I will herein categorically state that I have NO conclusive evidence that
Jeff Sauer should be fired, or held in other than high esteem as Wisconsin's
head coach.
 
I wish Mr Sauer the best, and hope all the championship trophies (league,
misc tournament, NCAA) on his mantle from his (10? 12?) coaching years at
Colorado College never tarnish.
 
I would, however, like to know the following (or where to find it, short of
visiting the Public Library in Madison and leafing through 20+ years of old
newspapers):
        - has the ration of ex-Wisconsin players to ex-US college players
entering the NHL (however briefly) changed since pre-JS?  (my gut reaction,
unsubstantiated by any evidence that will stand up in a court of law, is
probably not, or it has gone up -- indicating a consistent or improving
overall talent level)
        - compared to WCHA or NCAA D-I averages, has UW's penalty minutes/game;
power play %; penalty kill % changed (of statistical significance) since
pre-JS? (my gut feel, also unsubstantiated, is yes to all, for the worse --
indicating a less disciplined program)
        - what does a 4-year moving average of UW's RPI look like from, say,
1973 (= 10 yrs before JS) to present? (my gut feel is that it will be pretty
much inconclusive; neither a rising trend, nor a falling trend, just
"random" fluctuations)
 
My gut feel, unsupportable before the Supreme Court, based on the above, is
that the UW program has had and still has great talent.  That talent is less
disciplined today than it was prior to JS, yet gets substantially the same
results.  ILLOGICAL EXTRAPOLATION, based on the success of highly
disciplined teams like Jeff Jackson's LSSU and George Gwozdecky's
Miami/Denver:  if UW had disciplined the talent, the results would've been
better.  And I assume (evidenced by my specific use of Jackson's and
Gwozdecky's names) that disciplined hockey starts with the head coach.
 
Challenge my beliefs.  Prove my assumptions wrong.  Show me the error of my
ways.  Put me in your "kill file".
 
Hugs 'n Kisses
 
Steve G
UW '84
Miami '95
 
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