The Barr Has Been Raised at UMaine

[NorthMike]

CHN news ran an article today on umaine hockey and Barr.
If you havent seen it.
Barr is saying the same things as when he started, good to hear.
Sounds like the facility upgrade for hockey could be in the next couple years.

[Drew S.]

CHN news ran an article today on umaine hockey and Barr.
If you havent seen it.
Barr is saying the same things as when he started, good to hear.
Sounds like the facility upgrade for hockey could be in the next couple years.

Thanks for letting us know.

I suspect his comment on facilities is more hope than expectation. It would be nice to see it get done but I’m not going to hold my breath.

There is something I’m starting to be a little concerned about with Barr and it kind of comes up in the article. He mentions how this year’s freshmen class is a good foundation and I’m not sure if that’s completely true. They’re all legit DI players and definitely solid but ultimately you need difference makers. Trudeau is much better than any of the forwards Barr recruited which for me isn’t a great sign.

If you look at all of Maine’s recruits by far the best ones are from eastern Canada and it seems Barr is staying away from that area. Nobes, Hopkins, and B. Nadeau all committed in the months after Barr got the job and then nothing since. That leads me to believe they were likely all guys the prior regime was in on.

One positive thing I will say about Barr is I think he’s done a great job coaching the team this year. They’ve played hard all year and seemed pretty well organized. At this point I’m definitely much more worried about the recruiting than coaching.

[NorthMike]

Thanks for letting us know.

I suspect his comment on facilities is more hope than expectation. It would be nice to see it get done but I’m not going to hold my breath.

There is something I’m starting to be a little concerned about with Barr and it kind of comes up in the article. He mentions how this year’s freshmen class is a good foundation and I’m not sure if that’s completely true. They’re all legit DI players and definitely solid but ultimately you need difference makers. Trudeau is much better than any of the forwards Barr recruited which for me isn’t a great sign.

If you look at all of Maine’s recruits by far the best ones are from eastern Canada and it seems Barr is staying away from that area. Nobes, Hopkins, and B. Nadeau all committed in the months after Barr got the job and then nothing since. That leads me to believe they were likely all guys the prior regime was in on.

One positive thing I will say about Barr is I think he’s done a great job coaching the team this year. They’ve played hard all year and seemed pretty well organized. At this point I’m definitely much more worried about the recruiting than coaching.

The upgrade timing surely is an unknown. Based on the alumni update they gave in november its high on the project list for the athletic dept. Hard to say about the board of trustees opinion, but the design phase was approved by them.

Regarding getting more higher end players recruited, it sounds like Barr is sending a strong signal to the decision makers that the hockey facility upgrades are a key component in this and needed asap. Rightly so I believe, based on what it looks like other HE schools have to offer in this regard. As Barr says, upgrade and modernize, hopefully its heard loud and clear.
.

[Drew S.]

The upgrade timing surely is an unknown. Based on the alumni update they gave in november its high on the project list for the athletic dept. Hard to say about the board of trustees opinion, but the design phase was approved by them.

Regarding getting more higher end players recruited, it sounds like Barr is sending a strong signal to the decision makers that the hockey facility upgrades are a key component in this and needed asap. Rightly so I believe, based on what it looks like other HE schools have to offer in this regard. As Barr says, upgrade and modernize, hopefully its heard loud and clear.
.

Couldn’t agree more that upgraded facilities would make a huge difference. It has to be a really tough sell right now.

[AMC]

That’s a shame about Hebert, I always liked his game. I believe he was dealing with some injury issues this season so I wonder if the chances of him suiting up again were slim. He’s in his last year of eligibility so maybe he decided to hang up the skates. Weird that he was on last nights line chart and now is gone though.

Bullet points from the BDN article on his departure:

1. Seems like he never really got healed up from his wrist injury.
2. Also seems like he just kind of got passed on the depth chart.
3. He'd already graduated and wasn't really interested in a masters.

[ticapnews]

Heard a radio ad for the FlexPass (5 games for $56) and the big selling point is the schedule, featuring "top 10 opponents like Boston University [ed note] OK [/ed note] and Merrimack [ed note] what the bleep? [/ed note]" How things have changed.

[amkirby10]

Victor Ostman was named the Hockey East goaltender of the month for December.

[Drew S.]

Bullet points from the BDN article on his departure:

1. Seems like he never really got healed up from his wrist injury.
2. Also seems like he just kind of got passed on the depth chart.
3. He'd already graduated and wasn't really interested in a masters.

I don’t think he would have made a ton of impact on the ice the rest of the season but it’s really hard for me to feel good about this. Maybe he just wanted to save a little money but to me when someone walks away from a couple more months of what for a lot of people is the greatest time of their life it gives me pause. It will be interesting in time if this is something that was significant or not. Maine desperately needs to convince Poisson, Breen, and Trudeau to come back next year.

[BlackBearFan19]

I don’t think he would have made a ton of impact on the ice the rest of the season but it’s really hard for me to feel good about this. Maybe he just wanted to save a little money but to me when someone walks away from a couple more months of what for a lot of people is the greatest time of their life it gives me pause. It will be interesting in time if this is something that was significant or not. Maine desperately needs to convince Poisson, Breen, and Trudeau to come back next year.

I don’t think you can read into that much, he’s an older player who’s not playing and is likely not on scholarship. He’s graduated already so what is he going to do, take a couple BS classes for the possibility of playing a few more games?

Breen and Trudeau aren’t going anywhere. If Maine can find a way to bring back Poisson and Henbrandt next year, then I think they have a tournament caliber team. That would mean the forwards lose virtually nothing and the top 3 lines could shape up something like this.

Poisson-Breen-Trudeau
Henbrant-Renwick-Houle
J. Nadeau-KKO-B. Nadeau

The lines will be juggled obviously but those top 9 forwards would provide some serious scoring.

[umhockey91]

Regarding the facility renovations/additions.....what is that some of you guys don't get? They have the money....I don't think that the Alfond Foundation is asking them to return their donation. The recent Seth Woodcock video uploaded to YouTube lays out the phases.....the Alfond Arena/Shawn Walsh Center renovations are part of Phase 2 which also includes the soccer field and new track. Phase 1 field hockey facility will be completed this summer and prep work will probably be started on soccer & track in the fall. I expect the Alfond work to get underway in early 2024 and be completed for the 2024/2025 season as part of Phase 2.

The only fly in the ointment is the new AD Killy who may have some say with regard to these renovations and the order in which they are completed. I'm guessing that the Alfond stuff is a safe bet to get priority Phase 2 as it stands though. I'm thinking that Killy will put his stamp on the new basketball facility though...and maybe other projects beyond that.

There's a pretty solid UMaine sports forum located here: https://umainesports.freeforums.net

You need to register but it's high quality discussion with participation by some pretty informed UM fans.

[walrus]

Regarding the facility renovations/additions.....what is that some of you guys don't get? They have the money....I don't think that the Alfond Foundation is asking them to return their donation. The recent Seth Woodcock video uploaded to YouTube lays out the phases.....the Alfond Arena/Shawn Walsh Center renovations are part of Phase 2 which also includes the soccer field and new track. Phase 1 field hockey facility will be completed this summer and prep work will probably be started on soccer & track in the fall. I expect the Alfond work to get underway in early 2024 and be completed for the 2024/2025 season as part of Phase 2.

The only fly in the ointment is the new AD Killy who may have some say with regard to these renovations and the order in which they are completed. I'm guessing that the Alfond stuff is a safe bet to get priority Phase 2 as it stands though. I'm thinking that Killy will put his stamp on the new basketball facility though...and maybe other projects beyond that.

There's a pretty solid UMaine sports forum located here: https://umainesports.freeforums.net

You need to register but it's high quality discussion with participation by some pretty informed UM fans.

They have money but the cost of construction has gone up considerably so I doubt the plans can be done with the money they have. That means either they change the plans, change the order of the plans or raise more money. No matter what I see delays in execution.

[umhockey91]

They have money but with the cost of construction has gone up considerably so I doubt the plans can be done with the money they have.

Do you know what is going to happen to the price of materials as the economy slows down over the next year?

[umhockey91]

They have money but the cost of construction has gone up considerably so I doubt the plans can be done with the money they have. That means either they change the plans, change the order of the plans or raise more money. No matter what I see delays in execution.

They said it would take a decade to build this out.....they are in year 2. You think that this stuff will be delayed into the 2030s???

[walrus]

Do you know what is going to happen to the price of materials as the economy slows down over the next year?

Some material is already down, some is unavailable. Some simple electrical equipment is back ordered until 2024. Electricians are paying 5 ,6 times the normal costs for Meter trims on EBay. Some breakers are not available. My supply house has unfilled backorders from 2020. Its happening in every trade so I'm guessing prices aren't getting back to normal when basic parts aren't available

[NorthMike]

They have money but the cost of construction has gone up considerably so I doubt the plans can be done with the money they have. That means either they change the plans, change the order of the plans or raise more money. No matter what I see delays in execution.

You are absolutely correct. Woodcock admits in the youtube update from nov that they have more fundraising to do and costs are not where they were when they did the initial layout. The alfond money is based on matching fund formulas.

They will get there but longer than hoped for. I wont be surprised if they delay or downsize some of the later projects like the old memorial gym rehab.