The Barr Has Been Raised at UMaine

[Drew S.]

Respectfully, people said the same sh-- about bringing a top coaching candidate to Orono and they just brought in who was considered to be one of the top assistants & best HC candidates in the nation. I have full faith that Barr has developed connections under the tutelage of some of college hockey's best minds. I'm personally of the opinion that the only current Assistant that will stay is Alfie - and that's a big if. Guite, was just the interim HC & interviewed for the same position, so while he might be a solid assistant there's a conflict of interest and ultimately Barr maintains the right to bring in whoever the hell he wants.

I get the sentimental UMaine connection, but let's get the best people here for the job and win.

I was very confident Barr would accept the job and was obviously right(I said a couple weeks before he was hired that the odds were 90%). $230K with a lot of perks is completely different than $80K and limited to no perks. Barr is an awesome fit for Maine and it made all the sense in the world for him to come here. Is there an assistant out there in the same boat? Maybe there is but I'm not sure exactly who it is.

[BassAle]

I was very confident Barr would accept the job and was obviously right(I said a couple weeks before he was hired that the odds were 90%). $230K with a lot of perks is completely different than $80K and limited to no perks. Barr is an awesome fit for Maine and it made all the sense in the world for him to come here. Is there an assistant out there in the same boat? Maybe there is but I'm not sure exactly who it is.

just looked up Guite's salary. It was $95K in 2019. Professional salaried staff at UMaine get a pretty good retirement, vacation, and healthcare package (I used to work for UMaine as a salaried employee with the same union negotiated benefits as the professors). Associate Head Coach would likely be a step up for lots of assistants out there, not only in terms of career progression but also pay. It's NOT competitive for someone that's at the associate head coach level at a top school, but for an up and coming assistant (especially a volunteer assistant), sure.

[BlackBearFan19]

just looked up Guite's salary. It was $95K in 2019. Professional salaried staff at UMaine get a pretty good retirement, vacation, and healthcare package (I used to work for UMaine as a salaried employee with the same union negotiated benefits as the professors). Associate Head Coach would likely be a step up for lots of assistants out there.

I think Barr probably has more options than we’re assuming as assistants. His career is a great example of making “career moves”. I suspect he has a ton of assistants and people he’s crossed paths with lining up for the job.

I think we’ll see him bring in 2 young assistants, early to mid thirties. I think his pitch to them is simple, “come here, help me build this for the next 2 to 3 years, if you want to leave after that, I understand.” The same way he has at the programs he’s been involved with.

He’s a great recruiter of players, I assume that will translate to recruiting talented coaches.

[BassAle]

I think Barr probably has more options than we’re assuming as assistants. His career is a great example of making “career moves”. I suspect he has a ton of assistants and people he’s crossed paths with lining up for the job.

I think we’ll see him bring in 2 young assistants, early to mid thirties. I think his pitch to them is simple, “come here, help me build this for the next 2 to 3 years, if you want to leave after that, I understand.” The same way he has at the programs he’s been involved with.

He’s a great recruiter of players, I assume that will translate to recruiting talented coaches.

yeah, we're probably not going to get a really experienced associate head coach, or assistant coach that's making well above 100K somewhere else, but he should be able to land a young up and coming assistant for 100K in Orono.

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Sean Walsh is/was Video Coordinator and Statistical Analyst for UMaine Hockey.

https://goblackbears.com/sports/mens...sean-walsh/514

FYI



I doubt this is a role that Barr is going to care too much about replacing with one of his "own", so I suspect Sean will be able to stay on if he wants.

I stand corrected on both accounts...I don't see him sliding into either assistant coaches position.

[Ma#1ne Hky]

They're two different people. He had Tyler with his first wife and Sean with his second wife.

My mistake on that, my bad.

[Chuck Murray]

I was very confident Barr would accept the job and was obviously right(I said a couple weeks before he was hired that the odds were 90%). $230K with a lot of perks is completely different than $80K and limited to no perks. Barr is an awesome fit for Maine and it made all the sense in the world for him to come here. Is there an assistant out there in the same boat? Maybe there is but I'm not sure exactly who it is.

OK so here's the deal with D-1 assistants ... 90% of them want to be a head coach somewhere at some point, and that will drive them to pursue AC jobs virtually anywhere, so long as they perceive it's getting them a step closer to where they want to end up (HC). AC's with backgrounds in successful programs sell better as HC candidates than those who have been with middling programs (examples Guite and Souza, who nonetheless got the UNH HC job). Given Barr's own track record, there will be no shortage of assistants out there who will want to attach themselves to his rising star, hopefully benefitting from his continuing success. Barr attached himself to guys like Bennett, Leaman, Murray and Carvel. Most young AC candidates will be flexible with their desired locations and salary expectations, so long as they believe they're moving towards their ultimate goal of becoming HC somewhere. As a young AC, you can talk yourself into sacrifice to justify lots of different opportunities.

It's possible, but I tend to doubt Barr will want to hire older assistants. Most likely they'll come from his peer pool or from younger candidates. Now if someone like Standbrook were to offer to come out of retirement, Barr would be foolish to say no, and Mrs. Barr didn't raise any fools out in Faribault MN (or wherever). But likewise it's unlikely an older assistant would want to hitch his wagon to Barr's star, because if you plan to succeed someone who might move on (and it's unfair to raise that discussion when the ink on his contract is barely dry), that usually works way better when you are younger than the incumbent, not older.

I'm not aware of any D-1 program struggling to fill AC slots, because the dream lies deep within nearly every AC out there that the next HC opening will have their name written all over it.

[Drew S.]

I found someone I would be happy with, Kevin Sneddon. It looks like he isn't coaching right now and would be great in helping Ben transition to being a head coach. I see him helping in some of the areas Ben could potentially struggle with and stuff a lot of people on here overlook. To me someone with that sort of background would bring a lot more value than some random 30 year old. I'm not sure if he would be interested but I doubt he would ever be in the mix for another head coaching job in Hockey East and at his age it might be something to get the competitive juices flowing again.

[amkirby10]

Sean Walsh is/was Video Coordinator and Statistical Analyst for UMaine Hockey.

https://goblackbears.com/sports/mens...sean-walsh/514

FYI



I doubt this is a role that Barr is going to care too much about replacing with one of his "own", so I suspect Sean will be able to stay on if he wants.

Sean's a good kid, I had a couple classes with him at UMaine and got to know him a bit. He at first tried to deny he was even related to Shawn, I think on some level he dosen't want to be seen as "taking credit" for him or something like that. He's well liked with the team as well, I'd expect he stays as video coordinator if he wants.

[NorthMike]

I found someone I would be happy with, Kevin Sneddon. It looks like he isn't coaching right now and would be great in helping Ben transition to being a head coach. I see him helping in some of the areas Ben could potentially struggle with and stuff a lot of people on here overlook. To me someone with that sort of background would bring a lot more value than some random 30 year old. I'm not sure if he would be interested but I doubt he would ever be in the mix for another head coaching job in Hockey East and at his age it might be something to get the competitive juices flowing again.

Ok now I know Drew really isnt serious with some of these comments, only dropping this stuff to get a rise out of folks.

[BassAle]

I found someone I would be happy with, Kevin Sneddon. It looks like he isn't coaching right now and would be great in helping Ben transition to being a head coach. I see him helping in some of the areas Ben could potentially struggle with and stuff a lot of people on here overlook. To me someone with that sort of background would bring a lot more value than some random 30 year old. I'm not sure if he would be interested but I doubt he would ever be in the mix for another head coaching job in Hockey East and at his age it might be something to get the competitive juices flowing again.

lol

maybe we could bring Tim Whitehead in as an associate head coach?

[BassAle]

Ok now I know Drew really isnt serious with some of these comments, only dropping this stuff to get a rise out of folks.

you underestimate how brain damaged Drew is.

[Wayuphere]

I found someone I would be happy with, Kevin Sneddon. It looks like he isn't coaching right now and would be great in helping Ben transition to being a head coach. I see him helping in some of the areas Ben could potentially struggle with and stuff a lot of people on here overlook. To me someone with that sort of background would bring a lot more value than some random 30 year old. I'm not sure if he would be interested but I doubt he would ever be in the mix for another head coaching job in Hockey East and at his age it might be something to get the competitive juices flowing again.

Umm, NO. Just, NO.

[Sean Pickett]

Hiring Ben Barr was one if not the most positive direct consequential event to have occurred for the hockey program in a long time, very long time. Im optomistic good things will result. Im giving Barr five + years to see what he can do, its only fair. Improvements will take time, being there in two to three years just isnt realistic, thinking annual incremental improvements.

I think it's great you're willing to wait 5 seasons, I just hope others are as patient. Here is a chart showing the cumulative winning percentage of 9 current and former coaches; 6 considered very successful, and 3 considered successful so far. As can be seen all but one had a record below 0.400 after one season, but after the fifth season 7 had records above 0.500 and 2 had records over 0.600:



I didn't identify the coaches by name as it's summer and I thought it might be fun to see if anyone can identify them. In no particular order the 9 coaches are:
Red Berenson
Jerry York
Eric Lang
Rand Pecknold
Shawn Walsh
Scott Sandelin
Greg Carvel
Ron Mason
Nate Leaman

As for Drew S.'s previous statement about needing to know where the program had been when a coach took over here is where they were:
Red Berenson: Michigan - two decades of mediocrity, with only one league and one NCAA runners-up eight seasons earlier, two consecutive losing seasons below 0.400
Jerry York: BC - three consecutive losing seasons and a mess with scholarships
Eric Lang: AIC - 22 consecutive losing seasons
Rand Pecknold: Quinnipiac - 13 of 19 losing seasons, 5 consecutive losing seasons
Shawn Walsh: Maine - a young program with three consecutive losing seasons
Scott Sandelin: UMD - 14 seasons of mediocrity, with only one regular season and one FF appearance eight seasons earlier, two consecutive losing seasons
Greg Carvel: UMass - 18 losing seasons out of 22, ten consecutive seasons at or below 0.500
Ron Mason: MSU - 30 seasons of mediocrity, 13 seasons removed from a surprise NCAA title and 12 seasons removed from a surprise return to the FF, three consecutive losing seasons
Nate Leaman: PC - 15 seasons of mediocrity, 11 seasons removed from a league runners-up and NCAA appearance, five consecutive losing seasons

So, yes, you will need to be patient, ,but if Coach Barr is the right coach for Maine he should have the program headed solidly in the right direction after five seasons.

[AMC]

I found someone I would be happy with, Kevin Sneddon. It looks like he isn't coaching right now and would be great in helping Ben transition to being a head coach. I see him helping in some of the areas Ben could potentially struggle with and stuff a lot of people on here overlook. To me someone with that sort of background would bring a lot more value than some random 30 year old. I'm not sure if he would be interested but I doubt he would ever be in the mix for another head coaching job in Hockey East and at his age it might be something to get the competitive juices flowing again.

I'd rather have people who are good at coaching hockey.