The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

It is the mark of every great coach to take advantage of their strengths and assets. Coach Murray has strength in spades, and a record of overcoming adversity and earning hard-fought wins. What a great day to be a Bronco, and we are all fortunate to have such a high caliber coach leading our boys of Bronco Hockey.

From a fan and fellow coach's point of view, Murray's strengths are many, and he'll continue to attract top talent as long as he stays, and continue to crank out professional hockey players at the fastest rate our great university has ever seen. He knows exactly what it takes to succeed at the next level, and our recruits know that he knows, so he'll continue to have success here as long as he'd like and as long as he's happy here.

Is Coach Murray capable of continuing to innovate and to adapt to the college game and the new conference? You're damn right he is. When he came to town he needed size to protect Blashill's speedy hands-guys, and now that he's got his size he's been recruiting hands. He's been recruiting skill guys for a few years now, so it's no surprise that some of our best mitts are our youngest ones.

Did he go for massive size to appeal to his assets, the Lunatics? To delight us rowdy fans? Maybe. Who knows and who cares? We all want wins, every last one of us, and that's what we're going to get, because Coach Murray won't have it any other way.

As I've said, we have a stout team and our young players look great. Defensively, we look disciplined and well-positioned. We're exceptionally good at blocking the shooting lanes and playing physical, and Hafner looks in top form. Morrison, Pitt, LaPorte, Kovacs, Muir, etc, etc, etc, are all going pro. This team has done a lot of leg work that will pay off handsomely, and every single fundamental is in place for a successful program.

As I've also said, I'd like to see our offense get the green light to make more mistakes on the attack, although early in the season it certainly makes sense to establish some structure. I'd like to see our forwards open it up a lot and find their flow: I'm not seeing those swirling, fluid attacks that Wit and DeKeyser used to initiate, and maybe we're not ready for them, but only Coach Murray knows. Right now there's not a lot of creativity and improvisation, which is probably how it should be a few weeks into a season. A season's a lot less like a 100m dash and more like an Ultra.

Murray doesn't need to do anything revolutionary, and his systems are undeniably effective on the defensive side of the ice. He will continue to attract top talent because he knows what it takes to succeed in the pros. He knows how to play to the crowd and what it takes to be a great hockey player, and our recruits know this too. He will continue to innovate like he always has, and he will open his offense up when it finally makes sense to, and life is good.

Talking bad about an elite coach online is just bush league nonsense. Be a man and go say it to his face. I fully support Coach Murray, and from the bottom of my heart I hope he's happy here in Kalamazoo. What a great night to be a Bronco!

(10-31-2014 12:16 AM)Lunatic Wrote:  Talking bad about an elite coach online is just bush league nonsense. Be a man and go say it to his face. I fully support Coach Murray, and from the bottom of my heart I hope he's happy here in Kalamazoo. What a great night to be a Bronco!

Talking bad? What's wrong with what people are saying? It's just a little bit of healthy (and justified IMO) criticism. You should see the "Fire Fleck" thread. This is pre-K compared to that.

The dirty little secret on this team right now is several players were given "full scholarships" but after the first year the amount is being lowered to recruit new players.The players(which are many) are stuck because if they leave they have to sit out a year.I have talked to a few parents who said coach isn't honoring his word.

(10-31-2014 07:14 AM)Bronco nut Wrote:  The dirty little secret on this team right now is several players were given "full scholarships" but after the first year the amount is being lowered to recruit new players.The players(which are many) are stuck because if they leave they have to sit out a year.I have talked to a few parents who said coach isn't honoring his word.

If that's really true, that's much worse than what Fleck was accused of with those 2013 Indy verbals.

Simple! Some brave soul ask him. Try it at a news conference! If he prevaricates in his answer....you know...this is confidential...etc. etc. then it probably is true! I also think scholarship awards at a public institution may be an available public record. Interesting!

I do agree with Lunatic on one thing he said.....COACH....open up the offense....let your skill players be free "to create"....and the goals and wins will follow! Happy players having fun win games! Let our "mighty ducks" fly!

(10-31-2014 07:14 AM)Bronco nut Wrote:  The dirty little secret on this team right now is several players were given "full scholarships" but after the first year the amount is being lowered to recruit new players.The players(which are many) are stuck because if they leave they have to sit out a year.I have talked to a few parents who said coach isn't honoring his word.

Every team has some "dirty laundry" and usually it is kept with in.

Scholarships are year-to-year and only for valid reasons (dirty laundry) can the amount can be reduced or increased. It is a merit based system

I'm not a big fan of the NCAA transfer rule that automaticly penalizes a player who wishes to change schools, for what ever the reason. But there is an appeal process a player can go through, that under the circumstances you claim (scholarship reduce without merit) would be egible to transfer/play the following year and receive scholarship money from another school.

So hockey unlike football can offer partial scholarships?

There are 18 scholarships allowed in division I hockey but rosters can have 27 or more players on them. Up to 30 partial schoalarships are allowed. If it is anything like when I attended, every team uses partial scholarships - if you divide them evenly each player gets about a 2/3 scholarship. Typically coaches are very clear, very specific, about what to expect. Maybe coach Murray wasn't as clear as he should have been. On the other hand, sometimes parents hear what they want to hear.

Hockey scholarships

(10-31-2014 08:29 AM)BroncoDetroit Wrote:  I do agree with Lunatic on one thing he said.....COACH....open up the offense....let your skill players be free "to create"....and the goals and wins will follow! Happy players having fun win games! Let our "mighty ducks" fly!

I posted this late last night on the FIRE Murray thread and thought I'd re-post it here for the critics who feel Murray's system hurts our team offensively:

Looking at our first year in the NCHC, WMU was 4th in 5x5 scoring GPG:

SCSU 2.31
UNO 1.93
UMD 1.92
WMU 1.89
UND 1.76
CC 1.33
Miami 1.21
DU 1.17

And where did UND finish???

And how is it that Balisy finishes 2nd in the league in points, only 1 point shy of the league leader, on a team who's power play struggled all year??? He had "0" goals on the power play.....If Murray's defensive system is so restrictive, how is he getting all of his points to lead the league?

Murry's system is very capiable of producing adequate offense and our forwards have the opportunity to be league leaders, just like Balisy did.

(10-31-2014 12:16 AM)Lunatic Wrote:  It is the mark of every great coach to take advantage of their strengths and assets. Coach Murray has strength in spades, and a record of overcoming adversity and earning hard-fought wins. What a great day to be a Bronco, and we are all fortunate to have such a high caliber coach leading our boys of Bronco Hockey.

From a fan and fellow coach's point of view, Murray's strengths are many, and he'll continue to attract top talent as long as he stays, and continue to crank out professional hockey players at the fastest rate our great university has ever seen. He knows exactly what it takes to succeed at the next level, and our recruits know that he knows, so he'll continue to have success here as long as he'd like and as long as he's happy here.

Is Coach Murray capable of continuing to innovate and to adapt to the college game and the new conference? You're damn right he is. When he came to town he needed size to protect Blashill's speedy hands-guys, and now that he's got his size he's been recruiting hands. He's been recruiting skill guys for a few years now, so it's no surprise that some of our best mitts are our youngest ones.

Did he go for massive size to appeal to his assets, the Lunatics? To delight us rowdy fans? Maybe. Who knows and who cares? We all want wins, every last one of us, and that's what we're going to get, because Coach Murray won't have it any other way.

As I've said, we have a stout team and our young players look great. Defensively, we look disciplined and well-positioned. We're exceptionally good at blocking the shooting lanes and playing physical, and Hafner looks in top form. Morrison, Pitt, LaPorte, Kovacs, Muir, etc, etc, etc, are all going pro. This team has done a lot of leg work that will pay off handsomely, and every single fundamental is in place for a successful program.

As I've also said, I'd like to see our offense get the green light to make more mistakes on the attack, although early in the season it certainly makes sense to establish some structure. I'd like to see our forwards open it up a lot and find their flow: I'm not seeing those swirling, fluid attacks that Wit and DeKeyser used to initiate, and maybe we're not ready for them, but only Coach Murray knows. Right now there's not a lot of creativity and improvisation, which is probably how it should be a few weeks into a season. A season's a lot less like a 100m dash and more like an Ultra.

Murray doesn't need to do anything revolutionary, and his systems are undeniably effective on the defensive side of the ice. He will continue to attract top talent because he knows what it takes to succeed in the pros. He knows how to play to the crowd and what it takes to be a great hockey player, and our recruits know this too. He will continue to innovate like he always has, and he will open his offense up when it finally makes sense to, and life is good.

Talking bad about an elite coach online is just bush league nonsense. Be a man and go say it to his face. I fully support Coach Murray, and from the bottom of my heart I hope he's happy here in Kalamazoo. What a great night to be a Bronco!

what he said

The irony of hoping for civility among lunatics is not lost on me, and Hoekjeness, you're right that a little debate about strategy is appropriate and healthy. As a teacher and a coach I'm constantly feeling the pull of conflicting interests and considerations, and I realize there is more than one right answer and one right path.

How much time should we spend on systems? How much time on 1 v. 1 skill work? How much on prepping them for the next level, or the next month, versus seeing immediate results? I could play a kid with a bad attitude who sets a bad example and we could get results today if our objectives for the season ended tonight.

Murray could open it way up and rack up sloppy 6 - 5 wins too ... With two simple assumptions (80% PK rate and 33% breakaway scoring%), cherry picking works if you can get a puck up to your cherry picking forward once every 3 minutes or less that he's up ice. But this is simply not Murray's style.

Coaches often play a conservative game because everybody's ready to pounce if there's a single misstep ... Oh he went for two, what a moron! [Headline: Coach Goes for Broke and Gets It]. As Doyle Brunson showed us, a little gamble goes a long way towards improving results, but inherently entails volatility and risk. I think we're at a point in the season where our structure is well established and we can comfortably take on more risk, but only Coach Murray knows if we're there yet.

No question that a little dialogue is healthy, and there is some valid criticism it sounds like. If we partially stripped a player of a scholarship, then the U should appeal to the NCAA to allow him to leave if he wants without penalty if there is such a precedent. We run an honest, hard working hockey program; that's what we should be known for, that's what we're known for, and that's what we will be known for.

There's a learning curve for every job, and college hockey coach is no exception. Maybe he oughtta be sweeter to the freshies, and pretend like he cares about whether our helmets are matte or candy paint dark chocolate. The boys care about this stuff for whatever reason, and often, they first come to camp as high school kids. For better or worse, Coach Murray has professional expectations for them all. Maybe eventually he'll treat them gentler, maybe he won't, but either way he will continue to crank out professionals.

It's a tall order to be any coach, let alone a coach with National Championship aspirations. There is pressure from the players, fans, administration, the AD, marketing, parents, boosters, the wife, kids, family, the friends, chipdip2, me. With the exception of his players and family, if we could all back off, myself included, it'd make his life a hell of a lot easier. If I had one Bronco wish, it just might be that WMU, and especially Bronco Hockey, became a low-pressure destination job for head coaches. Have fun trying to chase the brilliant Coach Fleck away, trolls. I'll defend Coach Murray until he decides to move on, or hopefully, retire a Bronco.

Lunitic, those are all very good points.

But I'm not sure I agree with your assessment that our structure is well established this year and we can now comfortable take on more risks. I also just don't see Murray choosing this path either.

Prior to last weekends Alaska series, if you look closely at the goals we allowed, most were structure breakdowns. In the UNO series we were all over place, but the Alaska series was much better .

I also don't think Murray has figured out his forward line pairs yet, along with defining some players roles, ie... "shutdown pair". Once he figures that out, you'll see some consistency on defensive side and at that point, I'd look for the team to improve offensively in 5 x 5 situations. I'd say we are still probably 2-3 weekends away from that point

For me, Murray's approach (like it or not) is very simple. Play a structured game defensively in all three zones. Each player need to first be defensively responsible so we are not beating ourselves. Any hard working, smart hockey player can do this. You don't need to be 6'5" 250 # or the most skilled dangler to play in this system.

The offensive opportunities come from with in that defensive structure, transitioning quickly to offense, where our skilled players can shine and also utilize their creativity.

I was very impressed with our transition game last weekend out of our d-zone. Alaska plays a heavy game like the Broncos and we did a very good job handling that pressure.

(10-31-2014 11:04 AM)Lunatic Wrote:  Coaches often play a conservative game because everybody's ready to pounce if there's a single misstep ... Oh he went for two, what a moron! [Headline: Coach Goes for Broke and Gets It]. As Doyle Brunson showed us, a little gamble goes a long way towards improving results, but inherently entails volatility and risk. I think we're at a point in the season where our structure is well established and we can comfortably take on more risk, but only Coach Murray knows if we're there yet.

You can't lose what you don't put in the middle...but you can't win much, either.

(10-31-2014 11:39 AM)BroncoFever Wrote:  For me, Murray's approach (like it or not) is very simple. Play a structured game defensively in all three zones. Each player need to first be defensively responsible so we are not beating ourselves. Any hard working, smart hockey player can do this. You don't need to be 6'5" 250 # or the most skilled dangler to play in this system.

The offensive opportunities come from with in that defensive structure, transitioning quickly to offense, where our skilled players can shine and also utilize their creativity.

I was very impressed with our transition game last weekend out of our d-zone. Alaska plays a heavy game like the Broncos and we did a very good job handling that pressure.

What you described is Herb Brooks hockey. It works, VERY well.

(10-31-2014 09:36 AM)BroncoFever Wrote:  

(10-31-2014 07:14 AM)Bronco nut Wrote:  The dirty little secret on this team right now is several players were given "full scholarships" but after the first year the amount is being lowered to recruit new players.The players(which are many) are stuck because if they leave they have to sit out a year.I have talked to a few parents who said coach isn't honoring his word.

Every team has some "dirty laundry" and usually it is kept with in.

Scholarships are year-to-year and only for valid reasons (dirty laundry) can the amount can be reduced or increased. It is a merit based system

I'm not a big fan of the NCAA transfer rule that automaticly penalizes a player who wishes to change schools, for what ever the reason. But there is an appeal process a player can go through, that under the circumstances you claim (scholarship reduce without merit) would be egible to transfer/play the following year and receive scholarship money from another school.

Fever..under the current NCAA rules a player must sit out a year,scholarships are technically year by year,the system is set up for the coaches and school,not for the student athlete.Four different parents on the current team have told me of their son given a "full ride" only to be lowered to 75 to 80% after the first year to help recruit new talent,That is only the number I have direct contact with,I don't know how widespread it is on the whole team.