For you Minnesota- and Colorado-area fans out there:
 
How do you think Don Lucia will handle being under the microscope as head
coach with the Gophers?
 
Living in Boulder for the past 4 years (30 minutes from Denver, 90 minutes
from Colorado Springs) I've never seen Lucia or the Tigers getting the kind
of publicity and scrutiny that the Gophers seem to endure every day of
every year.
 
There's no doubt that Lucia had one of the finest programs in the country
at Colorado College. Yet at least in the Denver papers we'd be lucky to get
more than two articles on college hockey each week, with maybe four a week
during a strong NCAA run. And that's with BOTH the Pioneers and Tigers
making a run. In 1996 the local press basically ignored college hockey and
the Frozen Four in Cincinatti once the Pioneers were eliminated in
Worcester by BU. Even with the Tigers in the final, only two reporters were
sent from the major papers in the "front range" region (Boulder, Denver,
Colo Springs) to cover the game.
 
Obviously there is a very different situation in Minnesota. Any ideas as to
how Lucia will react? For you Gophers, what kind of warning signs can we
look for to identify how Lucia is handling the pressure?
 
 
greenie
 
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