UNH Wildcats 2021/2022 - Return of the Champions of October?

[boblav1]

A new recruit:
Connor DeTurris @ConnorDeturris
After much consideration I’ve decided to commit to play D1 College Hockey at the University of New Hampshire. Beyond excited and wouldn’t be here without my family, coaches and teammates, let’s keep it rolling!

Connor Deturris - Elite Prospects

[Chuck Murray]

Well at least we didn't get blown out...I think we had some good stuff but what has hounded us keeps hounding us. Would have been nice tho...for a split. Wasn't too thrilled with our fans choice of a chant but how about the return of BB?!?!

I'd like to focus on how we are seeing some decent development with guys like Devlin Gagne and Huard for starters...Its not a total disaster.

But yeah...its frustrating as hell at times but who knows? Am looking ahead to the Dartmouth event to close out the year...perhaps we make the title game hey it could happen!! Did I just make another bold prediction!?!

I need to unplug and get ready for the marriage of our son in two weeks! Wishing everyone good health and bright days for the holidays no matter how you celebrate!

Maybe with BS becoming a lame duck earlier this week, the folks running the PA decided to bring BB out of mothballs for the occasion? Otherwise, nice to hear there was a Greg Ambrose sighting ... and I need to hear more about last night's chant?

Congrats 'Ref on your son's upcoming nuptials.

[HockeyRef]

Maybe with BS becoming a lame duck earlier this week, the folks running the PA decided to bring BB out of mothballs for the occasion? Otherwise, nice to hear there was a Greg Ambrose sighting ... and I need to hear more about last night's chant?

Congrats 'Ref on your son's upcoming nuptials.

Thanks Chuck we are very excited...! The chant was FU (insert term that rhymes with truck) BU. I mean, I've said the word myself (on occasion, ya know??) just think 'sucks to BU' is a better UNH hockey cheer. I mean, it was deafening. We get the 'no hardware' chant when we are in Maine, the BC goalie chant is punishing and effective...but I just don't like that kind of thing. Anyway...not much one can do about it I guess..As per BB, it was just the intro but got the crowd going.

As you know HE honored John Gravalesse (sp) last night as he has retired from officiating. I wondered why we had not seen him this season. Personally I have liked his work. I believe his son is a student at UNH?

I thought the Blue Out night was very good as far as fan involvement went ('cept the FUBU cheer) with the bracelet/fitbit thingies they synchronized to music. New UNH vids too of past and present...and the crowd was, I think, the biggest I've seen in a long time. Wish the outcome had been different. Hope Robinson is ok and was really surprised he returned to the ice. Now we just need to somehow, someway, score some goals, but everyone knows that boring detail.

[Felger]

Am looking ahead to the Dartmouth event to close out the year...perhaps we make the title game hey it could happen!!

Still a chance to be Champions of December

[Chuck Murray]

Thanks Chuck we are very excited...! The chant was FU (insert term that rhymes with truck) BU. I mean, I've said the word myself (on occasion, ya know??) just think 'sucks to BU' is a better UNH hockey cheer. I mean, it was deafening. We get the 'no hardware' chant when we are in Maine, the BC goalie chant is punishing and effective...but I just don't like that kind of thing. Anyway...not much one can do about it I guess..As per BB, it was just the intro but got the crowd going.

True story ... the first Beanpot I attended as a kid was the 1979 Beanpot Final, the year after the Blizzard of 1978 blew in on the night of the opening round games IIRC. Anyway, me and a few HS friends went to see the second night, which featured the somewhat de rigueur BC vs. BU Beanpot Final (somethings don't change much, I guess). It was the second of four very memorable games I attended at the Boston Garden in what was a stretch of little over a year, which had begun on 12/7/78 when I saw my first live Detroit Red Wings game in a high-scoring and entertaining loss to the B's, where I sat next to the DRW bench/runway and chatted with my goaltending idol Rogie Vachon (who had a night off behind Jim Rutherford), while Errol Thompson notched the hat trick in a losing cause. The first visit of the Beanpot Finals referenced above came roughly two months later, and would be followed just over another month later by the 1979 ECAC Tourney Final between UNH and Dartmouth (my first in-person UNH game, and what a way to start!), and then culminating in the 1980 Beanpot Final little less than a year later, when Wayne Turner scored in OT to beat BC and give Northeastern its first-ever Beanpot title.

So enough for the intro ... to the bunch of us, who were HS seniors and figuring out where we were going to school the next year, this was kind of an intro to what college life was going to be like. Animal House had been released the previous summer, and later in the Fall of 1978 my same group of friends traveled to the campus of Brandeis to see Jim Bouton speak, in the aftermath of his MLB comeback earlier that year, and pimping the re-release of his seminal book Ball Four. Walking into the Garden, I definitely was struck by the electric atmosphere of the college crowd, two bands going pretty much non-stop, one after the other, and it was definitely a notch or two above what the B's-DRW crowd had been a few weeks earlier - still loud and proud, but definitely in the post-Orr funk of the Don Cherry years. And once you got settled in at the Beanpot, you had some time to read the banners hung from the balconies, and here we are, nudging each other every few seconds, saying "hey look at that!!". One of the tamest I can recall was in the BC section, with a simple drawing of a screw, followed by BU.

Once the game started, the profanity reached epic level heights. These were two teams that had faced each other for the '78 D-1 championship (BU won), but were both fairly decimated by graduation. In retrospect, there were a small handful of guys who were still skating for BU who would leave their marks on the US Olympic Team coached by Herb Brooks a year later in Lake Placid. But it was a great game, high intensity on the ice, and even higher intensity up in the stands. Truth be told, BU was already a second favorite team of mine behind UNH, but it was nice to enjoy as a somewhat "neutral" and appreciate the constant back-and-forth between the two student sections. I'm pretty sure BU won with a late 3rd period goal, not all unlike what would happen a few weeks later when Bobby Gould would do the same for UNH to win their first title. There were some hostilities at the March ECAC title game for sure, but nothing that held a candle to what we experienced at BU vs. BC.

That relatively short window of time - February '79 through February '80 - made me a college hockey fan for life. Under "strange but true" I ended up applying to go to about a half-dozen schools, and three of them were Brandeis, BC and BU. Bentley offered the best overall package and had a curriculum that appealed more to my academic strengths at the time. That didn't stop me and some of my HS pals (most of whom stayed in the area while in school) from continuing to catch the Beanpot for a few more years after that, and it's something I began to revisit later in life on a regular basis until the last few years. Of course, it's never been the same raw experience that it used to be in the old Garden back in the day, although the on-ice intensity probably hasn't changed, the viewing experience has become MUCH tamer than it used to be. And to me, that's kind of sad. We've lost something there. JMHO.

[NCAA watcher]

Still a chance to be Champions of December

11 games in, and in 9th place with 9 points. Vermont right on our heels, with 8 points but with 3 games in hand.

1	Northeastern	11	23
2	Massachusetts	10	22
3	UMass Lowell	9	19
	Providence	11	19
5	Boston College	9	17
6	Boston University	12	16
7	UConn	9	14
8	Merrimack	9	11
9	New Hampshire	11	9
10	Vermont	8	8
11	Maine	11	7

13 games left

3 vs. U.Conn
3 vs. UML
2 vs. BC
2 vs. Merrimack
2 vs. Maine
1 vs. Vermont

[Felger]

My "Champions of December" comment was in response to HR saying they could make the title game of the Dartmouth tourney....(since that is New Years Eve)

[HockeyRef]

My "Champions of December" comment was in response to HR saying they could make the title game of the Dartmouth tourney....(since that is New Years Eve)

I would think that we could beat Dartmouth? Right? Guessing BC is another story as they'll have no trouble getting past Mercyhurst. The last time we played in this the outcome was not great. As per 'Watchers list of HE games left...I predict no more than 12 points to be earned. Maybe they find some scoring but without it...all games are a challenge as we know regardless of the opponent.

[Drew S.]

11 games in, and in 9th place with 9 points. Vermont right on our heels, with 8 points but with 3 games in hand.

1	Northeastern	11	23
2	Massachusetts	10	22
3	UMass Lowell	9	19
	Providence	11	19
5	Boston College	9	17
6	Boston University	12	16
7	UConn	9	14
8	Merrimack	9	11
9	New Hampshire	11	9
10	Vermont	8	8
11	Maine	11	7

13 games left

3 vs. U.Conn
3 vs. UML
2 vs. BC
2 vs. Merrimack
2 vs. Maine
1 vs. Vermont

For us oldies that Maine-UNH series at the end of February could be incredibly depressing.

[NCAA watcher]

For us oldies that Maine-UNH series at the end of February could be incredibly depressing.

Why? The playoffs are assured, and the atmosphere of jockying for the play in games will be electric.
To remind you

“This new format for the Hockey East Tournament gives all of our student-athletes the chance to compete for a championship, which is undoubtedly the most exciting part of the season,” said Hockey East Commissioner Steve Metcalf. “Hockey East is the most competitive conference in college hockey, top to bottom, and this new format will highlight the importance of every game during the season for players and fans alike.”

For the Auld Lang Syne tournament, Dartmouth has given up 4.2 goals per game, so UNH should feast in that opening game. BC will be tougher.

[Chuck Murray]

For us oldies that Maine-UNH series at the end of February could be incredibly depressing.

Notwithstanding 'Watcher's keen sense of sarcasm, I agree 100%.

[Dan]

A lot of great UNH teams have lost to Dartmouth teams they're supposed to handle - even when they've feasted. That game is a toss-up, every year, records and talent aside...

http://www.collegehockeystats.net/04...s/mdarunh1.j12

[HockeyRef]

A lot of great UNH teams have lost to Dartmouth teams they're supposed to handle - even when they've feasted. That game is a toss-up, every year, records and talent aside...

http://www.collegehockeystats.net/04...s/mdarunh1.j12

100% on that Dan...I've seen it! Have seen UNH beat Dartmouth most of the time; a few of those games at SNHU, here and there. (and we've lost to them too !) Still gotta put the puck in the net.

Hey for fun yesterday as an added note I traveled with another UNH hockey fanatic to Portland ME to watch Patrick Grasso play v the Maine Mariners. He was happy to see us and played well starting the game and getting an assist (had a hattie last week). ALSO on his team was Jake Rzcek and Joeseph Masonius. Both decent DMen (esp. JM) but boy the crowd did not like him lots of on ice chirping. I know alot of people don't consider the ECHL that great but I think the hockey is decent enough (too many fights maybe?) and it gives guys a place to continue to play. Mariners have a few Blackbearson their team like J.D. Greenway and Patrick Shea. Made for a fun afternoon and got a few raised eyebrows about our UNH jerseys HA!

[After the Whistle]

Love that you went Portland to see the Man. Saw that Peter MacArthur is on the Thunder roster. He was a force years ago for BU. Great college numbers, 130-40 points would be my guess. A little long in the tooth. Always fun to get to see players play post graduation. Saw JvR play his first NHL game.
I believe that the last time we player in the Dartmouth holiday tournament we were just learning of the pick up of a really young and exciting German kid!!!!!! Just waiting for the announcement.

[After the Whistle]

Oh well!