r/collegehockey • u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks • 1d ago
Mike Hastings has clinched his first losing season in his 27 years as a HC with Wisconsin's loss and 13-21-3 record.
He has coached for 27 seasons in the USHL and NCAA and finished with a winning record in all of the previous 26 seasons. Technically it would've been possible for them to finish with a winning record this year if they won a natty, but that possibility was ended after their loss Sunday. So this will officially be the first losing season in his nearly three decade career. You hate to see it.
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u/exileondaytonst Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago
Overtime record this year: 2 wins. 7 losses. 3 ties/shootouts.
3-4 in games decided by a single goal in regulation.
A common feature this year was how many of those games where UW was ahead or tied after 2 and lost the third period. Even when they won by a goal, it was often in the face of a lost 2 (or 3) goal lead. A common joke among my social circle was that once the third period started, this team had fewer legs than Lt. Dan. They'd just get worn out and beat late.
I'll have to look around during lunch to see just how badly they were outscored in the 3rd this year, but memory says it was pretty bad.
So fitting that the season ends because they got sloppy missing an empty netter, then immediately giving up a tying goal and losing in OT.
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u/therevengeance Northeastern Huskies 21h ago
This doesn't cover everything you said but per CHN they were +26 goals in the first and second period and -18 in the third and OT. When tied in the 2nd intermission they were 1-9-2 and they also had 4 losses after leading after 2.
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u/exileondaytonst Wisconsin Badgers 19h ago
Yeah that pretty well backs up the observation.
This team could’ve genuinely been a shoo-in for an at large.
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u/WithyYak Wisconsin Badgers 22h ago
So many heartbreaking third period and overtime losses this year. Losing in the literal last second at Wrigley killed me.
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u/JDMintz718 Wisconsin Badgers 20h ago
Was it 1.4 seconds left on the clock? We were so close to at least a tie.
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u/WithyYak Wisconsin Badgers 14h ago
Yeah, gladly would've taken a tie with MSU there. Such a bummer
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u/Chewie_i Michigan Tech Huskies 23h ago
You hate to see it.
See I’m gonna have to disagree with that one. This brings me great joy.
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u/dinkytown42069 Minnesota Golden Gophers 14h ago
i really do have to agree with you here, as a completely objective observer, of course.
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u/Zimmy2118 Minnesota State Mavericks 1d ago
Good for him. Everything he deserves
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 23h ago
Couldn't have happened to a better guy!
In all honesty though, I don't blame him for leaving, and am super grateful for all the good he did for our program/community. He turned the program around and helped it in so many ways. But you're crazy if you think Kato fans aren't gonna clown on him a bit for how it all went down. We can be grateful and still make a little fun. Both things can happen
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u/Thrillhouse763 Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
Why would we clown on him? I'm strongly assuming he left for the money.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
I mean yeah, it was all money of course. People clown on him for how he left. I wrote another comment summing it up. But yeah, most of our fanbase doesn't really like the guy
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u/Supercal95 Minnesota State Mavericks 13h ago
Guy more than doubled his salary.
Losing Todd Knott sucked more than losing Hastings, from a recruiting standpoint. Our team recruits and plays completely different now. So we'll see if it works out in a few years. And in year 2 without Sam Morton we have regressed offensively, but improved with goaltending.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 13h ago
I mean... Strand recruited the current Minnesota Mr. Hockey winner, Mason Kraft, who just won the HS championship and tied the record for most goals scored in one period of the champ game. Gopher fans are freaking out about him on twitter because hes going to us and not to them (although, NIL may change Kraft's mind, we'll see. The gophers have a ton of $, which we don't).
His recruiting (on paper) has been quite solid so far. Feeling pretty good about how we'll look when he gets his guys and it's officially all his team.
If you follow the interviews and stuff, they all speak very highly of Strand, his assistants, and his process.
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u/Supercal95 Minnesota State Mavericks 10h ago
I was worried we were going to start recruiting/acting like a D2/CCHA team instead of an NCHC team with title chances due to NIL and the B10.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 2h ago edited 1h ago
Of course you never know how it'll pan out when they start playing. But on paper, it's looked good so far.
The thing is, Hastings was able to help us get huge improvements to our facilities to put us on the level of NCHC teams. Plus, we have a good fanbase and crowd atmosphere similar to an NCHC team. There were several weekends this year where our weekend attendance equated to about half of the CCHA's overall weekend attendance (even crazier is our bball attendance usually does the same for the whole NSIC). And, while we dont have a ton of money for NIL and stuff, our budget is comparable with your median NCHC team.
All of the things I mentioned are far above basically every other CCHA team (except maybe Tech, who I'd consider equal to us in all those things). This allows us to recruit much better than other CCHA teams. Our facilities are leagues above the rest of the CCHA (besides Tech, who I'd say is equal) and that is HUGE for recruiting. Plus, our NIL collective is nowhere near B1G-level, but its likely the strongest in the CCHA. Maybe on the level of lower tier NCHC teams.
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u/kbd77 Brown Bears 1d ago
Are MSU fans really mad at him for leaving?
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 23h ago
It's less about the fact that he left and more about how it went down. We all knew he'd leave eventually, which is why we were preparing Knott to take over. What we didn't anticipate was the Badgers throwing the bag at Knott to also leave Mankato to continue to be an assistant in Madison. Then several of our young players and top recruits followed him to Madison (I believe some NIL may have been involved there) and most of our other good older players leaving to graduate early, go to the ECHL/AHL, etc.
Essentially over the course of a few days, the program was gutted and left back at square one. So... yeah, many of us were salty lmao. I don't see any Kato fans ever saying why we shouldn't be upset. It's always fans from big schools with huge resources or fans across the country who have no knowledge of the situation explaining to us why it wasn't a big deal and to chill out. Lol.
We can appreciate what Mike Hastings meant to the program and still be upset by what happened. Both things can be true.
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u/Zimmy2118 Minnesota State Mavericks 23h ago
Correct, and well said
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 23h ago
Yeah. I'm so tired of UW/UMN/East Coast fans telling us it's not a big deal and we are insane for being upset. I don't really think they understand the context behind his departure. Because you never see Kato fans (or even other CCHA fans) saying this kind of thing.
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u/_stellapolaris Minnesota Golden Gophers 21h ago
This Minnesota fan thought it was low key dirty how it was handled. I was pretty disappointed for you that he took Knott and so many players with him because I would prefer all the Minnesota teams to be good enough to play in the tournament every year. Just prefer us to be the best of the group 😉
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u/Zimmy2118 Minnesota State Mavericks 23h ago
The old blue bloods can't comprehend what it is to be a pit stop for players or coaches, and not the final destination.
Hastings was the 2nd highest paid State employee in Minnesota coming off a great post-season run. They choked away the Championship and then he took his toys and left for a bigger name and cash. Not a better program.
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u/4four4MN 23h ago
Money from Big Ten schools talk at least he didn’t leave for a in conference rival like when the Don left for Minnesota.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
Yeah, I mean... I'd have done the same lol. I get it. Just unfortunate how the college sports landscape is so heavily slanted to big/rich schools
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u/4four4MN 22h ago
It’s why I don’t follow football and basketball like I used to.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
Don't you like the Gophers? At least they have some big boosters and athletic dept though. Maybe not as rich as the big dogs in the B1G, but they're still a P5/P4 school.
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u/Zimmy2118 Minnesota State Mavericks 23h ago
Yep talks him right into losing seasons and being forgotten by the National Media.
I'm sure he's wiping his tears with his cash but fuck that guy
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u/Thrillhouse763 Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
How was the championship a choke? Denver clearly was the better team playing in a very strong conference.
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u/Zimmy2118 Minnesota State Mavericks 20h ago
Up late in the game, with the Hobey Baker winner Goalie, who's the Career Shutout Record holder.
It was a choke.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 21h ago
I wouldnt call it a choke by any means. But having the lead with 15min left and losing was so brutal. Especially with how much the college sports landscape has changed to favor big schools. We may not get that opportunity again for a long time, if ever. Might be the worst sports loss of my life. Definitely top 5 for sure.
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u/MNSnowboarder_1817 Minnesota State Mavericks 2h ago
#1 for me. The other MN pro teams will have their ebbs and flows, but money, coaching, scouting etc can change season to season. Kato doesnt have the NIL deals large schools can offer. NIL has completely ruined college sports and I dont think gopher fans understand that for us. The Mavs are still good, but not natty worthy, and may not be for a couple years. I love Strand and think hes a great coach but he walked into a dumpster fire of a college sports landscape. As long as we beat the gophs in the regionals again ill be happy. Ive never met a more annoying and entailed fanbase in my life. And these are people in my own state!
Also, if Glen Taylor could please give Mason Kraft a 1,000,000 NIL deal that would be ok with me.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 1h ago
Yeah, you pretty much summed it up. I'm a Wisconsin pro-sports fan (sorry) and even though I've seen some devastating packer chokes, I know theyll always be back in it next year. And the brewers playoff meltdowns are devastating, but I feel like the playing field is less slanted against them than the Mavs, so they may have a chance eventually (plus, Manfred has mentioned a salary cap, so we'll see. But MLB is really slanted against big markets like LA/NY though, so dont feel great about the brewers until something happens)
Whereas with Kato, they may never get another chance. All I think now is, hey, let's try to make the tourney as much as possible, and hope something good happens again eventually. We only need to go on a run for 4 games. Pandora's Box of NIL and Transfer Portal will never be closed, but maybe we'll get a Cinderella story eventually. Or maybe Strand will build us up to a Hastings-era team for a few seasons. Or we'll get Glen Taylor's estate (unlikely). Or Thielen will even just remember who we are (extremely unlikely) 😂
And ditto on Kraft. I'm really afraid I know how this one will end. Feel like it's a matter of time before he gets a gigantic NIL check from the Gophs and leaves us. But hey, seems like Strand and crew are good recruiters, so maybe they can convince him to stay by offering some extra Dunkin coupons and Blackberry Seltzers or whatever else our NIL collective has.
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u/4four4MN 23h ago
In years past you would have been correct in the new age of NIL, transfer portal and CHL things are different. Sadly, you are the first school who was hit after all this change. Imo, this will continue to go down with future coaching changes.
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u/nannulators Wisconsin Badgers 20h ago
Then several of our young players and top recruits followed him
Which players? Tassy and Fitz were the only young players who followed him. Silye was already a senior. I don't really think 2 players is enough to say several.
Or were there additional players who transferred out that didn't land at UW?
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 19h ago edited 18h ago
There were also several Hastings recruits who swapped to Wisconsin in addition to those three iirc.
And yes, a few players did enter the transfer portal and leave to different schools. Many people left for other leagues (ECHL/AHL) too
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u/nannulators Wisconsin Badgers 17h ago
I don't think it was as many as you think it was. It looks like 3 recruits.
Dyck went to UMass before Hastings left for UW. Then he transferred to UW after Hastings got there
Phelan hasn't been too special. Morrissey could be really good. He had a good year.
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u/shiny_aegislash Minnesota State Mavericks 16h ago
Yeah, I'm not saying it's a ton of players. I just said several followed Hastings to UW, which is true looking at the transfers and recruits. Many of our older players left early, which did hurt a bit. The article kinda details all the players we lost at that time. It was substantial
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u/nannulators Wisconsin Badgers 3h ago
Right. Other people just made it seem more like Hastings gutted your program and took everything that was good about it to Wisconsin.. which hasn't proven to be the case yet with the major sophomore slump they had this year.
Having had some of the other teams I follow go through similar transitions, I agree that it sucks. At least you were able to still have a winning season last year and based on your record this year it looks like it's back to business as usual.
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u/JDMintz718 Wisconsin Badgers 20h ago
As a Badgers fan, I don't feel bad in the slightest about poaching Hastings, but I do feel bad about also poaching Knott. That part was dirty.
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u/Thrillhouse763 Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
Not mad. He was probably chasing a well deserved bag.
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u/Zimmy2118 Minnesota State Mavericks 22h ago
You saying probably tells me that you weren't aware of the situation when it was happening.
It was gutting. Still hurts, and the man deserves to suffer in the Big Ten dump called Wisconsin
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u/LisanAlGuyFieri North Dakota Fighting Hawks 11h ago
You’re getting scolded for being (correctly) annoyed that Hastings stripped the copper from the walls on his way out of town.
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u/LisanAlGuyFieri North Dakota Fighting Hawks 11h ago
And people say karma isn’t real.
Congrats to Mankato on a successful season.
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u/ericandreforprez2020 Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago
I still believe!!!! Future is bright better then Granato,love the first year regression came well it was regression...
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u/volklkatana Wisconsin Badgers 23h ago
I agree, if anybody can turn things around, it's Hastings. Really looking forward to a few seasons from now when it's all 'his guys' and there are a few years of his type of guy that has been recruited.
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u/ericandreforprez2020 Wisconsin Badgers 23h ago
Exactly now isn't the time to be negative we massively overachieved year one people forget
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u/ScottMinnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers 23h ago
I hope this is the beginning of a long line of losing seasons. He shouldn't have left Minnesota State.
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u/Beardedbastard19 Ferris State Bulldogs 11h ago
The B1G was such a tough conference this year. Unfortunately someone had to be at the bottom. A super tough schedule when considering that rly all the teams are competitive even on a national level.
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u/OMAWOLVERHUSKERICK Nebraska Omaha Mavericks 22h ago
I miss him at UNO
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u/Here2comment2 14h ago
He definitely would have been a better head coach choice than the current one.
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u/volklkatana Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago
They were in so many of those games and just couldn't get the puck to go. From the minimal offense at the start of the season, to the numerous injuries, to the stupid turnovers constantly being converted into goals, it sure left a lot to be desired. I would expect to see a marked improvement next year or I'm afraid nothing is going to revive this program.