UNH Men's Hockey 2022 Off Season Thread- Goodbye Lake Whitt!

[Darius]

Very sad. Wasn't his family a major contributor the Whitt video board funding?

During his first game (against UVM) I wondered aloud how to pronounce his name. Without skipping a beat, my buddy (who reads, but never posts here) responded. "Josh".

RIP.

[HockeyRef]

I would like to offer a sincere message of condolence to all UNH hockey friends, family, and fans (as well as those in the MC hockey community) in the passing of Josh Ciocco. You all had the opportunity to see him play and were a part of his life. No matter what our differences are regarding the program, we are all part of the Wildcat family and this hurts even though I had little to no involvement. I'm so terribly sorry. HR

[Nifty16]

Just read the horrible news that Josh Ciocco passed away yesterday. A big loss for the college hockey family. Keeping his friends and family in my thoughts and prayers.

So sad and so young. Can tell by the way he played had a love of hockey and never took a shift off. The college hockey world lost one of the good ones today. RIP Josh

[NCAA watcher]

God that's awful and a gut punch. He was always an engaging, passionate advocate for college.

[Drew S.]

Just read the horrible news that Josh Ciocco passed away yesterday. A big loss for the college hockey family. Keeping his friends and family in my thoughts and prayers.

[NCAA watcher]

I get your point here, and I don't think anyone here has any realistic expectation of a direct pipeline into the AD's office, much less having the AD on here going toe-to-toe on the pros and cons of MS7's depth chart or recruiting strategy. Of course not, she answers to a different boss. BUT ... if I'm an AD, what additional work would be involved in identifying outside sources of feedback into how the general off-campus population is viewing how your programs are doing? I'm guessing there are other places where fans of UNH Football or Hoops or Soccer or Field Hockey congregate to exchange opinions on how the team(s) are doing. Is it THAT big an ask, or THAT outrageous an expectation that the AD has a toady "printing out and handing to her" something on a weekly/monthly basis for a program out of season, and more frequently with programs in-season? I mean, no one expects she is going to attend each and every game (especially road games) so how else would you expect her to stay current with each program? Rely on the increasingly limited number of local media with scant game recaps and rare (softball) interviews? Or on Coach Fillintheblank's personal account of each contest?? Or the Wildcat Ouija Board maybe???

If I'm an AD, I want to have my finger on the pulse of everything. If "everything" only means other admins, coaches and players, with all due respect, that's a pretty insular approach. You reach out beyond the in-house options, and maybe you get something you weren't made aware of otherwise. Maybe a lot of it ends up being stuff you already know, or things you don't consider important, and that's fine. But it's the other 10%-20% you may stumble onto that fills in more of the overall picture of a program and/or its coach (or how the ticket office is/isn't doing a passable job) that can make a huge difference.

Three months in, and as a baseline I'd hope she has met all of her coaches and their support staff, and is collecting data and analyzing their performances, as well as all other off-field department heads under her control. Maybe this board isn't the "center of the universe" BUT it IS the closest measure of the heartbeat of the UNH Hockey programs. Finger on the pulse.

Why not help her out? athletic.director@unh.edu

[Chuck Murray]

While there is a lot to do I'm sure to improve things am really glad to read tweets from the new AD that she attended a field hockey game to acknowledge a coaching milestone…and tweet about it. Never saw any of that under the past AD. Social media prowess is hardly an indication of how capable one is at anything but I think it's refreshing.

Yes, and no heavy lifting involved. Nice personal touch. "Low hanging fruit", check.

I mean really she has barely been in the office what a couple, 3 months? Rome wasn't built in a day or did I miss something?

With all due respect, HR, I think this frames the whole lack of urgency issue I've been railing on about for what seems like forever now. I mean, why do something now that you can't kick down the road a few more weeks/months/years? I can't speak for internal expectations of AD Rich's performance, but the last time I was kicked upstairs for a management job in the private sector, the expectations to perform began almost immediately. 3 months was a lifetime; that was over 25 years ago, and I don't think the world has changed all that much since. Yes, "Rome wasn't built in a day", but I'm guessing the most successful Roman rulers weren't just "easing into the job" when they were out there expanding their global empire.

I doubt seriously that she reads this board…probably working on acclimating to the job and getting out to know her coaches and athletes… This board is hardly the center of the universe and I doubt the posts here are printed out and handed to her each morning.

Thank God the season starts this week…might just give us something constructive to discuss…

I get your point here, and I don't think anyone here has any realistic expectation of a direct pipeline into the AD's office, much less having the AD on here going toe-to-toe on the pros and cons of MS7's depth chart or recruiting strategy. Of course not, she answers to a different boss. BUT ... if I'm an AD, what additional work would be involved in identifying outside sources of feedback into how the general off-campus population is viewing how your programs are doing? I'm guessing there are other places where fans of UNH Football or Hoops or Soccer or Field Hockey congregate to exchange opinions on how the team(s) are doing. Is it THAT big an ask, or THAT outrageous an expectation that the AD has a toady "printing out and handing to her" something on a weekly/monthly basis for a program out of season, and more frequently with programs in-season? I mean, no one expects she is going to attend each and every game (especially road games) so how else would you expect her to stay current with each program? Rely on the increasingly limited number of local media with scant game recaps and rare (softball) interviews? Or on Coach Fillintheblank's personal account of each contest?? Or the Wildcat Ouija Board maybe???

If I'm an AD, I want to have my finger on the pulse of everything. If "everything" only means other admins, coaches and players, with all due respect, that's a pretty insular approach. You reach out beyond the in-house options, and maybe you get something you weren't made aware of otherwise. Maybe a lot of it ends up being stuff you already know, or things you don't consider important, and that's fine. But it's the other 10%-20% you may stumble onto that fills in more of the overall picture of a program and/or its coach (or how the ticket office is/isn't doing a passable job) that can make a huge difference.

Three months in, and as a baseline I'd hope she has met all of her coaches and their support staff, and is collecting data and analyzing their performances, as well as all other off-field department heads under her control. Maybe this board isn't the "center of the universe" BUT it IS the closest measure of the heartbeat of the UNH Hockey programs. Finger on the pulse.

JMHO.

[NCAA watcher]

But wait, unless there have been developments I'm unaware of, we already know the product, and that is the problem. Are you seriously expecting different results from the past several years? Not being wise, seriously, do you expect any different outcome? Souza has shown us no improvement on any front, none. If you disagree please show me to the "bright" spots we can point to.

With the huge freshman class, it is a less known product. That is both good and bad. They lost three "known" forwards, at least two of which were definite plusses (Pierson/Ward) and one of which (Engaras) was solid if unremarkable. Sweeping out the rest, and guys like Hermann and Richels, is nothing to lose sleep about.

On the back end, replacing Verrier and McKinnon, two "serviceable" guys, with a plus (Carfagna) and maybe a serviceable guy DeVita, may also be upgrades. Plus growth of Gagne/Huard.

And there's the possibility of upgrade in net.

So they've thrown in their hand which had a couple of good cards, and drawn a new hand that has the potential of improvement, but may also be more of the same. There's at least excitement to see how Sardarian, Dunlop Leclerc, Skraskins and Winters fare. They could end up being Cafarelli (good potential numbers in juniors, not able to crack lineup) or Richels (one good tool, but question if skating could sustain). But they could end up as Pierson.

It will be more interesting than watching the "known" guys try and effort it out.

[d.gerry]

How, exactly?

Between the women's program also being horrible, and the flagship football program listing along at 3-2, and the complete stagnation in any publicity/marketing, she has a herculian effort to put her people in place for the backend support, while keeping powder dry on the coaches. At this point, with the dye cast for the season, there's no benefit to doing anything other than giving them complete and unwavering support while they are still in place, while hopefully quietly making "contingency" plans.

I agree with HockeyRef, can't wait for this season to start to we can focus on the product. Opening day lineup chart will be interesting.

But wait, unless there have been developments I'm unaware of, we already know the product, and that is the problem. Are you seriously expecting different results from the past several years? Not being wise, seriously, do you expect any different outcome? Souza has shown us no improvement on any front, none. If you disagree please show me the "bright" spots we can point to.

[NCAA watcher]

you would think at a minimum she would acknowledge the issues the program faces in a way that isn’t harsh on Souza or the players.

How, exactly?

Between the women's program also being horrible, and the flagship football program listing along at 3-2, and the complete stagnation in any publicity/marketing, she has a herculian effort to put her people in place for the backend support, while keeping powder dry on the coaches. At this point, with the dye cast for the season, there's no benefit to doing anything other than giving them complete and unwavering support while they are still in place, while hopefully quietly making "contingency" plans.

I agree with HockeyRef, can't wait for this season to start to we can focus on the product. Opening day lineup chart will be interesting.

[Drew S.]

I checked last night and tomorrow will make three months since Rich was announced as AD. I’m sure UNH was on her radar for a month or two before that so she has had plenty of time to understand how drastic of fall UNH hockey has had. I can understand why she wouldn’t make tons of changes straightaway but you would think at a minimum she would acknowledge the issues the program faces in a way that isn’t harsh on Souza or the players. I’m not convinced replacing Souza is the best way forward for you guys but there definitely needs to be some changes as far as ticketing and stuff like that.

Maine is going to use the same sort of process you guys did for a new AD and I anticipate a similar result.

[d.gerry]

I doubt seriously that she reads this board…probably working on acclimating to the job and getting out to know her coaches and athletes… This board is hardly the center of the universe and I doubt the posts here are printed out and handed to her each morning.

Not sure of your point here? You seem to be referring to posters complaints of the new AD. Isn’t the purpose of this forum to be a place where fans can come together and celebrate, brag, analyze, second guess, critique, vent, and yes complain about “their” team (and others’ teams too!). I don’t think any of us seriously believe this is some type of pipeline leading straight to the AD’s office. We come here to vent our frustrations with the current state of our once proud and respected program, just as we used to express our elation (albeit that was many years ago now which more recent posters would have no experience with). AD Rich is fair game, regardless if she is even aware of this existence of this message board. If I can’t come here to unapologetically express my thoughts (positive or negative) why even have a board?

[HockeyRef]

While there is a lot to do I’m sure to improve things am really glad to read tweets from the new AD that she attended a field hockey game to acknowledge a coaching milestone…and tweet about it. Never saw any of that under the past AD. Social media prowess is hardly an indication of how capable one is at anything but I think it’s refreshing. I mean really she has barely been in the office what a couple, 3 months? Rome wasn’t built in a day or did I miss something?

I doubt seriously that she reads this board…probably working on acclimating to the job and getting out to know her coaches and athletes… This board is hardly the center of the universe and I doubt the posts here are printed out and handed to her each morning.

Thank God the season starts this week…might just give us something constructive to discuss…

[Chuck Murray]

To be fair she's only been on campus for a few short weeks, probably hard to pass judgement on her at this point however, the clock is ticking (loudly). The disappointing thing so far is her complete silence. Has anyone heard anything from AD Rich since the day of her intro presser? An introduction letter to the season ticket holder base introducing herself, her aspirations, goals, etc. would be nice. Is that too much to ask?

No, not really. Tougher decisions on personnel who are leading their respective programs admittedly involves some time to observe, analyze and decide. As much as I'd like to get to the next step with UNH Hockey ASAP ... the day Blue Skies (was) retired, we knew there'd be a time element involved. But there are a lot of other things that can be dealt with quickly, if not immediately ... and outreach to season ticket holders - disaffected or otherwise - is one of those "low hanging fruit" things.

It looks like deltabravo got a phone call (finally) from the ticket office, so maybe they've gotten the memo, and maybe the AD is starting there - which would be another good example of a quick and relatively easy in-house fix. Y'know ... treat others as you would like to be treated yourself? Nothing complicated there. A letter as you've suggested is another easy fix. I don't even care if it includes "aspirations, goals, etc." (which would likely be boilerplate drivel anyway) as long as it acknowledges that (1) UNH values its customers, and (2) UNH strives to provide a quality product for the customer's entertainment dollar. After that, just do your job and "show me". Success in athletics is more measurable than it is in most other college missions.

Unless, of course, you've been hired primarily for your compliance expertise. In which case, just come out and say so, we can understand the priorities, and make our deci$ion$ accordingly. $imple.

[deltabravo62]

Meanwhile I have had more contact with schools where I buy single game tickets (BC, Providence, and Umass) within this league trying to get me interested and buying tickets. I will say UNH did call last week to try to get me back on my season tickets that I apparently didn’t lose even though I was supposed to in July. They said they are “working on” six game flex packs for tickets that they would get info out on once they “finalized everything”. Apparently that will be a last minute thing if at all, I told them to call once they have that figured out as I would use that to fill in what games I go to this year. The ticket office worker who called was nice and did ask my reasoning for not renewing which I told a condensed version of the truth to. I will follow up with the ticket rep I had to give them their market research to do what they will with. Probably a waste of my time but it’s pretty easy to say a declining product both on the ice and in what is being offered with season tix is not inspiring me to continue when there are other options for a hockey fix in the region.