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  • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

    Bottom line is the results have not been there (even if by "results" we're talking about middle of the pack in HE). Too many poor recruiting classes. Too many "unlucky bounces of the puck". Too many "Too Many Men on the Ice Penalties". Great, they had a couple nice wins against a very average UML team, and played a couple of strong games against a BC team that even their own fans admit overachieved this year. This is not "Everybody Gets a Trophy " league. They finished in 10th in a very weak year for Hockey East. UMass has completely blown right by them. How did Carvel recruit so well? No doubt in my mind that they'll be a preseason pick for 11th next year (no matter how far UNH has fallen). Status quo was not working.
    Mark by all accounts is a terrific guy, and I certainly wish him well. However, as a long time fan I have absolutely no issues with this.
    Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

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    • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

      Originally posted by cavbim View Post
      3 names I can think of off top

      Keefe -Billerica native top HEA recruiter
      Ellsworth - UML. Excellent talent evaluatir
      Barr - UMass instrumental in 2 national champions 2 other revitalizations
      Would take Keefe in a heartbeat.
      Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

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      • Originally posted by J.D. View Post
        **** you'd think after winning a first round series and playing like they did against BC would buy you another year. Merrimack is the toughest job in Hockey East and really not even a close 2nd.
        It’s a tough sell to get grade A recruits for any coach for this job. It’s also the facility while competing with other top programs in Hockey East and other conferences. Ok Harvard’s Rink is not a big deal but they have academics and some traditions in hockey. What can the school in North Andover sell or offer to attract a top notch coach and players to compete with other top programs? I think Dennehy did his best and I can understand why the school also let him go. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.
        NCAA Champs 2012, 2010, 2008, 2001, 1949, Hockey East Tourney Champs 2012 #11, Beanpot Champs 2016

        Boston Red Sox 2004, 2007, 2013 Champs

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        • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

          Wow. Curious as to what the powers that be are looking for at Mack? IIRC, Mack has several players on the Hockey East All Academic team each year and a coach that puts a team on the ice each night that can beat anybody. Maybe they're looking for that shot in the dark coach that can sell ice to an eskimo, load the roster with blue chippers that will win numerous Hockey east titles, perhaps win a few National Championships, all within NCAA rules of course, and still have high honor students that succeed in the classroom and keep their nose out of trouble? It could happen.

          I hope Dennehy winds up on his feet somewhere. The man can certainly coach IMO. Would like to see what he could accomplish with more resources to work with. My guess... he would shine brightly. Best of luck to you Coach Dennehy.
          'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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          • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

            If they can nab one of those top assistants, ok. I'm just skeptical about who will be interested in the job.

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            • Originally posted by boblav1 View Post



              http://www.themackreport.com/news/br...-hockey-coach/
              Dennehy always struck me as s coach who got the most out of his players. I would possibly like him at Maine.

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              • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                Originally posted by FiveHole12 View Post
                Wow. Curious as to what the powers that be are looking for at Mack? IIRC, Mack has several players on the Hockey East All Academic team each year and a coach that puts a team on the ice each night that can beat anybody. Maybe they're looking for that shot in the dark coach that can sell ice to an eskimo, load the roster with blue chippers that will win numerous Hockey east titles, perhaps win a few National Championships, all within NCAA rules of course, and still have high honor students that succeed in the classroom and keep their nose out of trouble? It could happen.

                I hope Dennehy winds up on his feet somewhere. The man can certainly coach IMO. Would like to see what he could accomplish with more resources to work with. My guess... he would shine brightly. Best of luck to you Coach Dennehy.
                You are overstating it by a mile (more like 100 miles). Wonderful record on Hockey East All Academic team to be sure. To be honest, I wouldn't mind a couple of B- students who could score a goal or 2. You say that the coach "....puts a team on the ice each night that can beat anybody...."; but for the most part, they DON'T win those games. Again, they finished in 10th in a very down year for Hockey East, and the outlook for next year is even worse. I'm not looking for numerous HE titles or a few National Championships (don't get me wrong, that would be nice), but how about an occasional foray into the 3rd to 6th place positions in HE? The highest they have EVER finished is 4th because Da Costa fell into their lap for 2 years, and Canatta opted not to wait to play at BC. If the very best that could be hoped for was an 8th to 11th place every year under the current leadership, then it was time to make a change somewhere.
                Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

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                • Originally posted by FiveHole12 View Post
                  Wow. Curious as to what the powers that be are looking for at Mack? IIRC, Mack has several players on the Hockey East All Academic team each year and a coach that puts a team on the ice each night that can beat anybody. Maybe they're looking for that shot in the dark coach that can sell ice to an eskimo, load the roster with blue chippers that will win numerous Hockey east titles, perhaps win a few National Championships, all within NCAA rules of course, and still have high honor students that succeed in the classroom and keep their nose out of trouble? It could happen.

                  I hope Dennehy winds up on his feet somewhere. The man can certainly coach IMO. Would like to see what he could accomplish with more resources to work with. My guess... he would shine brightly. Best of luck to you Coach Dennehy.
                  Do you think Dennehy would do a lot better at BC with more resources?

                  Would he get the same recruits that York and Cavanaugh get at BC?
                  NCAA Champs 2012, 2010, 2008, 2001, 1949, Hockey East Tourney Champs 2012 #11, Beanpot Champs 2016

                  Boston Red Sox 2004, 2007, 2013 Champs

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                  • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                    I have some catching up to do on this thread, but some thoughts..

                    Coach Dennehy had a good run here at MC. He came in to a program at rock bottom after the Santagati/Serino era, with a questionable D1 future, and helped to change the culture and the expectations. The tournament appearance (should have gone further if not for legit "puck luck", and should have made it the next year when we missed the tourney by hundredths of a point in pairwise), the #1 national ranking, bringing in some good AC's and some great recruiting (offhand, DaCosta, Cannata, Stollery, Bigos, Tirronen, Collins, Delia, Seney) all are credits to him during his tenure. He seems like a pretty great human being, involving the team in things like Team Impact and setting/encouraging high academic standards. I believe he is still in the top 3 coaches in MC history as of this writing.

                    Seems like he was definitely the right guy to have around during the rebuild. That said, probably time for a change of voice in the locker room after 13 years. We harped a lot on how we would always bring in such talented players, and they would seem to stagnate or regress as their college careers progressed. The regular season seemed to become an afterthought, losing easy games to teams like UMass and Maine at their nadirs. If we really want to be like the BC/BU's of the world, the team needs to come in ready to win games like that. We consistently finished in the bottom half of the standings and we only made the garden once in 13 years.

                    I also had heard that Hopey expected Dennehy to be more active in Fundraising/development.

                    The timing of the firing is a little suspect in that the team never played better this year than they did in the playoffs, but maybe a better performance in the regular season would have put us in a better position to make it to the garden.

                    As for what's next, should be interesting. I think Carr will be a great head coach some day, unsure if they'd keep him on or want to switch the message entirely. I'm sure Dennehy will land on his feet as well, unsure if there's a great D1 program out there right now that would bring him in, but I'm sure he has a career ahead of him as a pretty well respected D1 coach.

                    I wonder if this news correlates in any way with the quest to bring the rest of athletics to D1?
                    Last edited by Yuppie Scum; 03-11-2018, 12:09 PM.

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                    • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                      Originally posted by Yuppie Scum View Post
                      I have some catching up to do on this thread, but some thoughts..

                      [...]

                      I also had heard that Hopey expected Dennehy to be more active in Fundraising/development.
                      I also seem to recall that being said about both Serino and Anderson.

                      Part of the problem may be is that when it is suggested that Merrimack either drop D1 hockey or go to another league (Atlantic, ECAC) the response comes that there is value in being part of a high-profile competitive league like Hockey East.

                      It seems reasonable to me that Hopey (and Santagati before him) might interpret that as leveraging the school's participation in Hockey East into improved fundraising opportunities, in which it would be logical to involve the head hockey coach.

                      That said, I would not have expected the announcement of an immediate nationwide search for a new head coach if the school were considering leaving Hockey East.

                      I also wonder how many years of Dennehy's contract Merrimack is eating, if any. Didn't he get a "multiyear" extension just prior to this season?

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                      • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                        Originally posted by RENCEB View Post
                        You are overstating it by a mile (more like 100 miles). Wonderful record on Hockey East All Academic team to be sure. To be honest, I wouldn't mind a couple of B- students who could score a goal or 2. You say that the coach "....puts a team on the ice each night that can beat anybody...."; but for the most part, they DON'T win those games. Again, they finished in 10th in a very down year for Hockey East, and the outlook for next year is even worse. I'm not looking for numerous HE titles or a few National Championships (don't get me wrong, that would be nice), but how about an occasional foray into the 3rd to 6th place positions in HE? The highest they have EVER finished is 4th because Da Costa fell into their lap for 2 years, and Canatta opted not to wait to play at BC. If the very best that could be hoped for was an 8th to 11th place every year under the current leadership, then it was time to make a change somewhere.
                        amkirby10 from Maine probably said it best... Dennehy got the most out of his players.

                        I looked at MC's Hockey East history going back to 1989-'90. Trust me... its not pretty.
                        Merrimack College will have made the right call and done well if they bring in a coach that can accomplish more than Dennehy has over his 13 seasons at MC.

                        There is a soft spot in my heart for Merrimack. I hope they succeed in their future endeavors.
                        'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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                        • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                          Originally posted by dmjossel View Post
                          I also seem to recall that being said about both Serino and Anderson.

                          Part of the problem may be is that when it is suggested that Merrimack either drop D1 hockey or go to another league (Atlantic, ECAC) the response comes that there is value in being part of a high-profile competitive league like Hockey East.

                          It seems reasonable to me that Hopey (and Santagati before him) might interpret that as leveraging the school's participation in Hockey East into improved fundraising opportunities, in which it would be logical to involve the head hockey coach.

                          That said, I would not have expected the announcement of an immediate nationwide search for a new head coach if the school were considering leaving Hockey East.

                          I also wonder how many years of Dennehy's contract Merrimack is eating, if any. Didn't he get a "multiyear" extension just prior to this season?
                          I think the value of being in Hockey East has dropped a lot in the last 20 years. There just isn't the interest in it like there used to be. Going to Atlantic Hockey would be a pretty good move for Merrimack in my opinion.
                          Originally posted by BobbyBrady
                          Crosby probably wouldn't even be on BC's top two lines next year

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                          • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                            Originally posted by dmjossel View Post
                            That said, I would not have expected the announcement of an I also wonder how many years of Dennehy's contract Merrimack is eating, if any. Didn't he get a "multiyear" extension just prior to this season?
                            Yup, last feb: http://www.uscho.com/2017/02/02/merr...-mark-dennehy/

                            If his superiors were already questioning his future at that point, maybe it was a heavily incentivized contract with some performance based outs for the school?

                            Some salient points from McMahon:

                            @MikeMcMahonCHN: People look at 2011 and 2012 and say that those years were Dennehy's best work. On the ice, they definitely were. But those years don't happen if he didn't convince the powers that be, at the time, that the program could be competitive and viable as a D1 team in Hockey East.

                            @MikeMcMahonCHN: He'd host a recruit on Monday, game plan on Tuesday, meet with the college president on Wednesday with a powerpoint presentation on why the program should be saved, then coach games on the weekend. It was a crazy time, and he fought to keep Merrimack hockey afloat.

                            @MikeMcMahonCHN: I've heard the stories. People have no idea what Dennehy went through from 2005 to around 2007 or 2008. Literally kept that program alive while people above him in the administration were considering cutting it or dropping it to Atlantic Hockey or D3.

                            Why would ANYONE have wanted that job, I wonder?

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                            • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

                              Originally posted by BCeagle View Post
                              Do you think Dennehy would do a lot better at BC with more resources?

                              Would he get the same recruits that York and Cavanaugh get at BC?
                              haha, Ray... If I knew the answers to those questions, I'd never have to attend another game. I'd know the outcome of every game years in advance.

                              But let me put it this way. I would like to see Cav back behind the BC bench. If not him, I'd go get Montgomery from Denver. If neither of them, there are some guys I would probably give up my season tix if they were to take over the program. Dennehy is not one of those guys. He can coach kids up. I think he would do well. JMO.
                              'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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                              • Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

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