UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Still a chance that TyK or Jamie Hill could turn pro this off-season?

Not even an A? Seriously? Is this kid a cancer in the locker room or something? I mean, really?

[HockeyRef]

Not even an A? Seriously? Is this kid a cancer in the locker room or something? I mean, really?

Yeah we were surprised but there's more to it still think it will shake out. Of course TyK deserves it the thought of him leaving wasn't in my scenario and I don't even want to give that any consideration!!

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Yeah we were surprised but there's more to it still think it will shake out. Of course TyK deserves it the thought of him leaving wasn't in my scenario and I don't even want to give that any consideration!!

OK spill the beans already HR. Count me among those surprised but not shocked TyK didn't get an A.

But Cleland certainly makes all the sense in the world, and a good first step for the 2016/2017 'Cats.

felgie, we're down to a half-dozen or so posts before the big 1,000 so be ready to get the new one started

[Chuck Murray]

UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Just to recap, we've started to get some insights into the questions posed at the start of this almost-closed thread ...

My, how quickly time flies when you're having *fun* ... and as we reach the stretch run of another season of UNH Hockey the optimism that oozed from the program after a promising finish to last season has evaporated into "more of the same" disappointment, disgust and (perhaps worst of all) apathy that's been developing around the program during its gradual slide in receding from the prominence of the "glory years" of the seasons on either side of the turn of the century. Some on here had presciently sounded the warnings of a possible "false dawn" of the program, while others (myself very much included) naively fell hook, line and sinker for the combination of a young team seemingly stocked with promising talent, which had finished last season with an uncharacteristically strong February and early March run, noticed what looked to be a soft schedule tailor made to accommodate the next step forward, and jumped to some exciting conclusions.

But once the season got underway ... instead of the typically promising bright early start to the season to pick up where things had been left off at the Garden last March ... it was back to the monotonous Chinese water torture of yet another drip-drip-drip, gradual slide back from the level the program had stagnated at these last few seasons, when they'd been a .500 team waiting to go in one direction or the other. And that direction sadly continues the downward trend of the program, where now UNH stands as a sub-.500 team with sub-.500 talent, and (truth be told) sub-.500 coaching headed up by a head coach who's apparently *earned* the right in his own mind to operate at 70% capacity by virtually checking out of any significant involvement in determining and monitoring the supply of new talent coming into *his* program.

...

* The Incredible Shrinking Lifetime Contract - already a fait accompli, last summer our far too complacent, what me worry, nothing but blue skies, "I've been doing this for more than 35 years" AD finally moved to frame an end game to our previous head coach in perpetuity approach. This came a year after ditching the "Cronyism 'R Us" approach to the assistant coaching appointments, and with the arrival of a second straight appointment of a young alum to fill a vacancy. Suddenly, the term "succession plan" was being publicly discussed ... and even when it turned out the young successors were both arguably protégés of the suddenly finite, former HC-in-perpetuity, the message was clear: BS35+y had finally run out of patience waiting for the turnaround. The outer limit of the Umile Era was now clearly defined ... and now with that done, the *interesting* question might be Will Coach Umile actually see out - or more fittingly perhaps, will he be allowed to see out - the end of his final UNH contract? YET TO BE SEEN, BUT EARLY SIGNS ARE THAT COACH WILL BE STICKING AROUND AT LEAST ONE MORE YEAR, IF NOT THE FULL TWO REMAINING YEARS ON THE REMAINS OF HIS FORMER LIFETIME CONTRACT.

* Remind Me Why I Took This Job? - with the above events playing out around the future of Coach Umile, and with some light shed on what the post-Umile era might look like, some *interesting* loose ends have come into view, starting with the circumstances behind the departure of Coach Borek to Providence. Long believed to have had "no interest" in succeeding Coach Umile, yet as a former D-1 HC himself who had patiently worked as Coach Umile's long-time assistant, while apparently running the program's recruiting efforts with a virtual blank checkbook, it emerged from some sources that Coach Borek had indeed harbored aspirations to take over the UNH program, and when he asked to "get it in writing" from our uber-experienced AD, he set in motion the events that would lead to his exit from the program, and the arrival of Coach Souza, who was quickly designated as "The Next One". In the meantime, Coach Stewart - another UNH alum with roughly twice Coach Souza's D-1 coaching experience, who came to UNH only as a lateral move (and why does one accept a lateral career change, if not for better hopes of future advancement?) - must question his future in the program. Is Coach Stewart happy with being a lieutenant at UNH, or might he be the next coach to leave the program? PROBABLY THE NEXT SHOE TO DROP.

* Who's in Charge of This Jammed Pipeline? - with the advent of the changes to the current (and future) coaching staff as outlined above, the program's main supplier for the last decade or so is now plying his wares down in Providence, which may or may not be a good thing (TBD). The short-term future of the program - Umile's Last Stand - is pretty much cast in stone (or perhaps something slightly softer?), and mixed in among a few projected standouts are what appears to be more of the same mid-range prospects that had come to define the most recently arrived UNH recruiting classes. And as we've seen some de-commits and departures from the program in the wake of the Borek situation, and Coach Umile's failure to establish anything remotely approaching a bond with these suddenly stranded players, unexpected openings in the recruiting pipeline have opened up. But the rate of incomings over the last 9 months has been shockingly slow, and we're probably all going to learn the true meaning of "one man's trash becoming another man's treasure" as UNH picks through the leftovers to fill some of these near-term openings. Who is now actually in charge of recruiting, will UNH dump some of the more marginal incoming Borek leftovers, and does Umile or Souza make that call? STILL READING THE TEA LEAVES, BUT THE AARON O'NEIL DECOMMIT SEEMS TO SUGGEST SOUZA HAS SOME SAY IN THE PROCESS - AND THAT'S A GOOD THING.

* Leaks and Gluts in the Pipeline, Sir! - Foegele leaves, Ryczek never comes, and there is much speculation about whether or not Poturalski will be back for his last two years of eligibility. Like Coach Umile's incredible shrinking lifetime contract, the much-ballyhooed recruiting classes of the last few seasons that were to make the resurrection of the UNH program likewise seem to be shrinking away. But one area of the pipeline that has been suspiciously untouched and now looks overcommitted is at goalie, where it now appears there will be three (3) legitimate D-1 goalies fighting for time for the next two seasons. Clark - the senior member of the threesome - started his UNH career as the #1 guy for a semester but may well spend the last two years of his career as the #3 guy. The guy who sent Clark to #2 - Tirone - now stands to face stiff competition from NHL draft pick Robinson, who comes in next season. For a program that has long transitioned smoothly at the goalie position, with only slight hitches from time to time, this is uncharted territory. At least one of the 3 goalies is going to be very unhappy - two have already experienced being a D-1 #1 goalie for extended periods, and the other will expect to be a D-1 #1 goalie sooner than later. Who is the odd man (men?) out of this bizarre situation? LOOKS LIKE ROBINSON DEFERS MATRICULATING FOR ONE MORE YEAR.

* Give That Man a (Participation) Medal - after last season's botched captaincy appointment, in which the program selected a great kid (by all accounts) who'd struggled to stay in the line-up for his first 3 seasons due to a combination of limited talent and bad luck with injuries to act as their Captain ... which then (surprise, surprise) resulted in said Captain missing most of the season due to another injury, and playing to limited effectiveness before said injury - next season's selections would appear pretty straight-forward and idiot-proof. It's a small class, and folks like Kelleher and Cleland on the surface would seem to be prominent on-ice leaders of the team as it stands right now (some of us had thought TK should have been in THIS season's designated leadership team). Maller and Hill (the latter only if he returns for a 5th year senior season) are the only others in that class, and Maller's injury history (and Hill's in-the-stands history) bring back some sore spots from last season's decision-making process. Will the team make the right selections this year? And if they don't, and make another well-intentioned yet bizarre selection like they did last April ... will Coach Umile be bothered enough to step in and save the boys from their impressionable but misguided selves? CLELAND AS CAPTAIN - SOLID DECISION.

So yeah, there are a few *interesting* things to be watching - other than the disappointing on-ice results - to gauge the future direction of the program. I'm still hoping against hope that something can be salvaged from this forgettable season but for some of the various reasons discussed above, this *may* be one of those transitional years we look back at down the road, and say this is where things began to change, and to fall into place for the next great era of UNH Hockey. Dare to dream the big dreams ... because this increasingly creeping mediocrity is really curbing my enthusiasm, and I can't help but think it's been having a similar impact on increasingly more UNH fans as time goes by ...

As noted above ... bits and pieces have come to the surface, giving some added clarity, but still lots more speculation than solid answers on some of the biggest questions the program faces in the mid-term future. Stay tuned ...

[HockeyRef]

OK spill the beans already HR. Count me among those surprised but not shocked TyK didn't get an A.

But Cleland certainly makes all the sense in the world, and a good first step for the 2016/2017 'Cats.

felgie, we're down to a half-dozen or so posts before the big 1,000 so be ready to get the new one started

What beans?!? Who moi? I'm just trying to move this thread along so you and Felger can have at it 😉 Just putting two and two together that's all...honestly I know nothin' but believe there's something up here. For those of us can't stand waiting for info (esp me) guess we will have to do just that...

Ps but since you asked I'll just say that my 3 picks for Capt and A's were Cleland TyK and Hill ( with either Tyk or Cleland getting the C) Hill wasn't at the banquet so maybe that has something (pure speculation mind you) to do with it so that's why I think the A wasn't named...I mean it makes for interesting convo for anyone who cares I guess!!

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

I would put a wild guess that perhaps UNH is in the running for BU's Robbie Baillargeon, given the immediate need for a forward. As a senior, coming from a winning program, perhaps there is a thought that he might get an "A"? If so, you can't really name only one "A" at this point, and if Baillargeon doesn't come, then appoint the second guy as an afterthought. So hold off and name both at a later date.
Whether Umile would name an alternate who has not earned it at UNH probably forecloses that option, so..... Ocam's razor.

re: HockeyRef, Hill has already announced his return, so I would discount that....

[HockeyRef]

I would put a wild guess that perhaps UNH is in the running for BU's Robbie Baillargeon, given the immediate need for a forward. As a senior, coming from a winning program, perhaps there is a thought that he might get an "A"? If so, you can't really name only one "A" at this point, and if Baillargeon doesn't come, then appoint the second guy as an afterthought. So hold off and name both at a later date.
Whether Umile would name an alternate who has not earned it at UNH probably forecloses that option, so..... Ocam's razor.

re: HockeyRef, Hill has already announced his return, so I would discount that....

Interesting scenario...I am aware of Hill's intentions..agree that the simplest solution is usually the right one!

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Adding one more post to eek this thread along... 3 to go after this one soooo....

The Colorado College schedule on the USCHO home page (and their website) shows UNH at HOME...so I'm back to square one on this rumor being a home game for us. Just release the UNH schedule already! Name the Alternate Captains!! Geeze...

[Snively65]

OK spill the beans already HR. Count me among those surprised but not shocked TyK didn't get an A.

But Cleland certainly makes all the sense in the world, and a good first step for the 2016/2017 'Cats.

felgie, we're down to a half-dozen or so posts before the big 1,000 so be ready to get the new one started

Felger is busy, as he is starting pitcher for the 'Stros in Houston tonight.

EDIT: oops, it is Feldman, not Felger, starting for the 'Stros tonight; sorry for my confusion. :-)

Two more posts and we can retire this thread. :-)

[Scott]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

OK.....Here's to uno mas noticia.

9...8....7...6...5...4...3....2........

[e.cat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Sog sog sog sog. Haha haha haha!!!!!!