UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Score one for conference alignment logistical sanity. Finally.

[e.cat]

Chuck Murray
c/o WIS Enterprises
Back 40 Swamp Yankee Lane
Effingwoods NH 03666



Thankfully, a massive wrong is finally in the process of being righted, and hopefully the frauds will be scooted out of the league before they besmirch any of our league's truly important hardware.

Hey, at least Bertagna and the Chestnut Hillbillies got to fulfill their wannabe ND fantasies for a few years.

I mean, really ... THIS was something that was going to work long-term ... for HE?

I can't effing find effingwoods on effing Google effing maps anywhere. Guess you can't get there from here

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

BC had been playing ND annually long before they joined Hockey East. BC really didn't have much motivation to wanting ND in the league Chuck.

I can't effing find effingwoods on effing Google effing maps anywhere. Guess you can't get there from here

Between Nick basically copping to the admission the Chestnut Hillbillies were already massive wannabe Golden Domers anyway, or e.cat wasting a few seconds of his life on Google Maps looking for Effingwoods ...

[bostonewe]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Can't remember who but someone here talked about (I believe it is/was a Dave Lassonde quote) that you don't need the 'best guys...just the right ones' to win hockey games/championships. I think NU had the 'right guys' who latched onto that 'culture of winning' that Kevin Roy talks about in his post game pressers. Everyone has to buy into that, it has to be nurtured and you bring it everynight like he said. I'm hopeful this dismal season lights a fire under us; Robinson or no. I'm not counting on one person necessarily to right the ship; has to be a collective effort. Still, hoping he comes aboard nonetheless but am not counting on the success of next year per se for his arrival. I really believe it's guys like Eiserman, who can be a work horse, that has to step up and get it going EARLY in the season and keep it going. Loved the development of Nazarian and Vela had some great stuff too. All is not lost...if a team can go 1-12-2 and win a HE title heck anything is possible. I doubt anyone in HE saw that coming back in Dec.

Watched the QU v Harvard game last night in between the HE game; now there's a team (QU) who executes I must say. Going to be a great NCAA tourney...

Ref - I know you're new to the game, but the "right guys" v. "best guys" quote is from Herb Brooks, possibly the greatest college hockey coach ever and the coach of the 1980 US Men's Hockey Team that defeated the Russian Juaggernaut en route the gold at the Olympics. It's been making me crazy that you could attribute it to some lowly coach like Lassonde. For more info on Brooks, please check out Boys of Winter (or Disney's Miracle).

[FiveHole12]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

I checked the list and doesn't appear that any Hobey winners were actually playing professional hockey at the time the award was announce. Most the winners were playing the Frozen Four or had just been eliminated. Or back in the day, their talents were so disrespected that they didn't sign with anybody until long after the college season was over. Believe it or not, the closest I found was Johnny Gaudreau, who signed with Calgary on the same day he won the Hobey.

Actually, it appears one was.

Denver’s Carle Wins 2006 Hobey Baker Award

Carle joined the Sharks upon the conclusion of the Pioneers’ season. He has already made an impact at the NHL level, scoring a goal in his first professional game on March 25 against the Minnesota Wild.

The Hobey Baker was awarded on April 7th.

Read more: http://www.uscho.com/2006/04/07/denv...#ixzz43oldIyhY

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Ref - I know you're new to the game, but the "right guys" v. "best guys" quote is from Herb Brooks, possibly the greatest college hockey coach ever and the coach of the 1980 US Men's Hockey Team that defeated the Russian Juaggernaut en route the gold at the Olympics. It's been making me crazy that you could attribute it to some lowly coach like Lassonde. For more info on Brooks, please check out Boys of Winter (or Disney's Miracle).

Well I stand corrected. And yea, I do have a clue about the 1980 story and while I love 'Miracle' but haven't seen it in awhile and haven't read "Boys of Winter". Guess I better check my sources, eh? And as far as Lassonde being a lowly coach, was that the general feeling about him at the U? Dartmouth seems to have benefited from his presence... Sorry, I don't have the mega years of fandom many of you have but I thought he was well respected; would hardly call him lowly but hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sorry if it made you crazy. Not the first or the last time my posts will have that effect but I'll do my best to fact check next time I just name drop rather than heck, just shoot my mouth off. I mean, it could happen!!!

[Snively65]

Well I stand corrected. And yea, I do have a clue about the 1980 story and while I love 'Miracle' but haven't seen it in awhile and haven't read "Boys of Winter". Guess I better check my sources, eh? And as far as Lassonde being a lowly coach, was that the general feeling about him at the U? Sorry, I don't have the mega years of fandom many of you have but I thought he was well respected; would hardly call him lowly but hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sorry if it made you crazy. Not the first or the last time my posts will have that effect but I'll do my best to fact check next time I just name drop rather than heck, just shoot my mouth off. I mean, it could happen!!!

DL only "lowly" compared to HB, I think. Could have benefitted from DL in recent seasons. "Our team now has no D."

[Dan]

DL only "lowly" compared to HB, I think. Could have benefitted from DL in recent seasons. "Our team now has no D."

Just L's amirite, Snively...!!

[Snively65]

Just L's amirite, Snively...!!

Yep, no D leads to excessive L's; NG.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Nothing particularly new on offer here, but still a relevant take on the UNH Hockey situation from SMG's Mike Zhe:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl.../NEWSLETTER100

[Felger]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Nothing particularly new on offer here, but still a relevant take on the UNH Hockey situation from SMG's Mike Zhe:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl.../NEWSLETTER100

Hey Chuck

While you are correct that there is nothing here that any of us on here aren't already aware of, I do think it is significant that the second word in the article is "drama." The fact that a writer with sources much closer to the program than many of us, chooses that word speaks volumes to me that much of what has been written of and speculated about on this board is probably happening. I know in the past it has been easy to dismiss such criticisms as coming from "internet nutcases" but it seems that while the dirty laundry might not be hanging on a clothesline in plain sight, at least a few people have seen it in the basement of the Whitt.

[e.cat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Hey Chuck

While you are correct that there is nothing here that any of us on here aren't already aware of, I do think it is significant that the second word in the article is "drama." The fact that a writer with sources much closer to the program than many of us, chooses that word speaks volumes to me that much of what has been written of and speculated about on this board is probably happening. I know in the past it has been easy to dismiss such criticisms as coming from "internet nutcases" but it seems that while the dirty laundry might not be hanging on a clothesline in plain sight, at least a few people have seen it in the basement of the Whitt.

What I find astonishing in the article is that DU is quoted as saying he thought this team would actually compete for the HEA title. Sounds out of touch with reality to me.

[HockeyRef]

Nothing particularly new on offer here, but still a relevant take on the UNH Hockey situation from SMG's Mike Zhe:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl.../NEWSLETTER100

Chuck (or anyone else) can you please copy the article here can't get it for some reason on my phone thanks!

[Felger]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Zhe: UNH and Maine not in NCAA tourney once again

The drama that is the NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament began unfolding Friday: Sixteen teams, four regionals, everything leading up to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla.

For the third year in a row, neither the University of New Hampshire nor Maine will be a part of it. Forgettable seasons wound down earlier this month, far short of what the two fan bases have come to expect.

UNH finished 11-20-6, the first time a Dick Umile-coached team has lost 20 games and the first time one has ever finished 10th. Maine only won eight games and is now 38-61-13 in three seasons under coach Red Gendron.

Prior to this current dry spell, you’d have to go all the way back to 1996 — the Atlanta Olympics, “Macarena,” Whitewater — to find an NCAA tourney that didn’t include at least one of the rivals.

The fumes hadn’t yet dissipated when the departures began. UNH forward Andrew Poturalski, a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and the Hockey East scoring leader, decided to forgo his final two years of college eligibility and sign with the Carolina Hurricanes; he’s currently playing in the AHL.

Maine lost junior defenseman Dan Renouf. So now we’re left wondering just where these two fierce rivals and once-proud programs go from here, after lousy seasons we didn’t see coming six months ago.

"I honestly thought we were going to be someone to get home ice and contend for that top spot (in Hockey East)," Umile told Seacoast Media Group. "We were far from it where we ended up.”

Interest is waning, too. Since the 2010-11 seasons, average attendance for games at the Whittemore Center has dropped 15 percent, to 4,892. It’s even worse in that span at Maine’s Alfond Arena, where it’s dipped 21 percent to 3,916, according to Hockey East figures.

UNH and Maine, despite their successful histories and some recruiting advantages, were always going to have to contend with programs like Boston College and Boston University. BC has owned the Massachusetts recruiting landscape for years and BU isn’t far behind.

But the Wildcats and Black Bears have also been passed by programs like reigning national champion Providence and UMass-Lowell, who are led by two of the country’s hottest young coaches in Nate Leaman and Norm Bazin, and look to be entrenched among the top tier for years to come.

Notre Dame will be exiting Hockey East after the 2016-17 season, so there’s a potential opportunity for everybody to move up one. But suddenly it’s a more crowded in that top tier than it used to be.

Coaching issues hang over both programs.

Maine had a decision to make with Gendron and pulled the trigger last month on a two-year contract extension, taking away any potential lame-duck status for next year and gambling that he’s the guy they thought he was when they hired him to replace Tim Whitehead, a guy with “presence” who could win games while spurring more interest in the program.

"We are confident in Coach Gendron's ability to continue to build the men's ice hockey program," said UMaine athletic director Karlton Creech of the contract extension. "We believe he is on the right path to success and we are committed to continuing to grow under his leadership."

Umile, meanwhile, is nearing the end of his successful tenure. Former player Mike Souza was hired away from UConn to be the coach-in-waiting, and most accounts have him replacing his mentor after two more seasons.

As is the case whenever UNH has a bad year, or fails to win a big game in the NCAAs, the fans find their voice.

“Dick Umile is a great guy and the fans appreciate his 25 years of coaching UNH men’s hockey,” said Shawn Joyce of Rye, a UNH alum and season-ticket holder, in a letter to the Herald earlier this month. “However, many of us do not understand why UNH is waiting three years to make a leadership change.”

Is it a talent issue? Could be. Of the UNH guys making the biggest pro impacts — the van Riemsdyk brothers, Daniel Winnik of the Capitals, Brett Pesce of the Hurricanes, Mike Sislo and Paul Thompson in the AHL — only Pesce wore a UNH sweater in either of the last two seasons.

At least on this side of the river, the Wildcats need to change perception in a hurry.

After what he’s accomplished at UNH, it’s hard to picture Umile going out on anything but his own terms. But if the administration is planning on two more years, plus another, say, four for Souza — a typical contract for a new coach — it better see some building blocks that this year’s record doesn’t show.

Or else a lot more NCAA tournaments are going to be going on without the Wildcats.

Mike Zhe is a Herald staff writer. He can be reached at mzhe@seacoastonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeZhe603.

[Dan]

What I find astonishing in the article is that DU is quoted as saying he thought this team would actually compete for the HEA title. Sounds out of touch with reality to me.

This.

I noted a couple times before the season just how optimistic he sounded in his quotes, etc., as he was as optimistic as I'd ever heard him. I didn't get it at the time and not many, if any, posters here got it either. He really must have thought his senior line and Tirone were something special. Which begs a lot of questions...