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

[Robert Balin]

Oh my, was just talking about him last night as we watched the 'other' Johnny Evans who plays for UConn.

UNH doesn't have much luck when they defer kids a year out. I'm going bye the team page on the BCHL site.

[NCAA watcher]

Line chart from last night dropped UNH from his name. Looks like he's gone.
https://twitter.com/BCHLWarriors/sta...882378/photo/1

[Sean Pickett]

Thanks Chuck! She would be the daughter of the the son of my mother's cousin, so....I guess she would be three-times removed??? Not sure...anyhoo, she was a hell of an athlete growing up in Hermantown, MN (near Duluth). One of the top HS girls hockey players in the state...,thought for sure that she would land somewhere in Div 1, but chose the Div 3 route instead. It worked out very well for her! :-)

Yes, congratulations on her achievements. She sounds like an amazing young woman.

BTW, if you're talking about your mother's first cousin (i.e., they have the same grandparent(s)), then she is your second cousin once removed. In any case it's great that your family, or at least your mother and her cousin, keep in touch. I barely keep in touch with my sisters.

Sean

[HockeyRef]

UNH doesn't have much luck when they defer kids a year out. I'm going bye the team page on the BCHL site.

Sigh.....thanks for the update. UNH doesn't have much luck in retaining the ones we.most badly need it seems. Oh well..you know what they say about one door closing...(voice trails off)

[HockeyRef]

Well, if I'm going to rationalize this the long and short of it is that players de-commit for all teams, and for all kinds of reasons, not just us...right? I don't keep tabs on other teams so I guess it's just one of those things. (mmmm ok) Players change their minds, their advisors give them input, who knows. We'll never know the reason so why bother trying to figure it out. Just lamenting as I believe this player could have been an impact player for us.

On another note, so enjoyed the hockey last night, esp the first game. Hope the HE Championship is just as good. I don't have a dog in this fight but if UConn won I'd give a tip of the cap to those players; they worked their tails off all game long.

[ClOuD 9]

Agganis allows full size trucks and busses directly into the arena, so I’m a bit surprised the Whitt doesn’t. It makes a lot of sense to allow trucks and busses direct access into the building so I’m not sure why it wasn’t originally built to allow it.

My guess is since UNH never really whole heartedly embraced the Whitt as an all-purpose arena they've never really seen it as necessary. It hosts concerts here and there, but it was more of a regular occurrence in the building's early years. As often gets mentioned on here, owing to cost overruns a chiller was cut from the budget and so it was opened without air conditioning which has limited the ability to host events during the summer months.
I've always felt like UNH missed an opportunity here, one that Lowell was pretty successful at embracing with the Whitt's sister building Tsongas Arena (now Tsongas Center), though they went a little too far with it overshadowing their own hockey team with the AHL's Loch Monsters.
Even in a post-SNHU Arena world I still think UNH could carve out a niche for smaller acts and shows that don't need 10,000 seats and cater to people on the seacoast and it's own ~12k undergrads.
BU has done well positioning Agganis by aggressively undercutting the notoriously steep booking fees required to hold an event at the Garden.

[After the Whistle]

Great thoughts CLOid 9! They really lost the comprehensive feel when the basketball team could old draw a small crowd and it just wasn’t worth the effort to keep doing the changeovers.

[NCAA watcher]

Version 2. I imagine there will be several other changes

So.Will Margel (18-1-3-4)--------Sr.Harrison Blaisdell-(25-2-6-8)------So.Robert Cronin (30-7-5-12)
So.Liam Devlin-(34-9-7-16)-----Fr.Stiven Sardarian--(NA)-------------Fr.Kristap Skrastins (NA)
Fr.Cy Leclerc-(NA)----------------Sr.Chase Stevenson-(33-4-1-5)------Jr.Nick Cafarelli (15-3-4-7)
Fr.Jake Dunlap-(NA)--------------Fr.Morgan Winters-(NA)---------------So.Conor Lovett
Jr.Carsen Richels-(13-0-0-0)-----Jr.Cam Gendron-(19-1-1-2)-----------Fr._____/transfer
So.Connor Sweeney-(22-0-0-0)--Sr.Joe Hankinson (1-0-0-0)


Sr.Kalle Eriksson-(32-0-12-12)----So.Colton Huard (28-6-10-16)
So.Alex Gagne-(33-1-7-8)---------Jr.Luke Reid 34-3-5-8)
Fr.Nick Ardanaz-(NA)---------------Fr.Damien Carfagna (NA)
Jr.Nikolai Jenson-(30-1-5-6)-------Fr.Cade Penney (NA)

Fr.Tyler Muszelik----------Sr.David Fessenden------------Jr.Jeremy Forman

[After the Whistle]

Does the fact that Sardarian is the only other projected incoming recruit without an LOI mean he could be next? Remember there was quite a todo about him developing in the USHL etc.

[HockeyRef]

Version 2. I imagine there will be several other changes

So.Will Margel (18-1-3-4)--------Sr.Harrison Blaisdell-(25-2-6-8)------So.Robert Cronin (30-7-5-12)
So.Liam Devlin-(34-9-7-16)-----Fr.Stiven Sardarian--(NA)-------------Fr.Kristap Skrastins (NA)
Fr.Cy Leclerc-(NA)----------------Sr.Chase Stevenson-(33-4-1-5)------Jr.Nick Cafarelli (15-3-4-7)
Fr.Jake Dunlap-(NA)--------------Fr.Morgan Winters-(NA)---------------So.Conor Lovett
Jr.Carsen Richels-(13-0-0-0)-----Jr.Cam Gendron-(19-1-1-2)-----------Fr._____/transfer
So.Connor Sweeney-(22-0-0-0)--Sr.Joe Hankinson (1-0-0-0)


Sr.Kalle Eriksson-(32-0-12-12)----So.Colton Huard (28-6-10-16)
So.Alex Gagne-(33-1-7-8)---------Jr.Luke Reid 34-3-5-8)
Fr.Nick Ardanaz-(NA)---------------Fr.Damien Carfagna (NA)
Jr.Nikolai Jenson-(30-1-5-6)-------Fr.Cade Penney (NA)

Fr.Tyler Muszelik----------Sr.David Fessenden------------Jr.Jeremy Forman

Changes...as in de-commits skaters.deferrals or portal additions? (Or current players not returning?) Or...all of the above?

What dies NA mean next to.a.plyers name?

[NCAA watcher]

No idea about other changes, but with Souza either a lame duck or at least on the hot seat, I imagine his needs -- ready players for next year, i.e. transfers/grads -- may have changed, and the recruits' perspective may also change.

For a coach finally under pressure, I could see 3 or so cuts in addition to Herrmann

When you're a ninth place team, better teams poach your better players, and you wait for better team's hand-me-downs hoping they pan out for you.

edit: ninth on a good year (see my signature). More like 10/11. Funny that while Souza spoke of "parity" when discussing recruiting challenges, I always assumes that meant some good years, too.

At this point, you just have to treat it like the final years of Umile -- be numb to players bolting because there's not really a clear path upward, and recognize that someone else is going to have a long rebuild in a couple of years so one or two more crumbs in the pantry will not materially change the job.

[Drew S.]

No idea about other changes, but with Souza either a lame duck or at least on the hot seat, I imagine his needs -- ready players for next year, i.e. transfers/grads -- may have changed, and the recruits' perspective may also change.

For a coach finally under pressure, I could see 3 or so cuts in addition to Herrmann

When you're a ninth place team, better teams poach your better players, and you wait for better team's hand-me-downs hoping they pan out for you.

edit: ninth on a good year (see my signature). More like 10/11. Funny that while Souza spoke of "parity" when discussing recruiting challenges, I always assumes that meant some good years, too.

At this point, you just have to treat it like the final years of Umile -- be numb to players bolting because there's not really a clear path upward, and recognize that someone else is going to have a long rebuild in a couple of years so one or two more crumbs in the pantry will not materially change the job.

The plan for a 200x90 rink doesn’t have the best recruits queueing up to play for UNH? Someone should let the people in charge know.

I truly feel bad for where you guys are at. Maine had the same leadership issues for a long time and it led to disastrous results. It seems like in the last six or seven years things have improved and Maine is now heading in the right direction.

[Spirit of UNH Hockey]

Version 2. I imagine there will be several other changes

So.Will Margel (18-1-3-4)--------Sr.Harrison Blaisdell-(25-2-6-8)------So.Robert Cronin (30-7-5-12)
So.Liam Devlin-(34-9-7-16)-----Fr.Stiven Sardarian--(NA)-------------Fr.Kristap Skrastins (NA)
Fr.Cy Leclerc-(NA)----------------Sr.Chase Stevenson-(33-4-1-5)------Jr.Nick Cafarelli (15-3-4-7)
Fr.Jake Dunlap-(NA)--------------Fr.Morgan Winters-(NA)---------------So.Conor Lovett
Jr.Carsen Richels-(13-0-0-0)-----Jr.Cam Gendron-(19-1-1-2)-----------Fr._____/transfer
So.Connor Sweeney-(22-0-0-0)--Sr.Joe Hankinson (1-0-0-0)


Sr.Kalle Eriksson-(32-0-12-12)----So.Colton Huard (28-6-10-16)
So.Alex Gagne-(33-1-7-8)---------Jr.Luke Reid 34-3-5-8)
Fr.Nick Ardanaz-(NA)---------------Fr.Damien Carfagna (NA)
Jr.Nikolai Jenson-(30-1-5-6)-------Fr.Cade Penney (NA)

Fr.Tyler Muszelik----------Sr.David Fessenden------------Jr.Jeremy Forman

Watcher,

Mike Lowry has JP Turner coming in this year, yet you don't have him listed. What's up with him?

I love seeing your predictions/updates. Keep up the great work!

[Chuck Murray]

At this point, you just have to treat it like the final years of Umile -- be numb to players bolting because there's not really a clear path upward, and recognize that someone else is going to have a long rebuild in a couple of years so one or two more crumbs in the pantry will not materially change the job.

No truer words have ever been spoken. Seven years of a failed experiment will do that to a program.

[Chuck Murray]

Well, if I'm going to rationalize this the long and short of it is that players de-commit for all teams, and for all kinds of reasons, not just us...right? I don't keep tabs on other teams so I guess it's just one of those things. (mmmm ok) Players change their minds, their advisors give them input, who knows. We'll never know the reason so why bother trying to figure it out. Just lamenting as I believe this player could have been an impact player for us.

As 'Watcher said ... the better teams poach your better players, and you get left with their sloppy seconds. Well, I think 'Watcher meant as much, he just put it a little differently ...

On another note, so enjoyed the hockey last night, esp the first game. Hope the HE Championship is just as good. I don't have a dog in this fight but if UConn won I'd give a tip of the cap to those players; they worked their tails off all game long.

Winning begets winning ... kudos to Coach Carvel, who is now the undisputed King of Hockey East. Maybe he drew an inside straight with Cale Makar, but the major winning he's been doing these last two seasons has been without Makar, and this year he'd done it without recruiting whiz Ben Barr. It will be interesting to see if (or how long) Carvel can maintain things at this level as Barr's impact on his program fades in the coming seasons. But he's earned the benefit of the doubt, and I was very much one of those doubters.

Speaking of those I've doubted, well, with Luce, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ... at least he can finally mount one of those TD Garden all-access passes with the UConn logo on it onto the mantle in his mancave. One winning season out of 8 in HEA only puts him a step ahead of his underachieving protege MS7 at UNH, and a country mile behind Carvel in his 6 years at UMass Amherst. We'll look back someday and realize this was Luce's big chance, and he couldn't close the deal. A poor man's Toot Cahoon, with a (small) fraction of the class. There is a God after all ... ;-)