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

NCAA watcher said:
Good for him. Was wondering where he might end up. I was a big fan of his game even though it plateaued below where I expected. I'll be interested to see if he ends up being good or whether he can return to the elite level I saw in his game.
I would not be surprised to see his close friend, Ardanaz, follow. Ardanaz is academically strong, and so bumping up to RPI would be a good academic spot.

Edit: There it is,
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Would you just look at that? Good call on that one 'Watcher. Now just waiting to see where Jackson Pierson lands, and, just who will come in and fill those spots in OUR roster.
 
RPI fan here. Just curious, when did the two of them de-commit from you guys? And was it UNH pulling their offers or them choosing to do it?
 
sezenack said:
RPI fan here. Just curious, when did the two of them de-commit from you guys? And was it UNH pulling their offers or them choosing to do it?
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Just speculating....I'm sure 'Watcher or others have more reliable info....but if history is repeating itself, the UNH coaches may have asked both Evans and Ardanaz to defer to 2023-24. Same thing happened several years ago when the UNH coaching staff asked UNH committ Mike Vecchione to defer a year. Vecchione de-committed to UNH, committed to Union, and well.....you guys know the rest of the story.
 
Scott said:
Just speculating....I'm sure 'Watcher or others have more reliable info....but if history is repeating itself, the UNH coaches may have asked both Evans and Ardanaz to defer to 2023-24. Same thing happened several years ago when the UNH coaching staff asked UNH committ Mike Vecchione to defer a year. Vecchione de-committed to UNH, committed to Union, and well.....you guys know the rest of the story.
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Yeah this seems most likely from what I know, but wanted to get the perspective from you guys. Thanks!
 
Scott said:
Just speculating....I'm sure 'Watcher or others have more reliable info....but if history is repeating itself, the UNH coaches may have asked both Evans and Ardanaz to defer to 2023-24. Same thing happened several years ago when the UNH coaching staff asked UNH committ Mike Vecchione to defer a year. Vecchione de-committed to UNH, committed to Union, and well.....you guys know the rest of the story.
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I had just started my UNH fandom when all of this went down (Vecchione). I'd like to think that this time around things will have been for the better for the two players as well as for UNH. It's easy to look at the past and shake your head (and I agree, that was a big mistake given how it all turned out?). Trying to be eternally optimistic that we will have incoming players to take their place that will find UNH to be a great fit. I hope Evans/Ardanaz find great success at RPI; reading their board I see they (RPI) have challenges of their own. And like us, they want to become relevant and successful. I hope that this is a positive catalyst for that for all. I mean, what's the alternative?!?
 
Scott said:
Just speculating....I'm sure 'Watcher or others have more reliable info....but if history is repeating itself, the UNH coaches may have asked both Evans and Ardanaz to defer to 2023-24.
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No inside info, but this would seem to lend credence to that theory.

https://twitter.com/CJohnstonBCHL/st...21457646579713
Not everyday you see a double commitment like this. Totally unrelated to their relationship. Nick and John want to play #NCAA next season and @RPI_Hockey have an immediate need for both a (RW) & (LD). It's a win-win for both sides. They just happen to be playing together again.
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Essentially, with his career riding on next year, Souza pulled a Umile, choosing his guys (local Mass kids Fitzgerald and Turner) over Ardanaz and Evans.
 
NCAA watcher said:
Essentially, with his career riding on next year, Souza pulled a Umile, choosing his guys (local Mass kids Fitzgerald and Turner) over Ardanaz and Evans.
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When a coach will not look in the mirror and consider *maybe* he needs to change, he is doomed.
 
Chuck Murray said:
When a coach will not look in the mirror and consider *maybe* he needs to change, he is doomed.
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Well, that's a guess. It may also be that he elected to go for a short term fix, and will try to get HE ready transfers like U.Conn's Shlaine, Carter Berger, or Teleguine, or Quinnipiac Ethan Leyh, or a grad transfer. Basically, players not ready to contribute from day one, though having longer term growth potential, are bypassed for short term solutions.
 
NCAA watcher said:
Well, that's a guess. It may also be that he elected to go for a short term fix, and will try to get HE ready transfers like U.Conn's Shlaine, Carter Berger, or Teleguine, or Quinnipiac Ethan Leyh, or a grad transfer. Basically, players not ready to contribute from day one, though having longer term growth potential, are bypassed for short term solutions.
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Hobbling around on a bum ankle because you're smarter than the doctor who told you that it required surgery.
 
The coach has been in over his head since the day he was hired as an assistant/recruiter. So determined to build the most dependable and predictable 10/11th place team - if he thinks that will save his job than he either lacks perspective or knows that there is no expectation for actual success within the department. Its not my preferred way to team-build, but he has had his chance and the best course would now be dramatic decision making...

There are players on this roster that should be looking elsewhere, in order to facilitate as much accumulation of talent as possible. Assuming his job is actually in jeopardy, the best way to save it would be to prove your recruiting chops and put a young, talented team on the ice with an obvious and bright future. He just doesn't get it.

Does anyone have any real insight that Sardariyan is coming this fall? He makes Watcher's list (We should be so lucky for Watcher to make these decisions), but is listed as a '23 by many other sources. I am prepared for his deferral as well, putting another true talent's matriculation at risk for the sake of more local, hard workers who's development has already maximized, but we shall see...

--

I have no faith in them hitting the portal for actual impact - but if they did, they'd need to build an entire first line if they want to have any sustained success next season. I can't see them with any shot at a kid like Shlaine, and even if they added him, Gresock, Primeau and brought Pierson back, Id still need convincing to think they were a top-half HE club...
 
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Maine will return just 12 letterwinners from 2021-22, while importing at least 10 freshman and 3 transfers for next fall - A dramatic change of course for the Blackbears. Meanwhile, nothing has changed in UNH's recruiting approach over the past six seasons and UNH is deferring young talent to run it back with their ninth-place roster...
 
Dan said:
Maine will return just 12 letterwinners from 2021-22, while importing at least 10 freshman and 3 transfers for next fall - A dramatic change of course for the Blackbears. Meanwhile, nothing has changed in UNH's recruiting approach over the past six seasons and UNH is deferring young talent to run it back with their ninth-place roster...
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Always been their MO under Souza. Ritchie Boyd? Come on back for a 5th year. Mike Dawson, you too. Patrick Grasso, you get a fifth year. Eric MacAdams and Mike Robinson, you get a spot.

Only that way can you preserve the culture of the place.

Thank g*d we only have one more year of this.
 
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NCAA watcher said:
Always been their MO under Souza. Ritchie Boyd? Come on back for a 5th year. Mike Dawson, you too. Patrick Grasso, you get a fifth year. Eric MacAdams and Mike Robinson, you get a spot.

Only that way can you preserve the culture of the place.

Thank g*d we only have one more year of this.
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Beyond the volume, do you think Barr has found some quality in the guys who have committed? It doesn’t seem like many of the guys have a ton of hype(beyond Nadeau and Hopkins) but hopefully there will be some pleasant surprises.
 
NCAA watcher said:
Always been their MO under Souza. Ritchie Boyd? Come on back for a 5th year. Mike Dawson, you too. Patrick Grasso, you get a fifth year. Eric MacAdams and Mike Robinson, you get a spot.
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For awhile, I thought Grasso was bucking for UNH's "Lifetime Achievement in Men's Hockey" award.

Under the "Well, That Didn't Take Long" category, news arrives here at the WIS Estate that freshly-minted professional goalie Mike Robinson has cleared ECHL waivers, on his way from the first-place Reading Royals (1 game) to the last place Wichita Thunder. No indication yet that he's reported to Wichita, much less gotten in any game action. Typical 'Coast shenanigans.

Mike Robinson (G) from Reading Royals to Wichita Thunder › dagenshockey.com

Former University of Alaska-Fairbanks player set to play for Wichita Thunder (eprinkside.com)
 
Welp, its been 13 years since I dropped dead of a heart attack in my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. And while the world has changed in a seismic fashion since I started what I thought was going to be my eternal rest, it is nice to see that the annual "our coach sucks/has lost a step, why can't we have nice things, maybe next year will be better/no it won't" UNH thread on USCHO is still a thing. Good night, and God Bless.
 
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