The Barr Has Been Raised at UMaine

[Chuck Murray]

Great hire. Benny has earned his shot and I wish him nothing but the best. I hope RPI can schedule some games vs the Bears. No idea who he'll hire as AC's but one possibility I'll throw out there is his former RPI teammate Kirk MacDonald who is coach of the Reading Royals in the E. Dunno if he'd be interested in jumping into the college grind...but he's a BC native and was a skilled forward at RPI.

When you say "college grind" I'm sorry, I had to smile. There is no grind worse than the ECHL, throw in all the uncertainties created in lower level minor league hockey by the pandemic (I'm not even sure if Reading played this season?), and I'm sure MacDonald would walk over a few hundred miles of broken glass to take a paid assistant's job in Orono under Barr. Unless he's on someone's radar for an AHL HC or an NHL assistant/scouting job instead? Orono > Reading ECHL.

[DavidNardolillo]

When you say "college grind" I'm sorry, I had to smile. There is no grind worse than the ECHL, throw in all the uncertainties created in lower level minor league hockey by the pandemic .

The point about the pandemic uncertainty and minor league pay is fair, but the "college grind" is really about the longer term dynamic of logging some very serious year-round hours and travel to recruit players as an assistant, versus being a professional head coach with NHL and AHL affiliates and a relatively simplified player acquisition process. There's definitely an opportunity for advancement out of the ECHL: Plenty of former ECHL head coaches are now AHL and NHL head coaches.

[Chuck Murray]

The point about the pandemic uncertainty and minor league pay is fair, but the "college grind" is really about the longer term dynamic of logging some very serious year-round hours and travel to recruit players as an assistant, versus being a professional head coach with NHL and AHL affiliates and a relatively simplified player acquisition process. There's definitely an opportunity for advancement out of the ECHL: Plenty of former ECHL head coaches are now AHL and NHL head coaches.

Never said there weren't opportunities in the ECHL, but it's still the ultimate grind - relatively low pay, lots of games, mostly bus travel, a longer season than D-1 in normal times, and heavy roster activity. It's the closest thing we still have to the old Johnstown Chiefs of the Federal League as portrayed in Slapshot. Anyone who makes it out of the Coast and into The Show has earned it. The idea that a relatively young ECHL coach would pass up the stability of a D-1 assistant's job that probably pays him more than his Coast HC job is just overlooking the realities. He may still decide he's "all in" on a pro HC job further up the ladder (Cassidy and a few others are great examples it can be done), but the "grind" of in-season/off-season recruiting pales in comparison with day to day life in the Coast. Anyone who can handle the Coast has established their work ethic, so making a few extra trips (some even by plane) to handle the recruiting will hardly shake that person's resolve, eh?

[DavidNardolillo]

but the "grind" of in-season/off-season recruiting pales in comparison with day to day life in the Coast. Anyone who can handle the Coast has established their work ethic, so making a few extra trips (some even by plane) to handle the recruiting will hardly shake that person's resolve, eh?

Won't argue that ECHL is easy street, but I think there is certainly recognition in the sport that a college assistant job is a special type of grind:

"Former Minnesota Duluth assistant and associate head coach Jason Herter, who stepped down this spring after nine seasons with the Bulldogs, has been told by colleagues in professional hockey there is no harder job in the sport than being an assistant coach at the college level. Brett Larson, the current head coach at St. Cloud State and former assistant with UMD and the Ohio State Buckeyes, has heard it from friends in the pros as well."

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sp...demanding-jobs

That's doesn't mean that a top assistant job at Maine would not be an appealing option for an ECHL head coach, but I can also see why an ECHL head coach might turn it down due to the nature of the job.

[Chuck Murray]

Won't argue that ECHL is easy street, but I think there is certainly recognition in the sport that a college assistant job is a special type of grind:

"Former Minnesota Duluth assistant and associate head coach Jason Herter, who stepped down this spring after nine seasons with the Bulldogs, has been told by colleagues in professional hockey there is no harder job in the sport than being an assistant coach at the college level. Brett Larson, the current head coach at St. Cloud State and former assistant with UMD and the Ohio State Buckeyes, has heard it from friends in the pros as well."

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sp...demanding-jobs

That's doesn't mean that a top assistant job at Maine would not be an appealing option for an ECHL head coach, but I can also see why an ECHL head coach might turn it down due to the nature of the job.

Ultimately, I think the difference boils down to the fact that in pro hockey, if you're coaching with an NHL/AHL team, your scouting function operates largely independently from the coaching function. In college hockey, your assistant coaches end up doing both the "scouting" (recruiting) AND the coaching work. I can see where many pro coaches would blanch at the idea of having to add scouting/recruiting to their responsibilities, and would think that's a drag on the college guys. But the college guys have shorter schedules with fewer games, less travel, and on average do better salary wise and benefits wise than guys coaching in the ECHL (if not the AHL). Not to mention, several ECHL teams are not affiliated with NHL or AHL teams. Roster turnover at the ECHL level can also be daunting, so you're constantly going through new players, whereas with college hockey, turnover really only happens in the offseason. At the AHL level, it's no "walk in the park" either, but you're so close to The Show, and that tends to keeps folks engaged.

So I suspect the alleged "grind" of college coaching as espoused by pro coaches is probably a mix of them (pros) being a bit spoiled, and probably to some degree patronizing of their college colleagues. If quality of life was the deciding factor to me, I'd take a college assistant's job over anything remotely approaching the ECHL, any day of the week. But if I needed to be a pro coach and had dreams of the NHL, then I would start wherever I needed to, do anything that was asked of me, and chase the dream as long and as hard as necessary. Horses for courses then, right?

[Toronto_1]

I'm curious -- no one on the thread seems at all disappointed that Ben Guite didn't get HC job. Maine alum, lots of NHL experience, from Quebec and native French-speaker = great for recruiting. Am I missing something? Does Guillaume Richard -- clearly a Guite recruit -- decommit now that the coaches he signed on with are no longer there?

[AMC]

I'm curious -- no one on the thread seems at all disappointed that Ben Guite didn't get HC job. Maine alum, lots of NHL experience, from Quebec and native French-speaker = great for recruiting. Am I missing something? Does Guillaume Richard -- clearly a Guite recruit -- decommit now that the coaches he signed on with are no longer there?

Drew S. is. The rest of us feel that we have been losing for a decade and are ready to move on from anyone that has been associated with that stretch.

[umhockey91]

Is it wrong that I don’t really care if we lose some Gendron/Guite recruits?

[amkirby10]

Is it wrong that I don’t really care if we lose some Gendron/Guite recruits?

Richard absolutely has to stay. Other than that, I would trust Barr and Co. to evaluate and see which ones he wants to stay and which ones he'd be fine losing.

[kahunak]

UMASS fan here- not sure what the issues are in Orono if any, but if Barr needs to address things and he follows Carvel's approach, there will be a lot of turnover in the players. Carvel's approach was that he did not want any a**h***s on the team so many were moved on. That is why in his first year UMASS won only 5 games. In the long run, that approach paid big dividends. Of course, at the time, he was not under the spotlight like Barr will be at Maine.

[Fishman'81]

Drew S. is. The rest of us feel that we have been losing for a decade and are ready to move on from anyone that has been associated with that stretch.

Exactly. There is nothing to lose. The Red Era was a tire-fire, no matter how you slice it, and this hire looks waaaaaay better.

[Fishman'81]

The point about the pandemic uncertainty and minor league pay is fair, but the "college grind" is really about the longer term dynamic of logging some very serious year-round hours and travel to recruit players as an assistant, versus being a professional head coach with NHL and AHL affiliates and a relatively simplified player acquisition process. There's definitely an opportunity for advancement out of the ECHL: Plenty of former ECHL head coaches are now AHL and NHL head coaches.

Not disputing your comment, just wondering who those plenty of present NHL/former ECHL coaches are.

[Drew S.]

Drew S. is. The rest of us feel that we have been losing for a decade and are ready to move on from anyone that has been associated with that stretch.

I’m still very sad for Ben Guite but feel a lot better about things after hearing Barr’s press conference yesterday.

I think history will be very kind to Red & Co. In five years or whatever when we look back it will be obvious they were able to get things headed in the right direction.

[BoSox3066]

UMASS fan here- not sure what the issues are in Orono if any, but if Barr needs to address things and he follows Carvel's approach, there will be a lot of turnover in the players. Carvel's approach was that he did not want any a**h***s on the team so many were moved on. That is why in his first year UMASS won only 5 games. In the long run, that approach paid big dividends. Of course, at the time, he was not under the spotlight like Barr will be at Maine.

i dont think he’ll need quite the purge that Carvel did. I dont think Maine has any azzholes. We got a lot of slow guys who can’t possess the puck or create any offense. But they’re not azzholes, so at least there’s that

[MEbear]

I feel bad for Guite to have this unfortunate situation of Reds premature passing lead to the rug being yanked out from under him and his family like this, but I guess that uncertainty is part of being in the coaching game and all coaches are aware of that uncertainty. I haven’t followed Maine Hockey much in recent years but I used to and I remember how much I enjoyed watching Guite as a player. Apparently he worked hard and did a good job as an assistant, but it appears that Barr has done that job even better and longer so I support the difficult decision the committee had to make. I’m sure that Guite will continue to succeed and grow as a coach and hopefully his turn to head up a D1 program will come not too far in the future. I wish nothing but the best for him.

Barr sounds like a great choice for lots of reasons and I expect the program will now have a new energy and his prowess as a recruiter will improve the level of talent and that will lead to a lot more success once “his” guys are established on the team. I really like that he’s not starting off by complaining about the difficulty of recruiting kids to play in a ‘cultural backwater’ like Orono, Maine and I don’t expect to hear him using that as an excuse for a lack of success in the future. It sure didn’t seem to impede Walsh or Standbrook! I get that some kids want to play in a big city like Boston or go to an elite school like BC or Notre Dame, but there are plenty of great kids who are singularly focused on their development as a hockey player but would like to get a degree too as sort of a backup plan in case their dream of pro hockey doesn’t happen. Playing in front of a lively crowd and supportive fan base that always packs the arena, along with the chance to play for a coach who they think will help them achieve their goals will speak more loudly to the sort of player Maine needs than the chance to party or the culture available in a big city or the chance for an elite school degree. I’m a UMaine engineering alum and if I had it to do over I’d again choose Maine even if cost wasn’t a factor. As an undergrad I found that the professors had WAY more knowledge to impart than my little brain could possibly absorb. A more “elite” engineering program would have been wasted on me as far as cramming knowledge into my head because I was already pretty maxed out and I suspect that most 18-22 year old hockey players would feel the same way Plus, I didn’t even play a varsity sport and between on campus activities and studying and part time jobs I didn’t have either the time or money or inclination to enjoy city life. Years later I did live in downtown Boston and enjoyed it but by then I had a lot more time or resources than as a college student. So, I think UMaine has plenty to offer young hockey players and that, combined with Barr’s reputation as an energetic recruiter and his record of past success will draw more talent to Orono and in a few years we’ll all be discussing how to get the best deal on flights to frozen fours again. Its an exciting time to be a Maine Hockey fan again! I wish Barr well and hope he and his family enjoy life in this area.