The Barr Has Been Raised at UMaine

[amkirby10]

At least they made it a game in the end, but still a really frustrating and disappointing weekend. I expected one win out of this and they failed. 21 SOG against I would think would win you a decent amount of games, but Mack 3/3 on the power play is just brutal. So is a goal with 0:01 left in a period. Speaking of the power play, Maine's is wretched, something needs to get done about it. The next stretch of the schedule is quite soft, but hard not to be dejected with the way the last three weekends have played out.

[walrus]

Coaches poll looks to be correct and Maine is a last place team in HE.

[Jackcurtis23]

Not sure what you guys watch….and apparently the guys who do the pbp and color for Merrimack and UConn can’t either. Both programs commented on the noticeable improvements only one year into the rebuild.

THIS team looks like a Gendron coached team?!? That regime had the program for how long, 7 years? Were big, slow and undisciplined. Did nothing. (With NHL goalie for 3 of them). This is Barr’s year 1.2, they fly all over the ice. The D men can actually skate and move the puck. Play relentlessly most of the time. They are so young and give up PP goals, and are struggling to find the back of the net. It’s frustrating. But to not see the obvious improvement in speed and style of play is short sighted IMO. This isn’t 1996, Scott Borek has had 8 seasons and has made Merrimack arguably a top 5/6 team in HE.

I know everyone wants to win every game, and Ben himself said there are no moral victories….but lets not lose sight of the trees for the forest

[BlackBearFan19]

I tend to be overly optimistic about Maine hockey and I think there are some unfair reactions here. Maine isn’t close to competing for a tourney berth yet so we need to stop judging them on that scale.

The comment about Maine being unwatchable, are we watching the same team? If they’re unwatchable now, what have they been for the last 10 years? I’m frustrated too because they’ve left points on the table during this stretch. The power play is tough to watch, they tend to generate more offense 5 on 5.

Hockey East seems to be loaded this year, I think Maine finishes 9th. I think they edge out UVM and UNH but behind 8th place BC. I think there is a clear line between the top 7 and the bottom 4. With that said, Maine hasn’t played any of those teams who will likely be around them in the standings. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them rip through the next stretch of schedule and end the year with some momentum.

[BlackBearFan19]

Not sure what you guys watch….and apparently the guys who do the pbp and color for Merrimack and UConn can’t either. Both programs commented on the noticeable improvements only one year into the rebuild.

THIS team looks like a Gendron coached team?!? That regime had the program for how long, 7 years? Were big, slow and undisciplined. Did nothing. (With NHL goalie for 3 of them). This is Barr’s year 1.2, they fly all over the ice. The D men can actually skate and move the puck. Play relentlessly most of the time. They are so young and give up PP goals, and are struggling to find the back of the net. It’s frustrating. But to not see the obvious improvement in speed and style of play is short sighted IMO. This isn’t 1996, Scott Borek has had 8 seasons and has made Merrimack arguably a top 5/6 team in HE.

I know everyone wants to win every game, and Ben himself said there are no moral victories….but lets not lose sight of the trees for the forest

+1…. Same wavelength.

[walrus]

Not sure what you guys watch….and apparently the guys who do the pbp and color for Merrimack and UConn can’t either. Both programs commented on the noticeable improvements only one year into the rebuild.

THIS team looks like a Gendron coached team?!? That regime had the program for how long, 7 years? Were big, slow and undisciplined. Did nothing. (With NHL goalie for 3 of them). This is Barr’s year 1.2, they fly all over the ice. The D men can actually skate and move the puck. Play relentlessly most of the time. They are so young and give up PP goals, and are struggling to find the back of the net. It’s frustrating. But to not see the obvious improvement in speed and style of play is short sighted IMO. This isn’t 1996, Scott Borek has had 8 seasons and has made Merrimack arguably a top 5/6 team in HE.

I know everyone wants to win every game, and Ben himself said there are no moral victories….but lets not lose sight of the trees for the forest

Most of the whining will come from old guys(like me) who were around for the glory days. In reality I'm not sure why as the team hasn't been good for 10 years or more.

I see improvement and I hope it continues but it hasn't shown up in the win loss column yet. If the team continues to play hard even when they are losing its a good sign that Barr has their attention and they believe in him..

[Jackcurtis23]

Most of the whining will come from old guys(like me) who were around for the glory days. In reality I'm not sure why as the team hasn't been good for 10 years or more.

I see improvement and I hope it continues but it hasn't shown up in the win loss column yet. If the team continues to play hard even when they are losing its a good sign that Barr has their attention and they believe in him..

I get it. You all are a huge part of one of the best fanbases in college hockey! Im a grown man (hopefully not an “old guy” yet haha) and the Shawn glory days were some of the best memories of any sport.

I say stay the course. I think there are way more positives than negatives. If the school supports him, think we have our guy. Down 4-1 a Red team would have just let it get out of hand….they deserved better last night.

[NorthMike]

Im 100% bought in to give Barr 4 to 5 years to see meaningful progress in the win column and standings. I think it will come and things are more promising with the program than they have been in a long time.

The locker room is now at a critical point, can they stay positive and hold together or do they lose faith and allow negativity to creep in that destroys team chemistry. Do they take losses as a challenge and motivator or does it take to them to their knees. Especially with how this next stretch to mid January plays out.

[Drew S.]

Im 100% bought in to give Barr 4 to 5 years to see meaningful progress in the win column and standings. I think it will come and things are more promising with the program than they have been in a long time.

The locker room is now at a critical point, can they stay positive and hold together or do they lose faith and allow negativity to creep in that destroys team chemistry. Do they take losses as a challenge and motivator or does it take to them to their knees. Especially with how this next stretch to mid January plays out.

It will be interesting what happens with his contract. I believe he only signed a three year deal(it should have been longer) and typically you don’t let a coach get into the final year. The other part is salaries around the league have gone way up so not sure he would just accept any old offer.

I was impressed again this weekend how hard Maine played and it doesn’t seem like the losing streak has dampened their enthusiasm at all. I didn’t hear Barr post game either night but he sounded good both nights on the pregame show. Hopefully he was just having a bad night after the UConn game and it was a one-off.

To me the next eight games are probably the most important games of Barr’s time at Maine. You win say six of them you build some momentum and hopefully finish with a respectable record. If you only win say three, finish bottom of the league, and only win eight or so games total it is so much tougher to retain and attract talent. It seems like a true fork in the road for the program.

[BlackBearFan19]

It will be interesting what happens with his contract. I believe he only signed a three year deal(it should have been longer) and typically you don’t let a coach get into the final year. The other part is salaries around the league have gone way up so not sure he would just accept any old offer.

I was impressed again this weekend how hard Maine played and it doesn’t seem like the losing streak has dampened their enthusiasm at all. I didn’t hear Barr post game either night but he sounded good both nights on the pregame show. Hopefully he was just having a bad night after the UConn game and it was a one-off.

To me the next eight games are probably the most important games of Barr’s time at Maine. You win say six of them you build some momentum and hopefully finish with a respectable record. If you only win say three, finish bottom of the league, and only win eight or so games total it is so much tougher to retain and attract talent. It seems like a true fork in the road for the program.

I believe it was a 4 year contract with the potential for an extra 2 if they hit certain milestones so probably be negotiating around this time next year. It’s important to keep everything in perspective, this program was really down when Barr arrived and it needed to be gutted. Given the circumstances of Barr’s hire, this is the first true year of the rebuild. Maine has competed in every game even if the results haven’t been there.

I could easily see them winning a lot of these games, I think the UVM series should be a really good benchmark for us.

The positive I took from this weekend was the Poisson-Breen-Trudeau line. They look like
they have some chemistry and they scored a couple gritty goals.

Seems to me like the coaches are hard enough on themselves and the players, don’t need the fans piling on as well.

[amkirby10]

I thought I'd give my two cents on the state of the program currently. I want to preface this by saying I dont think anyone wants Barr gone any time in the next three years, and if they do then they're out of their mind. Everything I say here is done with the mindset that I think Barr is still the guy.

Let's start with the positives:

-This team can skate. They're so much more fluid than they were in the Gendron era, they can actually break out with speed, and they can go down the ice in transition. They also don't get pinned in their own end nearly as much as they used to.

-The defense is legit. They do really well at limiting chances and keeping their opponents to the outside. It seems like they often allow around 20-25 shots on a lot of nights, when in the Gendron era they seemed to routinely give up 35-ish shots.

-The penalty kill, before last night, had been playing really well. I very rarely have had this feeling of dread watching them this year that a goal is inevitable, or that they'll be bailed out by the goalie if they do manage to kill it.

-They never give up. I don't think they really gave up in the Gendron era either, but these guys never seem to just pack it in, and they go hard until the final siren no matter the score or situation.

-They're very disciplined. The fact that Mack was perfect on the power play last night overshadowed the fact that they only had three opportunities. In the Gendron era, Maine was regularly among the most penalized teams in the nation, if not #1. In the Barr era, they were the least penalized team last season, and remain in the Bottom 10 this season.

Now for the negatives....

-The power play. Oh man, the power play. 3-37. 8%. 5th worst in the nation. It's hard to watch. They can't do a damn thing with the man advantage.

-The offense in general. They really struggle to score goals, or even generate chances. They outshoot opponents regularly, but way too many of their shots go straight into the gut or glove of the goalie. And based on the one game I have got to see them play in person so far this season on Friday afternoon, they don't get guys to the crease to crash the net nearly enough. I found myself exclaiming about why they didn't have a guy in front of the net several times per period.

-They can't play from behind. Though we established they never give up, they still struggle to play from behind. If they allow the first goal, or go down by more than a goal, it just feels like its over.

-They "find ways to lose". Yesterday, they gave up a PPG with 0:01 in the first to go to the intermission down 3-1 instead of 2-1. In Hartford on Saturday last weekend, they tied the game late in the third in a gusty display, only to immediately give up the GWG about a minute later. They will sometimes have these stretches where they just get absolutely bodied (against Q and NU, for instance).

-They can't win on the road. This one is a recurring theme that has been a signature of this team ever since I became a student six years ago. This might be the most frustrating and disheartening thing that seems to have not changed under new leadership.

These are what I see as this teams primary strengths and weaknesses. I do think a lot of the weaknesses will be remedied by getting more experience and less young, especially the finding ways to lose and struggling to play without the lead elements. But a 2-8-1 record and streak of L5 are not great looks, especially when most of those 5 losses were games you theoretically could have won. I'm sure everyone is familiar with that certain quote by Bill Parcells, I don't think I need to be the one to say it out loud. Barr is clearly still the guy, but a lot of stuff needs to get cleaned up in a big way.

[ticapnews]

I believe it was a 4 year contract with the potential for an extra 2 if they hit certain milestones

It was a four year contract with two extra for having a winning record in Hockey East play.

It's a young team. They're hungry for success and have tenacity to spare. As long as they keep putting in the effort it is hard to fault them. Sure, there are going to be mistakes, but they do not give up. Keep a positive mind set and keep learning and improving and that success will come. The key is keeping them motivated and positive despite the record. That will be one of Barr's biggest challenges in the next few weeks.

[BoSox3066]

It was a four year contract with two extra for having a winning record in Hockey East play.

in what time frame? The 4 years cumulative? That may be next to impossible to attain after years 1-2….

[Drew S.]

in what time frame? The 4 years cumulative? That may be next to impossible to attain after years 1-2….

I’m pretty sure he just has to have a winning record one season.

[NorthMike]

An extension beyond four yrs shouldn't be a problem for Barr regardless of the extension clause. The U hands out coach contract extensions pretty easily. The real problem may be how to hang onto him.