Merrimack College 2017-2018

[RENCEB]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

I think the whole point is, It's Merrimack!. Kids that score goals aren't going to line up to play at a school like that. You don't have to expect 8th-11th every year but he was the coach the brought the program to the HE title game and gave pretty much BC's most loaded team ever in my opinion a HELL of a game. Got the NCAAs. I mean Jesus It's Merrimack!. Of course that is NOT sustainable. 20 year old foreigners that can score in their sleep like Da Costa aren't exactly easy to produce.

Thanks for the increased font size; I'd almost forgotten which thread this was. Merrimack will never be BOSTON COLLEGE in any way, shape or form (especially in hockey). Any Merrimack fan that expects that is being foolish. That title game was incredible, but it was an aberration (that means an unusual situation not likely to happen again ) To expect them to be in the mix with BC, BU, PC, UML for a TOP 4 spot every year is ludicrous. That's not what I'm looking for. YOU say we don't have to expect 8-11th every year. What do YOU think is a reasonable expectation? 5th through 7th? 6th through 8th? Honest to God, I'd be okay if THAT was sustainable (with an occasional jump to 5th, or dare I say, even 4th?). But given that they finished 10th in a really down year for Hockey East, and they lose their top 3 scorers (using that term loosely) and 2 of their top defensemen, next year could be worse.
Agree, they botched the contract situation horribly. I would have been fine with him being here another year, and honestly was surprised he is not coming back. But is it that big a gamble? It might bite them in the behind, but maybe not. We'll see in the next 3 to 5 years.

[Patronick]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Who cares if its "just Merrimack".. Sure we're small but we still want our team to succeed just as bad as everybody else. Look at Davidson College and Wake Forest.. they're SMALLER than MC with LOADS of success. The argument that "its merrimack" holds no weight with MC people. You don't root for your team to finish 8-11..... When you pay for tuition/season tickets/or anything else that contributes to the team's success/coaches salaries, you have the right to demand whatever you want. I don't think asking for above 8th consistently is too much to ask. The "its just Merrimack" argument may fly from an outsiders perspective.. but that's about the only place it does fly.

Again, I'm not saying its a good or bad firing.. only time will tell. But our fans deserve success just as much as anybody else.. and you can't be upset at MC fans for wanting to find a way to find that success.

Are you being intentionally thick? First of all, don't compare basketball with hockey. It's asinine and it gets you nowhere. You're comparing a niche sport with 60 D1 teams to the 1A/1B college sport in the country with 351 programs. You have 15 players on a college basketball roster and it only takes 1 superstar to make a run.

Second of all, buying tickets or paying tuition gets you what it gets you - a ticket or an education. You can demand whatever you want, you just look like an idiot. "Herr durr I bought this $12 ticket so I get input on a coaching decision with a six figure salary". Give me a break.

Lastly, you DO have to balance expectations with reality, regardless of what you want to believe. The reality is that Dennehy ran a good program. He got good recruits through the door. He helped the program survive back in the mid aughts when the administration was looking for a reason to drop down to AH or D3. He put a competitive team on the ice. He helped get that dumpster fire of an arena a respectable upgrade.

So my question to you is, who are you going to get that's better? You buy your tickets and paid tuition (I imagine) at some point, so here's your big chance to have your say. Who do you target? Who's the heir apparent that is both going to give as much as Dennehy did to this program and raise the success rate on the ice? Who's going to come into Merrimack with its handicaps and take on Hockey East and bring the Warriors to where YOU think it should be. Don't worry, I'll wait. Go Google some names and get back to me.

[Yuppie Scum]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

I guess I can’t blame him for burning out a little after putting so much into the program early on. Let’s not forget he interviewed for the UMass job a few years ago. so while I don’t doubt his passion he wasn’t above seeking better opportunities either.

A few of his personnel moves in the recent cycle didn’t go 100% to plan - Delia going pro(ultimately did not bite us too hard), Plevy flipping his commit over to UMass (don’t forget the “The NLI was not Submitted” incident), etc. And a school like Merrimack kinda has a very slim margin for error/wiggle room to have a really good year. I agree with the other posters suggesting there might not be much we, or a new HC can do better.. here’s hoping it works out

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Look I understand the hand-wringing when someone comes over to remind Merrimack fans that their beloved program is in fact Merrimack. Never mind that someone just cited Davidson and Wake Forest, which kind of blew my mind.

Water seeks its own level. If you were to take out the coaches from the equation, since we're talking about a coaching change, and ranked each program in Hockey East using various metrics ... facilities, location, historic prestige/success, etc (Beanpot access for the Beanpot schools), where do you think Merrimack would rank? I think that would put them squarely in that 8-11 range. If not dead last. Yukon is still tough to assess at this point but may be the only program you could put lower than Merrimack. So with that, you can reasonably expect to be in that range, with the brief stint outside of it in either direction (or for Merrimack, there's only one direction) but that is not something that is going to stick long-term.

It's a zero-sum game. There is a finite amount of wins to go around and that makes life virtually impossible for a program like Merrimack to start grabbing them from other, likely better programs (again on a long-term assessment). It's not like you just grab a new coach and start climbing the charts and never go back to the cellar. It just doesn't work that way.

Dennehy was a good coach. Didn't run afoul of the NCAA. Was just extended last winter for multiple years so he had at least next season if not beyond. Great success in the classroom. Great community involvement. Built the program up from absolutely embarrassing levels on all fronts to at least respectably bad in a great league. The Serino era was a joke with the thugs that they had running around in that rinky-dink rink. It's still not a great rink but at least the renovation turned it into a reasonable small facility. Sometimes it comes down to more than just a win total and to me, Dennehy really had the program into something the campus could be proud of even if they weren't winning (they did go on the road and win a series just 8 or 9 days ago). I don't know what the administration is thinking there but by all means, hire someone else and pay two coaches. The cost per win is going to be something else for a few years.

[boblav1]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Article from the Mack Report site:
http://www.themackreport.com/news/su...nnehys-legacy/

[sterlippo1]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

like a said a few months ago and was fried by a few Mack people on here but now everyone comes to the party........................... you belong with Holy Cross and you know what? What the hell is wrong with that? You do not belong in Hockey East and as much affinity as i have for Merrimack, HE is not the spot for the school.

[techtodenver]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

It's a lot easier to be more successful in this version of HE, junior leagues are growing and growing, being in HE alone is a better option then a lot programs out there and gets you a lot of exposure, you find a HC that specializes in recruiting, a guy like Josh Hauge would do wonders at Merrimack. I don't know about his development methods because he hasn't been here too long but in terms of getting players on campus he's a magician, his connections within the USHL have been crucial in bringing Clarkson success in a very short amount of time, listen Potsdam, NY is basically Canada and is not even close to any city yet he's got kids from Finland, Germany, Latvia, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota to commit and they'd be good D1 players at plenty of programs, he's from Minnesota and I've heard is held in high regard there. Even a guy like Eric Lang seems to be in a similar mold to Hauge, great recruiter with great connections, AIC is his alma mater so I'm sure he'd stay but HE has to tempting and he knows all about not having any resources. With 60 teams in D1 college hockey I don't buy the bull**** that you can't be successful at smaller schools, anyone can sneak into the tournament field and make a run on any given year, we've seen that plenty as of late.

[The Zlax45]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Would Joe Exeter come back to Merrimack?

[amkirby10]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

I don’t think it’s fair at all to use the “just Merrimack” excuse in a sport like hockey. This is a sport where national champions have come from cities and towns like Sault Ste. Marie, MI; Schenectady, NY; and Orono, ME. How did Jeff Jackson, Rick Bennett, and Shawn Walsh get top tier players to those small, remote locations? Hockey is a sport that’s small enough for nearly anybody to be able to truly compete if they’ve put together s good, committed staff and find the right guys. And for those saying that MC doesn’t deserve to be in HEA, I’d say they’re wrong. Merrimack has the ability to be successful, truly successful, but that comes with staying in HEA. Atlantic has only ever had more than its autobid make the tournament once (2013), and it’s only ever had one of its teams make the Frozen Four once (2010). If true, national success is what you want, and I believe it can be achieved at MC, staying in HEA is a must.

[MCWarrior1011]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

like a said a few months ago and was fried by a few Mack people on here but now everyone comes to the party........................... you belong with Holy Cross and you know what? What the hell is wrong with that? You do not belong in Hockey East and as much affinity as i have for Merrimack, HE is not the spot for the school.

Good to have your ignorance back on these boards! Welcome!

[tape]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Why would Montgomery leave DU ? It doesn’t make sense but would he go back to Maine to revise their program ?

Maine had their chance at Montgomery when they ultimately hired Gendron. Montgomery reportedly even reached out to Maine to express his interest and Maine didn't care. They probably burned that bridge, plus he has basically no reason to leave Denver at this point.

[Yuppie Scum]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Hearing a lot of blowback from other MC alums. I've already explained my feelings on the situation, but it seems like most of the rest of the MC and hockey community feels like this is a betrayal, that MD was a miracle worker for what he did with what he had, that winning is less important than running a program The Right Way with class, and that Gallant is an a-hole. Kind of a PR disaster brewing for MC.

On the other hand some of the other, more casual alums seem to be more focused on the lack of winning seasons and are more forgiving i'd say

MD's successor has a gargantuan task ahead of him to keep the stakeholders (hopey/gallant, alums, HEA) happy..

[Manny212]

Maine had their chance at Montgomery when they ultimately hired Gendron. Montgomery reportedly even reached out to Maine to express his interest and Maine didn't care. They probably burned that bridge, plus he has basically no reason to leave Denver at this point.

Not sure it was that simple
Heard there were some OUI issues that precludes as a state employee

Could of course be wrong but remember that vividly

[mookie1995]

Dennehy always struck me as s coach who got the most out of his players. I would possibly like him at Maine.

In a way it’s prolly the best thing for him. He can win at a place that isn’t a complete turdbag of a facility. (No offense)

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

How did ...Shawn Walsh... get top tier players

He cheated