Dave Adolph Retires

AUS Fan

Registered User
Aug 1, 2008
3,953
1,705
At the Rink
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.
 

RED ARMY EAST

Registered User
Feb 14, 2010
1,928
286
Freddy Beach,N.B.Canada
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.
 

hockeyguy0022

Registered User
Feb 20, 2016
346
176
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.
 

hockeyguy0022

Registered User
Feb 20, 2016
346
176
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’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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rob and MiamiHockey

Bob Stauffer

Registered User
Aug 4, 2003
640
134
Edmonton
Visit site
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
 

MiamiHockey

Registered User
Sep 12, 2012
2,087
187
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.
 

hockeyguy0022

Registered User
Feb 20, 2016
346
176
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
 
  • Like
Reactions: MiamiHockey

mikeandI

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
281
10
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
 

AUS Fan

Registered User
Aug 1, 2008
3,953
1,705
At the Rink
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.

Very prescient comment. According to Darren Dreger on Twitter, Babs will be going to the Huskies.

" Here’s a wild one. Sources say Mike Babcock will be announced head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies next week."
 
  • Like
Reactions: MiamiHockey

MiamiHockey

Registered User
Sep 12, 2012
2,087
187
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.

Very prescient comment. According to Darren Dreger on Twitter, Babs will be going to the Huskies.

" Here’s a wild one. Sources say Mike Babcock will be announced head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies next week."

I forgot about that post. Guess it aged well.

I'm really interested to see how Babcock handles this team. I'm only one degree of separation from Babs, and even among friends he's not regarded as a likeable guy. It seems to me that in recent years he'd doubled-down on that tough cop approach (see: Spezza, Jason) but it's really blown up in his face. Recent revelations about how he treated Johan Franzen in Detroit have not helped.

He has an opportunity to restore his reputation here, in a low-risk coaching gig. The great thing about coaching USports is that it's a relationship-building exercise. You get 20 players at the beginning of the year, and your ability to work with the players you have dictates your success. As a guy who seems to struggle with managing relationships, I'll be curious to see if he takes advantage of that opportunity.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AUS Fan

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->