UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Figured I'd drag this post from the UMaine thread over to here to share some sad news ...



The linked article is a worthwhile read. I arrived on the Internet in the early days of USCHO, and missed out on Hockey L's heyday, but it's hard to explain to anyone under the age of 35 what the world was like before the Internet. I know many of the old timers still on here were Hockey L subscribers (or whatever the term was/is?), and its impact can still be felt and seen here at USCHO and most everything that's followed in its wake.

RIP Wayne Smith - never had the pleasure of meeting you (at least knowingly, in our alias-filled cyber-universe) but my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for what you've added to our lives in the college hockey world.

Sorry to hear of the loss of Wayne; he sounded like a great guy with a true passion for the sport. I do remember 'mailing lists'...list serves were popular in the early 90's as the internet got established. Am checking out the archives...as if I don't have enough distractions! My sympathies to all who knew him and to his family.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Anybody hear the HE commish giving TyK props during the B's game? Only positive thing about the game! 😉

HR's weekend game predicts:
Friday UML 4 UNH 2
Sat UNH 5 Brown 1 (will be there)

[Felger]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Hey Chuck

Since you won't have to be doing much figuring on "The Quest" over the next couple of weeks, what is your best guess as to which team (basketball or hockey) gets to 10 wins first? Seems like a pretty close call to me, although I think this stretch of the b-ball schedule might be even more saccharine laced than the hockey version.

I don't think there's any question Hoops gets there first.

So after last evening's disgrace, it looks like hockey will still be the first to 10 wins after all, despite the fact that b-ball has THREE D-III teams on the early season schedule....

And a reminder for those still clinging to the notion (perhaps sandbagging is a more appropriate term) that the schedule gets exponentially harder this month. (I actually read the word "iron" in the same sentence as "Hockey East" - there's an oxymoron if there ever was one.) I thought I would point out that five of the eight games in January are against the 10th place team in Hockey Least, the 11th place team in Hockey Least, and the 10th place team in the EZAC. Tonight's opponent is playing their fourth game in eight days, all of them on the road. Finally, the other two games are against a program that has been the subject of ridicule on here for the past couple of years.

Just sayin.....

[wildcatdc]

So after last evening's disgrace, it looks like hockey will still be the first to 10 wins after all, despite the fact that b-ball has THREE D-III teams on the early season schedule....

And a reminder for those still clinging to the notion (perhaps sandbagging is a more appropriate term) that the schedule gets exponentially harder this month. (I actually read the word "iron" in the same sentence as "Hockey East" - there's an oxymoron if there ever was one.) I thought I would point out that five of the eight games in January are against the 10th place team in Hockey Least, the 11th place team in Hockey Least, and the 10th place team in the EZAC. Tonight's opponent is playing their fourth game in eight days, all of them on the road. Finally, the other two games are against a program that has been the subject of ridicule on here for the past couple of years.

Just sayin.....

Felger, I think you're onto something here. A couple of days ago, I was thinking through the best-case scenario for the remainder of the year (not predicting this, just trying to see our way to a stronger finish than years past). Here what I saw -

Go 4-1-1 against NU, Conn and PC
Go 1-3 vs. Lowell and BU
Beat Brown
Lose to BC
Go 1-2-1 vs. Vermont and NICC (all road games)

7-7-2. I'd take it, to be honest. Will need the blue liners to step up and for TyK not to disappear.

Sad when .500 looks like the upper limit, but it would be a step in the right direction.

[ac9er0]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Hopefully the Wildcats can pull off the upset tonight. Be able to watch on NESN tonight from Indiana.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Arghhh

[norbert]

My first "Post New Thread". How exciting!

Feeling cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the season. The next three tilts are winnable although it is tough to sweep any team (ME) four straight. With few exceptions the remainder of the season will be challenging, character building and telling.

NCAA Regional tix in hand!

Step 1 for turning the season around would be to realize there was a home game tonight at 6pm. The first 5 minutes was all UML as if they were in a power play. Awful turnover by TK leading to the first goal.

Was hoping for another quick goal to put pressure on Clark to come out of the bullpen

[UML Puck Hawk]

Was hoping for another quick goal to put pressure on Clark to come out of the bullpen

Me too, but for a different reason

[Felger]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Step 1 for turning the season around would be to realize there was a home game tonight at 6pm. The first 5 minutes was all UML as if they were in a power play. Awful turnover by TK leading to the first goal.

Was hoping for another quick goal to put pressure on Clark to come out of the bullpen

So true. Game was there for the taking, River Hawks looked like they were feeling the effects of their busy schedule. Coach Bazin looked like one of those Apollo astronauts after a week in space.

Elsewhere in HE, I see the Frozen Fenway games scheduled for tomorrow have been postponed. Guess the David Ortiz retirement ceremony STILL hasn't wrapped up yet.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Well ok 'Cats liked the overall effort in the second...and thought newcomer D Nonis played well. Not the best night for the top line. Fregona could be developing into a nifty player. "Better than expected" doesn't get you any HE points but 2-1 feels better than 5-2 I guess. Hustle was there. Onto Brown? (Wondering about the weather).

Haha Felger good one about Bazin I hardly recognized Chuck's man crush.

[Dan]

So after last evening's disgrace, it looks like hockey will still be the first to 10 wins after all, despite the fact that b-ball has THREE D-III teams on the early season schedule....

And a reminder for those still clinging to the notion (perhaps sandbagging is a more appropriate term) that the schedule gets exponentially harder this month. (I actually read the word "iron" in the same sentence as "Hockey East" - there's an oxymoron if there ever was one.) I thought I would point out that five of the eight games in January are against the 10th place team in Hockey Least, the 11th place team in Hockey Least, and the 10th place team in the EZAC. Tonight's opponent is playing their fourth game in eight days, all of them on the road. Finally, the other two games are against a program that has been the subject of ridicule on here for the past couple of years.

Just sayin.....

It doesn't exactly take a gauntlet for the second half schedule to be against noticeably more difficult and talented opponents than the first half...

[Dan]

It doesn't exactly take a gauntlet for the second half schedule to be against noticeably more difficult and talented opponents than the first half...

Some half-schedule comparisons based on PWR...

FIRST HALF
Top 30 Opp - 4 (of 18)
Top 30 Win - 1 (25, Clarkson)
Avg PWR - 38
Avg W PWR - 44

SECOND HALF
Top 30 Opp - 15 (of 16)
Top 20 Opp - 9
Avg PWR - 17.5
Avg PWR (No Brown) - 15

The second half schedule is much more difficult...

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Giving a team like Lowell an early two goal lead ... ugh, that's rarely going to work out for you. The outcome was hardly surprising, but with UML's busy schedule of late, you just have to feel disappointed that an unexpected opportunity to snag an upset went begging tonight.

Tomorrow night's game against the final pre-MBPBEGAM playoffs cupcake has to be a W. No excuses.

[riverchief1]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Giving a team like Lowell an early two goal lead ... ugh, that's rarely going to work out for you. The outcome was hardly surprising, but with UML's busy schedule of late, you just have to feel disappointed that an unexpected opportunity to snag an upset went begging tonight.

Yes, Lowell's recent schedule probably led to some tired legs out there on the Olympic ice. I saw multiple potential UNH goals flash before my eyes but a combination of Wall and UNH being just being out of reach of the puck kept it out of the net.

And can a UNH fan explain why the two HE banners have UNH claiming a tournament title in 1979 and a regular season title in 1974 when the league didn't start play until 1984?

[Scott]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

And can a UNH fan explain why the two HE banners have UNH claiming a tournament title in 1979 and a regular season title in 1974 when the league didn't start play until 1984?

We've wondered the same thing when the banners went up last year. Our illustrious AD apparently can't be bothered with such trivial details....