different type of culture here the last couple of years and this was the third year where we were starting to ease off on the culture change. I think most of the kids got it. We couldn't have been more excited with where we were at."

Going forward, Schneider said Ohio State will have more information tomorrow about the future direction of the program because the athletic department was still talking to everyone involved.

As for potential head coaches, the hockey community is already abuzz with the potential that former Denver coach George Gwozdecky could be a target. Gwozdecky, who won the 2004 and '05 national championships at Denver in his 19 seasons, was involved in OSU's 2010 coaching search and was recently let go by the Pioneers program.

Schneider said he is confident Ohio State will be able to hire a strong coach.

"I think this is a great position, it's a great program and we're working with a great university," Schneider said.

There are a number of positives and negatives when it comes to the Ohio State program. The Buckeyes have made just six NCAA tournament appearances in program history, Value City Arena is cavernous when empty, and there is no practice rink available, forcing team members to bus across the Olentangy River to the old OSU Ice Rink for most practices.

However, the university's formidable resources, brand name and large campus have been a recruiting draw for years, and Value City Arena is a modern home facility that can provide a home-ice advantage when filled.

Adding another layer of intrigue is the fact Ohio State will begin Big Ten play next year, joining traditional powers Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as the nascent, money-rich program at Penn State.

However, Osiecki appeared to have the program on an upward trajectory since taking over for John Markell. The Buckeyes finished fourth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in 2012-13, beating Ferris State in a quarterfinal playoff series before losing to Notre Dame in a semifinal. The fourth-place finish and trip to Joe Louis Arena for the CCHA semifinals was OSU's first since 2005, though the squad's final record was only 16-17-7.

In his Ohio State career, Osiecki had a 46-50-16 record. The Buckeyes earned the No. 9 seed in the CCHA playoffs in each of his first two seasons and were swept out of the first round, that despite a hot start to the 2011-12 campaign that moved OSU as high as No. 2 in the national rankings.
more
http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/1283752.html
 
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LitlBuck;2328530; said:
WTF this came out of nowhere. Our hockey team was really starting to progress with some very good young talent. If this is old Gene's fault, he can hit the highway as far as I am concerned.

What else could it be? I'm guessing that Oz wanted some commitment that he would be able to field a competitive program in the BTHC, and either the answer was so discouraging that he quit in response or (worse) GS whacked him for daring to question how things are done.

Dear fucking god, can we please get rid of this man! What the hell does it have to take?
 
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Shawn Mitchell @smitchcd

Little doubt that was Oseicki frustrated by status quo of hockey program at OSU, including lack of urgency in regarding new facility.
they did do a $40 million upgrade to the Schott and the hockey team locker room got a brand-new door:shake:

I also did not realize that they still had to practice over at the old ice arena and had to take the bus from the Schott every day to practice.
 
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LitlBuck;2328649; said:
I also did not realize that they still had to practice over at the old ice arena and had to take the bus from the Schott every day to practice.

Yeah, they have to flip the floor at Value City, so they can't keep flipping it from hockey to basketball and vice versa on a daily basis.

The new facility near Ackerman is for wrestling, volleyball and others, but not hockey. If anything houses hockey, it'd probably be something that replaces St. John Arena or the current ice rink gets renovated.

The thing I'm just frustrated with is that the athletic department doesn't seem to have any direction right now. All OSU seems to be doing is raising prices and selling naming rights.
 
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LitlBuck;2328649; said:
they did do a $40 million upgrade to the Schott and the hockey team locker room got a brand-new door:shake:

I also did not realize that they still had to practice over at the old ice arena and had to take the bus from the Schott every day to practice.

Today is the one day in my life as an Ohio State alumnus that I wish that I had been giving to athletics over the past decade instead of History, CSEES and the Byrd Polar Research Center because I absolutely would pull my donation over this.

This is [censored]ing ridiculous, and I'm sure that the primary quality that will be sought in the next coach is being a GS toady who won't dare question his fundamental neglect of the program. Anyone who thinks that Gwoz would touch this program with a ten foot pole is kidding themselves.

Once the pedsters are up and running and getting solid recruits from the NE, I have very little doubt that Ohio State will be the perennial bottom dweller in the BTHC.
 
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Oz was shocked when he was fired

Ohio State yesterday jettisoned another high-profile coach when it fired men?s hockey coach Mark Osiecki. The move came one month after the sacking of women?s basketball coach Jim Foster.

In a statement, athletic director Gene Smith said Osiecki was fired because of ?a difference of opinion over the management of the program that could not be resolved.?

In an interview with The Dispatch, associate athletic director Chris Schneider, who oversees the hockey program, declined to get into specifics on what constituted a difference of opinion.

?There?s not much more we?re going to say about this,? Schneider said.

Osiecki was not effusive, either. He did say he was provided little in the way of an explanation beyond the school?s stated desire for a ?change in leadership? for the program.

?It was a very brief meeting,? Osiecki said. ?I?m as surprised as anybody. I was shocked.?
more
http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2013/04/16/osiecki-is-shocked-at-being-fired.html
 
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