UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

[zoofer]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Nifty, you know this is the way "fans" react when they aren't happy...look at the threads and comments for Eaves, and Berenson, and Blasio et al.....yes some have a NC to their pedigree but not all.....it's all about "what have you done for me lately" unfortunately....

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

This is a problem, he is/was a great college hockey player and missing on (Laleggia) and Vecchione were bone headed recruiting moves. Pro coaches and GMs get the ax for talent aquition gafs like these.

So true. BTW I'm almost afraid to check the UMaine thread, the diehards must be suicidal with Monty's success at DU, and Red's failure to even match the later years of the Whitehead regime. As bad as we may think we have it, it could be worse ... then again, at least they've got some warm memories in the trophy case (*1993 and 1999) that UNH lacks.

And good point from 'Ref ... before we anoint Quinn or Leaman (and lord knows I've espoused on Coach Bazin's behalf a few times), let's see if they can win the big one first. Quinn at least has a HE Tourney trophy now. I still think they'll come up short. I'm seeing a UND vs. UNO title game for the Dean Blais Trophy.

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

The pining over the one that got away - LaLeggia reneges on commitment to UNH then commits to Denver - has been overblown in my opinion. Yes, LaLeggia turned out to be a very good college hockey player and he may turn into a very good NHL player - UNH coaches correctly gauged his potential. It's also fair to question his judgement in probably the most important game of his career to date. With 10 minutes left in the East Regional Final and the score tied 1-1, Denver needed its star to make big plays. Instead, this is what happened:

https://youtu.be/4mm9JOZWFrU

LaLeggia was kicked out of the game for contact to the head and 4 minutes into the subsequent power play, Providence scored the game-winning goal.

There's also more to the story about UNH "losing" LaLeggia. After verbally accepting a scholarship offer from UNH, he decided in September 2010 to renege on his commitment. It's interesting that at the same time, another British Columbia native also playing in the BCHL - Grayson Downing - apparently did not have any problems with UNH coaches who he had committed to in July, 2008. Two months after LaLeggia backed out on his commitment, UNH offered scholarships to Tyler Kelleher and Brett Pesce and they verbally committed to come to UNH:

http://www.ushr.com/news/20101228/38...r-the-Wildcats

It seems to me that UNH probably made good use of some or all of the scholarship money that had been committed to LaLeggia. In addition, Trevor van Riemsdyk had committed to UNH in January, 2010 and was having a breakout season in the EJHL. Can you imagine either Pesce or TvR getting a contact to the head, major penalty with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line? Maybe, but I don't think so.

[scoreboard]

The pining over the one that got away - LaLeggia reneges on commitment to UNH then commits to Denver - has been overblown in my opinion. Yes, LaLeggia turned out to be a very good college hockey player and he may turn into a very good NHL player - UNH coaches correctly gauged his potential. It's also fair to question his judgement in probably the most important game of his career to date. With 10 minutes left in the East Regional Final and the scored tied 1-1, Denver needed its star to make big plays. Instead, this is what happened:

https://youtu.be/4mm9JOZWFrU

LaLeggia was kicked out of the game for contact to the head and 4 minutes into the subsequent power play, Providence scored the game-winning goal.

There's also more to the story about UNH "losing" LaLeggia. After verbally accepting a scholarship offer from UNH, he decided in September 2010 to renege on his commitment. It's interesting that at the same time, another British Columbia native also playing in the BCHL - Grayson Downing - apparently did not have any problems with UNH coaches who he had committed to in July, 2008. Two months after LaLeggia backed out on his commitment, UNH offered scholarships to Tyler Kelleher and Brett Pesce and they verbally committed to come to UNH:

http://www.ushr.com/news/20101228/38...r-the-Wildcats

In my opinion, UNH made good use of some or all of the scholarship money that had been committed to LaLeggia. In addition, Trevor van Riemsdyk had committed to UNH in January, 2010. Can you imagine either Pesce or TvR getting a contact to the head, major penalty with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line? Maybe, but I don't think so.

Are you saying UNH could only offer Kelleher and Pesce scholarships because LaLeggia backed out? Also, to question LaLeggia's value over that penalty is a bit extreme. UNH would have benefited had he played for the Cats.

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

The pining over the one that got away - LaLeggia reneges on commitment to UNH then commits to Denver - has been overblown in my opinion. Yes, LaLeggia turned out to be a very good college hockey player and he may turn into a very good NHL player - UNH coaches correctly gauged his potential. It's also fair to question his judgement in probably the most important game of his career to date. With 10 minutes left in the East Regional Final and the scored tied 1-1, Denver needed its star to make big plays.

So, you are using a single questionable penalty in one game, to dismiss his entire career -- consting of a College Hockey News NCAA Freshman of the Year award, two time NCHC defenseman of the year, and a Hobey Baker finalist -- and justify UNH's complete failure in dealing with him in a manner that he considered fair?

There's also more to the story about UNH "losing" LaLeggia. After verbally accepting a scholarship offer from UNH, he decided in September 2010 to renege on his commitment. It's interesting that at the same time, another British Columbia native also playing in the BCHL - Grayson Downing - apparently did not have any problems with UNH coaches who he had committed to in July, 2008.

So Laleggia "reneged" and "backed out" but you leave out what precipitated that decision: UNH deferred him from his intended entry date of 2010. When he committed in 2008 he was firmly set for 2010, just as Vecchione was firmly set for 2012. I know you have written many times that players are not "promised" entry dates. But you have two players who seemingly concluded that UNH's decision to defer them was out of the norms of what they expected so that they no longer wanted to go to UNH -- even if that meant still spending another year in juniors.

Apart from the apparent lack of candor or basic communications skills evidenced by those two instances, you have a more fundamental failure to evaluate talent in making the decision to defer the players. Laleggia was a BCHL all-star, and being a 4 year al-star suggests his talent level was ready at 18. Similarly, Vecchione's success (compared to the players UNH decided were "ready") surely does not serve as a testament to UNH's evaluation skills.

Lastly, I see no connection between Kelleher and Pesce committing after Laleggia went elsewhere.

In my opinion, UNH made good use of some or all of the scholarship money that had been committed to LaLeggia.

Pure guessing to justify bad decisions. How come you don't list Dan Correale and Dylan Maller's October 2010 commitments about how good UNH was to reallocating the Laleggia monies?

[scoreboard]

It seems to me that UNH probably made good use of some or all of the scholarship money that had been committed to LaLeggia. In addition, Trevor van Riemsdyk had committed to UNH in January, 2010 and was having a breakout season in the EJHL. Can you imagine either Pesce or TvR getting a contact to the head, major penalty with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line? Maybe, but I don't think so.

Thank God LaLeggia didn't come to UNH and cost them a trip to the FF with a dumb penalty during the last four years.

[Snively65]

Um...correct me if I'm wrong, but has Nate Leaman won the "big game"? Has David Quinn? To be honest I don't know these coaches pedigrees. I do think Coach U has been in some big games, where he has won and lost (with the exception of the NC) a few...Who doesn't want to be involved in the FF excitement? It's hard this time of year, to see teams that we competed with (and won) go forward. Wasn't going to happen this year not with all that went down but they did much better than anyone here thought they would...

Truth be told the goalie situation at the beginning of the year took a bigger toll than anyone wanted to let on, IMHO. They overcame that, put together a great push at the end. (please, I don't care 'who they played' for that win streak so save it. If BU had an 8 game win streak no one would bring up who they played.) Heard the team is feeling down right now, watching other teams go forward, but they are hopeful for the future. That New Hampshire article had great stuff from Ty Kelleher; he is a positive young man and I hope he gets the C!

I asked Chanter and McNicholas about how they felt about next year at the Merrimack RS games and they said they "could not wait" to "get their shot" at it. Hope they are hungry, all of them. That is part of it, really, really wanting it. And having a lights out GK like a Jon Gillies does help. That is something I do believe, we could have, in DT. Really excited to see the McIntyre/O'Connor battle at the semi final game...gonna be classic!

I'd like to think we are moving in the right direction, although replacing Pesce concerns me. But then so did replacing TvR. As far as beating BU when it mattered? I guess that's a fair point. Guess I would have to say BU is a better team than UNH, plain and simple, but they gave them a game and every BU fan knows that UNH played them **** tough at the HE semi. That's the reality of it. Still say they had a great season. And yes, as a fan I do want more from them. None of us thought we'd move past PC and we did. Got to the Garden. Not much more you could ask for from this team they gave it all they had. Looking forward to renewing my season tix for next year!

Good post, Ref. But, probably wasted on all of voices of doom here. :-)

[Scott]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

UNH didn't beat BU when it really mattered. Umile is not capable of teaching these players how to win the big game because he has never been there.
This is not a coincidence; these two teams are going in the right direction. UNH is stagnant at best.

I was wondering, since you've just decided to share your infinite wisdom in the post-season...did you even attend a UNH game this year?

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

So, you are using a single questionable penalty in one game, to dismiss his entire career?

No, as I said, LaLeggia is a very good college hockey player.

When he committed in 2008 he was firmly set for 2010, just as Vecchione was firmly set for 2012. I know you have written many times that players are not "promised" entry dates.

I don't know what "firmly set" means in this context. If Josh Ciocco is to be believed, then UNH coaches don't promise an enrollment date to recruits. I learned this from posts that Ciocco wrote a couple years ago on the Forum so I think it bears repeating from time to time (just as others repeatedly cite LaLeggia and Vecchione as examples of supposed incompetence on the part of UNH coaches).

Apart from the apparent lack of candor or basic communications skills evidenced by those two instances, you have a more fundamental failure to evaluate talent in making the decision to defer the players. Laleggia was a BCHL all-star, and being a 4 year al-star suggests his talent level was ready at 18. Similarly, Vecchione's success (compared to the players UNH decided were "ready") surely does not serve as a testament to UNH's evaluation skills.

Determining whether a player in junior hockey is "ready" to make the jump to college hockey is far from being an exact science. I think some would argue that playing an extra year in juniors prepared LaLeggia and Vecchione to excel as freshmen. Andrew Poturalski and his coach at Cedar Rapids frankly admitted that an extra year in the USHL was the correct decision for him.

Lastly, I see no connection between Kelleher and Pesce committing after Laleggia went elsewhere.

I think there might have been.

How come you don't list Dan Correale and Dylan Maller's October 2010 commitments about how good UNH was to reallocating the Laleggia monies?

So in your opinion, neither Correale or Maller were deserving of scholarship money? I haven't written either of them off as "bad investments" of scholarship money.

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Ushr, which got its information from UNH coaches, wrote2/19/08


UNH Scores a Pair of Blueliners


UNH has received commitments from a pair of defensemen in Joey LaLeggia of the Vancouver NorthWest Giants (Midget AAA) for the fall of ’10; and Brett Kostolansky of Shattuck-St. Mary’s for the fall of ‘09.

LaLeggia is small – he’s 5’8”, 140 lbs., but he’s also just 15 so he’ll add some height and fill out. His father is 6’1”. He’s an offensive defenseman who is the top scoring d-man in the BC midget league with 32 points in 36 games. We got to see him recently when his team made a visit to New England and he struck us as a kid who could be running the UNH power play not long after he arrives on campus. He’s dynamic, and shares some of the same qualities as US Under-18 Team defenseman Dave Warsofsky, though the latter has quicker feet.


Shortly after UNH started deferring recruits is when the new mantra of no-promises became the norm

[UNHJourney34]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

I love when the season ends and this place becomes a horror show for the next few weeks. 2 weeks ago all people would talk about was how nice it was that the 2nd half of the season was an uptick from the first. And now that the season is over all of the termites come out of the woodwork to feed off of the scraps of the past. We can't change the past by complaining about it, but the team this 2nd half of the season was fun and exciting to watch and we may have a goalie who unlike DeSmith, Digirolamo, Foster, etc can be better than an average hockey east goalie. Tirone came in midseason and not only gained the trust of his teammates and coaches, but outdueled some legitimate goalies (Gillies) to bring hope and leave me, along with other fans of this team with the least sour taste in our mouths that we have had in a long time. If Tirone had been on the team for the first half of the season, and had won just a handful more games then UNH would have been a tournament team who could compete with anyone. The DeSmith situation was the real breaking point of this season. The fact that multiple underclassmen stepped up at forward, that they regularly had 4 freshman defensemen and a freshman goaltender in the net and they were able to overcome the adversity of losing the senior Keeper that you were banking on coming into the season gives me nothing but encouragement going into next season. For once I am not disappointed in where they ended up this season, and I am encouraged about the future of the Wildcats for the first time in years. Can't wait for next season! Go 'Cats!

[HockeyRef]

I love when the season ends and this place becomes a horror show for the next few weeks. 2 weeks ago all people would talk about was how nice it was that the 2nd half of the season was an uptick from the first. And now that the season is over all of the termites come out of the woodwork to feed off of the scraps of the past. We can't change the past by complaining about it, but the team this 2nd half of the season was fun and exciting to watch and we may have a goalie who unlike DeSmith, Digirolamo, Foster, etc can be better than an average hockey east goalie. Tirone came in midseason and not only gained the trust of his teammates and coaches, but outdueled some legitimate goalies (Gillies) to bring hope and leave me, along with other fans of this team with the least sour taste in our mouths that we have had in a long time. If Tirone had been on the team for the first half of the season, and had won just a handful more games then UNH would have been a tournament team who could compete with anyone. The DeSmith situation was the real breaking point of this season. The fact that multiple underclassmen stepped up at forward, that they regularly had 4 freshman defensemen and a freshman goaltender in the net and they were able to overcome the adversity of losing the senior Keeper that you were banking on coming into the season gives me nothing but encouragement going into next season. For once I am not disappointed in where they ended up this season, and I am encouraged about the future of the Wildcats for the first time in years. Can't wait for next season! Go 'Cats!

Excellent post my good friend...Bravo!!! Rah! Go 'Cats!!

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

I think I would take Vecchione over any junior - to be senior on the UNH roster. The only exception would have been Pesce. It is a gapping hole.

I love the work you do (CHC) but I worry it is too forgiving. I look back at the high-end UNH teams and there are very few players on the current roster that make those teams. That is the issue that exists and it is all about talent identification and aquition. Difficult task or not that is a big part of the job, and other teams got it done. Recruiting when you are at the top sshould be easier.

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

As I mentioned earlier, at the exact same time that LaLeggia withdrew his commitment to UNH, Grayson Downing was also a UNH recruit playing in the BCHL. I couldn't remember off the top of my head what Downing's situation was at that time so I looked back at an old US Hockey Report article.

http://www.ushr.com/news/20080701

Downing committed to UNH in July, 2008 when he was 16 years old. The USHR article said that he committed for 2010. Apparently, Downing was asked by the UNH coaches to play an extra year in the BCHL because he did not enroll until the Fall of 2011. At the end of the 2010 season, Downing had scored 18 goals and 18 assists in the regular season and 6 goals and 4 assists in the BCHL playoffs. I don't know if he thought he was ready to make the jump to college hockey in the Fall of 2010 but he didn't and he wasn't upset enough to renege on his commitment to UNH. In the 2010-11 BCHL season, Downing scored 36 goals and 43 assists. The next season when he was a freshman at UNH, he scored 10 goals and 13 assists. It would appear that playing an extra season in juniors worked out well for Downing.

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

I think one of the key aspects here is to understand the personalities you are bringing in. Some players are going to be ok letting you defer them, others will defer you, and then there are ones that will be ****ed if you try. Clearly the staff didn't choose wisely with a couple talented players. I will note that having followed unh recruiting for years the defer thing and flexible enrollment dates is a newer thing.