UNH 2020 Off-Season Thread: That Rinky-Shrinky Thang And Other Lively Banter :D

[HockeyRef]

Got Merrimack this weekend....good news for Ty Taylor

Oh! No idea why I thought that...thanks! I see tonight that the season 'stops' with this weekend...imagine they are figuring out additional games?

[Chuck Murray]

It's very simple. Does the school want a winning culture or they happy with competing with the Merrimack's and Vermont's of the world and once in a while snag a few of 2nd tier players? UMass was apparently tired of being perennial cellar-dwellers and it only took Greg Carvel a couple of seasons to convert them from a doormat team to a national powerhouse. It can be done, if the school is committed to doing so.

Unfortunately, the UNH that now exists bears very little resemblance to the UNH 25+ years ago that saw Hockey as a point of institutional pride, and committed to building The Whitt at almost twice the size of Snively Arena, when many of us were more than OK with continuing with quaint Lively Snively traditions. They really took a huge chance that the whole thing could have gone bust, causing heavy institutional damage and embarrassment to the school and its admins. It's not like Coach Umile was even winning regular season titles at that point, but the program was trending up, and UNH took a shot ... and it paid off big-time.

Heck, they even brought the Hoops programs across the street for a little while, and played on the Celtics' old parquet floor from the recently-demolished original Boston Garden for awhile.

This is the way they (UNH) used to operate a generation ago. It was great while it lasted ...

[ClOuD 9]

Heck, they even brought the Hoops programs across the street for a little while, and played on the Celtics' old parquet floor from the recently-demolished original Boston Garden for awhile.

This is the way they (UNH) used to operate a generation ago. It was great while it lasted ...

The baskets from the old Garden.
The parquet moved over to the FleetCenter and was retired just before Y2K.

[Snively65]

Lest we forget, wasn't Carvel successful at SLU before the wheels started going off there? Snagging a Cale Makar sure doesn't hurt, but even then, he's got a talented bunch and I believe Makar's brother is on tap to be there as well.

Although Carvel and Souza had similar stats as players (both exactly 1 point per game), Carvel had much more coaching experience than Souza before taking the helm at UMassy-Wassy: 7 years as a NHL assistant coach, then a year as assistant and four years as head coach at his alma mater St Lawrence. Those four years at St L: 9-9-4, 7-11-4, 20-14-3, and 19-14-4. His past four years at UMass: 5-29-2, 17-20-2, 31-10-0, and 21-11-2. At both St L and UMass, Carvel converted two losing seasons with inherited players to two winning seasons with some of his own recruits. I will not bother to list Souza's coaching stats, but note that he had three years to recruit his own players as assistant before he took the helm at UNH.

[Snively65]

EDIT: 8-3 final. Yikes. In the last three games, two NHL-drafted goalies have given up 21 goals, an average of 7 per game. Sorry, but at this point, someone needs to be fired......

And, speaking of NHL-drafted UNH goalies, how about dat NHL-undrafted UNH goalie beating da Caps twice in the past three days? Too bad that he did not get to play his senior year at da Whitt, eh?

[bakchk20]

Guess we'll have to wait until they shrink the rink because that seems to be keeping these top tier players from coming? (eye roll).

I'm not going to waste my time paraphrasing the tnh article; you can read it, if you haven't. Seems the people running the program think the oversized rink affects recruiting. The oly sheet is an outdated, dead notion...in North America, anyway.

A factor I was not familiar with is that UNH is out of compliance regarding hosting post-season tourney play. If that is truly where the NCAA is headed, then all the more reason to shrink the rink... You'll love it...

https://tnhdigital.com/2020/03/13/un...e-scaled-down/

[ClOuD 9]

I'm not going to waste my time paraphrasing the tnh article; you can read it, if you haven't. Seems the people running the program think the oversized rink affects recruiting. The oly sheet is an outdated, dead notion...in North America, anyway.

A factor I was not familiar with is that UNH is out of compliance regarding hosting post-season tourney play. If that is truly where the NCAA is headed, then all the more reason to shrink the rink... You'll love it...

https://tnhdigital.com/2020/03/13/un...e-scaled-down/

This really stuck in my craw the first time it appeared here but I let it pass, but since we're readdressing it...

“The NCAA has not allowed a postseason tournament game on an Olympic sheet since 2001, and there probably never will be one again. We were getting to the point where we wouldn’t be able to host a postseason game in the Whittemore Center and to me, that was a non-negotiable.” - Marty Scarano

The 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009 west regionals were held on olympic ice (Mariucci Arena & World Arena), and while not 'true olympic' (200 x 95) the 2005 northeast regional was held at UMass' Mullins Center.
To say nothing of the Women's Frozen Four being held 6 times on olympic ice: Mariucci (2001, 2006), Herb Brooks Arena (2007), Whittemore Center (2002, 2005, 2016)

The ECAC also hosts the semi-finals and finals of it's post-season tournament in Placid on, wait for it, olympic sized ice...

[Dan]

Seems the people running the program think the oversized rink affects recruiting.

The problem with that isn't the rink size, but with the people running the program. An absolute excuse and a complete waste of money at the expense of so many other things that could be addressed, not the least of which are upgrades to the Whitt that might actually have an impact on recruiting...

The current era of UNH hockey is going exactly as I expected it to go on day one, which is all I'll say for now...

[Chuck Murray]

This really stuck in my craw the first time it appeared here but I let it pass, but since we're readdressing it...

“The NCAA has not allowed a postseason tournament game on an Olympic sheet since 2001, and there probably never will be one again. We were getting to the point where we wouldn’t be able to host a postseason game in the Whittemore Center and to me, that was a non-negotiable.” - Marty Scarano

The 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009 west regionals were held on olympic ice (Mariucci Arena & World Arena), and while not 'true olympic' (200 x 95) the 2005 northeast regional was held at UMass' Mullins Center.
To say nothing of the Women's Frozen Four being held 6 times on olympic ice: Mariucci (2001, 2006), Herb Brooks Arena (2007), Whittemore Center (2002, 2005, 2016)

The ECAC also hosts the semi-finals and finals of it's post-season tournament in Placid on, wait for it, olympic sized ice...

So what you're saying here is our current AD is a disingenuous, self-aggrandizing scumbag?

I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked. /sarcasm-off

[Chuck Murray]

The problem with that isn't the rink size, but with the people running the program. An absolute excuse and a complete waste of money at the expense of so many other things that could be addressed, not the least of which are upgrades to the Whitt that might actually have an impact on recruiting...

As I've said before, I agree 100% with this. Just a diversionary tactic to excuse the program's drift.

The current era of UNH hockey is going exactly as I expected it to go on day one, which is all I'll say for now...

* Heart always wanted it to work out for MS7 and for Coach Umile;
* Head always had serious nagging doubts, which unfortunately are now coming to fruition

The visionary spirit that built The Whitt over 25 years ago now has been fully squandered. It set the program up for a 15 year run consistently near the top of HEA and D-1 (regular tourney appearances), which could (and should) have continued. Decisions that were eventually made came at least five years too late, and were further (and unnecessarily) delayed, which leaves us where we are now - not too far removed from the pre-Kullen era in the '80's, with UNH languishing in the lower echelons of Hockey East, and as a virtual nobody nationally.

It didn't have to turn out this way. Visionary leadership would have saved it a decade ago ...

[NCAA watcher]

It didn't have to turn out this way. Visionary leadership would have saved it a decade ago ...

Visionary? All they had to do was make a standard decision. Get advisory group and interview candidates. It's AD 101. Instead the AD told Umile "pick your favorite UNH alum that you've coached, regardless of what they've accomplished to this point, and teach him everything in 3 years, even though you were never interested in most of the duties a head coach must do, like recruiting or growing a coaching tree by having volunteer assistants."

I mean, the idea that Umile, the most insular coach, who virtually only recruited Boston kids before McCloskey came aboard, and then delegated recruiting since 1994, should get the exclusive say for Scarano is soooo far beyond normal.

[ClOuD 9]

So what you're saying here is our current AD is a disingenuous, self-aggrandizing scumbag?

I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked. /sarcasm-off

Would have taken The New Hampshire about two minutes on Google to rubbish the claims before publishing Marty's "alternative facts".

But then, this is the same article with such gems from the author as:
"For the past few decades, the Hockey East tournamenthas been held in various neutral environments like Manchester, N.H. and Boston, Mass. If the NCAA did in fact change the rules to allow conference tournament home games..."

[Darius]

Y'all realize that article is 10 months old, right? My sense is the U is really hurting for $ right now, especially athletics. The project was supposed to start last spring. Anyone know the projected start date?

[Chuck Murray]

Visionary? All they had to do was make a standard decision. Get advisory group and interview candidates. It's AD 101. Instead the AD told Umile "pick your favorite UNH alum that you've coached, regardless of what they've accomplished to this point, and teach him everything in 3 years, even though you were never interested in most of the duties a head coach must do, like recruiting or growing a coaching tree by having volunteer assistants."

I mean, the idea that Umile, the most insular coach, who virtually only recruited Boston kids before McCloskey came aboard, and then delegated recruiting since 1994, should get the exclusive say for Scarano is soooo far beyond normal.

Not to nitpick 'Watcher, but it was all about the timing. I was talking about 10 or so years ago, and the events you're talking about were 5-6 years ago. I think several of us (you and me included) were sounding the alarm to some degree that decade or so ago, once McCloskey moved over to the Women's program, and Borek/Tortorella were good but not great replacements who couldn't quite replicate the McCloskey/Lassonde magic. But Umile's teams were still competing close enough to the top of the conference that it wasn't a no-brainer to move on from him at that point. It would have been a tough call, and yes, to some degree, it would have required some vision to convince others that despite the continued tourney appearances, it was time to make the big call. It was always easier to justify keeping the "legendary" guy in place, and kick the can down the road another season in hopes it would turn back around.

It's like the "boiling frog" analogy in real life ... the frog does just fine as the pot of water he's swimming in is slowly raised to a boil, and doesn't recognize the danger he's in until he's well and truly cooked. It's kind of what happened to UNH Hockey in the last 10 or so years of the Umile Era. And by the time the damage was apparent to all - about when "Plan 9 from Melrose-Wakefield" was hatched on us, and unleashed upon Hockey East - yeah, it was likely too late.

So I think we agree on most of this. I guess, maybe the "pick your successor" plan could have worked circa 2010/2011, as UNH was still competitive and arguably at least a secondary destination in the D-1/HEA universe. Then again, MS7 wouldn't have even been in the frame at that point, and for varying reasons, the other logical "inside" choices like McCloskey, Borek or Tortorella/Lassonde weren't obvious ones, and at least two have since failed to impress in head coaching jobs after. I guess I always hoped McCloskey was coaching the Women's program while he waited for Dick to retire, and would then finally get his chance to run things on the Men's side, but that's speculation. It's something I still think would've worked, if given a chance.

Regardless, it's all a bit like crying over spilt milk at this point. "Blue Skies" put us in this pickle, and I don't think we've got a chance to extricate ourselves until he's gone. And I doubt he's in any hurry - Metcalf taking the HEA job tells you all you need to know about the timeframe for a successor to the current AD, and it's not an encouraging scenario for UNH Hockey fans ...

[Chuck Murray]

Y'all realize that article is 10 months old, right? My sense is the U is really hurting for $ right now, especially athletics. The project was supposed to start last spring. Anyone know the projected start date?

Yes, hopefully in time for the 2112 season. :-)