Schlossman: Bill Chaves is rolling the dice with UND hockey coaching change

Mar. 24—GRAND FORKS — Brad Berry won an NCAA national championship in his first year as head coach.

He won five National Collegiate Hockey Conference titles in 10 seasons.

He posted a .642 winning percentage, which puts him ahead of some all-time greats — Bob Johnson, Jeff Jackson, Don Lucia, Herb Brooks, Jerry York, Dean Blais, Gino Gasparini, George Gwozdecky and John Mariucci.

He never had a losing season.

But for UND's astronomically high expectations for the hockey program, it wasn't enough.

UND fired Berry on Sunday

after 10 years at the helm.

It is a bold move for athletic director Bill Chaves — and one that is nearly unprecedented in modern college hockey.

No NCAA Division-I men's coach has been fired after a 21-win season in at least two decades.

The closest was Denver firing George Gwozdecky after a 20-win season in 2013. Tension existed between Gwozdecky and Denver's athletic director about his contract. Gwozdecky, in turn, flirted with a job at Ohio State. Then, he was let go as his contract neared the end.

Denver replaced Gwozdecky with Jim Montgomery, a former NCAA assistant coach who was coming off two United States Hockey League championships in three years. Montgomery inherited a strong recruiting class from Gwozdecky and kept the Pioneers chugging along.

Chaves is betting the next UND coach can do the same.

It's possible. But it's no guarantee.

UND has exceptional history, tradition and resources to sell recruits.

So do others, and they haven't been immune to downturns.

Wisconsin has had 11 losing seasons since UND's last one. Michigan hasn't won a national title in 27 years or a conference title in 14. The Fighting Hawks have won six league championships since Michigan's last.

UND's "bad" seasons have been like this, where it still won 21 games despite 136 man-games missed due to injury.

UND is the only team in the country that has posted more than 20-straight winning seasons. The consistency is unlike anywhere else. It's possible, at some point, UND fans may actually experience a bad season.

Yes, UND's NCAA tournament wins have dried up lately.

Part of that is due to a global pandemic.

In 2020, UND was No. 1 in the Pairwise Rankings and had an .800 winning percentage when the season was canceled. Only three other teams in program history had .800 winning percentages. Two won NCAA titles — the 1986-87 Hrkac Circus squad and the 2015-16 team under Berry.

The next year, UND's opponent in the regional final, Minnesota Duluth, did not have to play a first-round game because of a positive COVID test. The regional final ended up going into five overtimes and No. 1 overall-seeded UND lost.

Berry twice lost a first-team All-American defenseman due to injury in the league playoffs. Tucker Poolman and Jake Sanderson subsequently missed the 2017 and 2022 NCAA tournaments. UND lost both regional games in overtime.

Excuses? Perhaps. Terrible luck? Yes.

Either way, he will leave UND having won more NCAA national titles than Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Boston University and Boston College combined during his tenure.

UND is about to enter one of the most critical 10-day stretches in program history.

With the NCAA transfer portal opening Sunday, UND will likely expedite a coaching search.

By doing so, it could limit its potential candidates. A lot of the country's top coaches are competing in the NCAA tournament this weekend.

That puts the potential field of targets at Dave Hakstol, Dane Jackson, a pro coach, a junior coach or a college hockey coach whose team missed the NCAA tournament. . . which UND just fired Berry for doing.

Whoever gets the job will have a small window of time to convince the core of the team to stay at UND.

The vultures are already swooping in.

Opposing teams have been trying to recruit some UND players to hit the transfer portal since late January. You can imagine what it's like right now.

One junior hockey source said within 20 minutes of Berry's firing going public, five NCAA teams had inquired about a single UND recruit.

Several key UND players and recruits have grown close to Berry, who is known as one of the kindest coaches in the country.

The next coach needs to win them over in short order or things could go awry quickly.

It's a gamble and the entire athletic department is riding on the outcome.

Chaves let go of women's soccer coach Chris Logan in the fall. Football coach Bubba Schweigert transitioned to an athletic department job this winter. Chaves has two basketball coaches heading into the final years of their contracts after losing seasons.

Now, he just fired the most successful coach on campus.

When the applicants come in, Chaves will have to ponder this: If a coach with five league titles in the last 10 years, an NCAA national championship and 10-straight winning seasons applied, would he be the top candidate?

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Schlossman: Bill Chaves is rolling the dice with UND hockey coaching change

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Related

Brad Berry out as UND men's hockey coach

20 potential candidates for the UND hockey coaching job

UND hockey job posting closes Wednesday

GameCenter live: No. 17 UND at No. 20 Omaha

UND hoping to get past semifinal hex at the X

Get to know UND freshman forward Sacha Boisvert

Iowa hires McCollum, who swept Missouri Valley titles and won NCAA game in his one season at Drake

Iowa hires McCollum, who swept Missouri Valley titles and won NCAA game in his one season at Drake

Iowa hires Ben McCollum, who swept Missouri Valley titles and won NCAA game in his one season at Drake

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