The Barr Has Been Raised at UMaine

[NorthMike]

Morrisey and westerlund left due to knee injuries and are done with hockey.
Per Larry.
Sirota's injury was a knee as well.

[Fishman'81]

UConn looks like they've gotten things straightened and Merrimack may have as well.

Sean

Neither is looking at a berth right now, in all likelihood.

But I'm rooting for MC to sneak in.

[BoSox3066]

Morrisey and westerlund left due to knee injuries and are done with hockey.
Per Larry.
Sirota's injury was a knee as well.

Either thats a hell of a freak coincidence or we gotta take a look at strength and conditioning to prevent some knee issues here. 3 guys thats scary

[Fishman'81]

This would be great news for hockey east, Quinnipiac would immediately compete for a title and geographically is a good fit. Hockey East definitely isn’t dropping a team and adding Quinnipiac is much better than reaching at Holy Cross or Sacred Heart (no offense to those schools). Quinnipiac has been a top 10-15 school for 10 years now and they have a great rink. This is not diluting the league, it strengthens it.

Absolutely.

Since when would ANY conference balk at adding a very good program who's within a bus-ride of all its members?

This is a no-brainer.

[NorthMike]

Either thats a hell of a freak coincidence or we gotta take a look at strength and conditioning to prevent some knee issues here. 3 guys thats scary

Westerlund had off season surgery last year and sounds like never got back to shape good enough.
Tough sport to recover from a knee injury in.

Dawe probably ought to hang it up as well. One too many head injuries.

[Fishman'81]

I see what you’re saying and I too would like to see another hockey East team win the national championship. However, I think it would be beneficial for the guys to get some postseason experience, especially the returning offensive players like Houle, Breen and Poisson. Scoring in the postseason is a different ballgame. If hockey East wants to have this format, we might as well win.

Houle, Breen and Poisson won't matter much next season, if Barr's recruits pan-out.

None of them were anything remotely close to blue-chips in the first place, if you ask me.

[BlackBearFan19]

Houle, Breen and Poisson won't matter much next season, if Barr's recruits pan-out.

None of them were anything remotely close to blue-chips in the first place, if you ask me.

They might not be blue chip guys but they’ve been pretty effective. I expect all 3 to be top 6 forwards next season. Based on the players that are coming in, Nadeau and Trudeau are the two that I suspect will assume top 6 roles. The lines will likely be a combo of Houle, Breen, Poisson, Nadeau, Trudeau and Renwick.

Unless there are other players coming in that haven’t been announced yet, I don’t know how those guys get knocked out of significant roles next year.

[NorthMike]

Houle, Breen and Poisson won't matter much next season, if Barr's recruits pan-out.

None of them were anything remotely close to blue-chips in the first place, if you ask me.

You need to see Breen play live to get full appreciation of his speed, puck handling and tenacity at chasing the puck. Also emerging as a team leader. Top notch player any D1 coach would like to have. He will be a key player the next year or two regardless of the incoming recruits skills.

[umhockey91]

You need to see Breen play live to get full appreciation of his speed, puck handling and tenacity at chasing the puck. Also emerging as a team leader. Top notch player any D1 coach would like to have. He will be a key player the next year or two regardless of the incoming recruits skills.

Agreed.

Some of Barr's recruits might be pretty good....or very good. But Paul Kariya ain't walking through the door. Breen is a blue chipper....and I expect him to improve when those around him improve.....which is next season.

[Drew S.]

Agreed.

Some of Barr's recruits might be pretty good....or very good. But Paul Kariya ain't walking through the door. Breen is a blue chipper....and I expect him to improve when those around him improve.....which is next season.

I think one thing Barr needs to do, and I think he wants to do, is get late bloomers who slip through the cracks. This is one area both Red and Timmy didn’t do a good job. There were a few like Robbins and Smith but not nearly enough.

[AMC]

No difference... except there's no academic reason to support a conference change for 2 teams.

The previous administration used athletics to sell the university. I don't think the current admin cares to prioritize athletics to sell their education products. There's a reason QU has a law school and a medical school, and it's not to attract hockey players, or any other athletes for that matter.

So why have an athletic program?

[tylerzx2002]

You need to see Breen play live to get full appreciation of his speed, puck handling and tenacity at chasing the puck. Also emerging as a team leader. Top notch player any D1 coach would like to have. He will be a key player the next year or two regardless of the incoming recruits skills.

Breen and Houle really compliment each other with their play and hopefully Barr doesn't mess with that duo next year.

[umhockey91]

Morrisey and westerlund left due to knee injuries and are done with hockey.
Per Larry.
Sirota's injury was a knee as well.

So according to Emil Westerlund's posting on the University of Maine Fans Facebook page.....he is not leaving because of a knee injury but rather because he refused to get a COVID booster. He then goes on to say that he IS vaxxed but did not get the booster because he didn't want to put that in his body....even though he already received 2 vaccinations (I'm assuming). Weird.

[BlackBearFan19]

So according to Emil Westerlund's posting on the University of Maine Fans Facebook page.....he is not leaving because of a knee injury but rather because he refused to get a COVID booster. He then goes on to say that he IS vaxxed but did not get the booster because he didn't want to put that in his body....even though he already received 2 vaccinations (I'm assuming). Weird.

A lot of people hold his same POV. He’s a well conditioned athlete submitting to weekly testing as it is. His risk of spreading it is lower than the normal population considering he is tested more frequently. It’s a shame that he had to make that decision, I’m sure he wanted to continue his hockey career so he was okay receiving the first doses but as he realized this was probably his last stop playing hockey, he decided to not take the booster.

[NorthMike]

Breen and Houle really compliment each other with their play and hopefully Barr doesn't mess with that duo next year.

They are a good duo. Houle is a little rough around the edges, but has good speed, good shot and good hustle. I think Barr will improve his play further. Breen is good at getting the puck to him.
Should be interesting next year.