Maine Offseason 2020: We Stay Home But Swayman Leaves

[Drew S.]

And I won't be surprised if Alfie stays home. He deserves a serious look at either place.

I'm excited about the hire, but I do expect that we'll have to give Barr some time. This roster isn't good, and guys all have the option of staying an extra Covid year, which of course represents a recruiting logjam. Still only 18 scholarships available per team, and nobody has to leave right now.

This will be a fun process to watch in any case.

I am pretty sure fifth year scholarships don’t count against the limit.

[Fishman'81]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Bruins look into Alfie for a developmental role given how Swayman has spoken glowingly about him.

And I won't be surprised if Alfie stays home. He deserves a serious look at either place.

I'm excited about the hire, but I do expect that we'll have to give Barr some time. This roster isn't good, and guys all have the option of staying an extra Covid year, which of course represents a recruiting logjam. Still only 18 scholarships available per team, and nobody has to leave right now.

This will be a fun process to watch in any case.

[BassAle]

This forum is going to get awful quiet without the same five people complaining about the head coach every day.

I might actually start giving a **** again.

[KrbFlint]

Do we think now would be a good time to start a new thread? This one is pretty big at this point.

If it’s not a play on “Raising the Barr” or something like that, I’m rioting

[Drew S.]

Do we think now would be a good time to start a new thread? This one is pretty big at this point.

Yes, you start it and I’ll post my thoughts on his press conference.

[amkirby10]

Do we think now would be a good time to start a new thread? This one is pretty big at this point.

[SiouxFanatic]

As a UND fan who has had a long admiration for Maine hockey, I hope this hire brings Maine back to prominence…where they belong!!

[acs64]

Yay ! Friggin yay ! I’m gonna start following this team again. From all I hear things are looking up finally. I wish him , his staff and his to be players nothing but success.

[KrbFlint]

I'm absolutely thrilled with the hire. Easily the best candidate they could have asked for, should be able to get more top-flight talent to our program. Building not one, not two, but three also-ran programs into national champions as top assistant and lead recruiter is nothing to sneeze at.

Though I fully expect Barr to be a home run hire that does wonders for our program, I do want to temper my own expectations a bit. It's always possible that excellent #2s, as Barr has already proven itself to be, aren't quite cut out to be #1s. It's possible that a great recruiter can't always translate his players' talent to on-ice results and causes underachievement; David Quinn at BU comes to mind.

All that said, though, I still fully expect Barr to transform our program. I think he will knock it out of the park and return us to national relevance.

Hiring of assistants is critical. Ben Barr "HC" isn't Ben Barr from any of his other stops. Who, now, can Ben Barr hire to be his "Ben Barr"?

I think he has the network to pull it off though.

[Wayuphere]

This forum is going to get awful quiet without the same five people complaining about the head coach every day.

Temporarily sure, but he hasn't coached a game at the Alfond yet so I’ll reserve judgment. He will get razzed on here like the others did if a failure. Sick of mediocrity. Big talk period soon ends, then produce.

[Blackbear96]

Easy for him to say now. There's probably a 50% chance that statement was sincere.

Barr also passed on any commitment to Guite or Michaud, other than claiming he "hadn't really given it any thought yet" (or words to that effect - which I don't believe for a second BTW) and there would be "lots of discussions" with both of the guys, plus lots of interest from outside the program.

Bingo. Bingo. Bingo. There's a 0% chance that a young coach who has already been a finalist doesn't have a group of assistants in mind already. Possibly, it's not finalized, but I don't believe for a second that he doesn't have a plan in place. In that being said, I don't see Guite or Alfie being back in Orono next year - which is sad for sentimental value, but Coach Barr should be able to bring in his own staff.

That press conference was everything I'd want to hear from my HC. Patience, trusting his own plan and process and preaching culture. In the state of sports today, culture is so, so important and most successful rebuilds around sports center and thrive in a culture change. Year 3 should be a lot of fun.

[BobF]

Well having watched the press conference I certainly believe we found the right person to lead the program. As Ben discussed it takes the entire staff working together to get the ship going in the right direction and here's to putting that staff together. When Red was hired it seemed as if we were picking between two guys who were just looking to round out their careers in Red and Jim Tortorella. This time we are selecting someone who is anxious to start his next chapter and build his own resume of success. He has the track record as a recruiter and certainly has a long list of supporters in the hockey community. Now let's hope it all translates into being a successful head coach. Great job by Ken Ralph and the committee.

The answer I was most pleased to hear was when he said that it won't be hard to recruit kids to come to Maine! So tired of hearing that as an excuse. He has tradition and a fan base that is so hungry for packing the Alfond again to cheer a program on the rise. There is no question the new locker rooms and workout facilities are necessary eye candy, but get the rink rocking again and the players will want to come and play in front of that crowd! Congratulations to Ben and welcome to Maine!

[Chuck Murray]

Barr appears to be Skype-ing in from his hotel room.

Based on the last Q&A, Barr is still "here" in Amherst, looking forward to being "there" in Orono.

Birth of twins and recent trip back to hospital might explain the slight delay at the end of the process?

[Chuck Murray]

"Gonna push players beyond their comfort zone, in a good way, not easy to do these days"

"Transfer portal is now part of our world, can't build a team entirely through it, though"

"Better to have kids who actually want to be here, not requiring 50 calls to convince them"

"Character and culture can be cliches"

You can absolutely see how this guy has been successful, and will likely continue to be successful.

I'm sincerely impressed. A lot of folks are gonna regret not hiring this guy as a HC earlier.

[BoSox3066]

Been listening to Barr for 15 minutes and its clear he’s the guy. This team’s going to be back in the Garden in 2023.