UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

And as a side note the Pom made it to the game tonight! Dang missed the fun during intermission!!

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

WOO HOO!! What a night, and what a game!! Hope the back door of the Whitt didn't hit ol' Luce in the derriere too hard on his way out.

As a side note...it was USCHO Fan Forum night on the Lake Whitt ice between the second and third periods, as "yours truly" and fellow poster Darius faced off against each other in the "race to the goal" contest promo. This is the goofy promo where contestants start at the blue line and don a UNH jersey, race to the red line and don hockey pants, and finally down to the other blue line, grabbing a stick and puck and race to shoot it in the net. My hat's off to Darius for a running a fine race and successfully putting the puck in the net. My attempt to distract him but putting my jersey on backwards failed miserably.

[e.cat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

Well, that was fun. Could have been even worse for UCONN. We hit at least four posts!

Good weekend with 3pts. Now bring Maine back down to earth after beating UMASS ladt night.

Thanks for the drinks Ref. Tried to find you but couldnt see you so had to mosey on in so I could get the player cards

[J.D.]

More like a rabid, annoying chihuahua that keeps telling anyone who'll listen about its former master.

And with UVM's OT goal up at The Gutt to sneak past a game Merrimack squad that scored two late goals to force the OT, that loud thud clanking its way out of Durham is Your Last Place in Hockey East UConn Huskies and their super-awesome, I used to be Jerry York's wingman, I taught Mike Souza everything he knows, balding and failing head coach … good ol' what'shisname.

Maybe after they drop football they can put more money into hockey!

I'd give Cav a pass for this year though, think they lost a ton of players from last year where they had a pretty good year.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

Yes, Snively65 … Luce's ticket is punched for AHC, with or without his program. There's this guy who's the current AD down at Sacred Heart, y'see … they could entertain each other for hours on end, one with his "Me and Davy Crockett Jerry York" tales straight out of F Troop, and the other with his tales about how he invented the wrap sandwich on a whim. Self-promoters to the core, so much so that either would make even Walshy blush. Two peas in an (undersized) pod to contain their misguidedly massive egos, separated at birth. They deserve each other.

Turning to more relevant and positive news … last night's win means UNH has now:

* gone unbeaten in their last 5 games
* lost one game in their last 11 games
* lost two games in their last 15 games
* posted three shutouts in their last 10 games
* scored 3 or more goals in 10 of their last 15 games (7-0-3)
* survived in games when they didn't score 3 goals (1-2-2)

Looking at the HE standings … it's going to be hard to close the gap on the teams ahead of 'em, unless one or more hits the skids down the stretch. UNH and UMaine may effectively be deciding the battle for 7th place next weekend with a sweep by either team, as with UVM's resurrection last weekend dragging the 'Mack further away from the playoffs, plus UConn finding their rightful place in the HE universe, the bottom three seem to be well adrift of the rest with a month left in the RS. There are also some teams currently situated in the home ice slots who look to be ripe for the picking, susceptible to the "hot" team that's playing consistently winning hockey since Thanksgiving weekend came and went.

It's premature to get all worked up about a 3 point weekend against the creamiest of cupcakes but UNH's form can no longer be dismissed as a "blip" or "just a few games". 15 games is almost half a season of good form. And it's coming at the right time of the season. I daresay that this is the form often shown by teams that qualify for the tourney … and that's not the HE Tourney, but the really important one that follows. It may prove unreachable in the end, due to the slow start to the season, and the program's lack of real postseason experience that's likely to show itself IF the 'Cats were to get past the first round, which is likely to deprive them of the autobid. That's water under the bridge/over the dam. All that matters now is the future.

But pause to consider this … when is the last time (if ever) you've heard this phrase uttered around HE?

"The team we don't want to face in the HE quarterfinals is UNH."

Let that sink in for a moment.

Thanks Coach Souza et als for giving us our program back.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

Maybe after they drop football they can put more money into hockey!

I'd give Cav a pass for this year though, think they lost a ton of players from last year where they had a pretty good year.

The last long-time BC assistant who left The Heights after serving under a legendary head coach so he could start up a program at a large state school, as it worked towards a HE debut, was one Joe Mallen at UMass Amherst. Mallen did this about 20 years prior to "Luce's Awesome Adventure" got underway at Storrs. IIRC, Mallen got the transition year before the move to D-1, and then six winless years before he was shown the door. Luce is presently on Year Five in Hockey East, and he too has yet to post a winning record. His teams have yet to win a quarterfinal playoff series (I think Mallen beat his former program in his first season?). His current team is looking like it's circling the drain, just like UNH was at this point last season.

Does Luce have a legit basis to get more time than Mallen got? If not, next year is make or break, no?

If he's available, do you guys want him back at BC when Coach York finally decides to go fishing?

I mean, if the answer to that is "yes", I'll personally drive him from Storrs to Chestnut Hill tomorrow.

[HockeyRef]

Well, that was fun. Could have been even worse for UCONN. We hit at least four posts!

Good weekend with 3pts. Now bring Maine back down to earth after beating UMASS ladt night.

Thanks for the drinks Ref. Tried to find you but couldnt see you so had to mosey on in so I could get the player cards

Hey it was fun catching up and yeah missed ya in the lobby! What a game!! We agreed UNH would have to win convincingly and boy did they. Honestly every player contributed and if that doesn’t just speak for the “we’re all in” mentality Coach Souza and his team are promoting then I don’t know what is!

Chuck wow your post shows just where this team is potentially going post season (tho there’s tons of hockey left) and people are looking up and taking notice of the “plucky team that could and does”! No matter what ends up happening down the stretch this will be the season we will say this was the beginning of something great for UNH hockey! (As someone has already pointed out on this board)

Next weekend is going to be huge....both nights are slated to be “White Out
the Whitt” nights so let’s bring it ‘Cat fans!!!

[d.gerry]

Next weekend is going to be huge....both nights are slated to be “White Out the Whitt” nights so let’s bring it ‘Cat fans!!!

Crowd last night was great, attendance reported at about 5,800, and I think that was pretty accurate. Can we hope for two sellouts next weekend? When’s the last time that happened?

[Snively65]

Crowd last night was great, attendance reported at about 5,800, and I think that was pretty accurate. Can we hope for two sellouts next weekend? When’s the last time that happened?

Wow, so I might not be able to walk up to the window and get a cheap gen adm ticket at 6:15 pm, stand in top row next to the band for the first period, and then join my cousins in an empty reserved seat close to the UNH bench for periods two and three next Saturday? Maybe I would need to stay in the end zone for the entire game, assuming that I can get a ticket? Who woulda thunk that in mid-November, when the talk was we would never again see a sell out at the Whitt, as there are now too many competing distractions for people's time on social media, blah, blah, blah.

Not to be a nattering nabob of negativity, but a lot of things need to break right for the Cats to finish with an above 0.500 record. If we win the next four, which we should, and lose the last five, which we probably also should, we end up with a 0.500 regular season, and a probable visit to Conte for two of three, in which we would need to win two to get back above 0.500 and a trip to the Gahdin. And, then we would need to split there (make the HEA final game) to preserve the better than 0.500 record. And, I am sure that all of us would be delighted with that turn of events; I know that I would, as I would be well on the upside of the pre-season total number of wins at 13.5 in the over/under contest. :-)

[Greg Ambrose]

Wow, so I might not be able to walk up to the window and get a cheap gen adm ticket at 6:15 pm, stand in top row next to the band for the first period, and then join my cousins in an empty reserved seat close to the UNH bench for periods two and three next Saturday? Maybe I would need to stay in the end zone for the entire game, assuming that I can get a ticket? Who woulda thunk that in mid-November, when the talk was we would never again see a sell out at the Whitt, as there are now too many competing distractions for people's time on social media, blah, blah, blah.

Not to be a nattering nabob of negativity, but a lot of things need to break right for the Cats to finish with an above 0.500 record. If we win the next four, which we should, and lose the last five, which we probably also should, we end up with a 0.500 regular season, and a probable visit to Conte for two of three, in which we would need to win two to get back above 0.500 and a trip to the Gahdin. And, then we would need to split there (make the HEA final game) to preserve the better than 0.500 record. And, I am sure that all of us would be delighted with that turn of events; I know that I would, as I would be well on the upside of the pre-season total number of wins at 13.5 in the over/under contest. :-)

Snively, before you anoint BC with a spot in the top four, look at their upcoming schedule. Up until this weekend, their HE schedule has been comprised of most of the cupcakes in the league. They have yet to play UMass or Northeastern, have two games at Maine and still have games left against PC and Lowell. UMass, Northeastern, Lowell, BU in that order is my prediction.

[Snively65]

Snively, before you anoint BC with a spot in the top four, look at their upcoming schedule. Up until this weekend, their HE schedule has been comprised of most of the cupcakes in the league. They have yet to play UMass or Northeastern, have two games at Maine and still have games left against PC and Lowell. UMass, Northeastern, Lowell, BU in that order is my prediction.

Funny, Greg, I was beginning to question my anointment of BC (very clever) for second place soon after I posted. :-)

Yeah, could very well be another team that overtakes BC for second, such as PC, which just swept NU, but I think that the Cats are unlikely to climb higher than 7th, assuming that we take care of business with Maine ("don't call us UMO") and UVM. Is anyone here still predicting that UMass-Flagship is going to implode this season and relinquish their hold on 1st?

[e.cat]

Wow, so I might not be able to walk up to the window and get a cheap gen adm ticket at 6:15 pm, stand in top row next to the band for the first period, and then join my cousins in an empty reserved seat close to the UNH bench for periods two and three next Saturday? Maybe I would need to stay in the end zone for the entire game, assuming that I can get a ticket? Who woulda thunk that in mid-November, when the talk was we would never again see a sell out at the Whitt, as there are now too many competing distractions for people's time on social media, blah, blah, blah.

Not to be a nattering nabob of negativity, but a lot of things need to break right for the Cats to finish with an above 0.500 record. If we win the next four, which we should, and lose the last five, which we probably also should, we end up with a 0.500 regular season, and a probable visit to Conte for two of three, in which we would need to win two to get back above 0.500 and a trip to the Gahdin. And, then we would need to split there (make the HEA final game) to preserve the better than 0.500 record. And, I am sure that all of us would be delighted with that turn of events; I know that I would, as I would be well on the upside of the pre-season total number of wins at 13.5 in the over/under contest. :-)

I see us going 5-3-1 for the last nine games. two wins with Maine, split with Vermont, split with Northeastern, split with UML, and then a tie with Northeastern to finish 10-8-6.

I'll do a reset after that with some tourny predictions.

[Snively65]

I see us going 5-3-1 for the last nine games. two wins with Maine, split with Vermont, tie and loss with Northeastern, split with UML, and then a loss with Northeastern to finish 10-8-6.

Need to check arithmetic, e.cat. :-)

Looks like you have 4-4-1 to me, which of course works for staying over 0.500, as a tie is as good as a loss, just like Dick's quest for the NRN last season. Four wins would give us 13 on the regular season, which means one win in the first round against whomever would give me a free beer at Libby's. :-)

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2018-2019: Souza the Opportunity or Louza the Opportunity

Is anyone here still predicting that UMass-Flagship is going to implode this season and relinquish their hold on 1st?

UMass Amherst holds onto first in the RS. They won't win the HE Tourney, nor will they make the FF.

Think UNH back in the '90's. New to the game at the top, they'll lose to more experienced programs.

[e.cat]

Need to check arithmetic, e.cat. :-)

Looks like you have 4-4-1 to me, which of course works for staying over 0.500, as a tie is as good as a loss, just like Dick's quest for the NRN last season. Four wins would give us 13 on the regular season, which means one win in the first round against whomever would give me a free beer at Libby's. :-)

Oops you're right Snives. Fixed my post. I'm looking at a split with Northeastern and then a tie but I'm still ambivalent about it