UNH Hockey 2023 Off Season Thread Turn and Face the Strange

[norbert]

I guess the NHL sized sheet and Key Auto Group's souped-up locker room facilities haven't quite landed yet?

Geez, I wonder what could be leading the best young D-1 prospects NOT to come to Durham ...

It has to be the snow accumulation in Durham that is much greater than Boston or Cambridge. I really can't figure any other options. If you have other thoughts, please give me, maybe somewhere around #7 ideas.....

[msprice]

I gave mine up last year after having them since the Whitt opened. Like you, the value was just not there. I'm a huge college hockey fan but the lack of talent and the depressing atmosphere got to be too much for me. Great memories of great games and fun nights, before and after games. I got tired of not even being able to get anyone to go to the games the last few years. Sad to see such a downfall after being on such a high for so many years. Still was tough to quit. Only hope somehow there is improvement in the product to get me back there sooner than later. Like everyone else, never even got a call about not renewing last year. . . . . .crickets.

[norbert]

Speaking of biting the dust... didn't renew my season tickets this year. As a 27-year season ticket holder (now former) it was a hard decision to make, but in the end I just couldn't justify spending the money given the quality of the product. I'm sure I will go to a few games this upcoming season, but my winter weekend schedule is wide open for the first time in decades.

Good for you. I have not convinced my family to allow this. You will never struggle to get a ticket and with the savings maybe you can donate to have D.Gerry Section 115 Row 8 at Towse Rink at the Whittemore Center at the Key Autogroup Complex in your honor....

[norbert]

So not hockey related but the **** show that is UNH Athletics, planned on tailgating for Family Weekend as I made that commitment to my daughter last year. Bought my "ticket" to the game to be able to buy a tailgating ticket. Well, the new ticket system was not ready after what is equitable to 9-month post football season to figure it out.

if anyone is planning on going and most likely stuck in A-Lot lets find a section to inhibit.

[NCAA watcher]

One month to opening exhibition game vs. Maine.

Single tickets are available for any game you want to attend
https://unhwildcats.com/news/2023/8/...ay-aug-23.aspx

And I assume you can sign up for new season tickets in the event of positive developments in April 2024

Anyone else jealous of Michigan State excelling after being rock bottom for a decade? Hired a HC with actual prior exposure to recruits via coaching in the US National Program, and then hired a top assistant with greater qualifications than a lot of first time HC's (cough, cough) when they were hired (Thanks Dick/Marty):

Over his six seasons at UMass, DeMichiel was instrumental in turning a team which went 5-29-2 in 2016-17 when the staff arrived in Amherst to making the Frozen Four in year three (2018-19) and winning a national championship in year five (2020-21). Over his final four seasons at UMass (2018-22), the Minutemen compiled a record of 94-39-7 (.696).

"I'm excited & thankful for the opportunity to work with Adam Nightingale at Michigan State University," said DeMichiel, who will be the program's Associate Head Coach. "Adam thoroughly impressed me with our conversations & his vision for the future of Spartan hockey. His passion for MSU runs deep & I'm honored to join him. There's a championship history at MSU as well as players moving on to NHL success that I am privileged and enthusiastic to be a part of. We understand it's a process, but our goals are to add to the history of NCAA success while moving our student athletes on to the NHL. We will do everything within our power to build a peak performance culture on and off the ice that will be a source of pride for students, staff, administration, & alumni."

Carvel brought both to UMass when he was hired five years ago, inheriting a program that finished last in Hockey East the two years before he got there. The Minutemen only mustered five wins in his first season and ended 2017 on a 17-game losing streak.

He credited UMass’ sports psychologist Mark Randall, an old friend he brought over from St. Lawrence, and his assistants Ben Barr and Jared DeMichiel.

“It's people and culture. That's why we were able to turn the program around,” Carvel said. “Right down the line from equipment manager to strength coach, to athletic trainer and hockey ops – just all people who understand the importance of high standards, just quality people and high standards. It's really what it is. It's who you surround yourself with, what you accept from them.”

He's actually been selected to coach teens (and future recruits) at the National Select summer festivals, unlike other assistant coaches who have never been selected that exposure, cough cough.

So, a similar pedigree as B.Barr and J. Dumais (and CC HC Kris Mayotte). He's selling MSU's completed upgrades to the Munn arena to recruits, good experience. A New Englander, let's see what he's up to in April.

[d.gerry]

Good for you. I have not convinced my family to allow this. You will never struggle to get a ticket and with the savings maybe you can donate to have D.Gerry Section 115 Row 8 at Towse Rink at the Whittemore Center at the Key Autogroup Complex in your honor....

Ha ha! Now there is a thought, my own named row! But seriously, pretty soon the only revenue coming in will be from sponsorships, as it's definitely not from ticket sales. Apparently the sponsors don't even attend the games, as if they did, they would certainly question advertising to a half full arena.

[Chuck Murray]

Basketball at the Whit is a disaster. Look at attendance for Men's hockey who our governor called a top tier program (or something similar), women's hockey, and basketball. I see no rode to a top tier DI basketball program playing at the Whit, the same population will attend.

Welcome back norbie. Sometimes you need to have vision to make something happen, where 99% of people don't see it or just dismiss it. Hoops at The Whitt are just one notable example of how UNH Athletics' lack of vision has hamstrung its Hoops program. All you really need is to have the right people running the show, and if you have that, then anything is possible. I personally think the "NH Beanpot" is another such idea but let's keep our focus on competitive sports programs, and a few examples where crazy incredible things have happened in the last generation:

UConn Basketball: Former Yankee Conference power but a distant also-ran regionally for most of the previous century to Providence College and even arguably Boston College in the sport. I've raised this comparison before, so I don't want to overdo it, but if you can explain to me how the seat of college hoops power - Men's AND Women's - somehow ended up in some wee small town in rural NE Connecticut, have at it;

The Whittemore Center: Yup, our home ice, built at double the capacity of adjoining Snively Arena, definitely our own "Field of Dreams" to the extent it was a "build it, and (hope & pray) they will come" proposition. So concerned was the U and the State that they ran ads in Boston print media to sell partial season ticket plans/packages to Boston area schools. There weren't many takers there, but NH folks turned up en masse;

Gonzaga Hoops: Right around the time The Whitt was under construction in Durham, the Zags were just another hoops program playing in obscurity in the Pacific Northwest. Never been to the NCAA ever, and had just gotten to the NIT once. But we turn the calendar to this century and they are perennially up there with the big boys of D-1. Like UNH Hockey in the Umile Era, they've been to the Final Four four (4) times, with two semifinal losses and two Finals losses. Everything but the top prize. And after almost a century of futility;

UNH Men's Soccer: And now to my second favorite UNH sport (getting close to top fave IF I'm being honest) ... from obscurity to revenue producing sport playing in The House That Blue Skies Half-Built, and a perennlal NCAA D-1 tourney qualifier. Where did that come from? Marc Hubbard, of course? But where did Hubbard come from ...

Seacoast United Soccer: Again, at around the same time that ground was being broken in Durham on The Whitt, a small group of Brits were making a name for themselves coaching travel soccer in Southeast NH. They too built their own "Field of Dreams" not once but thrice - first an indoor facility in Hampton, ten years later an expansive outdoor complex in Epping, and then another decade later, a modern indoor facility at their Epping site. Hubbard and many others cut their teeth at SUSC, and the club lifted the profile of soccer initially in our area, and later to the rest of our state, Merrimack Valley (MA) and Southern Maine. They recently sold their ownership stakes in the club for a tidy sum, but the guys are still running the club on salaries. Talk about "living the dream". But more than anything or anyone else, SUSC can be attributed with making their sport popular at a grass roots level, and their original generation of players are now the parents of today.

On a personal level - and on a much smaller scale - I've been involved in their sport locally first as the parent of two players, and graduating later to coaching first at rec level, then at town travel club level, and eventually as a sitting board member for a decade. I also started playing the sport competitively at age 41, and I've been playing for 20 years straight since (including last night). I'm still coaching, and have given up the board stuff - a direction I never expected, but coaching is more fun, and I'm at a stage in my life where doing fun things is a priority. I'll stop here, but folks who know me via either LinkedIn or twitter/X have access to further details. Let's just say that I'm the wrong person to try to convince that things cannot be accomplished.

And if AD Rich cannot see that UNH Hoops' future belongs back on the other side of Main St. then we've got the wrong person in charge. That was her predecessor's MO. She's made the Men's Hoops hire her first priority - despite him being the most accomplished coach in the school's history AND being better at what he does then MS7 is at his job. Her predecessor has virtually "killed" Hockey, and it will take some time for it to recover, assuming she makes a better hire than her predecessor did (and I think she will). Hoops gives UNH an opportunity to really make a surprise splash on the biggest of D-1 stages - they play in a winnable conference (for them), and winning just once puts you onto that stage.

UNH Hockey, UNH Football and now UNH Soccer have all enjoyed their "glory days" this century, but those have generally been nice regional stories. UNH Hoops ending up in the "Big Dance" (ack - I hate that term BTW) would be transformative - especially if it happens more than once. And once you have the visionaries in place, and you build some momentum, amazing things can happen. I hope I live long enough to see it. Plus the NH Beanpot too. ;-)

[HockeyRef]

But to date no captains......

Won't happen til the HE preseason gig which I believe Watcher said is in Sept....whomever MS7 brings will be the Capt..at least that seems to be the case in past years. Have no idea when that event happens...

[After the Whistle]

And the reason we don’t know that date Ref is because HE is equally as old at communicating and generating excitement and anticipation.
Anyone know if we will continue to be able to stream games n CBS Sports?

[Snively65]

I can't think of two more disparate personalities than Deion Sanders and MS7.

Can you even begin to comprehend the amount of work you have to put in to (1) start a new job at a legit D-1 football program, where you have no prior association, and have to learn everything from the ground up, (2) line up a full staff for your program, (3) do a complete inventory on the returning players and incoming recruits from the prior regime, (4) go "dumpster diving" through hundreds (if not thousands) of kids in the portal - let's face it, he didn't pick the first 53 that came up - and rank the top hundred-plus kids; and finally (5) get on the phone, and go through your top hundred-plus targets, and sell them on a place you've never spent more than a day in your life, and (6) tell a few dozen kids they won't be welcome to return to Boulder this Fall.

Understood that being able to say "Hi (fill in the blank), this is Coach Prime, I want you to come play for me, you in?" is going to be more than enough to convince a pretty fair slice of his targeted pool to sign up on the spot - especially if you think you've been overlooked by your current D-1 coach, which is why most of those kids are in the portal to begin with. And now Deion Sanders ... wants me?!? Is this a trick question????

I'm pretty sure MS7 doesn't put in that type of work, and I'm absolutely certain there are exactly zero (0) recruits who would recognize MS7 on sight or even by name, and the highlights of MS7's career make up roughly 0.0000001% of Sanders' on-line presence. In fairness to MS7, and I do agree with you JB, I'm not sure there is a legit comp out there, unless a Gretzky-like figure got a sudden hankering for an NCAA D-1 title.

Put me down for "wake me when it's over" along with JB. Unless Coach Boguniecki arrives before the end of the season ...

I noticed on HockeyDB that Bogie is no longer an assistant coach with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers (11-year gig, 2011/12-2021/22), and with a very sleuthing I found that he has been a scout for the Arizona Coyotes since July 2022. I always thought that Bogie should have been THE guy to succeed Richie Umile. Sigh.

[HockeyRef]

And the reason we don’t know that date Ref is because HE is equally as old at communicating and generating excitement and anticipation.
Anyone know if we will continue to be able to stream games n CBS Sports?

Agree, I follow them on Twitter (well, X but I don't use that) and they've pretty much just posted return pics of teams practicing, although, it seems they
have had the event somewhere in the middle of Sept. from what I saw from past stories...

[HockeyRef]

I noticed on HockeyDB that Bogie is no longer an assistant coach with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers (11-year gig, 2011/12-2021/22), and with a very sleuthing I found that he has been a scout for the Arizona Coyotes since July 2022. I always thought that Bogie should have been THE guy to succeed Richie Umile. Sigh.

As Chuck has said, it will 'be the guy that comes after the guy' that brings the 'Cats back into prominence. Waiting with bated breath....but, not holding it, if that makes any sense.

[NCAA watcher]

I'm not sure about prominence. We're just looking for relevance at this point. I truly felt like UNH had a good platform to bounce quickly from Umile to the new guy to remain in the top 5. He's essentially now led UNH to the 40-55th place in hockey relevance. Every recruit at this point has no memory of UNH being anything other than a bottom 4 team in HE. If you are a recruit and want to stay NE but aren't BU/BC/Northeastern quality, you go to Providence or U.Conn or U.Mass. Those aren't falling anytime soon. So UNH is going to have to slowly establish itself as relevant, and hope for a Quinnipiac model of slow success. That trajectory will be 5 years to the 5-8 range (like what Maine is hoping to do), and then 5 years to move into that top 5 contention. That's a 10 year plan if it works out. And come April, the MacPhersons and Sadowski may well decommit when a new coach comes in. So it really will be a complete start from nothing like U.Mass/Carvel, with no obvious candidates to overtake for that first 5-8 climb.

So, Umile took a two story house with the construction material for a 3rd floor, built the 3rd story, and then in his final years tore the whole thing down and put his nair-do-well nephew who had no construction background in charge. Let's see if a new construction manager can ever find potential buyers willing to invest in more than a starter home. (Put that on Umile's "builder's" trophy.)

[HockeyRef]

I'm not sure about prominence. We're just looking for relevance at this point. I truly felt like UNH had a good platform to bounce quickly from Umile to the new guy to remain in the top 5. He's essentially now led UNH to the 40-55th place in hockey relevance. Every recruit at this point has no memory of UNH being anything other than a bottom 4 team in HE. If you are a recruit and want to stay NE but aren't BU/BC/Northeastern quality, you go to Providence or U.Conn or U.Mass. Those aren't falling anytime soon. So UNH is going to have to slowly establish itself as relevant, and hope for a Quinnipiac model of slow success. That trajectory will be 5 years to the 5-8 range (like what Maine is hoping to do), and then 5 years to move into that top 5 contention. That's a 10 year plan if it works out. And come April, the MacPhersons and Sadowski may well decommit when a new coach comes in. So it really will be a complete start from nothing like U.Mass/Carvel, with no obvious candidates to overtake for that first 5-8 climb.

So, Umile took a two story house with the construction material for a 3rd floor, built the 3rd story, and then in his final years tore the whole thing down and put his nair-do-well nephew who had no construction background in charge. Let's see if a new construction manager can ever find potential buyers willing to invest in more than a starter home. (Put that on Umile's "builder's" trophy.)

Well yeah prominence is not the right word. Heck getting to the Garden before I'm 70 (5 years from now!) Is really all we can hope for? Geesh...Didn't realize it could take that long. What a freaking shame. At least we get to see teams like QU etc...gives you something to hope for.

When you put things in these terms makes me even more despondent about how things should have changed and where they ultimately went. Oh well..still going to be there regardless and will hope for the best.

So it's going to be the guy after the guy after the guy...

[Chuck Murray]

Let's just hope it's not the guy after the guy, after the guy, who turns this thing around. If it's not Bogey, Dumais or the other assistant 'Watcher mentioned yesterday, that's gonna be a real possibility. And I'm only 3+ years behind 'Ref ...