Dave Adolph Retires

From UofS Huskies Twitter:

It's the end of an incredible era for
@HuskiesMHKY
Dave Adolph, the winningest coach in Canadian university men's hockey history has announced his retirement. Thank you for all that you have done for Huskie Athletics Dave!


Knowing Dave Adolph over the years, I can say without reservation that he's one of the Good guys.
Wishing him all the best in retirement.

 

He will be missed, always had his team in the mix, at Nationals.
Under Adolph, the Huskies never won a National title, but he did win as a player in the early 80's (Moncton).
Always seemed to hit a roadblock in the U of A and UNB.

 

I am sure that the Mutts will find a good replacement.

 

word on the street is Mike Babcock is a legit name being heard... as in he may be interested.

cant deny Adolphs long time success, but if you weren’t “his guy” it was tough to get on the ice.

 

I’ve seen about 7-8 huskie vs bears/unb games over the last 10 years and it’s top quality hockey. There isn’t many better tickets out there in value for a playoff or national championship game featuring those teams. Especially when it’s in New Brunswick or Saskatoon.

 

Dave is a good guy.
His teams always ended up in the 2nd tier of CIS/USports teams...just below UNB and Alberta.
Kind of crazy to think the Huskies never won a National Title during his tenure.
I would say since about '97 Saskatchewan on paper probably had comparable teams to Alberta 5 or 6 times.
Alberta was better IMO in at least 16 or 17 of those seasons.
The Bears were ripe for the picking in '05 as Saskatchewan led 3-1 after 2 in the U Cup final...But Rob Daum's team rallied to win 4-3 in front of over 11K fans at Rexall Place.
Saskatchewan also blew a 2-0 lead in the Semi-final VS Alberta in 2018, when the Bears won in OT...on a day in which X upset UNB.

Personally for many years I thought the antiquated Dog House at Rutherford Rink worked against Saskatchewan. Small old Boston Garden feel to the building...and i think practising in that rust box limited the endurance of some of Dave's teams.

As for Mike Babcock.
He could afford to take the job for a year or two.
Might be some better ones up the food chain though...lol

 

Babcock is still getting paid $6.25M / year by the Leafs through 2023. One issue that will work against his returning to the NHL is the Leafs will want a good chunk of Babs' salary paid by any NHL team that hires him ... but outside of 4-5 teams, every NHL team will be cash-strapped, so I don't see anyone ponying up for Babs ... especially given his controversial tenure in Toronto.

USask is a perfect landing spot for Babs for two seasons. He'll look good going back to his roots, he'll be available to Hockey Canada for the World Championships / World Juniors, USask will be a powerhouse while he's there, and the Leafs won't have to fret over paying him to coach a rival.

USports hockey is a perfect short-term landing spot ... whereas taking jobs in the AHL or CHL would be considered demotions (and real grinds on the bus), there's something pure about coaching students.

Anyone remember when Kirk Muller coached Queens for a year? I would argue that was the single event that started shifting Queens from a perennial bottom-feeder to a consistent contender. And it certainly didn't hurt Muller's coaching career one bit.

 

Huskies are a powerhouse already... its always them, Alberta, UNB... either of them can beat each other any day of the week. Yes historically UNB/Alberta have the cups.

You make a great case for it to happen... tell that to Mike haha

 

Any news on a Saskatchewan replacement.

 

Nothing through the grapevine, Sorry.

 

NHL on NBC hires Mike Babcock, cuts Mike Milbury ahead of 2020-21 season - Sportsnet.ca
looks like Bob knew something!
Apparently a new Mike being used on NBC