Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale
Conklin had a red-shirt season at UNH and Umile was certainly aware of who he was and what he could do, when he was finally eligible as a RS Sophomore. That definitely worked in his favor. Additionally, he didn't have that fourth year of eligibility UNH could just burn for kicks. He had already spent a year at UAA and then was forced to red-shirted due to transferring. Under similar circumstances, Matile also took over the starting role immediately, despite SR Brian LaRochelle sparking UNH to a 13-2-1 first semester in 1996-97. But Matile also had the benefit of a red-shirt year at UNH and it was clear he was the superior goaltender. He also only had three years of eligibility, after spending some time at Maine and in MJ, and they needed to get him in the crease. Both Matile and Conklin were essentially third-year college kids and in their second seasons at UNH when they first played...
If I remember correctly, Conklin quickly earned his way into a rotation during the 1998-99 season before taking over down the stretch. He would definitely fall into the 'too good to ignore' camp. While Matile was very good that season with a 2.47 goals-against average, Conklin was otherworldly - posting a 1.84 GAA and an 18-3-1 record...
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The 1998-99 team was the most successful in school history, winning 31 games and falling in OT of the National Championship game. They were built on the backs of their top line/pair and two goaltenders. They had without question one of the top lines in college hockey history in Krog (Hobey winner), Haydar (Hobey Runner-Up/Should have won) and Souza (176 career points), two great defensemen in Jayme Fillipowicz and Steve O'Brien and two great goaltenders in Sean Matile and Ty Conklin. Otherwise, they had a solid, but not spectacular roster.
Was the 1997-98 team that lost to Michigan in the National Semi-Finals the better team? On the back end, they had Sean Matile in net (Conklin was red-shirting) and the exact same group of defense who would eventually play on the 98/99 team (Flip, O'Brien, Enders, Lind, Bragnalo, White and Austin were all on both teams). The real difference was up front, where the 97/98 group had Bekar, Nolan and Mowers instead of Darren Haydar. So, which team was better...???
Originally posted by JB
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If I remember correctly, Conklin quickly earned his way into a rotation during the 1998-99 season before taking over down the stretch. He would definitely fall into the 'too good to ignore' camp. While Matile was very good that season with a 2.47 goals-against average, Conklin was otherworldly - posting a 1.84 GAA and an 18-3-1 record...
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The 1998-99 team was the most successful in school history, winning 31 games and falling in OT of the National Championship game. They were built on the backs of their top line/pair and two goaltenders. They had without question one of the top lines in college hockey history in Krog (Hobey winner), Haydar (Hobey Runner-Up/Should have won) and Souza (176 career points), two great defensemen in Jayme Fillipowicz and Steve O'Brien and two great goaltenders in Sean Matile and Ty Conklin. Otherwise, they had a solid, but not spectacular roster.
Was the 1997-98 team that lost to Michigan in the National Semi-Finals the better team? On the back end, they had Sean Matile in net (Conklin was red-shirting) and the exact same group of defense who would eventually play on the 98/99 team (Flip, O'Brien, Enders, Lind, Bragnalo, White and Austin were all on both teams). The real difference was up front, where the 97/98 group had Bekar, Nolan and Mowers instead of Darren Haydar. So, which team was better...???
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