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Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

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  • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

    Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
    Good stuff, Dan.

    I just looked at my Ledyard Tourney tickets (UNH - Dartmouth) and discovered that the games have been moved back two days so now conflict with Bentley at Tsongas; bummer.
    Yikes! Well the alma mater for you will have a great draw one way or the other up there in the Ledyard. There will be some seriously good hockey, and I'm willing to bet UNH will be playing at 4 no matter what to give Dartmouth the extra night of rest. Unless we're talking about the first day of games, in which case that's a guaranteed 7 PM start. The lesson as always? I have no idea what I'm talking about.

    I'll be heading to Lowell to cover the game audio-wise. It's looking like we probably won't have ppv video, but the audio side of it will be covered. Free as always. This is me crossing my fingers that UStream works for me and the laptop, which is old and getting ready to be put into pasture, holds up.
    Win today and we'll walk together forever. -Ray Shero

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    • Originally posted by eXcSports View Post
      Yikes! Well the alma mater for you will have a great draw one way or the other up there in the Ledyard. There will be some seriously good hockey, and I'm willing to bet UNH will be playing at 4 no matter what to give Dartmouth the extra night of rest. Unless we're talking about the first day of games, in which case that's a guaranteed 7 PM start. The lesson as always? I have no idea what I'm talking about.

      I'll be heading to Lowell to cover the game audio-wise. It's looking like we probably won't have ppv video, but the audio side of it will be covered. Free as always. This is me crossing my fingers that UStream works for me and the laptop, which is old and getting ready to be put into pasture, holds up.
      UNH - Dartmouth @ 7 pm. So, I suppose that I could hire a helicopter to transport us to Hanover from Tsongas to see both Bentley and UNH games. I am still hoping that Umile and $carano invite the Falcons to Lake Whitt for a game next season; would love to see Gensler and Weinstein skate on the big sheet.

      Will try to stream your audio in Hanover, Dan; good luck to you and our Falcons at Tsongas.

      Comment


      • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

        Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
        UNH - Dartmouth @ 7 pm. So, I suppose that I could hire a helicopter to transport us to Hanover from Tsongas to see both Bentley and UNH games. I am still hoping that Umile and $carano invite the Falcons to Lake Whitt for a game next season; would love to see Gensler and Weinstein skate on the big sheet.

        Will try to stream your audio in Hanover, Dan; good luck to you and our Falcons at Tsongas.
        UNH is another bad season away from scheduling Bentley; unfortunatley, if they keep playing the way that they are as of late, they'll never end up with AHA teams. Western teams will be drooling at potential super matchups when the NCHC forms. That's a real bummer.

        Although that actually brings up a good point. Do you think the new conferences will actually help with scheduling? I'd love to see Bentley heading out to UNO or Colorado College over break to play Air Force AND CC over the span of a week.
        Win today and we'll walk together forever. -Ray Shero

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        • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

          Originally posted by eXcSports View Post
          Although that actually brings up a good point. Do you think the new conferences will actually help with scheduling? I'd love to see Bentley heading out to UNO or Colorado College over break to play Air Force AND CC over the span of a week.
          I don't think they will help much. Unless someone fills the hole left from UConn, teams now have a couple free slots to play OOC. The downside is that some AHA teams have a hard enough time finding a full slate of games. The biggest holes in the schedule will be in the West. I don't know how willing some of those teams are going to be in terms of scheduling AHA teams unless they think they can help the PWR. And right now, that's only a handful of teams.
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          • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

            Originally posted by eXcSports View Post
            UNH is another bad season away from scheduling Bentley; unfortunatley, if they keep playing the way that they are as of late, they'll never end up with AHA teams. Western teams will be drooling at potential super matchups when the NCHC forms. That's a real bummer.
            Over the past 7 seasons, UNH has played 22 OOC games against western teams and 27 OOC games against eastern teams, so I doubt that the distribution of their OOC games will change much, regardless how the Wildcats finish this season. The Wildcats have only played one really bad season in the past 15 years and that was last year, when arguably they also played their weakest OOC schedule ever, which followed a string of 14 good seasons. UNH played Brown in 2011-2012 and 2010-2011, after Bentley beat the Brown Bears. UNH played Holy Cross in 2008-2009, which led to funniest post all-time on the USCHO Fan Forum. I still think that the Falcons - Wildcats would be a great match up at Lake Whitt, with one of Div 1's best team offenses playing against one of Div 1's best defenses (based on mid-season this year). End result could be similar to the Falcons game at Dartmouth earlier this month, but I would still like to see it.

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            • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

              Originally posted by komey1 View Post
              I don't think they will help much. Unless someone fills the hole left from UConn, teams now have a couple free slots to play OOC. The downside is that some AHA teams have a hard enough time finding a full slate of games. The biggest holes in the schedule will be in the West. I don't know how willing some of those teams are going to be in terms of scheduling AHA teams unless they think they can help the PWR. And right now, that's only a handful of teams.
              Exactly. Western teams have almost no reason to schedule the historically lower-tiered teams out of AHA. I think there is a sort of credibility card at play. Just look at teams like HC and Mercyhurst- even though they have been average in recent years, both have made tournament appearances. It makes little sense for traditional powerhouse teams like CC to schedule a Bentley game. The best thing they can do is take advantage consistently of big games and make a tourney appearance... something I don't see happening under the current staff.

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              • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                Originally posted by Pk Specialist View Post
                Exactly. Western teams have almost no reason to schedule the historically lower-tiered teams out of AHA. I think there is a sort of credibility card at play. Just look at teams like HC and Mercyhurst- even though they have been average in recent years, both have made tournament appearances. It makes little sense for traditional powerhouse teams like CC to schedule a Bentley game. The best thing they can do is take advantage consistently of big games and make a tourney appearance... something I don't see happening under the current staff.
                I would tend to disagree. The current coaching staff has built a solid program out of virtually nothing at a Division II school. While it's true that UMass Lowell and Merrimack are both NE-10 schools with hockey programs at the Division I level, both have robust D1 histories. Merrimack, before Hockey East, was one of the first teams to transition to Division I when the ECAC split and the new colleges formed the conference. MACK went to D1 with the intention of joining Hockey East, and thanks to a 34-win season in one of those years, made the tournament as an independent. The River Hawks joined D1 and immediately went to Hockey East, so the two schools have been bolstered by constantly being associated with the top-flight ECAC schools taht formed Hockey East. Even though Merrimack's had some very rough stretches in there, they were always going to be a top-tier D1 school, at least in terms of conference affiliation.

                Without Ryan Soderquist, there's a chance Bentley hockey wouldn't even exist. It would've probably been long commuted to club status and ceased to exist without the D2 NCAA championship, or it would've existed in that false D2 NE-10 conference with Assumption, Franklin Pierce, and Stonehill. Soderquist oversaw the move up as a player to ensure Bentley was competitive, then remained as the head coach. He's ushered in the program's richest history, and he's recruited the likes of Jeff Gumaer, Dain Prewitt, Simon St. Pierre, and the immortal penalty men of Bobby Preece and others. Without the current staff, Bentley would be in a lot worse shape, possibly worse than AIC. This coaching staff has a vision for the program that I can't help but buy into. If you look at the recruiting classes in the first year after the 2009 AHA semifinals appearance, look at it through this lens:

                Top senior in 2009 - Gumaer, Prewitt, Canzoneri, others.
                2010 - Marc Menzione. Good player. Bad leader.
                2011 - Dustin Cloutier. Rebounded from injury but not a vocal leader by any stretch. Overrated player without the support Menzione and others. Also throw into this class Erik Peterson, who wasn't exactly a world beater.
                2012 - Nudy, Switzer, Kayfes, Stonacek, Bonnett - by far the best recruiting class since the class of '09
                2013 - Hartung, Koudys - eh. Not the best recruiting class. Campanelli is an injury liability the last couple of years and never amounted to his freshman level potential.
                2014 - Gensler. Komm. Marginsky. Breton. Fitzstephens (whos turning into a hard-working blue collar type). Rickord. Hands down the best recruiting class they've ever had.
                2015 - Grieve. Weinstein. Switzer #2. Kubiak. Maher. A class not as strong as the '14, but produced some good players. Grieve could be suffering from Menzione Syndrome though where he's better because he's playing with better talent.
                2016 - Gladiuk. Krause. Antoni. O'Brien. Reardon. So far this class has been solid, and it's actually setting up the program for life after Gensler.

                I think if you look back from '09 to now, the coaching staff has done a great job getting the team ready for one to two solid runs. They're one more class away from getting on a Niagara-type rally.
                Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

                STAY UP #94 #58

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                • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                  Last look at the first half - goaltenders are up.

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                  Win today and we'll walk together forever. -Ray Shero

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                  • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                    Originally posted by Humanoid View Post
                    I would tend to disagree. The current coaching staff has built a solid program out of virtually nothing at a Division II school. While it's true that UMass Lowell and Merrimack are both NE-10 schools with hockey programs at the Division I level, both have robust D1 histories. Merrimack, before Hockey East, was one of the first teams to transition to Division I when the ECAC split and the new colleges formed the conference. MACK went to D1 with the intention of joining Hockey East, and thanks to a 34-win season in one of those years, made the tournament as an independent. The River Hawks joined D1 and immediately went to Hockey East, so the two schools have been bolstered by constantly being associated with the top-flight ECAC schools taht formed Hockey East. Even though Merrimack's had some very rough stretches in there, they were always going to be a top-tier D1 school, at least in terms of conference affiliation.

                    Without Ryan Soderquist, there's a chance Bentley hockey wouldn't even exist. It would've probably been long commuted to club status and ceased to exist without the D2 NCAA championship, or it would've existed in that false D2 NE-10 conference with Assumption, Franklin Pierce, and Stonehill. Soderquist oversaw the move up as a player to ensure Bentley was competitive, then remained as the head coach. He's ushered in the program's richest history, and he's recruited the likes of Jeff Gumaer, Dain Prewitt, Simon St. Pierre, and the immortal penalty men of Bobby Preece and others. Without the current staff, Bentley would be in a lot worse shape, possibly worse than AIC. This coaching staff has a vision for the program that I can't help but buy into. If you look at the recruiting classes in the first year after the 2009 AHA semifinals appearance, look at it through this lens:

                    Top senior in 2009 - Gumaer, Prewitt, Canzoneri, others.
                    2010 - Marc Menzione. Good player. Bad leader.
                    2011 - Dustin Cloutier. Rebounded from injury but not a vocal leader by any stretch. Overrated player without the support Menzione and others. Also throw into this class Erik Peterson, who wasn't exactly a world beater.
                    2012 - Nudy, Switzer, Kayfes, Stonacek, Bonnett - by far the best recruiting class since the class of '09
                    2013 - Hartung, Koudys - eh. Not the best recruiting class. Campanelli is an injury liability the last couple of years and never amounted to his freshman level potential.
                    2014 - Gensler. Komm. Marginsky. Breton. Fitzstephens (whos turning into a hard-working blue collar type). Rickord. Hands down the best recruiting class they've ever had.
                    2015 - Grieve. Weinstein. Switzer #2. Kubiak. Maher. A class not as strong as the '14, but produced some good players. Grieve could be suffering from Menzione Syndrome though where he's better because he's playing with better talent.
                    2016 - Gladiuk. Krause. Antoni. O'Brien. Reardon. So far this class has been solid, and it's actually setting up the program for life after Gensler.

                    I think if you look back from '09 to now, the coaching staff has done a great job getting the team ready for one to two solid runs. They're one more class away from getting on a Niagara-type rally.
                    Understandable if you want to say that the program wouldn't be where it's at today without Soderquist. Yes there has been a good bit of history built over the years and to his credit he kept the program alive. I think it's foolish to contend that he is what the program needs to step up to the next level though. Bentley may have a similar story to Lowell and Merrimack but it's got a heck of a lot more potential to be great than either of those schools. The academic factor alone gives it much more credibility. If the school would play its cards right, it could be a serious threat for the ivy's in the area in terms of an all-around package for hockey recruits. Soderquist did well to bring the program out of the D-2 slums, but to say he is also the guy to bring it to the next level is questionable. Go down the list of players you named up there. Bentley has consistently had leadership issues over the years. This as a direct extension of the coach and the atmosphere he creates around the rink. The other big problem that I've noticed (and I see repeating itself) is inconsistency. You see them take down UMass (#15 at the time) in 2010 only to end the season early against Uconn. The next year it was an early exit at the hands of Sacred Heart. I hope they can finish strong this year and it looks like they may, but there have been hints of inconsistency already (9-1 win against UAH followed up by a 5-rip display at Harvard the next night)

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                    • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                      Originally posted by Pk Specialist View Post
                      Understandable if you want to say that the program wouldn't be where it's at today without Soderquist. Yes there has been a good bit of history built over the years and to his credit he kept the program alive. I think it's foolish to contend that he is what the program needs to step up to the next level though. Bentley may have a similar story to Lowell and Merrimack but it's got a heck of a lot more potential to be great than either of those schools. The academic factor alone gives it much more credibility. If the school would play its cards right, it could be a serious threat for the ivy's in the area in terms of an all-around package for hockey recruits. Soderquist did well to bring the program out of the D-2 slums, but to say he is also the guy to bring it to the next level is questionable. Go down the list of players you named up there. Bentley has consistently had leadership issues over the years. This as a direct extension of the coach and the atmosphere he creates around the rink. The other big problem that I've noticed (and I see repeating itself) is inconsistency. You see them take down UMass (#15 at the time) in 2010 only to end the season early against Uconn. The next year it was an early exit at the hands of Sacred Heart. I hope they can finish strong this year and it looks like they may, but there have been hints of inconsistency already (9-1 win against UAH followed up by a 5-rip display at Harvard the next night)
                      The consistency is, indeed, an issue, but it's hardly the coaches' fault. We knew heading into the season that the defense would be wildly inconsistent since they replaced three of the best Dmen in the AHA with a revolving door of freshmen. The team itself had to deal with turnover on the coaching staff with the 09 recruiting class because Mark White, the then-assistant who brought in Simon St. Pierre, Jaye Judd, and hte Canzoneri class, left for Brown. That meant that the last couple of White recruiting classes weren't great, but the first Murphy/Soderquist class was fantastic. The first full year of Murphy's recruiting brings in Gensler and those guys, with Soderquist. Murphy's a stalwart on the east coast juniors scene. And he does a great job bringing in players.

                      In response to the inconsistency regarding games you mention - Bentley's in the middle between two teams at the polar opposite end of the spectrum. At the time, Harvard was playing its first game of the season on home ice while ranked in the top 15. They have NHL-ready talent in Biega and arguably Fallstrom. They also benefitted from some home cooking calls from the worst refs in the country in the ECAC (a noted drawback to the league is that the officials int he ECAC are actually worse than the AHA). And the night before, Bentley played a TERRIBLE UAH team that had guys playing defense who couldn't even skate backwards. A more fair assessment of inconsistency would be the two nights against RMU, when they played like poo on the first night and lost, then had a 3-0 lead they almost coughed up on the 2nd night. UAH would probably lose to Suny-Oswego or Norwich right now.

                      It's a process, and while we the fans would positively LOVE to see the Falcons go 20-wins and be what Niagara currently is, that's not in the plans for this year. Based on the roster, they're one more recruiting class away from making the jump, and realistically, the coaching staff this year only has to get the team in position to finish in the top four. If they do that, they get a home second round series, which is a huge deal as we found out a year ago. The defense is very young, and it shows. The offense is seasoned and very talented, and it shows. The goaltending is inconsistent because of this, and honestly, Komm's taken a major step back this year that he hopefully works out in the second half of the season.

                      Bentley is exactly where they need to be, which is in position to make a run in the second half to finish in the top four. The process said last year to get out of the first round after hosting and pressure the second round. This year it's to host the second round and maybe make it to Rochester. Next year - it's all in. And for a guy like Soderquist, who's history has given him two league coach of the year awards and, over time, teams built to go to the conference championship (loss to holy cross) and semifinals (loss to Air Force) in years when the eventual conference champion was loaded give us a track record to go on.

                      I understand the statements of inconsistency; I just disagree with their premise.
                      Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

                      STAY UP #94 #58

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                      • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                        Originally posted by Pk Specialist View Post
                        Understandable if you want to say that the program wouldn't be where it's at today without Soderquist. Yes there has been a good bit of history built over the years and to his credit he kept the program alive. I think it's foolish to contend that he is what the program needs to step up to the next level though. Bentley may have a similar story to Lowell and Merrimack but it's got a heck of a lot more potential to be great than either of those schools. The academic factor alone gives it much more credibility. If the school would play its cards right, it could be a serious threat for the ivy's in the area in terms of an all-around package for hockey recruits. Soderquist did well to bring the program out of the D-2 slums, but to say he is also the guy to bring it to the next level is questionable. Go down the list of players you named up there. Bentley has consistently had leadership issues over the years. This as a direct extension of the coach and the atmosphere he creates around the rink. The other big problem that I've noticed (and I see repeating itself) is inconsistency. You see them take down UMass (#15 at the time) in 2010 only to end the season early against Uconn. The next year it was an early exit at the hands of Sacred Heart. I hope they can finish strong this year and it looks like they may, but there have been hints of inconsistency already (9-1 win against UAH followed up by a 5-rip display at Harvard the next night)
                        And in response to your statement about leadership, Bentley has recruited leaders. This year's team is full of them from my vantage point. Koudys is a great leader, and Gensler leads by example. Last year, Switzer, Nudy, and Bonnett were solid leaders, especially the d-men. The last couple of White recruiting classes brought in guys brought in the wrong guys. And at Brown, if you look up and down the roster, they're going through the same issue. They have talent, but no leaders.

                        Dan - you're familiar with the Brown program too. Would you agree with that statement?
                        Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

                        STAY UP #94 #58

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                        • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                          Originally posted by Humanoid View Post
                          And in response to your statement about leadership, Bentley has recruited leaders. This year's team is full of them from my vantage point. Koudys is a great leader, and Gensler leads by example. Last year, Switzer, Nudy, and Bonnett were solid leaders, especially the d-men. The last couple of White recruiting classes brought in guys brought in the wrong guys. And at Brown, if you look up and down the roster, they're going through the same issue. They have talent, but no leaders.

                          Dan - you're familiar with the Brown program too. Would you agree with that statement?
                          Brown's had some issues with leadership over the past couple of years but that's because that coaching staff had to quite literally gut the entire program to get four years of ground level guys. I think it's an unfair indictment to say that the recruitment of players without leadership qualities is the fault of the coaching staff. I think that's an intangible that, honestly, can't be coached.

                          I don't fault Bentley's coaching staff for recruiting guys who "aren't leaders." If you look at a team, the guys who are the "best players" on the ice are seldom the most vocal. You need mroe of the hustle energy guys. Bentley does not win games on one line alone; neither does Brown. They win games when the second and third lines do damage, and in Bentley's case, when the fourth line gets involved. It's a comprehensive game plan where the coaches are educating their players.

                          I believe in the Bentley coaching staff because they've shown they can build the program. If Bentley had not improved steadily over the past two years, I would be buying in that the staff has lost touch with the ability to recruit. But the fact that they're bringing in a high quality recruit and forming a strong team for their purposes in such an atmosphere where Bentley does not have the best recruiting base is amazing. They have academics, yes, but athletic facilities, especially hockey ones, are sorely lacking. They're not going to beat out Holy Cross for recruits, nor are they going to beat out most of the west. They need to find all the diamonds in the rough, and I think the coaching staff has done a great job assembling a strong team out of guys that were recruited by the Yales and RPIs of the world but told to stay in juniors for one more year.
                          Win today and we'll walk together forever. -Ray Shero

                          Comment


                          • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                            "The consistency is, indeed, an issue, but it's hardly the coaches' fault"
                            "I don't fault Bentley's coaching staff for recruiting guys who 'aren't leaders.'"

                            I think you need to step back and evaluate this program compared to all others in the country. There is a definite reason Bentley has not received any votes to be ranked. There have been good teams to come through the program, but ultimately they can't hold it together for full seasons consistently. If you truly believe you cannot hold the staff accountable for the two things mentioned above... well you're going to have very little turnover- that's for sure. Sometimes it takes lighting a fire under someone to get them/ the program going. My argument is simple- with the current establishment (AD's, coaches, overall mentality on sports at the school), Bentley will not magically rise to be an elite program on the east coast.

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                            • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                              Originally posted by Pk Specialist View Post
                              "The consistency is, indeed, an issue, but it's hardly the coaches' fault"
                              "I don't fault Bentley's coaching staff for recruiting guys who 'aren't leaders.'"

                              I think you need to step back and evaluate this program compared to all others in the country. There is a definite reason Bentley has not received any votes to be ranked. There have been good teams to come through the program, but ultimately they can't hold it together for full seasons consistently. If you truly believe you cannot hold the staff accountable for the two things mentioned above... well you're going to have very little turnover- that's for sure. Sometimes it takes lighting a fire under someone to get them/ the program going. My argument is simple- with the current establishment (AD's, coaches, overall mentality on sports at the school), Bentley will not magically rise to be an elite program on the east coast.
                              I can see your argument, and I think there are valid points and concerns. You're more than welcome to your personal opinion, but I'll counter with a couple of statistics for you based on my time here (roughly 5 years). Snively - I know you and Humanoid both have been associated longer. So for older material, I'll defer to that. So I'll go down the list of things here and address them one by one to give an honest and educated response based on my experience and information I've gathered over the course of my tenure and association with the team.

                              1) Attendance/Backing of the administration: Five years ago, if the team drew a legitimate 150 people to the JAR, it was a lot of people. It's something I've written about at length on the website. The school has made a marked investment in the team to provide shuttle buses for the students to and from campus from and to the rink. This never existed before two years ago. The school has also made investments in terms of incentives for giveaways to make sure they're inundating the students with gratuitous merch. There have been Bentley hockey t-shirt giveaways before, but now they're doing Bentley Falcon trash cans and God knows what else. The crowd might be dead on some nights, but Bentley is now packing stands like they didn't before. Is it the ideal being off campus? Absolutely not. Far from it. But the team is drawing close to 800-1,000 during each game, including nights when the senior class has a bus going into Boston. They've developed associations with a fraternity, and they've developed a core group of supporters that didn't exist until the last two seasons. The ability to get the students to the game is a direct link to the school sinking money into the program.

                              2) Recruiting: The coaching staff, meanwhile, has, in the past four years, built the program back from a gutted state, which has been mentioned. What I don't think you understand about the recruiting process is that a player is, for lack of a better term, tied to a coach. When the coaching staff has turnover, which Bentley has had in the last five years - it has not, like you say, remained status quo, with needing to replace Mark White with Ben Murphy - recruiting inevitably takes a dive. At other programs like a Boston College or even at an Air Force or even still at a Brown or Harvard, assistant coach turnover doesn't matter as much because of the school's hockey brand. College athletes come to Bentley to play for this coaching staff, and that's a reputation the staff has had to build among pipeline recruiting areas and teams. Ryan Soderquist has a reputation among those leagues, but you have to remember the bulk of recruiting is done by assistant coaching. When Mark White left, Ben Murphy became the primary source of recruiting. He's on the road while the team is playing. And that means the recruiting had to change. For Coach Murphy, this is his first Division I job. He gets this job at a school where there is only one assistant coach's slot, not including the strength coach Charlie Carkin. Most colleges have recruiting coordinators and multiple assistant coaches. Brown, where Mark White is now the associate head coach, now utilizes three assistants, including their (off the roster) goaltending consultant.

                              3) The team's ability to get votes in a poll: Look, Rome wasn't built in a day; you'll be hard-pressed to find any AHA teams that consistently achieve votes in the national poll. And even then, it never goes on conference record, it only goes on overall record. Bentley is still a few steps behind the Harvards or Dartmouths of the world; okay, well they have 50 years of hockey tradition and a name recognition. Their academics are stronger than Bentley on their school name (the Ivy League >>>> everyone). And, in Harvard's case, they have a national reputation that usually gets them the Notre Dame Football syndrome. AHA isn't Hockey East; it's going to have to fight that much harder to get votes. If a team had Niagara's start to the year, including the five shutouts, and they played in the ECAC, they'd be a top 10 team. Instead, NU is ranked, what, like 16th. And the first loss drops them out of the poll. That's a stigma the league has fought in recent years, but it'll always have it thanks to the lack of SOS. That's something that outweighs Bentley. I'd rather extend the statement to say that Bentley has built and gotten better because some of the bigger names around New England are willing to gamble and play them. If Harvard or Dartmouth loses to Bentley, that's a disaster on the local radar. The fact that they're willing to play them with such a limited number of OOCs illustrates the Falcons arrival on the local scene.

                              4) The current establishment: Bentley has done more in the last 3 years to get this program support than it has most others. Okay, they don't have an on-campus rink, but you know what, the school has embraced the JAR for its lack of comfort. It's something of a Veterans Stadium approach down in Philly. When they do replace it, people will clamor to pull the trigger. But the dump of the JAR is what makes Bentley hockey what it is. This is a school that has one head coach, one assistant, and a second assistant who's a strength coach. When Ben Murphy's on the road, Ryan Soderquist had to get to the school to get laundry done last year and make sure equipment got from point A to point B. The facilities are less than spectacular. It's not BC. It's never going to be. And they get that.

                              But Bentley's buildling. You can't possibly ask the Athletic Director to all of a sudden sink every resource he has into making D1 hockey his primary focus. Bobby Defelice has done a great job in getting behind the program recently. Yes, it comes at a time after the Dana Center was made as gorgeous as it was, after the football stadium got field turf, and during a time when the school is in the middle of a rebranding that is being derided by its student base. But the rebrand, the investment into hockey with the buses, the administration going to games, it's all about getting this team built up. It's happening. Five years ago, this program teetered on nonexistence, and now there's not a doubt it will exist at this school. It's hard to see sometimes, but it's there.

                              I'll ask this question - if you don't think the administration or coaching staff is doing its job, then please outline the changes you would make. I'm interested to hear what you have (genuinely interested; I truly hope that didn't come across stubborn and in your face).
                              Win today and we'll walk together forever. -Ray Shero

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                              • Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins

                                Originally posted by eXcSports View Post
                                I can see your argument, and I think there are valid points and concerns. You're more than welcome to your personal opinion, but I'll counter with a couple of statistics for you based on my time here (roughly 5 years). Snively - I know you and Humanoid both have been associated longer. So for older material, I'll defer to that. So I'll go down the list of things here and address them one by one to give an honest and educated response based on my experience and information I've gathered over the course of my tenure and association with the team.

                                1) Attendance/Backing of the administration: Five years ago, if the team drew a legitimate 150 people to the JAR, it was a lot of people. It's something I've written about at length on the website. The school has made a marked investment in the team to provide shuttle buses for the students to and from campus from and to the rink. This never existed before two years ago. The school has also made investments in terms of incentives for giveaways to make sure they're inundating the students with gratuitous merch. There have been Bentley hockey t-shirt giveaways before, but now they're doing Bentley Falcon trash cans and God knows what else. The crowd might be dead on some nights, but Bentley is now packing stands like they didn't before. Is it the ideal being off campus? Absolutely not. Far from it. But the team is drawing close to 800-1,000 during each game, including nights when the senior class has a bus going into Boston. They've developed associations with a fraternity, and they've developed a core group of supporters that didn't exist until the last two seasons. The ability to get the students to the game is a direct link to the school sinking money into the program.

                                2) Recruiting: The coaching staff, meanwhile, has, in the past four years, built the program back from a gutted state, which has been mentioned. What I don't think you understand about the recruiting process is that a player is, for lack of a better term, tied to a coach. When the coaching staff has turnover, which Bentley has had in the last five years - it has not, like you say, remained status quo, with needing to replace Mark White with Ben Murphy - recruiting inevitably takes a dive. At other programs like a Boston College or even at an Air Force or even still at a Brown or Harvard, assistant coach turnover doesn't matter as much because of the school's hockey brand. College athletes come to Bentley to play for this coaching staff, and that's a reputation the staff has had to build among pipeline recruiting areas and teams. Ryan Soderquist has a reputation among those leagues, but you have to remember the bulk of recruiting is done by assistant coaching. When Mark White left, Ben Murphy became the primary source of recruiting. He's on the road while the team is playing. And that means the recruiting had to change. For Coach Murphy, this is his first Division I job. He gets this job at a school where there is only one assistant coach's slot, not including the strength coach Charlie Carkin. Most colleges have recruiting coordinators and multiple assistant coaches. Brown, where Mark White is now the associate head coach, now utilizes three assistants, including their (off the roster) goaltending consultant.

                                3) The team's ability to get votes in a poll: Look, Rome wasn't built in a day; you'll be hard-pressed to find any AHA teams that consistently achieve votes in the national poll. And even then, it never goes on conference record, it only goes on overall record. Bentley is still a few steps behind the Harvards or Dartmouths of the world; okay, well they have 50 years of hockey tradition and a name recognition. Their academics are stronger than Bentley on their school name (the Ivy League >>>> everyone). And, in Harvard's case, they have a national reputation that usually gets them the Notre Dame Football syndrome. AHA isn't Hockey East; it's going to have to fight that much harder to get votes. If a team had Niagara's start to the year, including the five shutouts, and they played in the ECAC, they'd be a top 10 team. Instead, NU is ranked, what, like 16th. And the first loss drops them out of the poll. That's a stigma the league has fought in recent years, but it'll always have it thanks to the lack of SOS. That's something that outweighs Bentley. I'd rather extend the statement to say that Bentley has built and gotten better because some of the bigger names around New England are willing to gamble and play them. If Harvard or Dartmouth loses to Bentley, that's a disaster on the local radar. The fact that they're willing to play them with such a limited number of OOCs illustrates the Falcons arrival on the local scene.

                                4) The current establishment: Bentley has done more in the last 3 years to get this program support than it has most others. Okay, they don't have an on-campus rink, but you know what, the school has embraced the JAR for its lack of comfort. It's something of a Veterans Stadium approach down in Philly. When they do replace it, people will clamor to pull the trigger. But the dump of the JAR is what makes Bentley hockey what it is. This is a school that has one head coach, one assistant, and a second assistant who's a strength coach. When Ben Murphy's on the road, Ryan Soderquist had to get to the school to get laundry done last year and make sure equipment got from point A to point B. The facilities are less than spectacular. It's not BC. It's never going to be. And they get that.

                                But Bentley's buildling. You can't possibly ask the Athletic Director to all of a sudden sink every resource he has into making D1 hockey his primary focus. Bobby Defelice has done a great job in getting behind the program recently. Yes, it comes at a time after the Dana Center was made as gorgeous as it was, after the football stadium got field turf, and during a time when the school is in the middle of a rebranding that is being derided by its student base. But the rebrand, the investment into hockey with the buses, the administration going to games, it's all about getting this team built up. It's happening. Five years ago, this program teetered on nonexistence, and now there's not a doubt it will exist at this school. It's hard to see sometimes, but it's there.

                                I'll ask this question - if you don't think the administration or coaching staff is doing its job, then please outline the changes you would make. I'm interested to hear what you have (genuinely interested; I truly hope that didn't come across stubborn and in your face).
                                I'm going to respond to a couple of differnet things on this:

                                1) Attendance - the attendance had more to do with the team reaching out than it did the administration. I think the fan base would have dissipated if not for the team's commitment to being a beacon in the community. The whole thing with Mike Eden, becoming friends with the fans, and the overall disposition of the team meant more than the fan buses. The podcast you did last year even said so when you interviewed fans who WALKED to the JAR.

                                2) Recruiting: I think this is speaking more towards Mark White's inability to recruit than it does anything else. White's recruiting is something that I'll call into question if only because I read the Brown board and they're down to apparently five healthy defensemen. One of their D-men just quit. Two of them were injured. And they never brought in a goalie that was standard. Even White's recruits at Bentley were eh rather than good, since he was responsible for bringing in guys who weren't great character guys like the Murphy classes. I don't know how much of that is actually Soderquist.

                                3) If you're good enough, you'll win enough. Bentley, at some point, has to seize the moment. Maybe that's not this year, and I don't think it is. I lay that on the coaching staff with the confidence in them that the team will start winning those games in the coming years. You're absolutely right when you say Rome wasn't built in a day. Last year, they tied Clarkson. This year, they hung with Dartmouth and Michigan before ultimately losing (last year was the same with Michigan). This year, they'll have a chance to beat both Northeastern and UMass-Lowell, Hockey East programs. If they don't come away with a win against someone, then I'll be personally disappointed. If they don't do it in the next couple of years, especially where there will be more opportunity to play HEA teams with the lower amount of conference games, then it's a different story. Right now, I'm okay with it. In a couple of years, I won't be.

                                4) You left out Dean Sherpardson. Before he really came on board, hockey didn't have a huge proponent in the departments, and I'm convinced hockey would limp along if not for the Dean. He's really gotten the administration more on board. Mr. Loftus has done an admirable job as the liason from the athletic department. Bobby D. isn't the contact, IMHO
                                Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

                                STAY UP #94 #58

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