UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

[pmcdonald]

Hopefully someone who was there posts about Maines play. Gibson scored, been the most consistent player for Maine this season besides Rob.

The team works hard but they just don't have the skill that Lowell, BC and others top HE teams have. I did like the play of the Freshman - Holoway, Fossier, Shea and Pearson. That gives me some optimism for the future. McGovern is solid between the pipes. Vesey didn't show me anything today. I expected he would be more of a force this year than he has been. Looks like a 12 win team to me.

[Drew S.]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Maine had nine power plays. According to Hannigan only the last two had any chance of producing a goal. Maine could not set up anything with the other seven.

Yeah, it was pretty ugly but a lot of credit has to go to Lowell. They did a great job of not letting Maine get setup and clearing the puck as soon as they got a stick on it.

One interesting note is that Byron was on the ice as a dman towards the end when it was 5X5. I wonder if Maine would move him back there full time? If Herner isn't going to be eligible it might make some sense.

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Despite the apparent lack of interest in Maine football... http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/...l/bracketology

Our flagship program is having another nice year. A win over UNH and the deal is sealed.

[BoSox3066]

Despite the apparent lack of interest in Maine football... http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/...l/bracketology

Our flagship program is having another nice year. A win over UNH and the deal is sealed.

Its been a good season. Looking at the standings it seems like the UNH game is a winner gets to the playoffs scenario. Too bad they have to play two FBS games to make $$, if they had one more FCS win they'; probably be in regardless.

[Runsub5]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Its been a good season. Looking at the standings it seems like the UNH game is a winner gets to the playoffs scenario. Too bad they have to play two FBS games to make $$, if they had one more FCS win they'; probably be in regardless.

UNH has "owned" Maine the past few years in the battle for the Bryce Cowle musket. In my opinion, UNH is down a little this year. I think Maine will win this weekend at home and make the tournament.

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Its been a good season. Looking at the standings it seems like the UNH game is a winner gets to the playoffs scenario. Too bad they have to play two FBS games to make $$, if they had one more FCS win they'; probably be in regardless.

Probably true, but without the FCS wins the FBS might have to fill the last few spots in their eleventy-seven-odd bowls with 5-win teams, and I doubt that ESPN wants to do that.

[AMC]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

AMC, with all due respect, you are saying that dog poop smells better than chicken poop... It actually does, but both stink plenty bad in their own right. Last year's team was one of Maine's worst teams ever, and improving over that mess is a very short hurdle to leap.

Red has had enough time to show signs of improvement, and he hasn't delivered at all. At the very least, he should have sold his soul to get a goalie on Day One, yet here we are with what we have well into his regime, never mind the utter dearth of snipers on board now. I just don't see any evidence at all to expect that he'll right the ship that he's helped run aground.

I wanted Corkum to succeed Tim. Or, maybe Monty. I was taken aback when Maine hired Red, but figured "Why not give the guy a chance?" after the dust had settled. Time has proven that he isn't the man for the job. That fact is inescapable. That any of us old-timers consider the remote possibility of Maine going .500 to be encouraging simply underscores how far the program has fallen. It's just no fun to be a Maine fan anymore, and I hate that.

You can't expect a team overnight to go from 0-7-3 to being an NCAA team. That's not how it works. There's no 5 minute movie montage to go from worst to first. You just get better, year on year. Maine is much better than last year, both via the eye test and via results on the ice.

People seem to expect the level of recruits to be what they were in the 1990's. That is delusional. Maine has institutional disadvantages when recruiting against the BC's, BU's, Big Ten schools, North Dakota, Denver, etc. that didn't exist back then. If Maine hockey can be, on average, about a .500 program, that's probably better than the University of Maine should have, all things being equal. We don't have the facilities, fanbase or money to be much more than that. Some years, do a little better, make the NCAAs. Some years, a little worse, travel in the first round of the HEA playoffs. Expecting the Frozen Four every year is just setting yourself up for perennial disappointment.

And, Monty coming to coach here was always nuts. He's at Denver where he can name his budget, an expensive private school in a popular city that puts all their eggs in the hockey basket. We are a poor, rural, public school in a declining state. No chance Maine could match Denver's salary, facilities or recruiting budget.

I'm not saying Red is a great coach who gets the most out of his players- I'm not in the locker room so I don't know. But he isn't a failure if he gets this to a .500 program.

[Stevo1091]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Now that we are close to 1/3rd of the season in, has anyone heard what the Eligibility Status of Tim Doherty and Oliver Herner? Odd that no information about either has been mentioned.

Don't know about Doherty, but my source says the NCAA made a ruling on Herner and it's 19 games he has to sit out.

[Drew S.]

Don't know about Doherty, but my source says the NCAA made a ruling on Herner and it's 19 games he has to sit out.

Can live with that. It would mean he misses the rest of the semester which isn't the end of the world. Hopefully we get good news on Doherty soon. I wonder if he took a summer class at Brown and that is what is causing trouble.

[UVM Cat in Texas]

You can't expect a team overnight to go from 0-7-3 to being an NCAA team. That's not how it works. There's no 5 minute movie montage to go from worst to first. You just get better, year on year. Maine is much better than last year, both via the eye test and via results on the ice.

People seem to expect the level of recruits to be what they were in the 1990's. That is delusional. Maine has institutional disadvantages when recruiting against the BC's, BU's, Big Ten schools, North Dakota, Denver, etc. that didn't exist back then. If Maine hockey can be, on average, about a .500 program, that's probably better than the University of Maine should have, all things being equal. We don't have the facilities, fanbase or money to be much more than that. Some years, do a little better, make the NCAAs. Some years, a little worse, travel in the first round of the HEA playoffs. Expecting the Frozen Four every year is just setting yourself up for perennial disappointment.

And, Monty coming to coach here was always nuts. He's at Denver where he can name his budget, an expensive private school in a popular city that puts all their eggs in the hockey basket. We are a poor, rural, public school in a declining state. No chance Maine could match Denver's salary, facilities or recruiting budget.

I'm not saying Red is a great coach who gets the most out of his players- I'm not in the locker room so I don't know. But he isn't a failure if he gets this to a .500 program.

Very well said!

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

You can't expect a team overnight to go from 0-7-3 to being an NCAA team. That's not how it works. There's no 5 minute movie montage to go from worst to first. You just get better, year on year. Maine is much better than last year, both via the eye test and via results on the ice.

People seem to expect the level of recruits to be what they were in the 1990's. That is delusional. Maine has institutional disadvantages when recruiting against the BC's, BU's, Big Ten schools, North Dakota, Denver, etc. that didn't exist back then. If Maine hockey can be, on average, about a .500 program, that's probably better than the University of Maine should have, all things being equal. We don't have the facilities, fanbase or money to be much more than that. Some years, do a little better, make the NCAAs. Some years, a little worse, travel in the first round of the HEA playoffs. Expecting the Frozen Four every year is just setting yourself up for perennial disappointment.

And, Monty coming to coach here was always nuts. He's at Denver where he can name his budget, an expensive private school in a popular city that puts all their eggs in the hockey basket. We are a poor, rural, public school in a declining state. No chance Maine could match Denver's salary, facilities or recruiting budget.

I'm not saying Red is a great coach who gets the most out of his players- I'm not in the locker room so I don't know. But he isn't a failure if he gets this to a .500 program.

I'd be fine with a perennial >.500 team and being at least in the discussion for an NCAA bid every couple of years, but Maine is nowhere near that now... And I believe that such a thing is doable, even at Maine. (See football.)

[AMC]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

I'd be fine with a perennial >.500 team and being at least in the discussion for an NCAA bid every couple of years, but Maine is nowhere near that now... And I believe that such a thing is doable, even at Maine. (See football.)

Right, but you don't jump from last year's worst team in school history to above .500 in one year. That's my entire point. Maine can definitely be a team that averages 15/16/17 wins a year. But it's not an overnight thing. Get to 11/12/13 this year, that's a good step forward.

[Runsub5]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Right, but you don't jump from last year's worst team in school history to above .500 in one year. That's my entire point. Maine can definitely be a team that averages 15/16/17 wins a year. But it's not an overnight thing. Get to 11/12/13 this year, that's a good step forward.

Not always true. Norm Bazin has done it year after year.

[AMC]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

Not always true. Norm Bazin has done it year after year.

Lowell had won 16, 20 and 19 before bottoming out with 5. Then jumped up to 24, 28, 26, 21, 25. The base talent level was higher than what Maine has had lately, but yes that is an impressive one year leap.

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine Black Bears, 2016 2017 season thread

There's a lot of volatility in college hockey lately, and practically no truly elite programs exist anymore. This fact gives me some hope that Maine can reach national relevance again in short order, but only if it can attract at least a few outstanding players.

These days, you can make the NCAAs with one genuinely talented line, a solid goalie, and a bunch of reliable grinders. All we need Red to do is to lure just a few snipers to Orono, and Maine can be instantly competitive... Still waiting for him do do that, though.