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2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

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  • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

    Originally posted by boblav1 View Post
    It was pretty tough to move around between periods with the crowds trying to get food. I don't understand why they didn't have the ropes up to form a line in front of the concessions. We also check out Rowdy's Roadhouse around 7:00 pm and were told the food wasn't ready yet. I was a bit surprised by that and ended up settling for something else. Just wondering, did they ever get the fried dough back?
    I was disappointed in the Tsongas Center this time around. My friends and I got to the rink around 7 and waited in line for a ticket till 7:35 or so (missed the first UML goal). They were printing each ticket individually. The lobby was packed with people who wanted a ticket. I think it would have been ok to print a couple of hundred and expedite the process a bit.

    I also waited in line for food for 10 minutes one intermission during which they served three people (I watched cause I was bored). One of the three just got beer. He was definitely of age so there wasn't a need to card him, but the transaction took forever anyway. I have no idea why. I was 23rd in line (I counted cause I was bored) and figured out that I'd miss most of the upcoming period if I wanted to get food so I just went back to my seat. It left me thinking they weren't expecting anyone to show up and as a result were understaffed. Either that or they are the least efficient group ever.
    #NewMass

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    • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

      I was also a little bothered by the long lines for food and beer but what do you expect with almost 6,000 people in the building? I was able to avoid the long lines for beer by going into Rowdy's Roadhouse for my beers. I planned on getting something to eat but didn't feel like waiting in huge lines with mobs of kids everywhere. But I was proud to see the big turnout. Maybe we'll have more than 6,000 for the BC game.

      Comment


      • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

        Originally posted by UMLFan View Post
        It's sad to think that if we don't beat Bentley in a couple of weeks, we might not win a game the rest of the season.
        I really don't see this team winning another game this season. (Hope I am wrong) RPI ranking now has Lowell at 58th, can't get any lower. Friday night the look on the faces of the coaching staff was blank. Their eyes looked the same as a deer caught in headlights of a m/v. Now Lowell fans talk about the food lines at a game, how sad is that. There is really nothing more to say about the team and the staff this year. I have been going to Lowell games for 14 years, yes went through the 20 game winless streak, saw Hainsey, and Walter leave early, suffered some heartbreaking losses.But all those past teams played with a bluecollar Lowell pride, they were tough, and entertaining to watch, and left it all on the ice after 60 minutes. I can't say I see this in this current team. Maybe this is the type of team the staff wants, if so its not working. When the largest D-Man on the team won't even shoot the puck, or use his size, something is wrong. I wonder what x-players like Kidney, Robbins, O'Brien, to name afew would think. It was good to see a good crowd at Fridays game, however the most important fanbase the students keeps getting smaller. Enough ranting on my part for awhile, just a disappointed fan who expected more out of the entire hockey program this year.

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        • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

          Originally posted by RHawk View Post
          I really don't see this team winning another game this season. (Hope I am wrong) RPI ranking now has Lowell at 58th, can't get any lower. Friday night the look on the faces of the coaching staff was blank. Their eyes looked the same as a deer caught in headlights of a m/v. Now Lowell fans talk about the food lines at a game, how sad is that. There is really nothing more to say about the team and the staff this year. I have been going to Lowell games for 14 years, yes went through the 20 game winless streak, saw Hainsey, and Walter leave early, suffered some heartbreaking losses.But all those past teams played with a bluecollar Lowell pride, they were tough, and entertaining to watch, and left it all on the ice after 60 minutes. I can't say I see this in this current team. Maybe this is the type of team the staff wants, if so its not working. When the largest D-Man on the team won't even shoot the puck, or use his size, something is wrong. I wonder what x-players like Kidney, Robbins, O'Brien, to name afew would think. It was good to see a good crowd at Fridays game, however the most important fanbase the students keeps getting smaller. Enough ranting on my part for awhile, just a disappointed fan who expected more out of the entire hockey program this year.
          From Sat radio interview- Blaise just threw the upperclassmen under the bus. He was really not happy with their performance or leadership. I just wish they would sit the buggers. I don't care if they lose. If you can give the underclassmen experience why play the kids who make awful mistakes, hand over the puck and cost at least a few goals a game? at least the underclassmen work hard and if they lose the puck you can blame inexperience. I have been around for > 25 yrs and I agree. There isn't the fire there. The last 20 game losing streak I believed they could win even when they didn't. Now- my kids Bantam town team is less painful to watch.

          Comment


          • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

            Originally posted by boblav1 View Post
            John good post. I missed it the first time around. I couldn't believe how much the Tsongas filled up during the first period. It was great to see all the young kids at the game with their signs. I had a group of grade school kids below me who were going back and forth with a group of Amherst fans. Nothing out of hand just cheering on the local team which was great to see.
            Thank you, Bob. This is what I like to see at games but at the rate things are going, nights like this are going to be harder and harder to have in the Tsongas Center. That's very disappointing.

            Originally posted by leswp1 View Post
            I just wish they would sit the buggers. I don't care if they lose. If you can give the underclassmen experience why play the kids who make awful mistakes, hand over the puck and cost at least a few goals a game? .

            Les, I 100% agree with you here. Unfortunately, the problem is depth. The team has only eight defensemen on the roster, the last one recently signed just a few weeks ago. The reason you don't see it is that they have zero options. If one of them gets hurt, we're in even more trouble. By comparison, the team officially has four goalies on the roster. Makes you wonder.

            I really don't see us going 2-30-2 on the season because at that point, you might as well have a complete house cleaning. There is no excuse how you go from the 2009 HE championship game to that in just two short years without a major failure in management at all levels of the University. Yes, the players as a group have to share some of that responsibility, but there's more to a team than just players and vice versa.

            I apologize if I have discussed this before, but I've made another mistake and really, really underestimated the impact of the 2007 plan to eliminate the team on recruiting. Maybe UMLFan or others closer to that issue can comment (I tend to steer clear of this) Four years after that incident, little did I think what an impact that would have and is having on this team. I hope it doesn't take four years to fix.

            I think the comments about the food and ticket lines are justified. This isn't the first time where the management company of the Tsongas Arena/Center has failed in making sure there is enough staff at the ticket window or food stands. Granted, I will concede the comments made by several of you that it will be busy anytime that there is 6000 people in the building but you never see problems like this at Maine or UNH or BU. It's "busy", but you can get your refreshments within a period. I'm sorry, waiting 30/45 minutes at a ticket windows or food line just to tell you that they ran out of food or beverage is simply inexcusable. I run the computer servers and workstations for a major operations center and I wouldn't have a job if I was that disorganized.

            The scary part is all of this is that unlike the previous teams from four and eight years ago, the overall improvement of the Hockey East Association plays a role. The margin of error is razor thin and I hope it gives the University the impetus to say, we have the D-I arena, now let's go get the D-I team. Maybe this year could be a blessing in disguise.

            As a 17-year supporter of this hockey team, I would be remiss to say that this performance doesn't surprise me, but I don't think anyone could have predicted that your captain would play all of what six/seven games and cause a tailspin that would be unrecoverable.
            Last edited by John_Fuller; 01-17-2011, 08:50 PM.
            - John

            2013, 2014, 2017: UML Hockey: Hockey East Champions!

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            • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

              We have had full house before with better management of food lines. Last time it was so bad I literally couldn't get out of the stairs onto the concourse without some serious maneuvering. This is the first time I remember that. Not sure what happened but it was nuts trying to get out of the section. People were in line jammed against the wall and they weren't giving over their spot.

              The kids were in our section too. They were a blast. Sounded like someone was stepping on a bunch of mice. I had forgotten how squeeky little kids could sound in a group.

              Comment


              • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                Originally posted by John_Fuller View Post
                I apologize if I have discussed this before, but I've made another mistake and really, really underestimated the impact of the 2007 plan to eliminate the team on recruiting. Maybe UMLFan or others closer to that issue can comment (I tend to steer clear of this) Four years after that incident, little did I think what an impact that would have and is having on this team. I hope it doesn't take four years to fix.
                That hurt a lot, and I think we're still feeling the effects. Remember, we lost a couple of recruits for that year that would still be playing here. We also lost Bergeron who IIRC would only have been a sophomore that season. It also hurt us for a year or two in the following recruiting classes because you know it was used against Lowell.
                Monty

                2011-2012 NCAA Tournament Participants
                2012-2013 Hockey East Regular Season Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions, and Frozen Four Participants
                2013-2014 Hockey East Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants
                2015-2016 NCAA Tournament Participants
                2016-2017 Hockey East Regular Season Co-Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants

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                • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                  Originally posted by John_Fuller View Post
                  The margin of error is razor thin and I hope it gives the University the impetus to say, we have the D-I arena, now let's go get the D-I team. Maybe this year could be a blessing in disguise.
                  Maybe Marty can figure out a way to get a bigger budget for the hockey program. Based on comments that I've heard, it sounds like the Lowell budget is a joke compared to the one Amherst has. It would be nice to be able to close the gap a little, going 0-3 against Amherst sure doesn't help.

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                  • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                    Originally posted by boblav1 View Post
                    Maybe Marty can figure out a way to get a bigger budget for the hockey program. Based on comments that I've heard, it sounds like the Lowell budget is a joke compared to the one Amherst has. It would be nice to be able to close the gap a little, going 0-3 against Amherst sure doesn't help.
                    If I'm not mistaken, Amherst recruiting budget alone is like 3 times more than Lowell's. I've even had UMass fans come up and say that those numbers need to be a little bit closer.

                    And for those that don't think the recruiting budget makes a difference, I don't know what to say. (Yes of course, that means the coaching has to be there as well).
                    Monty

                    2011-2012 NCAA Tournament Participants
                    2012-2013 Hockey East Regular Season Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions, and Frozen Four Participants
                    2013-2014 Hockey East Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants
                    2015-2016 NCAA Tournament Participants
                    2016-2017 Hockey East Regular Season Co-Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants

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                    • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                      I was just informed that there won't be a radio show tonight for a variety of reasons, mainly that the university is closed due to the storm. It will be back next week.
                      Charter Member of darin's "UML Seven"

                      "I just hate Boston College to be perfectly honest'' -Ken Dorsey
                      "It's time for my favorite NCAA tradition ... that's right, rooting against BC!" -Bill Simmons

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                      • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                        Originally posted by ScottK View Post
                        I was just informed that there won't be a radio show tonight for a variety of reasons, mainly that the university is closed due to the storm. It will be back next week.
                        Sad but true ... there's nothing they can say that's positive anyway.
                        Monty

                        2011-2012 NCAA Tournament Participants
                        2012-2013 Hockey East Regular Season Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions, and Frozen Four Participants
                        2013-2014 Hockey East Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants
                        2015-2016 NCAA Tournament Participants
                        2016-2017 Hockey East Regular Season Co-Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants

                        Comment


                        • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                          Originally posted by ScottK View Post
                          I was just informed that there won't be a radio show tonight for a variety of reasons, mainly that the university is closed due to the storm. It will be back next week.
                          I wonder if Blaise is heading over to Merrimack tonight. It looks like that game is still on.

                          Comment


                          • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                            Originally posted by boblav1 View Post
                            Maybe Marty can figure out a way to get a bigger budget for the hockey program. Based on comments that I've heard, it sounds like the Lowell budget is a joke compared to the one Amherst has.
                            How well does the booster/Center Ice Club do? This is the first year I'm a member and I'll continue to do so as long as there's an income coming in, but so far, it hasn't provided too much. I got the "monthly" email update in October and haven't gotten one since. Hopefully the golf outing, barbecue, and other fund raisers provide come cash outside of regular donations. The alumni base al Lowell is much smaller than at Amherst but there is some NHL noteriety that could help with publicity and funding.

                            I started looking around for other DII w/DI hockey schools' booster organizations and came across a couple sites, including the Saint Cloud booster site. It's much different than what's seen for the UML Center Ice Club but I wonder if the more comprehensive website with merchandise/radio shows/regular newsletters/etc. equals more dollars in donations. Making it feel more like a club and less like simply cutting a check every year has to go a long way. A lot of items, like newsletters and interviews, either don't cost the university anything or are something they're already doing, but the perception of the effort and having a centralized location for the information can go a long way. Funding for any team has to be a challenge but for a DII school to stay competitive it has to work twice as hard, think outside the box, and get more out of every dollar than the big schools.

                            UML Center Ice Club
                            http://www.goriverhawks.com/auto_pdf.../CenterIceClub

                            SCSU Center Ice Club
                            http://www.center-ice-club.org/

                            Lake Superior State Soo Blueliners
                            http://www.lssu.edu/athletics/blueliners.html
                            U.S. Naval Academy '06 - BS
                            UMass Lowell '12 - MBA

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                            • Originally posted by boblav1 View Post
                              I wonder if Blaise is heading over to Merrimack tonight. It looks like that game is still on.
                              I've been longing for competitive hockey so I'll be heading over to Lawler tonight.

                              Comment


                              • Re: 2010/2011 UML In-Season Thread

                                Originally posted by UML View Post
                                I've been longing for competitive hockey so I'll be heading over to Lawler tonight.
                                Be careful driving. I was just out and it's slow going with rain/freezing rain coming down. It pretty nasty out and I'm sure it will only get worst.

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