Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

[gscott13]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

It is gross. Having 5 games against teams in your conference count as out of conference is dumb. The potential to play a team 7 times in a 34 game schedule is even dumber.

it would be 4 in 34 with the possibility of 7 in 37 if they had a 3 game series in the playoffs.... doesn't make it any better, but for clarification purposes... that said, 23.5% of the schedule is against UMass and UVM at 4 games each (with the potential of 29.8% if it was compounded by a three game series against one in the playoffs)

[Priceless]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

I would be okay with those games if they were against BU or BC but it seems a bit strange to schedule extra games agains UMA or UVM. As someone else said not a lot of history there. Hopefully in a few years things are back to normal and the schedule is more attractive. I am a fan of only playing each team twice instead of three times.

Maine, UHN, UVM and UMass are the flagship public schools in each state. I wouldn't be surprised to see UConn added to the mix when they join Hockey East, although once they're in conference they'll probably only play each other once OOC. That'll give each team 8 OOC games each season. With the Florida tournament every year that would leave Maine with 6. If the conference as a whole won't enter an agreement (*cough* Notre Dame) then I'd love to see Maine and the other publics get together with the WCHA and agree to home and home series. It's been a long time since we've seen the Alaska teams, Tech or Northern in Alfond and we've never seen Mankato. LTHC fans will eventually get diabetes from watching their teams pig out on cupcakes, then crash out in the national tournament when they run into teams that have been playing decent competition all year.

[all bear]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Only problem is, for us with Whitehead, there are not even cupcake teams left anymore.

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

happened to catch the tail end of the timmay show on the radio last night where they were talking about next year's schedule and it sounded like the following for next year (expected slate of 34 games):

Conference Games
Boston College x2
Boston University x2
Merrimack x2
Providence x2
Lowell x2
Northeastern x2
Notre Dame x2
UMass x2
Vermont x2
New Hampshire x2

Out of Conference Games
UMass x2
Vermont x2
New Hampshire x1 (still working on this one, but they are thinking it'll be a yearly thing perhaps alternating between Portland/Manchvegas)
Army x1 (though still trying to lock in a date, Portland)
Florida Tournament x2

not sure who else they may have already scheduled either through reciprocating agreements, etc, but that still leaves six open dates (possibly road OOC)
timmay stated that it was tough getting teams to come all the way out to orono...

Not positive on this but I heard a while back that UNH & North Dakota would be the teams in the next Florida Classic to go with Co-Host Maine & Cornell.

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

right, and some of us were hoping that players in a Maine uniform would one day be able to compete for a national championship

and we are pretty sure that that will NEVER happen as long as Whitehead is there ensuring that Maine finishes around .500 at best, year after year... and that is .500 with wins against Army and Mercyhurst.

so it is not really "Anti-Maine" to hope for the team to perform so poorly that the AD MUST get rid of the problem... sooner rather than later.

that said, it was really nice to be there and see the boys receive a well-deserved standing ovation for a few minutes after Joey's OT goal.

.500 Hockey should never be a thought for Maine Hockey...NEVER...play for Championships/pretty plain & simple goal. Might sound like a Pipe Dream to some,but it use to be the mind-set.

[AMC]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Maine, UHN, UVM and UMass are the flagship public schools in each state. I wouldn't be surprised to see UConn added to the mix when they join Hockey East, although once they're in conference they'll probably only play each other once OOC. That'll give each team 8 OOC games each season. With the Florida tournament every year that would leave Maine with 6. If the conference as a whole won't enter an agreement (*cough* Notre Dame) then I'd love to see Maine and the other publics get together with the WCHA and agree to home and home series. It's been a long time since we've seen the Alaska teams, Tech or Northern in Alfond and we've never seen Mankato. LTHC fans will eventually get diabetes from watching their teams pig out on cupcakes, then crash out in the national tournament when they run into teams that have been playing decent competition all year.

And Maine is supposed to get better playing the "decent competition" of UVM, UMass and UConn in the non conference? Is that even a step up from an AHA "cupcake" fest of Robert Morris, RIT and Bentley? If Maine is playing the "new iron" of HEA (UNH, BU, BC, ND) for a total of 9 games (includes UNH extra), the "middle class" of HEA (PC, Merrimack, UML) for 6 games, and the "lower class" for 12-14 (UVM, UMass, UConn, NU), then Florida (we'll say 2 tough games), then your Portland AHA game (lower), that leaves 5 games. Let's delineate:

11 high quality games (BC/BU/UNH/ND/Florida)
6 okay games (PC/MC/UML)
12-14 junk games (UVM/UMA/NU/UCONN/AHA)
3-5 tbd, apparently not "big time" games in Alfond because those teams won't come here

I don't feel any real affinity playing the other "public flagships." It's not like Maine has been playing any of them from the very start. In UMass' 20ish years in Hockey East I have two memories of games against them in the past- the championship game in Boston with Jimmy and Quick standing on their heads, and the year they swept Maine in the Alfond in the playoffs. That's about it. I can't remember any big games against UVM. Have we even EVER played UConn? The University of Wyoming is a public flagship, and I don't hear any clamor to get Maine hoops out to Laramie every year.

[goblue]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Not positive on this but I heard a while back that UNH & North Dakota would be the teams in the next Florida Classic to go with Co-Host Maine & Cornell.

Wow. As a UNH fan, that sounds awesome.

[Priceless]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

And Maine is supposed to get better playing the "decent competition" of UVM, UMass and UConn in the non conference? Is that even a step up from an AHA "cupcake" fest of Robert Morris, RIT and Bentley? If Maine is playing the "new iron" of HEA (UNH, BU, BC, ND) for a total of 9 games (includes UNH extra), the "middle class" of HEA (PC, Merrimack, UML) for 6 games, and the "lower class" for 12-14 (UVM, UMass, UConn, NU), then Florida (we'll say 2 tough games), then your Portland AHA game (lower), that leaves 5 games. Let's delineate:

11 high quality games (BC/BU/UNH/ND/Florida)
6 okay games (PC/MC/UML)
12-14 junk games (UVM/UMA/NU/UCONN/AHA)
3-5 tbd, apparently not "big time" games in Alfond because those teams won't come here

I don't feel any real affinity playing the other "public flagships." It's not like Maine has been playing any of them from the very start. In UMass' 20ish years in Hockey East I have two memories of games against them in the past- the championship game in Boston with Jimmy and Quick standing on their heads, and the year they swept Maine in the Alfond in the playoffs. That's about it. I can't remember any big games against UVM. Have we even EVER played UConn? The University of Wyoming is a public flagship, and I don't hear any clamor to get Maine hoops out to Laramie every year.

Maine has played UConn.

Pretty sure the Portland game will either be an AHA or ECAC team. Would like to see them sprinkle in a WCHA team but I won't hold my breath.

Good example of Wyoming for basketball. Very relevant to the conversation. Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut are all New England states whereas Laramie is 2200 miles away. Sparkling example.

I don't know for a fact that Maine is playing them because they are flagship universities, but that's what they all have in common. If that is correct, then UConn would be a natural fit.

Including Notre Dame in the "iron" portion of Hockey East is a tad presumptuous. They are coming off an 8th place finish in the CCHA last year and finished 9th in 2010. Maybe we should wait and see if they actually compete for home ice on a regular basis in Hockey East before we pencil them in for Boston every March. Just a suggestion.

[Pucknut]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Not positive on this but I heard a while back that UNH & North Dakota would be the teams in the next Florida Classic to go with Co-Host Maine & Cornell.

m

I heard the same from Maine fans about UNH and Maine sharing a charter south as they have in the past. No mention of UND but that would be great.

[gscott13]

Not positive on this but I heard a while back that UNH & North Dakota would be the teams in the next Florida Classic to go with Co-Host Maine & Cornell.

One would assume that if this is the case, it would be maine-nodak and cornell-unh for the matchups

[Maine Event]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Not positive on this but I heard a while back that UNH & North Dakota would be the teams in the next Florida Classic to go with Co-Host Maine & Cornell.

The rumor down in Florida was that North Dakota had backed out, probably replaced by Princeton.

[BearNecessity]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/02/0...t-for-success/

While tthe subject is patently obvious, Larry's piece in the BDN underscores the value of leadership...and typically that has to come from Srs, but it starts from the net out....Marty is playing the way many of us have believed he could from Day 1...Columbus drafted him for a reason.... Joey has finally gotten religion, and is playing to lead, and not just to satisfy his long Island code of honor. Cornell and Nemec are solid players, nothing flashy, but will sacrifice to get things done. Now if Tim can finally figure out that that the PP needs to be corrected.... we may actually have something for a stretch run.....be fun to watch the frosh continue to grow and mature....

[Runsub5]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Larry sums it up very well. I would add some additional perspective. These young players have come from successful teams where they had different roles. They have had to adjust to different strategies due to the strengths and weaknesses (scoring), of this team. What's happened, in my opinion, is that the players have been "over thinking" their moves on the ice which has lead to indecisiveness. Thinking too much in any sport is not good. It has to be instinctive. I think the players are now reaching the point in the season where they are much more comfortable with their team mates and how they need to play.

[all bear]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

m

I heard the same from Maine fans about UNH and Maine sharing a charter south as they have in the past. No mention of UND but that would be great.

UNH has offered to pay for the plane trip down just for the honor of riding with the Maine team. Business as usual

[bkbrkrbr]

Re: Maine 2012-13 Part 3D: Still digging

Adding to my complaint that there is no link to the audio/video feeds on the front page of the Maine website, I'm going to add a whine about the quality of the video highlights Maine provides to the Hockey East website. Compared to every other team in the league, including Merrimack, it is embarrassing. Even when WABI covers the games. It's 2013. I've heard the excuses that the Alfond can't handle HD cables, or whatever the issue is.

You know what? I don't care. ****ing fix it. I would buy that ridiculously overpriced season video pass if it had any quality at all to it. This isn't 1974. I don't want to watch colored dots moving on a screen. I would, honestly, be okay with another season of TW if they took the money they would spend on buying him out and use it to not be an audio/video embarrassment.

My biggest beef is that Larry knows three or four names for the whole game and then chooses to talk about the whole bio of a kid on the opposing team! Guess what Larry...Maine fans don't care! We've been listening for years and it's just old