UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Season?

[Snively65]

Joe Bertagna To Step Down as Hockey East Commissioner Following 2019-2020 Season


Chuck,

I hope you put your name in the hat as you would be a great Commissioner. You could see more hockey and it probably has a good salary and a great benefits package.

Hope your summer is going well. Hope to see you at the Whit this year.

I second that motion. Chuck could turn HEA things around, like in the good old days of his hero Lou Lamoriello. :-)

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Well I might as well weigh in with my thoughts on the demise of the Friends of Hockey. The truth is that the Friends were emasculated many years ago. Once the athletic department decreed that, in order to be in compliance with NCAA rules, and this was about ten years ago, the FOH had to become part of the athletic department, you know the jig was up. I became aware of the Friends a few years after I graduated (1972) when I started to sit among the “adults” at Snively and go to road games. I quickly learned the names of folks like Dick Rowell, Ken “Rip” Therrien, Jim Grimes and many more. These were the founders of FOH, which was basically organized because it’s members felt that the athletic department wasn’t doing enough to support the hockey program. The stories of how the Friends supported the program are too numerous to list but I will relate just one story. When UNH made the FF for the first time in 1977, many of us were on hand for the team skates the day before the first semifinal. Much to the chagrin of many of us UNH fans, we observed BU, Michigan, and Wisconsin skate around in sleek warmups similar to their game uniforms. UNH? They skated out there with hooded sweatshirts and jeans. Well Dick Rowell saw that and was incensed. I was years from being on the board then but the story was that at the first FOH meeting after the FF, the first order of business was to outfit the team with warmups suitable for an athletic program representing the flagship university in the state. Did they run this proposal by the athletic department before voting? Of course not, they voted to fund the warmups and told the athletic department to buy them.

For many years the Friends had a significant hand, to the good, in the fortunes of UNH Hockey. The board couldn’t unilaterally decide things like it did way back at the beginning but they raised a lot of money and wound up funding a lot of things that should have been part of the athletic department budget. No one complained. It was what folks felt they needed to do if the team was going to compete with the big boys in the league. By the time I got on the board in the early nineties, things were rolling and they continued that way until what I call the takeover. After that it just wasn’t the same. Part of it was Scarano’s autocratic way of doing things but, more than anything, it was the feeling that you were just a rubber stamp. Yes, it is sad that the Friends are no more. But why the school refuses to keep the organization running, at least in name only, is beyond me. IMO, Scarano and his minions just don’t care about the committed fans anymore. They feel we are a nuisance best to be ignored. Don’t agree? Just look at their actions. Sad but true.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Wonder how the golf tournament is going this year; lots of advertising for it more than ever. Hope it is as successful as it usually is for the team’s sake!

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Wonder how the golf tournament is going this year; lots of advertising for it more than ever. Hope it is as successful as it usually is for the team’s sake!

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Yes, it is sad that the Friends are no more. But why the school refuses to keep the organization running, at least in name only, is beyond me. IMO, Scarano and his minions just don’t care about the committed fans anymore. They feel we are a nuisance best to be ignored. Don’t agree? Just look at their actions. Sad but true.

Totally agree, Greg. Actions speak louder than words.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Chuck,

I hope you put your name in the hat as you would be a great Commissioner. You could see more hockey and it probably has a good salary and a great benefits package.

Hope your summer is going well. Hope to see you at the Whit this year.

'32, thanks for the nice note. I was driving back from an appointment this afternoon, and for whatever reason, it was then that what you suggested struck me as a terrific idea. So, tell you what I'm gonna do … I'm going to freshen up my resume, and for craps and giggles, I'm going to put out my platform - my various ideas on how to make college hockey a better place than it is today. Whether it's as Hockey East commish, or as UNH's AD, or just as the conscience of the sport in general. Right here on the offseason UNH thread (lucky youze guys, eh?). Just for a glimpse, I'll get started tonight with a few quick thoughts …

(1) Abolishment of Instant Replay - is there anything that's more of a buzzkill than the existence of instant replay? Has anyone ever walked away from a hockey game thinking "Thank God we had instant replay on that borderline offsides call in the second period?" No (at least no one with a shred of sanity). Is it a good hockey decision to scour three different camera angles to tell whether someone's skate was an inch above the blue line OR in contact with the blue line? Or whether someone was using a distinct kicking motion, or closed their glove on a puck?? Is instant replay REALLY essential for anything other than determining whether or not all of the puck broke all of the plane of the goal line??? There is technology available in both tennis and soccer which allows this to be determined virtually instantaneously. So … install the goal line tech, and abolish the rest. Nothing says stupidity like sucking the immediate emotion out of an OT GWG than the inevitable replay review. "Yay, we won!!" Oops, not yet. Wait for the video review … "Yay, we really won". Pure magic. Just trust the refs with the rest of the calls. It's a game, it's entertainment, and it was fine for a hundred years of fantastic spontaneous momens. Don't fix what ain't broken.

(2) OK to Kick the Crap out of the Puck - I never really understood why you can't kick the pick in for a goal. You can kick it pretty much anywhere else on the ice. There is skill in being able to control the puck with your skates. If you extend that to allowing intentional goalfront deflections with the skate, what's the big deal? You can deflect the puck for a goal with anything else - your stick, your knee, your elbow, your butt (see Pat Norton), your helmet, etc. And you can kick the crap out of the puck anywhere else on the ice surface. Are we really worried about Clint Malarchuk 2.0?

(3) Open up the Bars and Let College Kids be College Kids - effective immediately, all HE arenas should be granted licenses to sell beer before and during games. And the drinking age at the arenas should be immediately lowered to 18 yrs. old. Basically, these kids are either going to drink in their dorm, or at someone's party or somewhere else on Friday or Saturday game nights. Why not just let it happen organically at the arena? Home teams only, unless the visiting team's fans come via bus and get passes to confirm they're not driving home. It's out there anyway, why not just make the game the best ******ing party on campus, force the frats to work on filling up prime drinking dates on travel weekends, or on other weekday evenings, or Sundays?

(4) Do We Really Need 4 Officials? - I say NO. Three was enough for a very long time, and three should still be enough to cover the important things. Look at the money that the league would save right there. 25% reduction in on-ice personnel, and those old goal judges don't come back because of #1 above. The only really good reason to keep four around is a bit controversial …

(5) Allow Fighting in College Hockey - nothing, and I mean NOTHING gets a hockey crowd going like a honest-to-goodness drop the gloves fight. Make it hurt, say a 10 minute penalty, or a 20 minute penalty even, but none of this suspension BS. It's a tough game, and it's allowed at all of the "next levels". Why put the players at a competitive disadvantage, and deprive the fans (with lots of beer) to a tremendous spectacle in the process? And last but not least ...

(6) Make the 50-50 Raffle Really Count for Something - as in the past, the first 50% goes to the program. Instead of cashing out the other 50% to a winner every night, put the winner's name in contention for a mega-prize at the end of the season. If you're a participating family with kids, the end-of-season drawing among the 15 or so winners could come with a prize of a full year's free tuition, room and board at UNH (or whatever school is hosting your game). If you participate and don't have kids, then you win a Mercedes or a Beemer or similar type vehicle. A dealership sponsor could get loads of publicity off that alone.

I'm just getting started, folks. Hope this is a good start, thinking outside the box and all.

Next up will be the media/TV issue that's proven to be such a thorn in Joey B's side. Stay tuned ...

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

You had me at "Abolishment of Instant Replay". #chuck2019

[DLG]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

you lost me at allowing fighting

[Snively65]

you lost me at allowing fighting

As he said, he is "just getting started." :-)

[HockeyRef]

As he said, he is "just getting started." :-)

Brace yourselves folks I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore...#ChuckForCommish

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

you lost me at allowing fighting

OK - there's room for disagreement here. My point - from a UNH perspective, we've been sending way too many players into the ECHL wars unprepared for the realities of professional life at that level. Imagine we were sending out Business Majors into the real world with light and airy liberal arts courseloads, for example. Would we expect them to succeed? Heck no, they'd crap the bed. Same thing with "protecting" our future hockey professionals from future beatdowns. We want these guys to live their dreams, so we have to give them a fighting chance, no? Imagine an opportunity for UNH volunteer assistant coach Jay Miller? Talk about hands-on experience.

All I ask is that you keep an open mind. There is a method behind the madness. Leading me to …

(7) Legalize Retroactive Financial Aid - Coach Shawn Walsh (RIP) was a college hockey visionary in his lifetime, but this idea was something he got lambasted for, yet I think 25 or so years on now, it deserves a second look. D-1 programs recruit a wide range of prospects, ranging from blue-chip prospects with NHL ambitions, to fifth line walk-ons as roster filler/fodder/depth players. But what if, with most of the scholarship money allocated to the top kids, one of the lower profile kids emerges as a key player for the future? Sometimes you have to get creative … and the "Walshy Rule" would recognize that, allowing the programs flexibility to keep all of their key players happy, and not so easily distracted by Major Junior or ECHL or Euro pro opportunities.

(8) Loosen up the Redshirt Rules - imagine if you have a perfectly fine, undersized, successful D-1 player who has no real prospects for long-term professional employment in the sport, unless it's as a regional assistant sales rep for a hockey equipment supplier. But you're really very good at your "job" as a player in your current D-1 program. Each program should get to keep one such player at a time on its roster, past their usual four-in-five eligibility window. Given a chance between continuing at UNH as a 6th/7th/11th year "super-senior" or "grad" player, cementing a place in the community AND an on-ice leadership role within the program, as opposed to spending a year-and-a-half in Wheeling WV or Toledo OH before shipping out for some third tier team in Europe … seems like this would be a great opportunity to pick the right player to be the "face of the franchise". Said player would be tasked with weekly community outreach assignments to talk up the program, and hopefully boost ticket sales. And if the guy can't handle those aspects of the job - well, c'est la vie. Goodbye and good luck in the real world, and "next man up" to step in.

(9) Open Interview Process for HE Commish - we've got a year now to replace JB, we know he is professional enough to give the league the same solid effort he has for the last decade of solid progress utter stagnancy until he departs next year. I say, let's have an open ballot process at all HE arenas this coming season, and any fan can vote for any candidate. There would be no names on any pre-prepared printed ballots. Only write-in candidates allowed. No one currently employed by any of the member schools would be eligible. Each program nominates a candidate in this fashion, based on vote totals at each home arena through 12/31/19. The eleven "winners" advance to an open form debate, to be held between games at the Beanpot Finals on the second Monday in February in Boston. Four are selected from that field by a panel made up of all inactive Hockey East on-ice officials in attendance for the event, and the final two advance to a similar debate in between periods (twice) of the HE Finals. Next HE commissioner is then determined by a voice vote of all fans who are in attendance that evening. This allows the new HE commish to pal around at the FF with the "legendary" outgoing commish to learn the ropes (and his/her future adversaries).

Yes, I realize I've barely scratched the surface on HE's future media policy. Please be patient; this may seem like a logical and semi-coherent platform, but I'm getting some strange calls from the 317 area code lately, so I can't afford to be reckless. Stay tuned …

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Now, finally, the pieces de resistance of my platform for Making Hockey East Great Again …

(10) Get Rid of Underperforming Member Schools That Don't Fit - not exactly a new idea, and definitely not something I've come up with on my own. But if the last generation's worth of HE history has proven anything, it's that bigger isn't necerssarily better. Actually, it's made it worse. It had to hurt JB and some of the fawning HE AD's who voted for Northern Indiana CC to implausibly join the conference a few years ago - the ones who could now drop "uh, honey, I'll be traveling to a league meeting at Notre Dame next week" into their dinner table discussions (or at least their cross-bedroom text messages) - but the failure of the concept was inevitable, and it did serve as a reminder that just because something sounds stupid to begin with, isn't a reason to move forward with it anyway to prove that conclusion beyond any shadow of a doubt. So … with NICC vanquished, let's take a further look around the conference table for other targets to trim the fat. Merrimack is the most obvious one, and there's no reason they wouldn't be welcomed with open arms by Atlantic Hockey. UConn is next up, lacking any real D-1 history, and if Atlantic Hockey won't take them back, then the ECAC could be convinced to do so perhaps … if only because the third and final program out the door would be UVM, which has never quite lived up to the promise many of us believed they had at the time they were added to the league. A couple of years ago, and UMass would probably have been on the HE chopping block, but Coach Carvel has saved their bacon - and just in time too. That's a nice even eight (8) team league right there.

(11) Remove the Helmet Cages, Replace with Visors Only - just to bring out more of the visibility and humanity of the players (and because it helps with the rest of the plan), again while prepping the D-1 skaters for their future professional careers at ever-higher levels. Even a half-visor works for me - hockey players lose teeth all the time, it's the eyes we can't afford to be losing, so cover those. Of course, the visors would potentially help a lot with the following planks in my platform …

(12) The Bachelorette - Hockey East Version - OK, so Hockey East has a media income (or lack thereof) issue. For years there has been a lot of postulating on how to attract new fans or the so-called "casual" fans to the game. Here it is, in one very neat and tidy,, all-encompassing package. Open auditions for the "Bachelorette" could come from (remaining) member schools, and as the objects of her affection, each HE member program would have to select at least one "Bachelor" for her consideration. Maybe even two from each team?? Imagine the drama … you're down to the final half-dozen of these would-be studs, and two share the same locker room … or as opponents, they meet in live action and duke it out (remember, fighting is now legal), and each week we'd have a new episode as a one-hour lead-in to a real live Hockey East game on a Monday night or Friday night. With just a little massaging, this whole concept could solve the league financial woes in one fell swoop, introduce new and casual fans alike to D-1 hockey, and the synergy would create a whole new buzz around the league to begin with, and eventually all of D-1. And finally ...

(13) Base the Conference Tourney on Home Attendance Only - worried about low tourney attendance? Worry no more!! Let the PWR, RPI, AOC, etc. take care of the teams that perform well across the regular season, but save that autobid for one of the four teams with the best home attendance during the regular season. Regardless of records, make this one all about the Benjamins, and ensure the best HE tourney attendance on a regular basis. Also, make sure the HE tourney ALWAYS coincides with the St. Patrick's Day holiday. That always creates a better atmosphere, doesn't it? If we want to get more animated crowds to the tourney like the old days of UMaine, UNH, and one or two of the Boston schools (no worries, Lowell - I do like your chances over MinuteWagon @ Flagship), and avoid chronic mistakes like Providence or the other schools (already knee-capped by #10 above), this should do the trick. It might also provide incentives for programs to offer discount prices for the home tickets. Genius, right?



Anyway … hopefully these 13 steps would be a big step forward to getting Hockey East thinking about a future that's not stuck in the mud like it's pretty much been for the better part of the last decade-plus.

Or we can just keep doing the same old things over and over again, and hope for a different outcome.

After all, it's not like that's the practical definition of insanity. Oh, wait …

[Elbowing]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

(10) Get Rid of Underperforming Member Schools That Don't Fit


UNH final place in League Standings Last 5 years:

8th
Last
10th
10th
8th

Is that not underperforming?

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

(10) Get Rid of Underperforming Member Schools That Don't Fit

UNH final place in League Standings Last 5 years:

8th
Last
10th
10th
8th

Is that not underperforming?

Underperforming on the ice? Heck yes. Underperforming revenue-wise, compared with the rest of the league? Doubtful. Part of the reason JB is heading off to earlier-than-planned retirement probably has a lot to do with the fact that programs like UNH and UMaine aren't around regularly any more to prop up the attendance (and revenue) derived from the HE Tourney.

Oh … and that "Schools That Don't Fit" part, you'll notice that my 3 candidates for immediate exile have compiled the grand total of zero (0) HE Tourney or RS titles between them. combined. Ditto UMass Amherst, until last season. God knows I'd prefer to have kept UVM for the scenery, and I've lambasted and ridiculed UMA for years, but there are standards here that need to be upheld.

Another less-controversial approach than #13 to better position HE to maximize league tourney revenue is …

(14) Split the Eight Team League into Two Divisions

Patriarca Division

Providence
BC
BU
Northeastern

Bulger Division

UMass Lowell
UMass Amherst
UMaine
UNH

Regular season - play 4 games against divisional foes, and 3 games against the other division. 24 games.

Post-season - as with the NHL, playoffs come through the divisions first - at least to get to the TD Garden. Quarterfinals would be best of three, with all games at the higher seed's rink. Higher seed (again) is NOT based on results, but rather home attendance. Too many games in too short a time? Ties go to the home team as a win. Again, putting the emphasis on the revenue piece.

Semifinals and Finals - semifinal games continue to be within the division. Hence, if UNH and UMaine advance, they would play each other, ensuring healthy attendance for the Finals. Ditto in the Patriarca Division, with the caveat that Providence cannot be allowed to advance to Boston. But the Hockey East league HQ would need to relocate to Providence. Hence, Providence would siphon off a chunk of the revenue generated in Boston. Befitting the namesake of this Division.

The Lamoriello Trophy still goes to the winner of the Finals, but that game would follow after the newly-minted Bertagna Cup, to be awarded to the winner of the reinstated Consolation Game between the losers of the semifinals. All the more reason to give the traveling fans a reason to make a weekend of it in Boston, and boost the arena's revenues further. If the Bertagna Cup ends regulation in a tie, then instead of pushing the Finals off schedule, the two consolation contestants would immediately drop the gloves in a line brawl, to be officiated by a blue ribbon panel including Derek Sanderson, Stan Jonathan and John Wensink.

Hasn't been much feedback lately, so hopefully my write-in campaign for HE Commish is still alive …

[UNH1932]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2019 Offseason - How Much Progress Did We Really Make This Past Seas

Chuck, you started out like a ball of fire for the commissioners job. It seems like a month vacation to work it out with the family might be in order. We might want to reevaluate your allowing fighting in college hockey. You had us at hello, and I am thinking the fighting would be the deal breaker. The NCAA might be a minor problem as they are not keen to allow fighting. They have Junior Hockey for that and UNH would surely vote against fighting. You made many strong points and keep up the new ideas.