UNH 2005-2006 Season

[lordsontheboards]

Any thoughts on the number six pre-season ranking? Has anyone seen the team skate yet? Why aren't they playing any exhibition games before their opener against Maine. How do the new comers look? Is Garland back to 100%?

[unh_hockey]

from what i hear, maine will get steamrolled.

[chiefsfan]

Anyone going to the scrimmage vs BC?
If so, please provide a summary of how both teams look.

[unh_hockey]

I was impressed with bellamy and fabar. fabar is fast as hell. Joyce and taylor ( 23) are monsters on the ice, i dont think ive ever played against or seen for that matter any girl as tall as either of them. its too bad they dont allow hitting. Palazeti's seem to have lost a step since last year.

UNH looked like they have the same tenacity to attack as last year. Some of the freshmen will take more time to adjust than others, but they'll shape into a good combo of size and speed. quickest impact in my mind are fabar and bellamy.

[sk8happy]

I thought both clubs looked improved. BC is definitely making some strides in the right direction. Tom Mutch's second class is beginning to establish some depth and I'd say they look a bit quicker overall than last year's team.
UNH is a bigger, stronger looking version of last year's squad. They definitely showed more depth, especially at the blueline and Amy McLaughlin wasn't even playing. ( I think she's been injured )
It's interesting looking at the USCHO preseason ratings and all rookie team...
Two of the best players on the ice tonight for either side, were frosh- Bellamy and Faber.
Actually what surprised me most was the play of all of UNH's frosh...Joyce and Taylor were very noticeable as well and both made some excellent plays.
That bodes well for the year ahead.
UNH seemed to carry the play for long long stretches.. BC had some brief flurries...UNH's def were much more poised with the puck than their opponents...
Should be a fun season.

[camman15]

UNH looked like they have the same tenacity to attack as last year. Some of the freshmen will take more time to adjust than others, but they'll shape into a good combo of size and speed. quickest impact in my mind are fabar and bellamy.


a small quick forward is always most effective on the big pond, so if Faber can finish she will make an impact sooner than later,.....Bellamy?, she could have made an impact last year (as a high school senior) with most of the D-1 programs in women's hockey,.....

[lordsontheboards]

I guess the Freshmen had a pretty good outing in last nights scrimage against
Boston College. I think this team is primed for a pretty good run this year. I'm
not sure how good of a Bench mark this was for UNH because I'm not sure that Boston College is a number 3 seed like USCHO has predicted. From what I was told UNH carried the play most of the night. Both team will improve as the season goes on. Good luck to both teams.

[hockeysb11]

Congrats to former Sound Shore Warriors Fabar & Bellamy on there first game with UNH. We wish them a great season with UNH. They will have an impact.

[dave1381]

I'm
not sure how good of a Bench mark this was for UNH because I'm not sure that Boston College is a number 3 seed like USCHO has predicted.
When did USCHO predict BC was a No. 3 seed? It was the Hockey East coaches that picked BC No. 3 (for the second straight year, no less)

[sk8happy]

Never easy to forecast where teams will wind up...but generally, I'd put more stock in a coaches poll than a media poll. UConn probably can't wait to test the Eagles ranking, not to mention PC's & UNH's.... Still I think BC will wind up 3 or 4 when all is said and done IF they get good or better goaltending.

On a big plus side for the Wildcats- heard this week that Courtney Sheary out of Cushing will be wearing the Blue and White next year! Another awesome addition for the 'Cats. She'd narrowed her schools to Wisconsin, Providence and UNH... She's a terrific player. I've had the pleasure to watch her numerous times during her years at Cushing. She'll flourish on the big ice at the Whitt- great skater, playmaker and reads the ice as well as any d'man I've seen in the past couple of years.. Put her with Bellamy and look out... UNH's puck possession game is going to take giant leaps forward with players of this caliber..

[unh_hockey]

Uconn upset UNH last season, and came close several other games of winning. But I just wasnt impressed with that club from what I saw. they have one smaller player who is head and shoulders above the rest and who can put goals up. My memory is rather hazy from last year.

[camman15]

Uconn upset UNH last season, and came close several other games of winning. But I just wasnt impressed with that club from what I saw. they have one smaller player who is head and shoulders above the rest and who can put goals up. My memory is rather hazy from last year.


UConn will certainly have a different look with such a large senior class graduating last spring,.....youth brings energy and enthusiasm but lacks in the area of experience,.....the Huskies will go as far as the time it takes for the bulk of the new players to adjust to college hockey,.....rebuilding is never easy, no matter who's driving the bus, so everyone should be patient with this team,.....one thing's for sure, they will compete for 60 minutes every time they put the game jerseys on; there's no quit on that team,.....

[daffee]

With an Academic Progress Rate of 921, just shy of the NCAA cutoff of 925, how will the number of scholarships for the UNH women's ice hockey team be impacted? Also, how will the fact that UNH women's hockey is in the lowest percentile of all women's hockey teams effect their ability to recruit athletes? Seems to an outsider, that more academic support needs to be available to the women athletes at UNH otherwise they will loose scholarships and potential recruits.

[dave1381]

With an Academic Progress Rate of 921, just shy of the NCAA cutoff of 925, how will the number of scholarships for the UNH women's ice hockey team be impacted? Also, how will the fact that UNH women's hockey is in the lowest percentile of all women's hockey teams effect their ability to recruit athletes? Seems to an outsider, that more academic support needs to be available to the women athletes at UNH otherwise they will loose scholarships and potential recruits.
I don't think it's going to matter at all. I haven't kept up with all the details, but last I checked 921 was the preliminary number and there was still another semester to come or something. And if not, there's some kind of confidence interval they use in the estimate according to the latest printout, and so UNH probably wouldn't be sanctioned.

As for recruiting, my first instinct is that a lot of the players who hurt their score were recruited by the previous coach. Remember that players leaving school hurts as much as a player failing in this system (someone leaving and faliing is a double whammy). Someone like Rebecca Paul, who UNH was able to take into the program for a season out of a tough situation from Northeastern, and then decided to go back home to Canada, would hurt their score - do you think that matters? Anyway, I think they're close enough to the cutoff, and the low score is enough a function of the past, that I think it's a non-story.

[daffee]

. Remember that players leaving school hurts as much as a player failing in this system (someone leaving and faliing is a double whammy). Someone like Rebecca Paul, who UNH was able to take into the program for a season out of a tough situation from Northeastern, and then decided to go back home to Canada, would hurt their score - do you think that matters? Anyway, I think they're close enough to the cutoff, and the low score is enough a function of the past, that I think it's a non-story. An athlete leaving for another program does lower the score and perhaps more athletes left because of their experiences with the prior coach. The 925 cutoff was picked by the NCAA because it is equivalent to having a 50% graduation rate, so that is a considerable number of women hockey players who left UNH presumably without a college degree.

[sk8happy]

Daffee:
Three plus years ago when the current staff inherited the program, UNH was a ship that was on a major downward slide. The freshman and sophomore classes they inherited were appallingly weak. To my memory, out of this group of 10-12 kids, only 2 were still with the program last year- Steph Jones who was a senior last year and Lindsay Hansen who's a senior this year...
Most of them transferred out to schools like Union, Clarkson, Bemidji, etc...younger programs where they could potentially compete for playing time.
One third string goaltender simply left school at Thanksgiving because she was playing behind two seniors that first year and to my knowledge bounced around in Canada with various club teams and never returned to college loop.
One sophomore flunked out of UNH twice to my knowledge, but had been cut after the first academic exclusion.

In other words, UNH's current rating as Dave notes, is a non issue and merely a reflection of the state of UNH 3 plus years ago... If you followed this program closely, you'd know that as far as recruiting goes... UNH is having the exact opposite experience.. They're winning more than their share of the recruiting battles for the top kids, both here in New England and north of the border where they recruit. ( oh yeah and in Scotland too!)

The current staff is a highly energized threesome that have reinvigorated a tradition rich program. Their current roster is full of athletes who chose UNH over the likes of Wisconsin, SLU, Brown, Harvard, Dartmouth, Providence, Ohio State, Mercyhurst, etc... Some of the best New England kids like Bellamy, Faber, Joyce, and now Sheary, wouldn't be choosing UNH if things in Durham weren't moving in a highly positive direction.

[Travelingman]

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051013/NEWS1102/110130111/-1/NEWS08

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051013/NEWS1102/110130153/-1/NEWS08


Here are a couple of articles I just found on Foster's online (a local New Hampshire paper) I tried to copy and paste them both. It mentions how Hansen stayed in the program and she is glad she did. Also, the article on the team was very informative. McCloskey does not brag at all about his upcoming season, in fact he would rather not be ranked so high. He talks about how he has spent most of his time at the position resurrecting the program back to the state is was in prior to Coach Kay. Why do you think McCloskey took the job? Because he coached on UNH's men's side for 10 years and because of his pride of the school and the program he accepted the challenge to return it to the powerhouse it once was. McCloskey's recruiting record speaks for itself both on the boy's side and on the girl's side now. In the hockey world McCloskey is known as one of the best recruiters in the country. I can assure you that Coach McCloskey has the best interest of his players in mind always. This program is becoming a program that when you put the jersey on it is an honor to wear it and play for the TEAM. A pride thing. A thing you don't take for granted.

Daffee, I don't know what axe you have to grind? Maybe you are a from the days of the previous coach, a non-UNH fan, or just stirring the pot as they say. But, you really don't understand the depth of what happened with the previous coaching staff. I don't think any of us do. I say move forward and give credit where credit is due.

[camman15]

Daffee:

In other words, UNH's current rating as Dave notes, is a non issue and merely a reflection of the state of UNH 3 plus years ago... If you followed this program closely, you'd know that as far as recruiting goes... UNH is having the exact opposite experience.. They're winning more than their share of the recruiting battles for the top kids, both here in New England and north of the border where they recruit. ( oh yeah and in Scotland too!)

The current staff is a highly energized threesome that have reinvigorated a tradition rich program. Their current roster is full of athletes who chose UNH over the likes of Wisconsin, SLU, Brown, Harvard, Dartmouth, Providence, Ohio State, Mercyhurst, etc... Some of the best New England kids like Bellamy, Faber, Joyce, and now Sheary, wouldn't be choosing UNH if things in Durham weren't moving in a highly positive direction.



First and most importantly, state universities across this country all need additional academic support staff, ALWAYS NEEDED MORE AND ALWAYS WILL CONTINUE TO NEED MORE,.....it's been like that forever, because the doors are open more for the marginal students in many cases,.....UNH hockey will continue to recruit and admit some "risk" kids academically, and hopefully, there will be fewer academic casualties, but don't be suprised if some players just can't cut it,.....it happens everywhere, and let's be honest they need a place, (and a chance), to play,.....as far as any high profile kid picking UNH over another school, here's the deal; many girls will pick schools where they have friends on a successful team and on the men's side it's how will this team help them get to the NHL,.....finally, some of the coaches in HE should take a page out of Brian McCloskey's recruitment 101 book,.....I haven't seen much of his teams and their on ice "philosophy", but he's quite the politician (when he has to be) and that's the beginning of a successful program,.....as I stated in an earlier post, UNH could be right there (in March); I'll be watching intently,.....

[daffee]

No ax to grind, just be aware, guidance councelors are advising potential recruited athletes to closely examine the academic progress score of schools where they are being recruited. The counselors examine the data and advise their students to ask reasonable questions about the level of academic support for student athletes. Every potential high school athlete, regardless of gender or sport, should enter the recruitment process informed about the tangible commitments a university makes to support the educational pursuits of their athletes. Graduation rates of student athletes reflect values of the entire university community, not a coach in a given sport. Here is the information on the preseason top ten:
USCHO.com-CSTV Division I Poll, through games of October 10, 2005
Rank Team Institution APR Percentile inWH
1 St. Lawrence (13) 1,000 80-90th
2 Wisconsin ( 1) 1,000 80-90th
3 Minnesota-Duluth ( 1) 974 40-50th
4 Minnesota State 966 20-30th
5 New Hampshire 921+ 10-20th
6 Dartmouth 1,000 80-90th
7 Harvard 986 60-70th
8 Mercyhurst 969 30-40th
9 Providence 971 30-40th
10 Ohio State 965 20-30th

[dave1381]

No ax to grind, just be aware, guidance councelors are advising potential recruited athletes to closely examine the academic progress score of schools where they are being recruited. The counselors examine the data and advise their students to ask reasonable questions about the level of academic support for student athletes.
Yeah, that makes sense, but all the women's hockey academic progress scores are high enough that it's not a real problem. UNH has the lowest score in one of the most academically solid sports. You have to take these stats with a grain of salt because they operate with a lag. To look at academic support within a school, you have to look at all sports within the school, as the UNH women's hockey score will be more reflective of who the coach 3 or 4 years ago recruited. It's too small a sample size to reflect the whole school's level of academic support.