Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

[Hokydad]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Relax daddy, I said they're a top 15 team in terms of talent as of right now, not necessarily that they will get ranked there....which I doubt they will.

..

Teams ahead of them in top 15

MND 8 nhl draft picks
BU 11 nhl draft picks, 2 as 1st rounders in upcoming draft
Yale 7
north dakota 16
Denver 9
BC 11
WI 9
Notre Dame 10
Miami 7

MC has 2, one in 4th rd, one in 7th rd

not even close to top 15 talent wise

[RENCEB]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Don't see them as Top 15.... 18th-20th is about right in my book. A couple of narrow road wins @ UML, NU, and Harvard but these are hardly "signature"wins. Had they been able to hold on at UNH, that would have qualified. No "if and buts" from me. You are what your record says you are (I think I've heard that somewhere before?). They have a chance in every game with Cannata, but jeez, a little "run support" would be nice. Still, for those of us that thought realistically 4th-6th place, I think they're on track.

[acs64]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Teams ahead of them in top 15

MND 8 nhl draft picks
BU 11 nhl draft picks, 2 as 1st rounders in upcoming draft
Yale 7
north dakota 16
Denver 9
BC 11
WI 9
Notre Dame 10
Miami 7

MC has 2, one in 4th rd, one in 7th rd

not even close to top 15 talent wise

More research on ur part is needed dad. Thats 9 of the top 15...keep going.

[WarriorDJ]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Teams ahead of them in top 15

MND 8 nhl draft picks
BU 11 nhl draft picks, 2 as 1st rounders in upcoming draft
Yale 7
north dakota 16
Denver 9
BC 11
WI 9
Notre Dame 10
Miami 7

MC has 2, one in 4th rd, one in 7th rd

not even close to top 15 talent wise

Since when do draft picks equal more talented teams? Tons of these kids that get drafted get stuck in the AHL and ECHL for that matter. There is something to be said for college hockey game planning and strategy--and dare I say, luck, as well.

On another note, if all of BC's top talent is draft affiliated--why isn't two time champion John Muse drafted into the NHL?

[Hokydad]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Since when do draft picks equal more talented teams? Tons of these kids that get drafted get stuck in the AHL and ECHL for that matter. There is something to be said for college hockey game planning and strategy--and dare I say, luck, as well.

On another note, if all of BC's top talent is draft affiliated--why isn't two time champion John Muse drafted into the NHL?

he wasnt drafted because he is not nhl type. he took the spot by default when CS went pro. has been a great goalie and has done better than anyone ever expected. doubt much pro interest though

of course nhl draft picks mean talent.

Next year MC has 1 kid, maybe, coming in from USHL, zero from national team. they have 4-21 year old canadians and 2 - 20 year old canadians as well as well as 2-21 year old kids from EJ

all seem to come in and fit in, MD gets them to buy into his style. But, in fairness they ended up there for a reason. They spend as much time over past years as any program watching and recruiting in USHL with zero results.

I call talent the kids the 9 or 10 teams listed above are getting, blue chippers saught by everyone at 18.

fun to watch and awesome fans are so supportive and having fun but huge part is smoke and mirrors. They are stil a team coming off a way below 500 year and 5-4-3 in conference this year with losses to PC and NU. Only win vs a team inh top 30 was vs BC.
That is not a top 15 team performance to date. If you believe the stories, they never should have lost to PC and NU this year.

[J.D.]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

in what universe is 16-19-2 (12-13-2) way below .500?

[J.D.]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

BTW, I think it's clear that hokydad is just upset it's being proven that Dennehy is a much better coach than Serino ever was.

[Hokydad]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

in what universe is 16-19-2 (12-13-2) way below .500?

when you win .4324% of your games, in sports, that is what they would call, "way below 500"

[Hokydad]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

BTW, I think it's clear that hokydad is just upset it's being proven that Dennehy is a much better coach than Serino ever was.

nope, not 1% upset. Happy for the program, MD is a great guy and tremendous role model for the kids. Has built a great brand for the student body. Just dont see the level the flock do. 5-4-3 and losses to PC and NU and 2 total wins vs top 30 teams is not a top 15 performance. If any other of the Hockey East schools had that rink and changed the seats and called ita major renovation, the fans would go nuts. I guess that is what happens when you have had an MDC rink for 25 years and zero winning success. It is though refreshing and nice to see the positive vibes. No doom and gloom there for sure.

People can crap on CS but at the end of the day, he left, went to a more enjoyable situation, has also built a great program, half the stress and as we speak, makes more than the MC coach does. Also took the biggest donors with him and have had millions dumped into their facilities. Got to coach his kids for 6 + years and I am sure loved doing it. At the end of the day it is a win win for both programs.

[J.D.]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

A High School AD/coach makes more than Mark Dennehy???

[RENCEB]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

......
fun to watch and awesome fans are so supportive and having fun but huge part is smoke and mirrors. They are stil a team coming off a way below 500 year and 5-4-3 in conference this year with losses to PC and NU. Only win vs a team inh top 30 was vs BC.
That is not a top 15 team performance to date. If you believe the stories, they never should have lost to PC and NU this year.

I don't understand "smoke and mirrors" comment? Do you mean hard work by under-recruited kids who've bought into a system put together by an imaginative coach, combined with outstanding goaltending? Or does Dennehey have that same "pop the net off" button that Parker has (now THAT is smoke and mirrors!). "Smoke and mirrors" to me implies something fake/false; I don't see where hard work, tough, physical, play the body approach + Cannata = "smoke and mirrors".
And "only wins vs Top 30 teams" are still 2 pretty good wins as that particular team is realistically top 2 or 3 in the country; I think 2 ties vs BU is pretty good, but I think they'll come back to the pack (even with their 11 draft picks )

[WarriorDJ]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

he wasnt drafted because he is not nhl type. he took the spot by default when CS went pro. has been a great goalie and has done better than anyone ever expected. doubt much pro interest though

of course nhl draft picks mean talent.

Next year MC has 1 kid, maybe, coming in from USHL, zero from national team. they have 4-21 year old canadians and 2 - 20 year old canadians as well as well as 2-21 year old kids from EJ

all seem to come in and fit in, MD gets them to buy into his style. But, in fairness they ended up there for a reason. They spend as much time over past years as any program watching and recruiting in USHL with zero results.

I call talent the kids the 9 or 10 teams listed above are getting, blue chippers saught by everyone at 18.

I see what you're getting at, but honestly I don't see a ton of difference between NHL draft pick and NHL free agent signees. In response to Muse not fitting the NHL prototype--how about Tim Thomas--he fits no prototype for the NHL, but he made it (in a roundabout way) and is having success. Also, back to the draft pick = talent point, how about former BC tender Matti Kaltiainen? Drafted by the Bruins in the 4th round...he fit the NHL mold--big guy, solid positionally, college success with the Eagles--from the Finnish goalie school...how'd his NHL career go?

In terms of signees--look at former Terriers Kevin Shattenkirk and Matt Gilroy--both non-draftees making major impacts at the NHL level--never being drafted after their successful college hockey careers...

You can make the argument that most of the players in the NHL now are draftees, but I feel like the NHL is trending towards the college free agent more now than ever before because they can spend less on the college FA contracts and take less time to bring them up to the show.

[Hokydad]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

I see what you're getting at, but honestly I don't see a ton of difference between NHL draft pick and NHL free agent signees. In response to Muse not fitting the NHL prototype--how about Tim Thomas--he fits no prototype for the NHL, but he made it (in a roundabout way) and is having success. Also, back to the draft pick = talent point, how about former BC tender Matti Kaltiainen? Drafted by the Bruins in the 4th round...he fit the NHL mold--big guy, solid positionally, college success with the Eagles--from the Finnish goalie school...how'd his NHL career go?

In terms of signees--look at former Terriers Kevin Shattenkirk and Matt Gilroy--both non-draftees making major impacts at the NHL level--never being drafted after their successful college hockey careers...

You can make the argument that most of the players in the NHL now are draftees, but I feel like the NHL is trending towards the college free agent more now than ever before because they can spend less on the college FA contracts and take less time to bring them up to the show.

Option B would be guys in the NHL and from what school. MC is not that well represented here either. so drafted or not, the numbers dont add up


College Players Team Players

Wisconsin 18 Colorado 11

Boston College 17 Los Angeles 11

Michigan 17 San Jose 11

Boston Univeristy 15 Florida 11

North Dakota 12 Tampa Bay 10

Michigan State 11 Chicago 10

Minnesota 11 New Jersey 9

Clarkson 8 Pittsburgh 9

Ohio State 7 St. Louis 9

Maine 6 N.Y. Islanders 9

Colorado College 5 Buffalo 8

Dartmouth 5 Anaheim 8

Denver 5 Vancouver 8

Miami (Ohio) 5 Calgary 6

Notre Dame 5 Edmonton 6

Princeton 5 Ottawa 6

Vermont 5 Carolina 5

Harvard 4 Columbus 5

Massachusetts 4 Detroit 5

Michigan Tech 4 Minnesota 5

Nebraska-Omaha 4 Montreal 5

New Hampshire 4 N.Y. Rangers 5

Providence 4 Toronto 5

St. Cloud 4 Philadelphia 4

Western Michigan 4 Washington 4

Alaska-Fairbanks 3 Atlanta 3

Bowling Green 3 Boston 3

Colgate 3 Dallas 3

Cornell 3 Phoenix 3

Minnesota State-Mankato 3 Nashville 2

Minnesota-Duluth 3

Northern Michigan 3

St. Lawrence 3

Yale 3

Alaska-Anchorage 2

Lake Superior 2

Massachusetts Lowell 2

Bemidji State 1

Ferris State 1

McGill 1

RPI 1

[Hokydad]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

A High School AD/coach makes more than Mark Dennehy???

Yes he does, he was signed to a contract and guaranteed by old MC boosters that he would make the same plus bumps to go to his new gig. the old President at MC had given him a nice contract, about 50K more then MD signed for.

The answer is yes. He never missed a beat

[Salvo1017]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Just read an interesting stat on Mike's blog, Over the past 25 regular season games, Boston College is 17-7-1, Merrimack over the same stretch? 15-8-3. Just a two point difference.