Mike asks what kind of guy Mazz is and how he will do.  I can stick my $.02 in
here because he was our coach at UWSP before going to Minnesota.
 
Mazzoleni is an intense guy, at least in the area of hockey.  He may be the
equivalent of a Vince Lombardi for college hockey.  He is an excellent coach
and an intense motivator.  I have heard players say they are motivated by fear
of Mazzoleni than by fear of losing.  He is also an excellent recruiter.  He
took a nothing program going nowhere to national prominance in just 3 years.
I forget for sure, but I believe he won the first of 3 straight national
titles in his 4th year.   So far our program has survived his departure, but
he was one hell of a coach for us and his going to Minn was a blow.
 
Oh, and Mazz has been known on certain occaisions to express himself in
"colorful" language ;-).  The style of hockey he instigated here was very
physical.  He liked players who would be aggressive, which, of course, just
matches his own personality.  At the same time he coached outstanding defense.
The one thing our teams are not noted for is the European style of passing,
but then, I guess we didn't really need it.
 
I firmly believe he will make U-Mass a winner, especially since the other
postings indicate they are only a player or two away from being real good.
 
Tom Rowe                 [log in to unmask]
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Truth is not always agreeable or intuitively obvious, but it
usually prevails in spite of our opinions.
                                   David Barrett, 1992
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