UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Associate Head Coach would be an advancement. Right now Ayers is stuck behind York who isnt retiring anytime soon, then heir apparent in Greg Brown....maybe Ayers wants to come back to his alma mater and rebuild a program rather than be on cruise control at BC. I am reaching here!

I would love to see Mike Ayers here! But I wonder if he would be taking a pay cut to leave BC? This is going to be very interesting and this selection (Asst. HC) is HUGE. UNH hopefully will get it right and land someone who fits the bill. I said hopefully....

[CollegeHockeyRinkReport]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Keep in mind Ayers is from Hingham so he can live there as an assistant coach at BC where he'd have to move if he went to UNH.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Keep in mind Ayers is from Hingham so he can live there as an assistant coach at BC where he'd have to move if he went to UNH.

Well doesn't everyone want to live in the beautiful seacoast of NH?? But when you think of it I'd suspect he's going to work toward an eventual HC position....and that isn't going to be happening anytime soon in Durham.

Still...he brings alot to the table and would fit the bill as a D/Goalie coach. Not to mention we'd continue the alumni coaching trio!!

Greg, I know you're out there...what do you think of this possibility?

[Lemonade]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Well doesn't everyone want to live in the beautiful seacoast of NH?? But when you think of it I'd suspect he's going to work toward an eventual HC position....and that isn't going to be happening anytime soon in Durham.

Still...he brings alot to the table and would fit the bill as a D/Goalie coach. Not to mention we'd continue the alumni coaching trio!!

Greg, I know you're out there...what do you think of this possibility?

Alumni, young and hungry, D/Goalie Coach, excellent recruiter....worth at least making a call on. You never know!

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Or, as I have suggested elsewhere, maybe poach Cap Raider from Norwich and Mike McShane? Now there are some names for Dick, Souza, Stu, and Spot's golf round. Robby Ftorek: "How many do you want?" Cap: "How about two?"

[NCAA watcher]

Or, as I have suggested elsewhere, maybe poach Cap Raider from Norwich and Mike McShane? Now there are some names for Dick, Souza, Stu, and Spot's golf round. Robby Ftorek: "How many do you want?" Cap: "How about two?"

Do you still have to walk the course or do walkers count?

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

BC Mike may not want to pay state tax any more
Worth the call, I'd say - worst case, he says no
If so, BC Mike may want to wait for UNH Mike to fail?
Play the long game, right? You never know ...

How much did Puff pay Buck to Skype coach?
Not sure BC Mike would take short dough to leave the Hill
Real dough frees up when Dick leaves next year
Just sayin' ...

[HockeyRef]

BC Mike may not want to pay state tax any more
Worth the call, I'd say - worst case, he says no
If so, BC Mike may want to wait for UNH Mike to fail?
Play the long game, right? You never know ...

How much did Puff pay Buck to Skype coach?
Not sure BC Mike would take short dough to leave the Hill
Real dough frees up when Dick leaves next year
Just sayin' ...

So you are anticipating MS to fail? No question he has a lot of work to do. I know you've always said it's gonna 'be the guy after the guy' kind of thing. Don't wanna start something but Jeeze give the guy a chance! And maybe there's other UNH alums out there worth considering who have had coaching experience...I mean sure I'm intrigued by the possibility of having Ayers return to Durham but I dunno...Whoever it is has to be able to coach the D and recruit (and not necessarily in that order!)

Like I said it's going to be interesting.

[Dan]

And maybe there's other UNH alums out there worth considering who have had coaching experience...

Kevin Dean - UNHs David Quinn....?

I'd love to see Ayers come back - he's more experienced than others already, with time at SCSU, the USNTDP and now BC. No doubt he'd be a benefit to UNH goalies and - I think - a big help to recruiting, but...

...he coaches forwards at BC. At least that's who he's managing during games. I don't know that he's ever coached defensemen.

[Snively65]

Do you still have to walk the course or do walkers count?

Good point; Cap may be getting long in the tooth, although his Norwich goalies are winning championships. So, how about instead we poach Jamie Regan from Mike Buck's GDSGoalies.com to coach up (via Skype?) Tirone, Clark, and Robinson?

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Mike Ayers - right guy, wrong time. Agree 100% with Dan, he's got more qualifications right now than Souza OR Stu, so that's another reason he probably wouldn't be willing to come back ... now.

I'm sure he realizes if Souza knocks it out of the park, then he'll probably never get a chance to coach at his alma mater. That decision (the one hiring Souza) has been made already, so there's nothing he can realistically do, other than wait and see. Unless he wants to put his until now ambitious coaching career in neutral, and tie his future to a former teammates' future. And let's face it, if he joins Souza's staff, and the new regime fails, it's highly likely the whole staff is invited to leave, and the long-awaited national search will follow elsewhere.

So, to recap ...

* Ayers comes back to UNH, Souza succeeds, and Ayers' chances of running the show in UNH are nil;
* Ayers comes back to UNH, Souza fails, and Ayers' chances of being next in line are slim and (likely) none;
* Ayers continues with his current path, and that is his only realistic chance of ever getting a sniff at UNH HC.

That does not mean I'm rooting for Souza to fail, nor does it mean UNH should not at least approach Ayers now.

And yeah ... usually it's the guy after the guy who succeeds the icon (best I could do ) who has a better shot at success. UNH and BC are two obvious examples. But not always, and I'm rooting for Souza 'cuz I'm not into five more years of mediocre UNH Hockey before we get down to real business. I'm at the age now where patience is wearing thin, and I can't assume I'm still going to be around when the "wait 'til next year" crap finally comes to an end, y'know?

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Mike Ayers - right guy, wrong time. Agree 100% with Dan, he's got more qualifications right now than Souza OR Stu, so that's another reason he probably wouldn't be willing to come back ...

Why? UNH has an opening after Umile retires next April, and they can then pick the most-qualified guy...... oh right, Blue Skies decided to lock himself into a decision 3 years before he had to. That's management 101 right there, eliminate options before you have to.

And locking up Mike Souza has the added benefit that he has been able to link his credentials to the UNH results the past three years, thus burnishing his reputation to future recruits who see the clear upward trajectory.

[Lemonade]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

Mike Ayers - right guy, wrong time. Agree 100% with Dan, he's got more qualifications right now than Souza OR Stu, so that's another reason he probably wouldn't be willing to come back ... now.

I'm sure he realizes if Souza knocks it out of the park, then he'll probably never get a chance to coach at his alma mater. That decision (the one hiring Souza) has been made already, so there's nothing he can realistically do, other than wait and see. Unless he wants to put his until now ambitious coaching career in neutral, and tie his future to a former teammates' future. And let's face it, if he joins Souza's staff, and the new regime fails, it's highly likely the whole staff is invited to leave, and the long-awaited national search will follow elsewhere.

So, to recap ...

* Ayers comes back to UNH, Souza succeeds, and Ayers' chances of running the show in UNH are nil;
* Ayers comes back to UNH, Souza fails, and Ayers' chances of being next in line are slim and (likely) none;
* Ayers continues with his current path, and that is his only realistic chance of ever getting a sniff at UNH HC.

That does not mean I'm rooting for Souza to fail, nor does it mean UNH should not at least approach Ayers now.

And yeah ... usually it's the guy after the guy who succeeds the icon (best I could do ) who has a better shot at success. UNH and BC are two obvious examples. But not always, and I'm rooting for Souza 'cuz I'm not into five more years of mediocre UNH Hockey before we get down to real business. I'm at the age now where patience is wearing thin, and I can't assume I'm still going to be around when the "wait 'til next year" crap finally comes to an end, y'know?

Excellent points. The only point I could counter is that the BC head coaching job is less attainable since York is a lifer then Greg Brown is next in line - and BC just keeps coaches forever....realistically Ayers has no chance of taking over at BC. There may be a tiny chance he would have a chance at UNH eventually. I think Souza is the aswer though. Young and hungry and knows what it takes to get UNH back to a national contender.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

TvR is off to the Golden Knights...

[Dan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question

TvR is off to the Golden Knights...

Lots of speculation he will be traded to Carolina, joining Brett Pesce and (likely, at some point) Poturalski on the Hurricanes roster...