>Date:    Mon, 28 Mar 1994 10:05:34 EST
>From:    Steve G <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Sauer a Goon-god?
....
> I've heard from various sources that to me
>seem impartial that UW plays a dirty style of hockey; enticing penalties,
>getting the "last hit"; stretching the rules.
....
>  Does the UW program have a bad reputation as a goon squad?  Is Sauer
>supposedly teaching goon tactics? (at least more so than any other coach?)
>
>Just curious.  As an alum I support UW, and earmark some of my contributions
>for the hockey program.  I may want to rethink that decision.
 
As I see it (I've had season tix the last three years), Sauer's coaching
style is very "hands-off."  He doesn't do a lot of telling his players what
to do, hoping that together the team will find its own chemistry.  He also
likes creative hockey playing, and gives the players a lot of leeway about
what they do on the ice.  This has has mixed results, in my opinion.  One
of the reasons that the Badgers come on strong in the playoffs is that it
often takes them that long to get the chemistry worked out, getting
everyone on the same page, if you will.  The "hands off" approach also
forces the team to be self-disciplining.  The class of '94 had some real
hotheads, notably Zent and Shier, and they took far too many dumb penalties
by taking out aggressions on the other team after the whistle.  Sauer's
hope seemed to be that such a situation would be self-correcting; I don't
believe it ever quite was.
 
In short, I don't believe that Sauer deliberately coaches dirty hockey.  To
my eyes, there are many "dirtier" teams out there, ones that hold the stick
and the opposition far more than the Badgers, who are more of a
skating-passing team.  The problem has been one of discpiline, or NOT
telling the players not to do things as much as he perhaps should.  With
the huge turnover next year, I expect a very different style of play -- the
Badgers will HAVE to play smarter to be as successful, since the "big guns"
will be gone.  The remaining players seem to have cooler heads; I hope they
stay that way.
 
I should also mention that Jason Zent is one of my favorite players, and a
darn good winger with a stellar wrist shot.  He just takes too many
penalties...
 
In short, I wouldn't withhold the contributions just yet, although by
jacking the student ticket prices to $10/game, the program has given
reasonable cause to direct your money to a more needy cause.  The band,
perhaps...
 
-john nash, grad student, UW-Madison
 
 
-===-John R. [log in to unmask] Chem. Dept-===-