UMaine '26-'27: The Bridge On the River Stillwater

[Drew S.]

Some general thoughts…

I didn’t see last night’s game which makes it a little tough to comment on what went right and wrong, but losing to an AHA team is a disaster regardless of the circumstances. Even though these games were on the road it’s still a massive regression YOY. These were probably Maine’s second and third easiest games of the season.

I had pretty modest expectations going into this season and there was nothing I saw over the weekend that changed them for the better. It was nice Maine took advantage of HC’s penalties early on Friday, but not a lot else to hang your hat on.

The more concerning thing for me is that after this year Maine again loses three major contributors(Fowler, Klimpke, Boija) and some solid players(Scott, Russell, Scholle) and there doesn’t seem to be the ability to bring in the necessary talent. I don’t know what the answer is as far as recruiting goes but I hope Barr is able to find it quickly.

 

[umhockey91]

Some general thoughts…

I didn’t see last night’s game which makes it a little tough to comment on what went right and wrong, but losing to an AHA team is a disaster regardless of the circumstances. Even though these games were on the road it’s still a massive regression YOY. These were probably Maine’s second and third easiest games of the season.

I had pretty modest expectations going into this season and there was nothing I saw over the weekend that changed them for the better. It was nice Maine took advantage of HC’s penalties early on Friday, but not a lot else to hang your hat on.

The more concerning thing for me is that after this year Maine again loses three major contributors(Fowler, Klimpke, Boija) and some solid players(Scott, Russell, Scholle) and there doesn’t seem to be the ability to bring in the necessary talent. I don’t know what the answer is as far as recruiting goes but I hope Barr is able to find it quickly.

Yeah....I get that this is the NIL era but I still expected way more from him recruiting wise. The more I think about it.....the more I think that the Makars made Ben Barr's reputation at UMass. I think that Barr looks the part and probably makes a good first impression with parents and handlers.....but it seems like there is something we are not privy to that prevents him from getting any major talent now. I don't expect to beat out the top dozen programs for top talent.....but we should definitely be in the conversation with the next dozen. Is he and his staff just not identifying talent correctly? Is he too married to a style of play that passes on talented skaters and finishers? Is he just not the coach that we hoped he would be?

 

[NorthMike]

Yeah....I get that this is the NIL era but I still expected way more from him recruiting wise. The more I think about it.....the more I think that the Makars made Ben Barr's reputation at UMass. I think that Barr looks the part and probably makes a good first impression with parents and handlers.....but it seems like there is something we are not privy to that prevents him from getting any major talent now. I don't expect to beat out the top dozen programs for top talent.....but we should definitely be in the conversation with the next dozen. Is he and his staff just not identifying talent correctly? Is he too married to a style of play that passes on talented skaters and finishers? Is he just not the coach that we hoped he would be?

Its still too early to see if he can work some magic but what we know:
To me he lost alot in my eyes last year when he critized the team constantly. Stuff that should never come out of the locker room especially by the coach. It was his team man up and own it.
He is a yeller, skill guys might just stay away from that IDK though.
Dump, chase, grind the boards may be a deterrent in recruiting. IDK. I've become surprised that this is his style, it was for sure Reds, thought he would be more of skill and stick to the system guy.
Good things are his demand for hard work and somehow he reenergized the fan base.

 

[walrus]

I don't expect to beat out the top dozen programs for top talent.....but we should definitely be in the conversation with the next dozen. Is he and his staff just not identifying talent correctly? Is he too married to a style of play that passes on talented skaters and finishers? Is he just not the coach that we hoped he would be?

Why do you expect Maine to be in the conversation on the 2nd dozen?

I didn't see game but can't say I'm shocked at the result. Its one game early in the season, hopefully they learn from it. Bring on Q, don't see many points coming next weekend unless Boija is a brick wall.

 

[umhockey91]

Why do you expect Maine to be in the conversation on the 2nd dozen?

I didn't see game but can't say I'm shocked at the result. Its one game early in the season, hopefully they learn from it. Bring on Q, don't see many points coming next weekend unless Boija is a brick wall.

Because Maine should be in the conversation of the 2nd dozen by every metric.....spending, facilities & fan base. These guys aren't coming to Maine to receive a Harvard education. And we're not talking palm trees and beaches like the top of the basketball and football food chains.

 

[blackbears9]

Glad that the dead horses are back! This may be a hot take but I trust the coaching staff that has been successful everywhere they've been over the armchair experts who don't watch the games.

 

[BlackBearHockeyFan]

Glad that the dead horses are back! This may be a hot take but I trust the coaching staff that has been successful everywhere they've been over the armchair experts who don't watch the games.

Fans expect to win nothing wrong with that. It's the only team around here that matters.

 

[Jacob0804]

I can't get Chrome to open it without almost immediately redirecting me to an "unsafe site" warning page. Any advice?

Ad blocker helps, private browsing maybe, also keep refreshing it until you get it to work. It's not perfect by any means, but the price is right.