Not a lot of definitives came out of the recent American Hockey Coaches Association get-together in Florida, but two separate discussions are worth revisiting.

 One was behind closed doors: Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, associate AD Sean Frazier, men's coach Mike Eaves and women's coach Mark Johnson had a private audience with Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod.

 The UW entourage asked for the meeting in order to hash out a series of grievances that occurred during the season.

 On the men's side, controversial losses to Denver and St. Cloud State in which officiating errors took place, as well as a dust-up with North Dakota that Eaves felt was allowed to exceed acceptable boundaries.

 On the women's side, the apparent use of an ineligible player by eventual WCHA and NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth, which has yet to yield any sanctions. 

 "It was a tough year on a lot of fronts,'' Eaves said.

 "What needed to be put on the table was a little bit about how those incidents were handled and how closure was brought to an end.

 "We had a forum at which we could express some of that to Bruce in a very professional way. That's what we did.''

 The other discussion involved recruiting and the nature of a gentleman's agreement -- most notably among WCHA coaches -- that discourages tampering with prospects who have verbally committed to a school.

 Eaves is among those who like that arrangement, but there are those -- he mentioned Minnesota coach Don Lucia, Boston College coach Jerry York and Boston University coach John Parker -- who prefer a more liberal setting.

 That mindset stems from the fact so many recruits are committing at 15, 16 or 17 years old, but not showing up at the college level until they're 19 or 20.

 Somewhere in that reality is the belief that youngsters, despite committing to a school, should be able to keep their college options open until they sign a national letter of intent.

 Eaves said he had a one-on-one conversation with York -- whose Eagles won the NCAA title in April -- in which York said he's getting some pressure to bring in the best possible recruits.

 "I said, 'Geez, Jer, if a school does a good job recruiting a young man and works hard at it, it's a risk-reward,'' Eaves said. "It might pan out for them; it might not. There is a risk. It's not like a sure thing.''