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.
UMaine '26-'27: The Bridge On the River Stillwater
- Thread starter UncleRay
- Start date
Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere , but Sean Michael is now in Hockey East. Announced in July that he is now an assistant coach with Connecticut.
BlackBearHockeyFan
Well-known member
Season finally here on Friday. Need to take care of business against Holy Cross.
AMC
Registered User
I don't think pay is the issue, I think that the issue is that FCS has degraded to the point where even the best FCS head coaching jobs are lower in the pecking order than low level FBS coordinator jobs. It's becoming clear that Harasymiak may just be a generational coach- he's, like you said, got UMass somewhere they've never been.
While I agree that it isn't as simple as taking the money spent on football and moving it to hockey, not losing money on football would help. Regardless, cutting that program isn't happening, there are donors who want it so it stays. I really do think that it's plausible to right-size the league. If the CAA is consistently only a one or at most two bid league, I don't think anyone is going to argue too much about dropping the NC/VA/MD teams and playing a regional league with no trips further than Albany. Towson is the only longstanding rival left down there. Replacing Hampton and NC A&T and Campbell with Merrimack and CCSU isn't a disaster. You could even call it the Yankee Conference and stir up the nostalgia of the Class of '64.
I thought the AHA used FloHockey for streaming, but I'm not seeing anything about it on the Holy Cross website or FloHockey itself
tylerzx2002
Well-known member
Ineverquit
Born a Mainer
There is a scheduled broadcast for the game on ESPN+ so I assume it's on there.
Fishman'81
Black Bear since D-2
(Yeah, but don't point that fact out to the hockey-only contingent!)
Was looking just today at what the numbskulls in DC hammered-out in their heroic effort to "save college sports". I seem to recall a $47 million cap on NIL in that bill... Yeah, that's gonna keep the have-not schools in the mix!
Is it me, or is our government more strikingly stupid than ever, or what?
Fishman'81
Black Bear since D-2
Yeah, but it was just a few years ago that the CAA was -top to bottom- the best FCS conference in football. Then came the portal...
I hate to agree with AMC about anything aside from the raging bridge debates, but he made a great tangential point: all of college sports will have to re-align if the 47 million cap passes. We might be looking at nothing more than the B10 and SEC contending in football and hoops, for instance, and all the other programs across the board trying to find a homey little niche a-la the old Yankee Conference.
I'm actually fine with that. Now, more than ever, greed rules America, and I'd rather watch a Maine/UNH game with nothing but pride on the line than I would buy a stream to see fucking Alabama play Ohio State in a de-facto professional football NC game.
If you’re not contractually obligated to a school I think it will be difficult for them to make you stay. I highly doubt if the bill passes it stops litigation.
It will be interesting if any states consider athletes employees. I know MA is pretty strict and there are others as well.
AMC
Registered User
The issue is partially the portal, but mostly that the teams in the CAA who were consistently really good have mostly left. The Missouri Valley and the Big Sky haven't had the same defections (yes, NDSU just left, but the bulk of the conference remains). Where I think we agree is that Maine football will be fine if it's some sort of intramural New England league, where you can go 8-4, play UNH on the last day, not make the playoffs, but have a nice successful year and call it good.
I think that Maine can sustain having one men's sport and one women's sport with national ambitions. And to me, that's clearly hockey. Resource wise, Maine can compete with the top of the nation in those sports and the fans have shown a willingness to show up for hockey. Sure, Maine has had more success in women's basketball or soccer, but there's a cap on those programs- the SEC and Big Ten and UConn dominate them. That cap doesn't exist in women's hockey. For the rest of the sports, invest and focus on competing within the conference.
And I have no opinion on the bridge.
When it comes to having genuine national aspirations for Maine sports, I dont see any possible program that could do it aside from hockey, unless you intend to start up a brand new program like skiing or mens soccer (shoutout UVM) or something. Football and men's basketball need no further discussion as to why they can't succeed. Women's basketball may be able to continue to be a conference powerhouse, but they will routinely be a 15 seed in the national tourney and lose to Ohio State, et al, by 30+ points in the first game every time. Baseball has no hope with the current organization of the College World Series, and every other sport, despite their niche level of popularity, cost so little that every school in America can sponsor them, and in any sport with that much competition, Maine will never stand out enough to truly compete. Hockey is different because it is so niche and regional, and so few schools sponsor it, that Maine does stand a chance to make national noise. On both sides of the rink, in fact, but especially on the men's side. It's also a big enough sport nationally, and internationally between our northern neighbors and across the pond, that there's a huge amount of top talent available. Combine that with the fact that the NCAA appears poised to become the top route to the NHL, a huge amount of supremely talented players are going to become available to college programs. With how few programs there are, genuine talent is going to be able to filter out all across D1; Michigan, Minnesota, and Denver, et al, only have so many roster spots, after all. As I've said before, I don't expect that football (or baseball, another money loser) are ever going to be cut at Maine. But I do think it would behoove the university admin and athletic department to give their primary focus, attention, and budget space to the two teams inhabiting Alfond Arena, rather than Alfond Stadium or Mahaney Diamond. I am a hockey fan first and foremost, but I've seen Maine play in-person in both baseball and football in 2026, so I do follow Maine in other sports as well. I guess my point is, while I don't think hockey should be the only sport Maine sponsors or cares about, I do think it would make logical sense for it to be the top priority and command the most attention and resources.
ticapnews
Never graduate.
Season preview from The Maine Campus
The schedule indicates the games are televised by FloHockey
Friday
Saturday
The ESPN app also shows the games being televised there, but it's ESPN and I wouldn't put a lot of faith in them when it comes to college hockey. Holy Cross is Hockey East in women's hockey so my bet is the person that does the schedule just assumed the men are too.
The schedule indicates the games are televised by FloHockey
Friday
Saturday
The ESPN app also shows the games being televised there, but it's ESPN and I wouldn't put a lot of faith in them when it comes to college hockey. Holy Cross is Hockey East in women's hockey so my bet is the person that does the schedule just assumed the men are too.
umhockey91
Well-known member
Maine should be competitive in every sport within their conference (AE & CAA). Maine has the facilities and financial support to be competitive in those realms....and quite frankly outside of women's soccer and women's basketball....have been underachieving in that regard. I agree on the ice hockey teams being Maine's realistic shots to achieve notoriety on a national level.....but there are a few other sports where Maine should and can be regionally competitive and maybe even pick up a win in the NCAA tourney.....FCS football, field hockey, women's soccer and maybe even baseball could do that. I just think that the days of going through the motions and accepting year after year of losing seasons....especially within their respective conferences have become unacceptable.
Last edited:
blackbears9
Well-known member
1990 is the start of a decade. 2008 is a year chosen to give as many playoff appearances to football as possible, while minimizing hockey appearances. Hockey has as many national championship appearances in their 47 years as football has playoff wins in 49 years of minor league D1. 3 winning seasons in the last decade isn't bad I guess?
Tyler have you been back to practice? Any nuggets on line combos?
tylerzx2002
Well-known member
Had a chance to take in practices yesterday and today. Definitely much more cohesive couple of days compared to last week and a bit more clarity on what the lineup will look like for Friday.
There have been a few guys on the sidelines a bit: No Campbell in any of the three practices I've seen, Scott was in a no-contact jersey today getting up to speed (doubt he plays this weekend) and didn't see Romaine or Usereau out there today.
If I were estimating lines based on some of the combos I've seen:
Fowler | Scholle | Alfano (this will definitely be the top line)
Klimpke | Calvert | Russell
Parks | Lipinski | Gerrior
Makway | James | Fleece
Krebs | Peterson
Langlois | Parekh
Lafton | Bales
Usereau (extra)
Boija
Wickstrom Stumer
I'd guess a 70/30 split at most in favor of Boija this season. He looks far and away the best option in net.
PP1 I would expect: Alfano | Russell | Scholle | Fowler | Peterson
PP2 didn't seem set but expect Parekh to be the 2nd unit QB. He's looked really smooth in that role.