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UMaine 25-26: Marques My Word: Back to the Big Time

Sparkee said:
I agree with you, it is a lazy take to blame recruiting. But some people don’t put much time into analysis. They would rather say the same shit they’ve been saying for the last 20 years. Because they were right for the last 20 years at the end of Whitehead’s tenure and all throughout Gendron’s tenure the recruiting as a whole was not good. Sure there were some good players. But beyond those few gems, but the average rating of the recruits and the depth suffered. Mostly in the forward lines. Goalie was good overall. Defensemen weren’t awful. The average forward back then was larger, slower, topped off with hands of stone. Now we have guys that can skate, fast, nimble, and can stick handle and shoot. It is ignorant for people to say it is recruiting when these are the same people complaining we don’t get enough skilled players that can put the puck in the net. We have a forward that is tied(or was) for most goals in the country as a freshman. These same people once Maine gets it going with be the ones that come back and say we finally got some good recruits when it’s the same recruits they dump on now.

It’s not just hockey either. I have been telling everyone I know to invest their extra money they have sitting in savings account into precious metals specifically silver. I have spent hours on the phone with my family and friends discussing all the reason why it makes SO much god damned sense. I have had only one of them listen to me and she has been very thankful. The rest just have it in their head that saving cash in the bank and buy bonds and cds is the way to go despite staring down the barrel of diluting dollar with rate cuts and stimulus checks(printing money). None of them would take me seriously. I predict 6 months from now they will wake up and invest in gold and silver and then when I talk to them they will tell me all about their great idea and try to convince me it is what I should do without even remembering me urging them to invest in Silver. No, I am not kidding, this is how the average person is, even my own family members. If I let it bother me though I will have high blood pressure, a stroke, or some kind of hernia or something.

I am glad you can see the Forrest from the trees though. Also, since I like pretty much all my Blackbears fans please consider protecting your wealth by converting some of your cash or portfolio to silver and/or gold. Please watch this video if you think I’m nuts and then ask yourself if you still think I am nuts after watching it. I hope it helps you all. https://youtu.be/wEMPw9vg1Xg
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After this post I’ve narrowed down your identity to William Devave or Mike Tuell.
 
I think that the Alfond upgrades actually do have a lot of value. I'm kind of skeptical that NCAA hockey is swimming in NIL/Revenue Sharing cash that is going to players all over the place. Yes, Penn State wrote a big check (sourced from one individual donor) to Gavin McKenna. I bet BU's first rounders got some checks, maybe low five figures? Even the revenue sharing darlings of the B1G and BC have to spend that money on football and basketball first. I'd be shocked if more than three or four Hockey East programs have anything you'd even consider a payroll. So it still comes down to playing time, coaching, ability to get to the NHL, winning culture, facilities. Maybe you can scrape up a $5,000 check or something for a local ad, but again, that's not going to be widespread throughout a roster. But Maine's place in the world is unlikely to be any different than when recruiting against BU and BC ten years ago.

We've had a few stories in the BDN where UMaine's different coaches all essentially said "we aren't spending anything, and the players we are recruiting aren't really being offered anything by anyone else either." I think Vachon mentioned one recruit who went elsewhere had an NIL offer for women's basketball, but she thought that decision didn't come down to money. The men's basketball program lost a couple of upward transfers that probably got checks. But they also ended up at bigger programs so they might have left for those opportunities anyways. I haven't seen Barr or anyone on the hockey side talk about recruiting specifically as it relates to NIL. It doesn't need to be a secret- the big football programs all pretty loudly tell their fanbases that they need to donate to NIL funds to get players into school. Every SEC football press conference and coaches' show is basically a fund drive. It is kind of nice not to hear that constantly here.

I'm kind of of two minds about it, on the one hand if Maine NEEDED it, Maine would be a lot more vocal about it. But on the other hand, it would be interesting to see some sort of formal acknowledgment from the athletic department of where Maine stands, both philosophically and financially, on NIL, where Maine thinks its rivals are with NIL, and what Maine explicitly needs to be competitive. Put out a white paper, call Larry up and have a sit down and run through numbers, tell us "hey, we are all set, we've got what we need for ice hockey to be competitive with our peers; we trail Vermont in men's basketball, but that's life, we're fine not spending with the rest of the conference; our women's basketball team needs $X/year in order to keep up." Maybe internally there's been a decision that there still IS value in presenting things other than NIL as a means of attracting players. Maybe it's quietly been taken care of among a small group and the athletic department doesn't want to pester the rest of us.
 
blackbears9 said:
Do people really think things like improved strength/conditioning, recovery and treatment facilities are baubles? Maine is never going to sign guys like Mckenna, if that’s what you’re holding out for you’re never going to be happy. Players more than ever care about off ice training and recovery. Culina said the old training room was the size of his new office. Breen had to go to Bangor last year for PT, most/all of that can now be handled in Orono. These things matter.

I agree with Sparkee, blaming recruiting alone is lazy. You can blame not getting the right personalities, but this is the most talented freshman class in over a decade. I also think people acting like Maine can never compete in the NIL era is silly. Mark Mcmahon has consistently reported that NIL is here, but nowhere near the levels people seem to think. Roger McQueen, a top 10 pick went to Providence for $100,000-$150,000. Barr went on a fan podcast over the summer and was asked if Maine could compete with the Big 10 teams and schools like Providence/UConn. He essentially said he’s not concerned, Maine has the resources, it just takes a little longer to get the back end people hired at the athletic department at Maine than the bigger school. Maine will never get the very top guys, but they should be able to get 2-3rd rounders pretty consistently (and have 2 this year).
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Yeah the training room isnt baubles, that was needed.
 
AMC said:
I think that the Alfond upgrades actually do have a lot of value. I'm kind of skeptical that NCAA hockey is swimming in NIL/Revenue Sharing cash that is going to players all over the place. Yes, Penn State wrote a big check (sourced from one individual donor) to Gavin McKenna. I bet BU's first rounders got some checks, maybe low five figures? Even the revenue sharing darlings of the B1G and BC have to spend that money on football and basketball first. I'd be shocked if more than three or four Hockey East programs have anything you'd even consider a payroll. So it still comes down to playing time, coaching, ability to get to the NHL, winning culture, facilities. Maybe you can scrape up a $5,000 check or something for a local ad, but again, that's not going to be widespread throughout a roster. But Maine's place in the world is unlikely to be any different than when recruiting against BU and BC ten years ago.

We've had a few stories in the BDN where UMaine's different coaches all essentially said "we aren't spending anything, and the players we are recruiting aren't really being offered anything by anyone else either." I think Vachon mentioned one recruit who went elsewhere had an NIL offer for women's basketball, but she thought that decision didn't come down to money. The men's basketball program lost a couple of upward transfers that probably got checks. But they also ended up at bigger programs so they might have left for those opportunities anyways. I haven't seen Barr or anyone on the hockey side talk about recruiting specifically as it relates to NIL. It doesn't need to be a secret- the big football programs all pretty loudly tell their fanbases that they need to donate to NIL funds to get players into school. Every SEC football press conference and coaches' show is basically a fund drive. It is kind of nice not to hear that constantly here.

I'm kind of of two minds about it, on the one hand if Maine NEEDED it, Maine would be a lot more vocal about it. But on the other hand, it would be interesting to see some sort of formal acknowledgment from the athletic department of where Maine stands, both philosophically and financially, on NIL, where Maine thinks its rivals are with NIL, and what Maine explicitly needs to be competitive. Put out a white paper, call Larry up and have a sit down and run through numbers, tell us "hey, we are all set, we've got what we need for ice hockey to be competitive with our peers; we trail Vermont in men's basketball, but that's life, we're fine not spending with the rest of the conference; our women's basketball team needs $X/year in order to keep up." Maybe internally there's been a decision that there still IS value in presenting things other than NIL as a means of attracting players. Maybe it's quietly been taken care of among a small group and the athletic department doesn't want to pester the rest of us.
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Let's not forget that Maine recently received a $16 million donation from the Labat Family Estate that was directed to athletics but not necessarily facilties.....and the mystery $6 million Alfond donation to hockey. Let's hope that they used/will use this money wisely considering all of the changes swirling around collegiate athletics.

I wonder if Maine will consider using private equity like Utah just announced today for their athletic dept......a $500 million infusion to make their athletic dept. an autonomous operation though the university still maintains control over coaching and recruiting decisions and retention.
 
umhockey91 said:
Let's not forget that Maine recently received a $16 million donation from the Labat Family Estate that was directed to athletics but not necessarily facilties. Let's hope that they used/will use this money wisely considering all of the changes swirling around collegiate athletics.

I wonder if Maine will consider using private equity like Utah just announced today for their athletic dept......a $500 million infusion to make their athletic dept. an autonomous operation though the university still maintains control over coaching and recruiting decisions and retention.
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If the athletic department is smart they invest the money and be quite stingy on NIL handouts early, then use the interest as their budget for NIL payouts. This way principal stays in tact(in your example the 16 million). Then as more donation money comes in principal goes up and more NIL money available(interest generated) with principal never going down from total donor intake. They could really help themselves with an investment involving Gold, Silver, Silver Mining stocks. In other words, let someone not at a big investment house that has incentive to keep you out of metals and metal related stocks. You have professors at UMaine that teach investing. Have a panel of these professors, PhD’s, MS students manage the investment without some hamster at Fidelity just putting it into bonds, annuities, or other things yielding lower than inflation! And please don’t come at me with CPI number for inflation which I’m warning anyone that does. I will undress you.
 
acs64 said:
Maybe with the influx of CHL talent and the competition for them he felt the need to take some chances on kids he normally might not? Maybe the other teams are picking up the pace with regards to work ethic moreso than in the past. My guess is all coaches are putting more emphasis on the need to outwork your opponent because the talent level is getting spread more and more evenly (with certain exceptions of course). Watching that game the other night I saw several shifts (too late in the third though) where the Maine guys were hitting everything that moved, so there was no lack of effort I could see. The obvious problem is they are not finding the back of the net when its crucial lately. And other teams are playing the rope a dope trap game hoping to frustrate and looking to counterattack off any mistake. Its not fun to watch but can be effective against a fast team like Maine. I want to see Frank and Lipinski back in the lineup. We need that size and we need them to be effective.
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I've been curious about the adjustment from the CHL to NCAA and the import of different games. The Q plays 64 regular season games. 16 of 18 teams made the playoffs last season. The level of import for each game is significantly lower. If you get blown out in Rimouski on Tuesday, you'll have another game at Cape Breton on Thursday. If you start slow, you'll still make the playoffs. That's not the case in college hockey. You play 50% as many games. The math formula counts October games as much as it does February games. If you play poorly, you are going to have to win the HEA playoffs, likely on the road, through three rounds, to qualify for the one-and-done NCAAs.

Bringing in 10 or so guys who have been playing in a league that has significantly lower stakes on a game to game basis means that the culture has to be instilled pretty damn quickly that each game matters. A lot.
 
AMC said:
I've been curious about the adjustment from the CHL to NCAA and the import of different games. The Q plays 64 regular season games. 16 of 18 teams made the playoffs last season. The level of import for each game is significantly lower. If you get blown out in Rimouski on Tuesday, you'll have another game at Cape Breton on Thursday. If you start slow, you'll still make the playoffs. That's not the case in college hockey. You play 50% as many games. The math formula counts October games as much as it does February games. If you play poorly, you are going to have to win the HEA playoffs, likely on the road, through three rounds, to qualify for the one-and-done NCAAs.

Bringing in 10 or so guys who have been playing in a league that has significantly lower stakes on a game to game basis means that the culture has to be instilled pretty damn quickly that each game matters. A lot.
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The USHL plays the expanded schedule as well. Its less a CHL thing and more a freshman in general thing. But I would hope that point would have been stressed by now....
 
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