UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Borek's first year was 2002-03 and Winnik's first year was 2003-04. You could still be right though. Not sure when committed?

**** double checked that on Hockeydb as I was bouncing between players and years and still flubbed it.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

I disagree that the Lowell model is one to be emulated. Remember my typical post, where UNH has had no USHL top 40 scorers in 5 years (except for Goumas, who made #40)? Well, Lowell is pretty close -- they have two: Derek Arnold (#13, 2010), Ryan McGrath #31 2011; Mike fallon #22 (2012). A lot of their talent is drawn from the lesser leagues, the NAHL and EJHL. Finding those players like Hellenbuyck, Folin and Chapie in those leagues requires so much luck that I wouldn't count on it being repeatable.

Without the top end kids, they have to buy into the hard-work model (that Umile would drool over). Whether a team finds the right mix to get that buy-in is iffy.

Totally understand your point, 'watcher ... but with all due respect, why would anyone ever assume Coach Bazin wouldn't now be able to start to bring in better talent, having now shown what he is capable of doing with lower profile recruits?

As to Carmine's comparison to Merrimack ... no dice there. That team may have been a nice blip for the program, but at the end of the day, Denehy was (and still is) at an extreme disadvantage with an embarrassing glorified HS rink to recruit into. They've put a lot of new lipstick on that pig, but at the end of the day, it's still a pig.

Anyone who thinks Lowell is a "flash in the pan", built on Hellebuyck and not much else etc., with all due respect, you're not paying close enough attention. In some cases (that's you, CS ) you may even be "whistling past the graveyard". They are here, and they are not going away anytime soon. Success breeds success, and UML has two HE banners where they formerly had zero, they made the FF last year, and they could be there again this year. And even if Coach Bazin never gets far beyond the "four second lines" blueprint, he seems to have done pretty well with that approach.

Let's check back in about 10 years, and we'll see if Lowell becomes "UNH" or if they become "UMaine". And if they do become "UMaine", can Coach Bazin make it happen without using any of Walshy's inventive shortcuts??

[sonar]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Since the topic of the day appears to be centered around recruiting ....

1) Colgate has a competitive team this year.
2) Colgate has 16 first and second year players .... none of which are from the vaunted USHL.
3) Colgate has a team that is on the average one year younger than .... e.g. Lowell.
4) Colgate has a long time head coach.
5) Colgate has assistant coaches that are former Colgate players.

As the title to a current TV program says .... "How do they do it?"

[Dan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

I don't think there is any doubt that UNH's last few years have been underwhelming in large part due to the talent on the ice. I'm less certain what to make of the recruiters over the same time frame. Remember, that last-season would/could have been the senior seasons for Cam Reid, Ryan Bourque & Matt White. How different would the W/L record look with those three on the line-chart??

These were three BIG gets and they were top-end NCAA talent. None of them made it to campus, but make no mistake they were players. Reid scored 14-30--44 in 59 games at St. Cloud State, before dominating the WHL and moving on to professional hockey, and White potted 47 goals and 99 points in three seasons at Nebraska Omaha, while Bourque averaged well over a point-per-game in the Q and is an AHL regular.

The problem was UNH made a huge mistake with the academics of White & Reid and eventually filled their spots with 3rd-4th line players. If Bourque was 'never coming to UNH' than that was another big mistake. How many potential prospects came off the board before Bourque actually left for the Q? It was the poor replacement of these misses (Block, Speelman, Pavelski) that set the overall offensive skill set back dramatically.

Take a look at BC's rosters from a few years back - they were really small. York seemed more than happy to run a short roster for a year or two, rather than rushing to replace any misses or early defections with sub-par prospects. I wish UNH had taken that approach.

You also had players like LaLeggia & Vecchione jump ship after coach-advised deferrals and players like Burke & Henrion who failed to meet their recruiting expectations. Who knows what actual effect Borek's mistake had on the program - but add it all up and its not hard to see why the cupboard was bare.

The end result was a forward group with VERY little depth of legitimate talent in the SR/JR classes, no help in the SO class and a not-strong enough yet Tyler Kelleher.

Its taken four years to overcome that one lost recruiting class - but the future forward group looks much more UNH-like with Poturalski, Eiserman, McNicholas, Foegele, Vela, Nazarian, Grasso, Kelleher, BVR, etc.

I've been as out-spoken a critic of the recruiting as anyone over the last few years, but are they righting the ship?

Or will this year's incoming FR be too young to contribute much before Downing & Willows graduate? While the eventual 2015 class of forward creates another gap in forward talent (i.e. do only C. Kelleher, Miller and Kalinowski) and 2016's Grasso, Nazarian, BVR and Fregonia arrive too young and too late to help the 2014's?? I like the recruits, but can UNH make the right decisions on arrivals/deferrals????

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Kevin Goumas has signed with Philadelphia - will play for their AHL team.

[goblue]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Wouldn't it be great to see a couple of van Riemsdyk Family video boards (or a vRF Jumbotron) at the Whitt? Maybe in place before BvR takes his first skate as a Wildcat?
Just sayin'.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Since national championships at UNH are few and far between I want to give a shout out to the Club Wildcats as well. Their captain this year, Sean Leahy, is a Durham native who played four years at Oyster River HS and helped lead them to back-to-back state championships games. At UNH, the club team had never played in the ACHA championships but now have gone to the 16 team tournament for the fourth year in a row. The tournament was played at the New England Sport Center complex in Marlboro, MA with teams from all over the country. It's kind of a grueling schedule with games starting last Friday. UNH finished first in pool play, going 2-1, then defeated UMBC and Florida Atlantic to win the title. I went to a few of their games over the past couple of years and while the level of play is certainly not up to D1 standards, there is definitely some high end skill to see. Congrats to all, including Sean's dad Andy, my partner in the old FOH BlueLines days.

Hey Greg thanks for the overview of the Club 'Cats! It was fun to follow it on twitter and it's amazing how many tweets have been sent in support of this accomplishment. Union Leader has picked it up (Alan Lessels) maybe a story in the paper.. So far I've seen a lot of congrats from other teams at UNH, including WildCat Army. It will be interesting to see how much press it will garner from the U directly; I get a lot of UNH correspondence via Twitter including The New Hampshire (School newspaper). I hope they get a good write up somewhere prominent! It's awesome they have enjoyed this success and it means a lot to players like the one you mention in your post! Oh and I could be of the mindset to send an email to BS35's office IF I don't see any acknowledgement via UNH athletics (Extolling the accolades of the program, coaching staff. ya know, stuff like that. )

Congrats Club 'Cats!

[goblue]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Kevin Goumas has signed with Philadelphia - will play for their AHL team.

Congratulations to Kevin, Eric and Trevor! (et al who may be signing contracts.) May all your dreams be realized.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Kevin Goumas has signed with Philadelphia - will play for their AHL team.

wow that is just great news for Kevin Goumas!!! Most deserving...congrats to all three recent signings!! Ditto on goblue's sentiment regarding seeing the van Riemsdyk fam at a game! I look forward to seeing maybe catching a Monarchs game where they are playing but I see that the teams stay pretty much in their 'region'. (yes, I've looked at the schedules haha) Maybe this Philly team tho....

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

No player since the 2007 draft (JvR's year) who went on to play or was currently playing college hockey has been drafted in the top 6. Obviously not that unusual since most of the top picks come from the CHL, but how the heck did UNH land a second overall pick? Obviously JvR committed before he got drafted but everyone must have known he was going to go high and obviously he was a highly sought after recruit. They must have really pulled some magic but if they can convince a player like that to come to Durham they should be able to get similar players.

And, of course, we got three for one on this recruiting mission, as noted by goblue, even if none of them end up staying for four years.

I still like my memory of JvR gliding around Lake Whitt, making his long strides look so effortless; reminded me of Loui Frigon almost four decades earlier, although he did not have the big sheet.

And, really cool that TvR, Knodel, and Goumas are getting their shots in the pro ranks.

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Will be interesting to see if either Brett Pesce decides to leave to play for the Carolina organization or Grayson Downing signs with a pro team. Obviously, losing either one would impact the team's prospects for next season.

[Ryan422]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Will be interesting to see if either Brett Pesce decides to leave to play for the Carolina organization or Grayson Downing signs with a pro team. Obviously, losing either one would impact the team's prospects for next season.

The UNH D would be in real trouble if Pesce leaves. But I don't think he will. He's not big enough yet IMO for pro hockey. If I were Carolina I would just wait on him at least another year and have him put on some weight while at UNH next season.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

The UNH D would be in real trouble if Pesce leaves. But I don't think he will. He's not big enough yet IMO for pro hockey. If I were Carolina I would just wait on him at least another year and have him put on some weight while at UNH next season.

We said that about TvR leaving! (with his injury) but I am agreeing about Pesce...hoping...would beg if I saw him in person !!! Let's hope!!

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Will be interesting to see if either Brett Pesce decides to leave to play for the Carolina organization or Grayson Downing signs with a pro team. Obviously, losing either one would impact the team's prospects for next season.

Decimate our prospects...yeah..that's a word I would use if Brett or Grayson left. Sounds 'bout right.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014 Post-Season Thread: "Maybe Dick" Hunts the Great White Whale

Kevin Goumas has signed with Philadelphia - will play for their AHL team.

Can you confirm a Nick Sorkin signing I read about on Twitter? Wow! When it rains...it pours! Except of course...for Brett and Grayson...