Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

[leswp1]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

Aren' you a man of humor...

[mookie1995]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

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[leswp1]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

Thank you fro the earworm.

[UVM Cat in Texas]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

At least you guys still own UVM..... Not trying to start anything, just directing your attention to a bright spot.

[UMLFan]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

I thought the unbalanced classes that he inherited was one of Blaise's biggest beefs when he took over from Whitehead. He's been there, what, almost 10 years now and he hasnt been able to correct this perceived problem? I'd say thats all on his shoulders now.

Yeah, that's been extremely frustrating. But I'll give him a little bit of a break on that, as he lost a couple of recruits when they almost shut down the program, which obviously affected that classes numbers.

In regards to overall recruiting, yes I'd say that the level of players (scholarship) in this class is higher than I've seen from a group in a while. Remember, even though we're listing 13 freshmen (or whatever it is), I'm pretty sure at least three of those are walk-ons (Badger, McCoy, Gaudet). So while I wish all three of them the best, the odds are that at least 2 will not be playing here next season, which means you do have a couple more spots in next year's recruiting class if you want. I'm obviously assuming scholarship money is available at that point.

In regards to a name, I heard this bandied around a bit over the last couple of nights, ex-Lowell player, an assistant at a pretty successful D1 hockey program and now with a couple of year's of actual coaching experience ...
Norm Bazin?

And finally, in regards to Coach MacDonald's contract, the last bit I can find is that according to INCH in Feb of 2008, he signed a 4 year extension, so I'd assume that means he's got one year left after this season is over. The Lowell Sun link in the above (from INCH) is dead.

BTW, Coach is being paid well but not surprisingly, a good amount (15% or so) less on his base pay than the other UMass coach, who also isn't doing all that well.

[bottomdweller]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

Is there an actual limit to how many players can be on the team? I know you can dress 20ish players for a game, but is there a limit to how many you can have and just be a healthy scratch?

[bottomdweller]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

- Who are we looking at to replace him?

I wonder how well former assistants would do. You got Shawn McEachern and Ken Rausch or Chris MacKenzie. All three are currently employed (prep school, USA Hockey, and Niagra women's team).

[John_Fuller]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

D-I ice hockey are allowed eighteen (18) scholarships. There is no limit that I know of for total numbers of players but the scholarship number can't exceed eighteen.

[Patman]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

Is there an actual limit to how many players can be on the team? I know you can dress 20ish players for a game, but is there a limit to how many you can have and just be a healthy scratch?

as far as I know there is no high limit.... on the other hand, there is a limit on the number in a travelling party for road games.

[acs64]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

I wonder how well former assistants would do. You got Shawn McEachern and Ken Rausch or Chris MacKenzie. All three are currently employed (prep school, USA Hockey, and Niagra women's team).

I think Whitehead was a former assistant under Crowder. And, he has head coaching experience.

[bottomdweller]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

I think Whitehead was a former assistant under Crowder. And, he has head coaching experience.

I believe there is a "no take back" clause that prevents this from happening.

[quiddlet]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

Fire Don Lucia!

Oh wait... wrong place.

[walrus]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

I believe there is a "no take back" clause that prevents this from happening.

Clauses are meant to be thrown out

[goUMLgoBC]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

TIIL Saturday recap has some good perspective and a good comparison between this team and the team from four years ago, even if it is a little accusatory towards USCHO posters .

http://theiceislife.wordpress.com/20...signed-up-for/

[Patronick]

Re: Is it time for change at UMass-Lowell?

My thoughts:

Blaise isn't going anywhere this season, I don't care if the team loses the rest of their games by a touchdown each. He has another year on his contract, and we can expect that to play out.

The University basically made a two year commitment to Blaise when they kept him on after last year's horrifically disappointing season. He had a large class coming in, things were changing for the better regarding the new arena and so forth...so here we are.

In my opinion, Blaise's future at Lowell hinges on next season. Do we see improvement? Considering how bad the team is this season, improvement is surely going to be a relative thing. I do think it's going to take a good, solid season to get Blaise a contract extension. I just don't think that is very likely.

The "who replaces Blaise" is, frankly, irrelevant, and that's real talk. Changing for the sake of change isn't necessarily the best strategy, but what is the University going to do? The fact is that it looks like Blaise isn't going to be the coach that gets Lowell where they want to go. Through two large classes, both of which ended with severe disappointment, Coach has been the one constant. It's naive to expect the status quo to change when you keep doing everything the same way. So the change is made because it has to be...because there are no other options.

I like Blaise. I don't know any fans who've met coach that don't like him. He's very likable. But this isn't a popularity contest. There are some problems with this team that have been mentioned, i.e. the balancing out of the classes, that just haven't been taken care of.

Unless Lowell is a competitive 5/6 place team next season, I think we'll see the University go in a different direction.