UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

BU did it, and they seemed pretty excited about it.

They would. They get excited about winning the Piszpot in February and typically act like they won a national title. And of course, up to that point, they hadn't won much more than that in a long time except for one HE title in 2006 (even Malts usually needs two in a row to get REALLY excited ).

Probably not a good example. That's all I'm saying.

Anyway, it was fun seeing BC win another national title. Hope you guys can get one soon.

[unh_hockey]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Anyway, it was fun seeing BC win another national title. Hope you guys can get one soon.

Wouldn't that be a blast? As much as I hate to say it, BC has too much 'street cred' amongst kids who want to play college hockey ( so does BU though). UNH is a tough sell, and it doesn't seem like its being sold to a few key recruits. A few kids who can score and a solid D corps and I think Umile can put together a squad to make a run for it. I believe that the 2008 squad was every bit as capable of BCs to make the run that year! Our boys in blue can do it again!

I was for BC this weekend. Too much nostalgia on my end having lived so close and been to the games when I was doing the Boston thing. They even gave us free admission once to the playoff game against PC!

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I was for BC this weekend.

Me too.

Once UNH is out I am for whatever Hockey East teams are left. If only to not listen to the WCHA fans...

BC is tough to root for; they have a certain number of fans that make it nearly impossible. Thankfully York is such a classy guy that he can make up for it. I just hope York is right in his belief that a rising tide lifts all boats, UNH only need a little more lift one of these years to get over the top.

This past year UNH squad wasn’t going to win it all, it was a flawed team, not enough depth. This is a year Umile got a team to overachieve, on paper coming into the year the NCAAs was a long shot at best. Umile should get credit for his coaching of these players (as much as he is getting hammered for the lack of top end talent coming in). Who saw Butler exploding like he did? We can only hope that maybe Paul Thompson is the next “UNH forward”, otherwise I wonder again where are the goals coming from.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

What's the word on the street/rinks about MiKe Vecchione, the UNH recruit from Malden Catholic (e.g., current skills; potential for development; why he chose UNH over any Boston school, etc.)?

Not sure who badly any of the Boston schools wanted him, but he is considered to lack the upside of Ryan Fitzgerald and Brendan Silk, both of whom UNH wanted but lost out to BC. However, he won a Mass HS player of the year award, and is considered to be a very hard worker and good student. He just finished his junior season at Malden Catholic and is expected to matriculate in the fall of 2012.

[i'zonprize]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Any early word on where Vecchione might play next yr?

I can't imagine that Silk, Fitzg or Vecchione are heading back to their current schools.

[Hokydad]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Any early word on where Vecchione might play next yr?

I can't imagine that Silk, Fitzg or Vecchione are heading back to their current schools.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/saugus/sp...us-chooses-UNH

http://multimedia.boston.com/m/29268...n-catholic.htm

Silk is leaving for the natl program
Both Vechionne and Fitzgerald are heading back to MC for another year. Vechionne will graduate and play a year and head to UNH. 10/15% chance he might do 2 years juniors. probably USHL.

Putting the other 2 aside, who I like and have deals etc.

Rest assured, you grabbed a blue chipper in Vechionne. He is not behind either of the otehr 2 and in my opinion, will be the best of the 3 when they play hockey east. not putting down the others as they are both exceptional kids and players but MV is a very good player./ Everyone looks at him as being older because he is a junior and they are freshmen but in reality, he is a later 93 and they are 94's. it is months difference, not years.

He is by far the fastest of the 3 and is a pure goal scorer. The difference is he is a Saugus kid who stay off the radar screen and works hard. doesnt do most of the showcase stuff and gets little if any fanfare. Him and Alex Gaceck were on the 93 Minuteman Flames for years together and they were equal.

PC was after him, Holy Cross was and Harvard was talking with him. He is going to UNH because of Serino and his ties there. the kid also loves the rink.

wait and see which one of the 3 has a bigger impact in their 4 years there.

[unh_hockey]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

What's the word on the streets/rinks inside 128, about MiKe Vecchione, the UNH recruit from Malden Catholic (e.g., current skills; potential for development; why he chose UNH over any Boston school, etc.)?

usually has something to do with ties to someone they know. Reading kids for the most part are all for UNH since their coach is a former player.

[i'zonprize]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

http://www.wickedlocal.com/saugus/sp...us-chooses-UNH

http://multimedia.boston.com/m/29268...n-catholic.htm

He is by far the fastest of the 3 and is a pure goal scorer. The difference is he is a Saugus kid who stay off the radar screen and works hard. doesnt do most of the showcase stuff and gets little if any fanfare. Him and Alex Gaceck were on the 93 Minuteman Flames for years together and they were equal.

PC was after him, Holy Cross was and Harvard was talking with him. He is going to UNH because of Serino and his ties there. the kid also loves the rink.

wait and see which one of the 3 has a bigger impact in their 4 years there.

If he was paired with Gacek.. That's about as good as it gets for prospects- Sounds like there was the old.. stay behind a yr game being played early on. how can one kid be a Jr and the other 2 be Frosh. and only be months difference in age.. nonsense..

[Hokydad]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Vechionne will be 17 when he graduates from hs. A lot of city kids just go to school. cant speak for Silk but Fitzgerald is a late 94 and never stayed abck. A keeper+ as well
After a year in the USHL, watch the player who walks on campus in 2012.
Will improve when he plays with USHL kids for 80 gms. many kids dont have as much upside as they are tricked up ponies where he has not

[SteveF]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

it's not entirely clear why his freshman teammate, Ryan Fitzgerald, chose to commit to BC over UNH.

oh, i could think of at least 4 reasons

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

oh, i could think of at least 4 reasons

Bwahahahahhahaa.

Back to the wall.... and it's GONE!!!!!!!!!

edit - still haven't seen any apology from you Hislop-Cocks...

[J.D.]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Correct me if I'm wrong, but UNH loses:

Butler
LeBlanc
Krates
Foster

Am I missing anyone? Umile has lost more than this in the past and still managed to be near the top of the league. Looks to me like UNH is better off than a lot of teams in Hockey East considering what they lost. If UNH gets some goaltending, wouldn't surprise me at all to see them #2 in the league next year.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Correct me if I'm wrong, but UNH loses:

Butler
LeBlanc
Krates
Foster

Am I missing anyone? Umile has lost more than this in the past and still managed to be near the top of the league. Looks to me like UNH is better off than a lot of teams in Hockey East considering what they lost. If UNH gets some goaltending, wouldn't surprise me at all to see them #2 in the league next year.

Yes, that's it. Krates is replaceable, but the other 3 will be sorely missed. Leblanc and Desimone were the only two real offensive threats at the center position. Butler obviously carried the team offensively, and Foster's play was definitely underrated in the second half. I think Digirolamo will be fine in the long run, but the first few months of next season could be wild.

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

Foster is a huge loss. Unless UNH is bringing in a great freshman goalie that can start right away there will be issues for them.

I've seen their back-up. He's terrible and is going to have to improve dramatically.

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread

I've seen their back-up. He's terrible and is going to have to improve dramatically.

In how many games have you seen him? I'm going to guess it hasn't been many, since no one's seen him in many.

I haven't been impressed by what I've seen, but I haven't seen much. There have been other goalies who looked bad in limited time early in their careers at UNH, who developed into solid goaltenders.

oh, i could think of at least 4 reasons

Wow, Fitzgerald can see the future? Impressive pick up by York.

I've been meaning to ask - when are you going to change your sig from that line about Smaby that was funny for all of about 10 minutes back in 2006 to something a little more relevant, like "Making it nearly impossible to root for BC since 2002."

Bwahahahahhahaa.

Honestly, this is kind of sad from you.