Clarkson's goaltender who swept Quinnipiac in the ECAC playoffs was a transfer from DIII Curry College. However, I imagine it is somewhat easier for a great goalie to make the jump than a skater
USCHO Fan Forum
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
-
The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.
UNH Hockey Off Season Thread 2026
- Thread starter HockeyRef
- Start date
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
I honestly don't know that they have anything else to tout at this point, now do they? Team accomplishments and player development examples (beyond goon league hockey) have been sparse over the last decade, and that's being pretty generous. I admire your optimism, I really do ... but let's say the pitch works, the renovations see an uptick in recruiting quality ... the problem then becomes, the current coaching staff has shown no ability to mold a competitive team, and no ability to improve and develop players into working professionals at least at AHL or prominent Euro league levels.
Last year's CHL recruits were considered an uptick by most on here, but the on-ice results really didn't change. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out ...
I certainly agree with you on the player development front.
I think part of the issue is that UNH (In my opinion) really hasn’t recruited with “an identity” for quite some time. Going back to the days of the big ice sheet, I always felt UNH really focused on recruiting the guys that fit their style of transition hockey, fast breaks, etc. lately though, what is UNHs identity? How are they utilizing their players strengths to succeed?
I feel this year they leaned into a strong defensive style with clogging up shooting lanes, getting guys who aren’t afraid to block shots etc. I’m not sure if this was by design, or if it just happened to be how things worked out. And I think that is part of the root of the problem!
Hopefully a lot of those guys come back, and we can have some continuity with the defensive pairings (thinking Carr and Philbrick), and maybe they can lean into this a bit more, while perhaps trying to get 1-2 guys who can score, which has been our bugaboo for a bit…
I think Souza, if he wants to stick around past this year, should lean into and develop a bonafide identity. This will help with recruiting guys who believe in that philosophy and can utilize their strengths to the greatest advantage of the team. Then, things like renovations and new locker rooms are just the icing on the cake, instead of the entirety of the sales pitch…
Also, while they have been fairly sparse, there have been a few “one hit wonders” from guys who surprise in the portal (Hellsten) to guys who have been on the team for a few years, and “pop” for one year (Blaisdell, Cronin) before graduating, leaving, etc.
I’m not sure how much of that can be attributed to Souza and co. versus the player putting in a lot of offseason work just trying to extend their career in the ECHL for a few years after college, but I imagine MS7 may refer to those to his credit. Albeit it really isn’t saying to much anyways.
Who do people think is the best “player development” success story under MS7? Maybe Crookshank? But even still, his point total decreased each year from Freshmen-Junior year (23-22-18 points) and he has only gotten brief cups of coffee in the big show to date (29 games with 5 points between Ottawa and NJ).
Last edited:
HockeyRef
Well-known member
I'd have to say Angus would be his (MS7's) pinnacle? That is if you think the N is the best yardstick for that which..I suppose it would be...A few in the Coast as we speak the most successful would be Robert Cronin?
All of our current NHL'ers were DU's?
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
The head coach has no idea what his own coaching identity is ... never has, and likely will never get the chance now to develop one. It's just one of at least a dozen ways (in retrospect) he was unprepared to be a head coach at this level. He'd never been a head coach before, and was always recruiting for someone else's team. The die has been cast for him now, a losing coach with no inner voice or message, and if there is a message buried in there somewhere, it hasn't become obvious to anyone over the last decade or so that he's been thrashing about, politicking for extensions and excuse making to justify the lack of any positive results on the ice. Even if he and his guys came up with a brilliant plan at this point ... who is going to believe him, who is gonna trust him with their careers? Folks who aren't in big demand out there, that's who. Not good news for UNH Men's Hockey, at least until they move on to someone with a clue.
Probably close between Crookshank and Alex Gagne, both of whom were late round NHL draft picks in their final seasons of junior hockey before coming to UNH. You've already described Angus' career arc, which does not reflect any real progress under Souza's team, but he has kind of plateaued as a a Top Six forward in the AHL since, who can come up to the show in an emergency setting and plug some holes in the big team's bottom six, but the clock is ticking on him ever making the big breakthrough. Gagne's draft rights were never picked up by his draft team (TBL), just as current UNH d-man Oscar Plandowski did not get an offer from his draft team (DRW) and is now a bottom six defender in Titletown. To his credit, Gagne has stuck with the Colorado Eagles (AHL team for the Avalanche), but the parent club is pretty good already on the blueline, and Gagne looks to be on the 3rd pairing in the AHL, so he's probably closer to the 'Coast or a release in the next year or two than he is to the NHL. So between the two, I'd have to give it to Crookshank, but neither can really make a case to have greatly developed or advanced their careers as a result of time spent in Durham.
FWIW Hellsten has gone from an SHL backup at Leksands to a late season/playoffs lead dog in goal a level below at MoDo Hockey, and at age 25, even though conventional hockey wisdom says goalies develop slowly and older, despite even his heroics two seasons ago, he too looks to have plateaued in Sweden.
Sadly, not a whole lot of progress from anyone, anywhere to be the "poster boy" for MS7's time at UNH, which of course tells its own tale ...
Orrrrr …….. maybe MS7 can follow the career path of Scotty Botek, with seven years assistant coach in ECAC, three years head coach in Div 3, six years head coach in CCHA (two winning seasons), 13 years assistant/associate coach in Hockey East, three years assistant in Hockey East, seven years and counting head coach in Hockey East (multiple winning seasons)? Too bad that MS7 frittered away nearly a decade in pro hockey as a player, taking time away from his coaching career.
Hope your family was proud of their women's basketball coach last night.
Robert Balin
Well-known member
Morning Felger I myself didn't watch the game I decided to watch paint dry instead...
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Two women coaches in Final..HR approves! Geno..sore loser...
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Aww come on. Lol Seriously tho hope the final has better shooting percentages geesh!Morning Felger I myself didn't watch the game I decided to watch paint dry instead...
They certainly weren’t happy with the performance and his outburst. I heard they couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives last night.
I didn’t watch the game personally (I am not much of a UConn basketball fan), but I heard it had something to do with a handshake before the game?
Geno can be a sore loser, probably because losing is just so rare for him, especially ones by more than 10 points! His win% of .886 is absolutely ridiculous to say the least. I wonder how much longer he will stick around before hanging it up.
The (million dollar) question then becomes:
How much “progress” does Souza have to show this year to get another extension?
If he has another year like 23-24, as we have often referred to as his “outlier” year, is that enough to get 3 more years? I wish they would be more receptive to handing out 1 year “show me it’s real” contracts, but it seems 3+ years is more the norm for extensions…
Perhaps some of it comes down to the AD situation as well. If we get a new AD, and Souza has a “better” year next year, perhaps without doing their homework on Souza’s tenure, do they simply look at the previous contract years only and say “well, there is obvious progress, let’s keep him on board” without looking at the much larger picture? I think Rich fell into that trap a couple of years ago… If this happens it may be a sign of another subpar AD… but that’s another discussion haha!
Me personally, anything less than 20+ wins and a deep run in HE tourney to the garden and/or NCAAs is enough to send him on his way, wish him well, and start a national search. And even in this scenario, I’d give him one (maybe 2) years to show reproducibility of the good results, and that it simply isn’t “lightning in a bottle” for one year.
We will see…
There's something unseemly about these male coaches taking jobs away from female coaches.
As for Geno, its time to go before he heads into Woody Hayes territory.
BOTH Uconn basketball coaches getting ripped on national sports shows this morning.
Hartford is the capitol of the insurance industry. Storrs is the capitol of pomposity.
Last edited:
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
As mediocre as Mike Souza's professional playing career was, it was clearly better than his coaching career has been.
Overall, it's been a steady downhill run for him since Niagara 2000. And once he retired as a player, he went straight into an assistant's job at Brown for two years, then at UConn for another two, before being tapped up to be Dick Umile's replacement. What did Souza do to land the Brown job, with an empty CV, other than rely on his charm and a network of friends and connections in college hockey, to get him that important first foothold on the coaching side??
Not sure what Luce saw in him to bring him over to Storrs, other than more networking and charm? At the time of his UConn hire, UConn was nothing, so it might have been a case of "slim pickings". Luce's history of assistants seems to have always focused on young unproven guys, not those cagey vet assistants who might challenge him on some long-held tenets, so MS7 fit the bill. And of course, he schmoozed his way into Dick's heart, and the rest is regrettable UNH history.
Compare that with Eric Boguniecki, approx. 3 years Souza's senior, UNH teammates for a year, and arguably the last link to "Lively Snively" ... better player by any stretch of the imagination that our current HC, knows what it's like to perform in the NHL, and after retiring at about the same time Souza did, went on to coaching a year or two later with the Islanders' organization (the last NHL team he was tied to before retiring), and spent 10 straight seasons as an assistant at their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. Now working in scouting, I believe with the Utah organization? This guy was/is the anti-Souza, he could talk a dog off the proverbial meat wagon. He's had plenty of time to ponder his plan to be a D-1 HC, as opposed to MS7, to whom things seemed to come way too easily, and as a result never appreciated what was needed to succeed in his position. What a shame that Dick allowed himself to be bamboozled by a lightweight ...
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Didn't watch it either, largely share your sentiments ... but the blanket coverage on this is even reaching remote cave-dwellers, so step away from the paint ...Morning Felger I myself didn't watch the game I decided to watch paint dry instead...
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Fixed your post, Felgie. That ship sailed about a generation ago. Mergers, acquisitions, and relocations have left the former Insurance Capital of the World as an empty shell of its former actuarial self. That, the Adrian's Landing/Patriots fiasco, and the departure of the Whalers for Carolina a few years earlier, Hartford is pretty much Manchester now, except with higher (largely vacant) skyscrapers, downtown sidewalks that roll up at 6:00 p.m. sharp, and a much higher crime rate to match. Ouch.
But yeah, you nailed it on Storrs.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Nothing short of hardware. Sliding scale involved there, too. Regular season? One year. HEA Tourney title? Two years. National title ... lolololol. A winning season or a *postseason win or two won't cut it. UNH set the bar with the Bill Herrion non-extension, and that was with the winningest coach in the program's history, coming off a miraculous run of four (4) straight non-losing seasons. MS7 has been given the benefit of the doubt FAR too often in the past. No more. Sorry.
*postseason win = does not count winning a MBPBEGAM prelim game
I mostly agree with this, but I would find it hard to believe the AD cuts ties with MS7 if we make it to the garden, especially with our current ongoing drought in getting there. Perhaps if we get embarrassed when we get there I could see it.
After the last extension, I almost feel the current AD is just looking for a “good excuse” to extend the coaches. They know Souza is cheap and the Whitt isn’t totally empty on game day (a far cry from what it used to be though…).
You mentioned Herrion, but I almost wonder if he is the outlier here. Perhaps Rich wanted to make a splashy move in her first season as AD?
One has to wonder if Souza’s contract was up at that time, would she have cut him instead? That 2022-2023 season was a disaster to say the least…
To be clear, I agree with you that hardware should be required as a prerequisite to talk about an extension. In reality though, I’m just not sure the bar is that high for MS7 to get another few years in Durham.
Perhaps the “bar” will change with a new AD, we can certainly hope so!
Last edited:
Buford: it’s not Mike Souza’s fault that you have been a failure in your own life. Souza built a good life for himself. Apparently it’s too late for you to improve your life. He’s made more money at UNH than you made in your life. He has more friends than you could ever hope to meet .
Focus on yourself and improve your life. Everyone else on this Board that has to read your jealous, angry nonsense will be better off.