Here in Mpls I never actually hear the saving money on tuition argument.
The argument is usually just a "Pride in Minnesota" position.  Whenever the
team does poorly the cry is raised that we can't win with just in-state
recruiting. This conveniently ignores the fact that the team until last year
was very competitive each year for the NCAA championship. I thought that
Woog took unfair grief for failure to win the big one because he usually got
the team in position to win.  But, I think he can take criticism for the
team's performance last year and this year.  Yes, he lost some key players
to injuries and early pro signings. But, the fact is that the team's play
has been very inconsistent during almost each game-- a bad first period and
then a couple of decent ones or vice versa.  Woog, as the coach, has to take
the blame for that, for the players he has selelcted and for their
development. As to players selected he can certainly be criticized for
wanting Anderson and not Parrish, for example.  Or for ignoring Karl
Goehring and winding up having to compete this season with one frosh goalie
and no backup.  Minnesota can still be competitive with in-state recruits,
although it should be noted that in the fairly recent past they have played
Pietrangelo and Blue in the nets who were non-Minnesotans. But perhaps new
blood is needed behind the bench.
 
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