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

AMC said:
There's a whole universe of players out there who don't expect a $750,000 check to show up for one year like McKenna, but also who expect to get more than a scholarship, room, and board. I'm not out here arguing for a $10,000,000 slush fund to get the ten biggest names each year. I'm also not arguing for Maine to get into bidding wars with BC or BU for every player. None of that is feasible. But if a kid is sifting through scholarship/NIL offers, and he's got four or five that will write him a $20,000 check, and ten or so that won't, it's tough to pull ahead of the other 15 schools involved if you are one of the $0 bidders. And those guys aren't necessarily one-and-done.

Not all of those guys are at BC/BU/Michigan, either. Providence has kids making money. UConn has kids making money. The amount of money that would make a real difference isn't ridiculous, there can't be many more than 20 college hockey programs that give enough of a shit to find $150,000 or so to get their players some cash. That's the kind of thing that a fan base like Maine's can accomplish, and it just needed to be set up. Huge kudos to the athletic department for making this push and getting it up and running.
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If these $20,000 checks are so important, how do guys like Poirier and Lipinski get to Orono? Both were highly touted coming our of the CHL and were drafted. How does an All American like Boija come back? He could've signed or been the highest paid goalie in the portal. I think players care way more about going to a program that can get them to the NHL instead of a $20,000 check. Basketball/football players are getting life changing money, but I don't see a 2-4th round draft picks going to Vermont over Maine for 20k.
 
umhockey91 said:
“It’s not really a choice that we have. It’s something we have to do to stay competitive in this new landscape,” UMaine men’s hockey coach Ben Barr said. “It allows the coaches and the programs to go out and work hard towards raising money. And if we do that, it will go directly to our student-athletes in one form or another, whatever that is.”

Barr said UMaine Vice President and Athletic Director Jude Killy has worked hard with university administration “to get this figured out.”

Barr has been working for a couple of years with Bear Down Collective, an NIL vehicle under the leadership of concert promoter Alex Gray and First National Bank Vice President Kristen McAlpine, so he has been involved in fundraising along with Seth Woodcock, the UMaine senior associate athletic for development and capital planning.

Barr said UMaine has a lot to attract a potential student-athlete in addition to financial resources and a scholarship, including a $50 million renovation to the Alfond Arena, the unique energized game night experience at Alfond Arena and a “great league” in Hockey East.

“We have to thrive in this and we should be able to in hockey. We have to absolutely hammer this,” Barr said. “We have so many good things going for us. We weren’t good enough to make the NCAA Tournament this year, but that’s on me and I firmly believe we will fix that.”

“We should be a destination in college hockey,” Barr said. “We may not be in downtown Boston with all that glamor, but if we’re not chasing that to the best of our ability, shame on us.”
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I just love Bens attitude. He is a doer, a believer in himself and those around him to get things done, and done right. In some ways he reminds me of Walshy, never say die attitude.
 
Super happy for him but am selfishly bummed we won't see him in our colors again. When he was on he was among the most dynamic and fun to watch players we've had in my time as a fan. Was a combination of the shiftiness / vision of Fossier along with a bit more high-end stick handling & shot placement (wish he'd utilized the shot more). Finishes with 104pts in as many games.
 
Good luck to Josh, staying wasn't going to get him any further in his hockey career . Hope he stays healthy and we will be watching and rooting for him to do well
 
I'm a bit surprised Josh didn't play himself into more than a 1 year offer with them (especially after turning that same offer down last season).

Wish him the best either way, the timing feels right for him to leave. Don't like rooting for the Habs but hope he can carve out a nice role with them.
 
Happy for him, and he did put on weight and improve skating this year, but I am kind of surprised, and didn’t think any harm would come from another year
 
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