UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Blacki
Red is going to get extended unless he quits or retires.
I don't see how Maine can change coaches at this point.

I don't see how Maine can extend him; his track record is far worse than Timmy's, who Maine fired on the basis of far better results. Maine hasn't beaten a single top-16 PW team all year, and only one (BU) that has even finished over .500.

If Red really cares about Maine hockey -and I believe that he does- let him get the team to the NCAA's next year, or go away. In the meantime, he ought to help keep whatever back-channels Maine might have alive to find to find his replacement.

I'm guessing that he'd do that, if asked.

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

http://bangordailynews.com/2018/03/1...d-next-season/

Larry implies Michel will stay senior season to finish his degree. Mentions Kleiboer to come in next season.

Do you and Larry drink together, or are you actually the same person?

No offense intended, just asking!

[BoSox3066]

I don't see how Maine can extend him; his track record is far worse than Timmy's, who Maine fired on the basis of far better results. Maine hasn't beaten a single top-16 PW team all year, and only one (BU) that has even finished over .500.

If Red really cares about Maine hockey -and I believe that he does- let him get the team to the NCAA's next year, or go away. In the meantime, he ought to help keep whatever back-channels Maine might have alive to find to find his replacement.

I'm guessing that he'd do that, if asked.

Its going to happen. They wont have a “lame duck.” Best hope is for s school friendly buyout if next year is poor

[amkirby10]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

HEA first, second, and third team all stars named, no Black Bears to be found. I figured one of Pearson, Fossier, or Swayman could have cracked at least third team, but not to be.

[Scarlet]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

HEA first, second, and third team all stars named, no Black Bears to be found. I figured one of Pearson, Fossier, or Swayman could have cracked at least third team, but not to be.

Swayman made the All Rookie team.

http://hockeyeastonline.com/men/pres...3/mar14awa.php

[walrus]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Pearson got an honorable mention.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Runsub5]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

HEA first, second, and third team all stars named, no Black Bears to be found. I figured one of Pearson, Fossier, or Swayman could have cracked at least third team, but not to be.

I think this says something about the talent level on this team.

[ticapnews]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Maine Hockey the Last Five Years

The basics: Maine is 67-98-21 (.417) and 37-61-12 (.391) in Hockey East. At home the team s 44-33-8 (.565), on the road they are 18-56-10 (.274) and 5-9-3 (.382) on neutral ice.

Maine is famously 0-14 against Providence in the past five years, but what about the rest of Hockey East?

Massachusetts 12-3-1 (781)
Merrimack 5-3-1 (.611)
New Hampshire 7-8-3 (.472)

Connecticut 2-4-2 (.375)
Boston University 4-7-0 (364)
Lowell 3-6-1 (.350)
Vermont 5-12-2 (.316)

Northeastern 2-9-1 (.208)
Boston College 2-9-0 (.182)
Providence 0-14 (.000)

Only winning 38% against three teams is abysmal. Against the Big Four private institutions in the conference, Maine has a combined record of 8-39-1 (.177). That might be understandable. There is a widening gap between those four and the state schools in the conference. They have combined for the last five regular season titles (tied with Lowell one year) and have taken 90% of the top four positions in the last five years (Lowell has the other two).

However, to have such a poor record against UConn – until recently a member of the AHA – and Vermont is terrible. Despite a 3-0-2 record this season, the mark against traditional rival UNH is still below .500

Maine only has winning records against annual whipping boys Merrimack and Massachusetts.

Month-by-month is no better. 25 months were tracked (February and March were combined) of which five were months with a winning record, five were months with a .500 record and 15 were losing months. The worst was coming down the stretch. In February/March the team had a 14-36-4 (.296) mark. Throwing out playoffs (4-10) still leaves Maine with a .300 winning percentage at this key time of the season.

How does Maine do against the top teams? There are now 60 teams playing Division I Men's Ice Hockey and 16 make the national tournament. That includes that AHA champion which is usually ranked lower, so 15 is a good measuring stick. In the past five seasons Maine is 6-53-3 (.114) against the top 15 in the KRACH. This season Maine went 0-11 and over the last three seasons Maine is 1-38-2 (.049) against the top quartile.

OK, we know Maine's win-loss record is bad, but the strength of schedule is solid so that accounts for some of that, right?

KRACH pegs Maine's SOS at exactly 30 over the past five seasons, so an average team would also be ranked 30. Maine is 36. In the PairWise the Black Bears fall to 38. This season has seen a slight uptick, as the SOS currently sits at 27 and Maine is ranked 29 by KRACH. The strength of schedule peaked in 2014 (as did Maine's ranking in both PairWise and KRACH) and had been getting slightly worse over time until improving this season.

What about scoring? Maine showed improvement in a number of key categories this season. The scoring offense is the best of the five years, up to 21 from 27 in 2014. The power play is also up, from 39 in 2014 to 26 this season. Although the defense in 2014 was ranked 13 in the nation, it had crated to 52, 50 and 51 in the last three seasons before rebounding to a more reasonable 35 this season. Maine is also scoring above it's five year average in the first and second periods, and is tied in the third. However, Maine is now surrendering twice as many goals in the first period of games as in 2014 and were outscored in two of three periods this season. Then there is the penalty situation. In 2014 Maine was the 11th least penalized team in the country at 9.77 minutes/game. In five seasons that has increased to 15.08 minutes/game – a 54% increase. It is true that minutes are up across hockey, as the number of minutes assessed to opponents increased from 10.3 to 12.9 (a 25% increase) but Maine has fallen from 11 to 56 nationally. The penalty kill has simultaneously gotten worse, going from 83.1% to 76.6% this season – 53 nationally. Yes, penalty minutes are up everywhere and holding, hooking and slashing calls are much tighter than they used to be. Other teams have adjusted their play accordingly. Maine has not.

A common complaint among fans has been the repeated bench minor for too many men. This season while top teams like BC, PC and Northeastern were getting two or three, Maine was assessed six times. 24 times in five seasons. Six of those have been in the final five minutes of games. Aside from giving away an extra power play (or canceling one as we saw in Providence) it speaks to a communication problem on the bench which should be handled far better – and is at other schools.

There are other signs of improvement. In 2014 the leading scorer had 43 points which cratered to 24 two seasons ago. That has rebounded to 34. This was the first season Maine finished .500 (7-7) in one-goal games. Maine went 12-5-4 (.667) outside of the conference in the last two seasons.

Incoming recruits are the toughest part of this analysis. Not only are recruits unknown commodities since they may never show up on campus, some may come in different years than anticipated and some may have trouble adjusting not only to the quicker game at Div I but also to life in general at a university. There is also the fact I do not see any of these kids perform in person, relying on statistics and second-hand accounts. In this case I have assembled opinions from people far more knowledgeable than I when it comes to recruits, including a scout, a former player, a current college coach and people in the media. The consensus is Maine's recruits are good, but do not measure up to recruits at rival schools like BC, BU or PC. Most disappointing, the incoming classes at UMass are rated higher than Maine's. The Black Bears are still above UNH, Vermont and Merrimack and should be about even with UConn.

The million dollar question facing us is whether Red Gendron deserves an extension to his contract. I think it is already done. The athletics department handled the musical chairs among the basketball coaches very well and kept both Amy Vachon and Richard Barron. I would hate to think the department is now fumbling a position as important as men's ice hockey coach. If the coach wasn't going to be extended I would expect the school to do as Merrimack did this weekend and cut ties with Red. Therefore I expect an announcement of a two-year extension in the coming days. The alternative is that the athletics department is either in disarray or no longer considers hockey a priority and is content to let recruits, fans and Red himself twist in the wind while a decision is reached. In the past I would consider that, but given the momentum of recent weeks I am willing to believe in the athletics department.

[NorthMike]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Good stats. They dont lie and its not a pretty picture.

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Maine Hockey the Last Five Years

The basics: Maine is 67-98-21 (.417) and 37-61-12 (.391) in Hockey East. At home the team s 44-33-8 (.565), on the road they are 18-56-10 (.274) and 5-9-3 (.382) on neutral ice.

Maine is famously 0-14 against Providence in the past five years, but what about the rest of Hockey East?

Massachusetts 12-3-1 (781)
Merrimack 5-3-1 (.611)
New Hampshire 7-8-3 (.472)

Connecticut 2-4-2 (.375)
Boston University 4-7-0 (364)
Lowell 3-6-1 (.350)
Vermont 5-12-2 (.316)

Northeastern 2-9-1 (.208)
Boston College 2-9-0 (.182)
Providence 0-14 (.000)

Only winning 38% against three teams is abysmal. Against the Big Four private institutions in the conference, Maine has a combined record of 8-39-1 (.177). That might be understandable. There is a widening gap between those four and the state schools in the conference. They have combined for the last five regular season titles (tied with Lowell one year) and have taken 90% of the top four positions in the last five years (Lowell has the other two).

However, to have such a poor record against UConn – until recently a member of the AHA – and Vermont is terrible. Despite a 3-0-2 record this season, the mark against traditional rival UNH is still below .500

Maine only has winning records against annual whipping boys Merrimack and Massachusetts.

Month-by-month is no better. 25 months were tracked (February and March were combined) of which five were months with a winning record, five were months with a .500 record and 15 were losing months. The worst was coming down the stretch. In February/March the team had a 14-36-4 (.296) mark. Throwing out playoffs (4-10) still leaves Maine with a .300 winning percentage at this key time of the season.

How does Maine do against the top teams? There are now 60 teams playing Division I Men's Ice Hockey and 16 make the national tournament. That includes that AHA champion which is usually ranked lower, so 15 is a good measuring stick. In the past five seasons Maine is 6-53-3 (.114) against the top 15 in the KRACH. This season Maine went 0-11 and over the last three seasons Maine is 1-38-2 (.049) against the top quartile.

OK, we know Maine's win-loss record is bad, but the strength of schedule is solid so that accounts for some of that, right?

KRACH pegs Maine's SOS at exactly 30 over the past five seasons, so an average team would also be ranked 30. Maine is 36. In the PairWise the Black Bears fall to 38. This season has seen a slight uptick, as the SOS currently sits at 27 and Maine is ranked 29 by KRACH. The strength of schedule peaked in 2014 (as did Maine's ranking in both PairWise and KRACH) and had been getting slightly worse over time until improving this season.

What about scoring? Maine showed improvement in a number of key categories this season. The scoring offense is the best of the five years, up to 21 from 27 in 2014. The power play is also up, from 39 in 2014 to 26 this season. Although the defense in 2014 was ranked 13 in the nation, it had crated to 52, 50 and 51 in the last three seasons before rebounding to a more reasonable 35 this season. Maine is also scoring above it's five year average in the first and second periods, and is tied in the third. However, Maine is now surrendering twice as many goals in the first period of games as in 2014 and were outscored in two of three periods this season. Then there is the penalty situation. In 2014 Maine was the 11th least penalized team in the country at 9.77 minutes/game. In five seasons that has increased to 15.08 minutes/game – a 54% increase. It is true that minutes are up across hockey, as the number of minutes assessed to opponents increased from 10.3 to 12.9 (a 25% increase) but Maine has fallen from 11 to 56 nationally. The penalty kill has simultaneously gotten worse, going from 83.1% to 76.6% this season – 53 nationally. Yes, penalty minutes are up everywhere and holding, hooking and slashing calls are much tighter than they used to be. Other teams have adjusted their play accordingly. Maine has not.

A common complaint among fans has been the repeated bench minor for too many men. This season while top teams like BC, PC and Northeastern were getting two or three, Maine was assessed six times. 24 times in five seasons. Six of those have been in the final five minutes of games. Aside from giving away an extra power play (or canceling one as we saw in Providence) it speaks to a communication problem on the bench which should be handled far better – and is at other schools.

There are other signs of improvement. In 2014 the leading scorer had 43 points which cratered to 24 two seasons ago. That has rebounded to 34. This was the first season Maine finished .500 (7-7) in one-goal games. Maine went 12-5-4 (.667) outside of the conference in the last two seasons.

Incoming recruits are the toughest part of this analysis. Not only are recruits unknown commodities since they may never show up on campus, some may come in different years than anticipated and some may have trouble adjusting not only to the quicker game at Div I but also to life in general at a university. There is also the fact I do not see any of these kids perform in person, relying on statistics and second-hand accounts. In this case I have assembled opinions from people far more knowledgeable than I when it comes to recruits, including a scout, a former player, a current college coach and people in the media. The consensus is Maine's recruits are good, but do not measure up to recruits at rival schools like BC, BU or PC. Most disappointing, the incoming classes at UMass are rated higher than Maine's. The Black Bears are still above UNH, Vermont and Merrimack and should be about even with UConn.

The million dollar question facing us is whether Red Gendron deserves an extension to his contract. I think it is already done. The athletics department handled the musical chairs among the basketball coaches very well and kept both Amy Vachon and Richard Barron. I would hate to think the department is now fumbling a position as important as men's ice hockey coach. If the coach wasn't going to be extended I would expect the school to do as Merrimack did this weekend and cut ties with Red. Therefore I expect an announcement of a two-year extension in the coming days. The alternative is that the athletics department is either in disarray or no longer considers hockey a priority and is content to let recruits, fans and Red himself twist in the wind while a decision is reached. In the past I would consider that, but given the momentum of recent weeks I am willing to believe in the athletics department.

So what your saying here is that the 5 years of Gendron have not been good at all...BUT at the same time Maine may have or about to hand him a extension onto next years contract...BUT "IF" this was still a HOCKEY FIRST Program then most likely Gendron would have been shown the door last Monday...........oh well at least there will be still hockey to watch and a lot of it top notch. What use to be, won't be happening soon @ Maine. Again a OH WELL. To one former Black Bear, Good Luck Sean Romeo @ Ohio State...beat Notre Dame and get it done in the NCAA's.

[BlackI]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Maine Hockey the Last Five Years

The basics: Maine is 67-98-21 (.417) and 37-61-12 (.391) in Hockey East. At home the team s 44-33-8 (.565), on the road they are 18-56-10 (.274) and 5-9-3 (.382) on neutral ice.

Maine is famously 0-14 against Providence in the past five years, but what about the rest of Hockey East?

Massachusetts 12-3-1 (781)
Merrimack 5-3-1 (.611)
New Hampshire 7-8-3 (.472)

Connecticut 2-4-2 (.375)
Boston University 4-7-0 (364)
Lowell 3-6-1 (.350)
Vermont 5-12-2 (.316)

Northeastern 2-9-1 (.208)
Boston College 2-9-0 (.182)
Providence 0-14 (.000)

Only winning 38% against three teams is abysmal. Against the Big Four private institutions in the conference, Maine has a combined record of 8-39-1 (.177). That might be understandable. There is a widening gap between those four and the state schools in the conference. They have combined for the last five regular season titles (tied with Lowell one year) and have taken 90% of the top four positions in the last five years (Lowell has the other two).

However, to have such a poor record against UConn – until recently a member of the AHA – and Vermont is terrible. Despite a 3-0-2 record this season, the mark against traditional rival UNH is still below .500

Maine only has winning records against annual whipping boys Merrimack and Massachusetts.

Month-by-month is no better. 25 months were tracked (February and March were combined) of which five were months with a winning record, five were months with a .500 record and 15 were losing months. The worst was coming down the stretch. In February/March the team had a 14-36-4 (.296) mark. Throwing out playoffs (4-10) still leaves Maine with a .300 winning percentage at this key time of the season.

How does Maine do against the top teams? There are now 60 teams playing Division I Men's Ice Hockey and 16 make the national tournament. That includes that AHA champion which is usually ranked lower, so 15 is a good measuring stick. In the past five seasons Maine is 6-53-3 (.114) against the top 15 in the KRACH. This season Maine went 0-11 and over the last three seasons Maine is 1-38-2 (.049) against the top quartile.

OK, we know Maine's win-loss record is bad, but the strength of schedule is solid so that accounts for some of that, right?

KRACH pegs Maine's SOS at exactly 30 over the past five seasons, so an average team would also be ranked 30. Maine is 36. In the PairWise the Black Bears fall to 38. This season has seen a slight uptick, as the SOS currently sits at 27 and Maine is ranked 29 by KRACH. The strength of schedule peaked in 2014 (as did Maine's ranking in both PairWise and KRACH) and had been getting slightly worse over time until improving this season.

What about scoring? Maine showed improvement in a number of key categories this season. The scoring offense is the best of the five years, up to 21 from 27 in 2014. The power play is also up, from 39 in 2014 to 26 this season. Although the defense in 2014 was ranked 13 in the nation, it had crated to 52, 50 and 51 in the last three seasons before rebounding to a more reasonable 35 this season. Maine is also scoring above it's five year average in the first and second periods, and is tied in the third. However, Maine is now surrendering twice as many goals in the first period of games as in 2014 and were outscored in two of three periods this season. Then there is the penalty situation. In 2014 Maine was the 11th least penalized team in the country at 9.77 minutes/game. In five seasons that has increased to 15.08 minutes/game – a 54% increase. It is true that minutes are up across hockey, as the number of minutes assessed to opponents increased from 10.3 to 12.9 (a 25% increase) but Maine has fallen from 11 to 56 nationally. The penalty kill has simultaneously gotten worse, going from 83.1% to 76.6% this season – 53 nationally. Yes, penalty minutes are up everywhere and holding, hooking and slashing calls are much tighter than they used to be. Other teams have adjusted their play accordingly. Maine has not.

A common complaint among fans has been the repeated bench minor for too many men. This season while top teams like BC, PC and Northeastern were getting two or three, Maine was assessed six times. 24 times in five seasons. Six of those have been in the final five minutes of games. Aside from giving away an extra power play (or canceling one as we saw in Providence) it speaks to a communication problem on the bench which should be handled far better – and is at other schools.

There are other signs of improvement. In 2014 the leading scorer had 43 points which cratered to 24 two seasons ago. That has rebounded to 34. This was the first season Maine finished .500 (7-7) in one-goal games. Maine went 12-5-4 (.667) outside of the conference in the last two seasons.

Incoming recruits are the toughest part of this analysis. Not only are recruits unknown commodities since they may never show up on campus, some may come in different years than anticipated and some may have trouble adjusting not only to the quicker game at Div I but also to life in general at a university. There is also the fact I do not see any of these kids perform in person, relying on statistics and second-hand accounts. In this case I have assembled opinions from people far more knowledgeable than I when it comes to recruits, including a scout, a former player, a current college coach and people in the media. The consensus is Maine's recruits are good, but do not measure up to recruits at rival schools like BC, BU or PC. Most disappointing, the incoming classes at UMass are rated higher than Maine's. The Black Bears are still above UNH, Vermont and Merrimack and should be about even with UConn.

The million dollar question facing us is whether Red Gendron deserves an extension to his contract. I think it is already done. The athletics department handled the musical chairs among the basketball coaches very well and kept both Amy Vachon and Richard Barron. I would hate to think the department is now fumbling a position as important as men's ice hockey coach. If the coach wasn't going to be extended I would expect the school to do as Merrimack did this weekend and cut ties with Red. Therefore I expect an announcement of a two-year extension in the coming days. The alternative is that the athletics department is either in disarray or no longer considers hockey a priority and is content to let recruits, fans and Red himself twist in the wind while a decision is reached. In the past I would consider that, but given the momentum of recent weeks I am willing to believe in the athletics department.

Great Post! I wonder if it is easy to correlate Maine's penalty kill vs goal differential(signed)? To see if there is a trend line fit between the two and wins and losses?

Also, what do you make of this year's top five freshman matching last year's top five freshman? And if the freshman this year can scored as good next year as this year's freshman? And if next year's freshman top five score as good as this year's top five freshman what that might project too?

Has me a little excited, but proof is in the putting.

Now, I heard on coaches show Red says penalty kill has greatly improved and is at top of the league lately. He implied Maines penaly kill showed great improvement. Is this true with stats to back that up?

[Runsub5]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

Maine Hockey the Last Five Years

The basics: Maine is 67-98-21 (.417) and 37-61-12 (.391) in Hockey East. At home the team s 44-33-8 (.565), on the road they are 18-56-10 (.274) and 5-9-3 (.382) on neutral ice.

Maine is famously 0-14 against Providence in the past five years, but what about the rest of Hockey East?

Massachusetts 12-3-1 (781)
Merrimack 5-3-1 (.611)
New Hampshire 7-8-3 (.472)

Connecticut 2-4-2 (.375)
Boston University 4-7-0 (364)
Lowell 3-6-1 (.350)
Vermont 5-12-2 (.316)

Northeastern 2-9-1 (.208)
Boston College 2-9-0 (.182)
Providence 0-14 (.000)

Only winning 38% against three teams is abysmal. Against the Big Four private institutions in the conference, Maine has a combined record of 8-39-1 (.177). That might be understandable. There is a widening gap between those four and the state schools in the conference. They have combined for the last five regular season titles (tied with Lowell one year) and have taken 90% of the top four positions in the last five years (Lowell has the other two).

However, to have such a poor record against UConn – until recently a member of the AHA – and Vermont is terrible. Despite a 3-0-2 record this season, the mark against traditional rival UNH is still below .500

Maine only has winning records against annual whipping boys Merrimack and Massachusetts.

Month-by-month is no better. 25 months were tracked (February and March were combined) of which five were months with a winning record, five were months with a .500 record and 15 were losing months. The worst was coming down the stretch. In February/March the team had a 14-36-4 (.296) mark. Throwing out playoffs (4-10) still leaves Maine with a .300 winning percentage at this key time of the season.

How does Maine do against the top teams? There are now 60 teams playing Division I Men's Ice Hockey and 16 make the national tournament. That includes that AHA champion which is usually ranked lower, so 15 is a good measuring stick. In the past five seasons Maine is 6-53-3 (.114) against the top 15 in the KRACH. This season Maine went 0-11 and over the last three seasons Maine is 1-38-2 (.049) against the top quartile.

OK, we know Maine's win-loss record is bad, but the strength of schedule is solid so that accounts for some of that, right?

KRACH pegs Maine's SOS at exactly 30 over the past five seasons, so an average team would also be ranked 30. Maine is 36. In the PairWise the Black Bears fall to 38. This season has seen a slight uptick, as the SOS currently sits at 27 and Maine is ranked 29 by KRACH. The strength of schedule peaked in 2014 (as did Maine's ranking in both PairWise and KRACH) and had been getting slightly worse over time until improving this season.

What about scoring? Maine showed improvement in a number of key categories this season. The scoring offense is the best of the five years, up to 21 from 27 in 2014. The power play is also up, from 39 in 2014 to 26 this season. Although the defense in 2014 was ranked 13 in the nation, it had crated to 52, 50 and 51 in the last three seasons before rebounding to a more reasonable 35 this season. Maine is also scoring above it's five year average in the first and second periods, and is tied in the third. However, Maine is now surrendering twice as many goals in the first period of games as in 2014 and were outscored in two of three periods this season. Then there is the penalty situation. In 2014 Maine was the 11th least penalized team in the country at 9.77 minutes/game. In five seasons that has increased to 15.08 minutes/game – a 54% increase. It is true that minutes are up across hockey, as the number of minutes assessed to opponents increased from 10.3 to 12.9 (a 25% increase) but Maine has fallen from 11 to 56 nationally. The penalty kill has simultaneously gotten worse, going from 83.1% to 76.6% this season – 53 nationally. Yes, penalty minutes are up everywhere and holding, hooking and slashing calls are much tighter than they used to be. Other teams have adjusted their play accordingly. Maine has not.

A common complaint among fans has been the repeated bench minor for too many men. This season while top teams like BC, PC and Northeastern were getting two or three, Maine was assessed six times. 24 times in five seasons. Six of those have been in the final five minutes of games. Aside from giving away an extra power play (or canceling one as we saw in Providence) it speaks to a communication problem on the bench which should be handled far better – and is at other schools.

There are other signs of improvement. In 2014 the leading scorer had 43 points which cratered to 24 two seasons ago. That has rebounded to 34. This was the first season Maine finished .500 (7-7) in one-goal games. Maine went 12-5-4 (.667) outside of the conference in the last two seasons.

Incoming recruits are the toughest part of this analysis. Not only are recruits unknown commodities since they may never show up on campus, some may come in different years than anticipated and some may have trouble adjusting not only to the quicker game at Div I but also to life in general at a university. There is also the fact I do not see any of these kids perform in person, relying on statistics and second-hand accounts. In this case I have assembled opinions from people far more knowledgeable than I when it comes to recruits, including a scout, a former player, a current college coach and people in the media. The consensus is Maine's recruits are good, but do not measure up to recruits at rival schools like BC, BU or PC. Most disappointing, the incoming classes at UMass are rated higher than Maine's. The Black Bears are still above UNH, Vermont and Merrimack and should be about even with UConn.

The million dollar question facing us is whether Red Gendron deserves an extension to his contract. I think it is already done. The athletics department handled the musical chairs among the basketball coaches very well and kept both Amy Vachon and Richard Barron. I would hate to think the department is now fumbling a position as important as men's ice hockey coach. If the coach wasn't going to be extended I would expect the school to do as Merrimack did this weekend and cut ties with Red. Therefore I expect an announcement of a two-year extension in the coming days. The alternative is that the athletics department is either in disarray or no longer considers hockey a priority and is content to let recruits, fans and Red himself twist in the wind while a decision is reached. In the past I would consider that, but given the momentum of recent weeks I am willing to believe in the athletics department.

Good work. Some of that information may have been readily available, while some of it must have taken you a bit of time to compile. Thanks for sharing. I agree that Gendron probably has already received a 2 year extension or will very soon. I suppose if the University says nothing, can we assume he has but one year left on his contract?

[Drew S.]

Great Post! I wonder if it is easy to correlate Maine's penalty kill vs goal differential(signed)? To see if there is a trend line fit between the two and wins and losses?

Also, what do you make of this year's top five freshman matching last year's top five freshman? And if the freshman this year can scored as good next year as this year's freshman? And if next year's freshman top five score as good as this year's top five freshman what that might project too?

Has me a little excited, but proof is in the putting.

Now, I heard on coaches show Red says penalty kill has greatly improved and is at top of the league lately. He implied Maines penaly kill showed great improvement. Is this true with stats to back that up?

The PK absolutely improved as the year went on. It’d be nice to get more advanced stats on it. Just looking at penalty minutes per game and PK% doesn’t tell you a lot.

[ticapnews]

Good work. Some of that information may have been readily available, while some of it must have taken you a bit of time to compile. Thanks for sharing. I agree that Gendron probably has already received a 2 year extension or will very soon. I suppose if the University says nothing, can we assume he has but one year left on his contract?

The university can't stay all that silent on the matter. Red and Ben have to be able to reassure recruits that it isn't a lame duck coaching staff. When that word gets out to recruits and their "advisors" word would circulate pretty quickly. If they start offering those assurances and the school hasn't given him an extension then we have a nightmare on our hands. The university HAS to say something soon, and I expect word will come from the school soon. If I had to guess, the department wants to give the women's basketball team this week of publicity heading into the NCAA tournament and news will come Monday or Tuesday next week.

As for the special teams numbers, I can put those together probably tonight and post tomorrow, if no one beats me to it.

[BlackI]

Re: UMaine Black Bears 2017/18, Red dawn

The university can't stay all that silent on the matter. Red and Ben have to be able to reassure recruits that it isn't a lame duck coaching staff. When that word gets out to recruits and their "advisors" word would circulate pretty quickly. If they start offering those assurances and the school hasn't given him an extension then we have a nightmare on our hands. The university HAS to say something soon, and I expect word will come from the school soon. If I had to guess, the department wants to give the women's basketball team this week of publicity heading into the NCAA tournament and news will come Monday or Tuesday next week.

As for the special teams numbers, I can put those together probably tonight and post tomorrow, if no one beats me to it.

Honestly, I am beginning to see that Ben and Alfie are the difference makers. Where their respective roles lie they are kicking it. It wouldn't be the end of the world to see a one year extension and Red to hand over reigns to Ben and also recruit a great former defensemen for Maine as assistant to Ben. I think this would be outstanding. I have nothing against Red, but I do not like how Maine has finished lately in the last ten of the season.