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

umhockey91 said:
Barr seems like a coach that would do well at one of the blue blood programs with a lot of NIL/player pay. He also looks the part but I’m not sure he has the mentality to “coach up” players or bring the “it” factor like Shawn Walsh had. I guess we will find out soon what he is made of….another season of regression and I think that he really faces a rising tide of people questioning if he is the right guy to lead Maine.
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Queue the FB group name change to "fire Barr"
 
I'm not terribly shocked on this one given the many comments that seemed to reference him directly (colgate turnover & benching) as well as general underperformance vs. the draft level & WHL performance. Not saying I wouldn't have liked to have him back, but not if the buy in being there was the issue. That same think applies to just about everyone in my view.
 
I think Poirier and Peterson are the 2 freshmen you work really hard to keep in the fold. Langlois is another that I hope they retain......everyone else?....meh.

They also need Scholle & Russell to have bounce back seasons if they return.

I don't see more than a dozen players from the current roster returning next season.
 
umhockey91 said:
Barr seems like a coach that would do well at one of the blue blood programs with a lot of NIL/player pay. He also looks the part but I’m not sure he has the mentality to “coach up” players or bring the “it” factor like Shawn Walsh had. I guess we will find out soon what he is made of….another season of regression and I think that he really faces a rising tide of people questioning if he is the right guy to lead Maine.
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Barr was pretty direct talking about the issues with team culture throughout the season. If a team is mostly made up of guys looking at Maine as a stepping stone and not buying into the coach/system it seems pretty natural to assume that he likely would do better having a bunch of 2-4 year guys to develop instead. Maybe it caught him by surprise having so many new players and he's better suited to handle that moving forward? Time will tell I guess.

But to compete as a serious contender in the modern college hockey landscape you're likely going to need at least a few of those 1 year mercenary-type guys so him finding that balance is really going to determine whether Maine can rise up as a yearly contender or just another team in the mix.
 
tylerzx2002 said:
But to compete as a serious contender in the modern college hockey landscape you're likely going to need at least a few of those 1 year mercenary-type guys so him finding that balance is really going to determine whether Maine can rise up as a yearly contender or just another team in the mix.
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I've got $45 in my wallet for Landon Dupont. Do you think that will land him?
 
rpi82 said:
All the players mentioned in that piece had exhausted their college eligibility. The discussion here was regarding players leaving school early for minor league contracts, which are still rare because the organization is making far less of a commitment to the player than under an NHL contract. Straight minor league deals are pretty much subsistence level (AHL) or below (ECHL and even lower leagues).
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Yes and no. There are a lot of reasons a player signs an AHL deal instead of a two-way ELC, and acting like those are automatically dead-end contracts for lesser players is just wrong.
It depends on the situation. Was he already a draft pick? What kind of AHL deal was offered? How much term or security is involved? Is the NHL club tight on contracts? All of that matters.

And if a player still has college eligibility left, that does not automatically mean staying is the best move. Maybe the organization wants him in its own development system sooner because it does not think he is being developed the right way where he is. Maybe the AHL team sees a specific role or missing piece they want to fill right away. Maybe they believe he is better off practicing and playing in a pro environment every day than spending another year in college.

Djurasevic just signed a two-year AHL contract plus an ATO for this year. That is not some throwaway offer. That is a meaningful commitment from the organization. As for Nadeau, it may only be a 1-year with promise of ELC for the next year. Devils recently did this with Matyas Melovsky.

And not every ELC is some huge statement either. Only so many players get ELCs each year, and some are handed out a lot more loosely than people want to admit. Look around pro hockey right now. There are ECHL teams with players on ELCs, while AHL teams are full of a mix of one-way and two-way players.

So treating an AHL contract like it automatically means a player is an afterthought just shows a misunderstanding of how pro hockey actually works. Only about 10% of top NCAA and major junior players even get to the AHL, so I would say getting there is pretty impressive. At this point - teams want to win. If they feel you will help them, you will get a chance.
 
Blackbear96 said:
Those that listened to Barr's postgame pressers should not be remotely surprised that this whole roster is going to be turned over. Next year will certainly be a rebuilding / retooling year. Immediately signaled by Nadeau & Frank signing. Marques is gone, would bet Lipinski will be next. Poirier will be dependent on whether he bought into what Ben was selling or not.

Culture. Culture. Culture. They CLEARLY did not have it last year. Would imagine they'll basically start from scratch.
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This is what puzzles me, he didnt do well in recruiting players last year to fit the culture.
What makes us think he can do it for next year??
 
McGoverners said:
It was allegedly a clerical error by the Compliance Department and was withdrawn but the player intends to enter when the portal is open.
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I saw that after i wrote this, lol
Im not surprised he will leave. Talented player that I didnt think he fit into the provram.
I think lipinski will go and no question porier goes. Have heard so many rumors about poriier not fitting in that there must be some bit of truth.
 
Jacob0804 said:
yes and no for some probably. I personally didn't feel that Barr had the resume to warrant consideration, but given who was selected, maybe he did.
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His resume was fine, maine was paying a little over 200k at the time, who with a resume would of taken the job.
Barr has some great qualities and potential, I feel like he just isnt there yet and has alot of refinement and polishing to do as a head coach.
You cant go on every interview and complain about the team, at some point he has to buy into what he recruited and how he is making the room of players into a team. Thats his job and it isnt easy.
Every coach talks about culture and playing to their identity, blah blah blah, the coaches who manage to make it happen are the ones who went to the tourney.
Idk I still think Barr could be successful here, its just it seems he needs to work on his team building skills.
 
umhockey91 said:
Barr seems like a coach that would do well at one of the blue blood programs with a lot of NIL/player pay. He also looks the part but I’m not sure he has the mentality to “coach up” players or bring the “it” factor like Shawn Walsh had. I guess we will find out soon what he is made of….another season of regression and I think that he really faces a rising tide of people questioning if he is the right guy to lead Maine.
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I am puzzled by your comment. He doesn't have the ability to "coach up" players? What did we witness the two years prior to this? Players with less talent than this years squad who were willing to put in the work! We had one draft pick last year and he was a 7th round pick and a transfer in Makar, there were no blue chippers! This year for many programs in the east was a firestorm of trying to bring in CHL guys who were not available until the court ruling. In many ways the team got away from bringing in players who match our culture of working the corners and forechecking for guys who were draft picks, but who had yet to meet their potential and needed to work on their 200 foot game. Clearly we discovered it's harder to get guys like this to buy into that work ethic. If that continues to be the case I would not expect to see them in the NHL any time soon.

Our program was in the dumpster for too many years to count. The right coach is in place. BU with far greater talent suffered through the same growing pains this year. I have confidence in our coach. If you are bemoaning losing some of these players I guess you enjoyed the inconsistency that was this season. I'll take the work ethic we had the prior year with less talented players who were willing to fight for every puck.
 
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DLG said:
times are changing-Djurasevic is 24-If you want to play pro can't wait much longer
more 20-21 yr old freshmen going to leave if offered- AHL salaries are also better
Going to see with overage canadian juniors who show some potential in college
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Djurasevic transferred from Merrimack to Maine because he thought it would help him become more pro ready. I guess it worked out for him?
 
Let's just see how this shakes out. Posts have touched on it, Marques is a flashy guy with good scoring touch and doesn't really like to get in the trenches sometimes. Not to mention the bone head penalties and the whining to the refs incessantly after. He got benched because of many reasons. I'm not sure he wants to be a 2 way guy which Barr and his system needs. I think we are in store for some good changes here.
 
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