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UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

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  • #46
    Originally posted by HockeyRef View Post
    Have a great time!!! Looking forward to hearing all about it. Let's Go 'Cats!!!
    Please share your adventures around Oxford, too, DC...
    Live Free or Die!!
    Miami University '03

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    • #47
      Originally posted by HockeyRef View Post
      UNH Hockey great Darren Haydar to be inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame...

      https://files.constantcontact.com/0d...60f0e21e0c.pdf


      ps...looking him up on hockeydb...wow...what a player...so bummed I missed out. Dang, the goals the guy scored every season!!!
      Always thought that the Atlanta Thrashers should have given Haydar more than the dozen or so games for his 1 goal plus 7 assists NHL totals. But, what a great AHA player he was, including being captain of the Chicago Wolves Calder Cup championship team in 2007-08, with former UNH teammate Jason Krog centering his line.

      And, Robbie Ftorek also is being inducted into the AHA HOF with Haydar. Hmmm, what connection does Ftorek have with UNH? Greg Ambrose knows.

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      • #48
        Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

        Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
        Always thought that the Atlanta Thrashers should have given Haydar more than the dozen or so games for his 1 goal plus 7 assists NHL totals. But, what a great AHA player he was, including being captain of the Chicago Wolves Calder Cup championship team in 2007-08, with former UNH teammate Jason Krog centering his line.

        And, Robbie Ftorek also is being inducted into the AHA HOF with Haydar. Hmmm, what connection does Ftorek have with UNH? Greg Ambrose knows.
        Mr. Haydar is in seriously good company. Ftorek was one of those MA back in the day kids on everyone's radar when in high school.
        I will not be out cheered in my own building.

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        • #49
          Originally posted by Darius View Post
          Mr. Haydar is in seriously good company. Ftorek was one of those MA back in the day kids on everyone's radar when in high school.
          And.......... ? An UNH coonection. :-)

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          • #50
            Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

            Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
            Always thought that the Atlanta Thrashers should have given Haydar more than the dozen or so games for his 1 goal plus 7 assists NHL totals. But, what a great AHA player he was, including being captain of the Chicago Wolves Calder Cup championship team in 2007-08, with former UNH teammate Jason Krog centering his line.
            There are more than a few parallels between Haydar's career, and the early part of Poturalski's pro career. FWIW I noticed that Poturalski started the season in the AHL again (San Diego). Didn't see him in the Anaheim line-up against the Wings earlier this week, so it didn't come as a surprise.

            I've always said, and I'll say it again … being an undersized high skill guys at D-1 level (or even AHL level) doesn't necessarily guarantee you a career in the NHL. Because if you're not talented enough to crack the top six forwards on an NHL team, and if you're small-ish and can't measure up physically and/or defensively in a checking line role … there's no place for you with a lot of NHL teams. You pretty much either have to get lucky to get a lower-level NHL team to take a chance on you, and to live with your growing pains in a top six role … OR you simply have to transform your defensive game, and probably bulk up a little, too.

            Haydar would have been a free agent from an NHL perspective for most of his AHL career, so it's not like other organizations didn't have a chance to sign him. Sadly, for whatever reason, they all must have seen the same thing(s) to either temper their interest, or to keep him on a short rope during his limited NHL stints.

            That's not to denigrate the likes of Haydar, or Poturalski (who still has time to catch a break), or guys like Mowers or Krog who did get a little more in the way of NHL opportunities in their careers. You can't coach size, and unless your skills are on par with the likes of Martin St. Louis, Brian Gionta or Johnny Hockey, the margin for error to get an extended shot in the NHL and then to make it count, can be a mighty small window before organizations just write you off. Heck, even the aforementioned MSL struggled to crack the NHL early in his pro career, but he got his break ultimately with a bad TBL franchise at the time, and the rest is history.

            But for every MSL who breaks through, there are dozens who don't quite make it.

            What sets Haydar apart is that he kept going at it in the AHL, year after year, when a lot of other similar type players either head off to Europe to play, or quit to start a "rest of life" career in the real world. It's actually quite poignant in a way that Haydar had to know his NHL chance had come and gone at some point well before he walked away, but he still kept at it, whether for love of the game, a decent-but-not-great paycheck, and/or in the naïve hope that someone would give him that one elusive NHL shot.

            As a four year guy at UNH, Haydar had to know this outcome was always a possibility anyway.

            I'll always remember his time and achievements at UNH fondly - especially @ Worcester in March 1999.
            Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
            Montreal Expos Forever ...

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            • #51
              Originally posted by Dan View Post
              Please share your adventures around Oxford, too, DC...
              Unfortunately, the vast majority of my time has been spent cooped up working in my hotel. Tried to go to Bagel and Deli this morning, but they don’t open until 8am. Perhaps I’ll grab something there post-game.

              The hotel is a quick walk to the arena, so that’s a bonus. And there’s a new restaurant (Gaslight Brewhouse) right next to hotel with a great (and fattening) menu. Kind of a better and newer version of Libby’s. Heresy, I know.

              It’s a great little town, Dan. I like and was frankly surprised that it’s sort of in the middle of nowhere.
              Last edited by wildcatdc; 10-11-2019, 04:39 PM.
              Signature line intentionally left blank.

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              • #52
                Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                UNH lines for tonight’s opener...

                Kelleher - Pierson - Grasso
                Crookshank - Blackburn - Esposito
                Sato - Griffin - MacAdams
                Stevenson - Herrmann - Sacco

                Wyse - Maass
                MacKinnon - Gildon
                Eriksson - Dawson
                Verrier

                Robinson

                —-

                The tiny top line stays together - I’m fine with giving them a chance. UNH needs that trio to step up and succeed, if they can bring it out of each other all the better.

                Second line boasts the two big scorers - can they make plays for each other while so often looking to score themselves? A playmaker would look great on that RW (will be interesting to see what they can get out of Esposito as a complete top-six would be so helpful)...

                Fourth line should be able to skate and defend and chip in over the course of the year. Engaras probably slots in on that third line which seems at first glance a strange mix of skill sets (perhaps giving a more natural playmaker like Griffin a shot on the second line RW down the road)...

                The Wyse and Maass pairing is good to see - hopefully that will bring out the Maass impact we saw in his FR season. MacKinnon is a nice defensive anchor that should let Gildon freelance when he sees an opening. Love this top-four. Last three will probably rotate in and out of shifts as a defensive trio while spelling the top four when/if needed. Eriksson not great defensively last weekend (-2) but I’m really excited to see him this year (especially moving pucks). Dawson getting the first crack ahead of McElhaney is no surprise...

                Neither is Robinson in the crease...

                —-

                Elsewhere BVR (#39) starts on the second-line LW for Northeastern, alongside scoring center Zack Solow and highly-regarded freshman TJ Walsh...
                Last edited by Dan; 10-11-2019, 06:08 PM.
                Live Free or Die!!
                Miami University '03

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                • #53
                  Originally posted by wildcatdc View Post
                  it’s sort of in the middle of nowhere.
                  Haha, it is definitely in the middle of nowhere. I remember driving up to visit for the first time and thinking ‘where am I’ and ‘this is a waste of time’. Once I got onto campus and into town I was blown away. Have a great time this weekend...
                  Live Free or Die!!
                  Miami University '03

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                  • #54
                    Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                    Glad to see Gildon in the lineup.
                    UNH Hockey: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave!

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                    • #55
                      Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                      Sato makes up for his early penalty! 1-0
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                      • #56
                        Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                        UNH takes a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on a Kohei Sato goal (assisted by MacAdams and Gildon). UNH had killed two early Miami power-plays...
                        Live Free or Die!!
                        Miami University '03

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                        • #57
                          Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                          Pierson right away! 2-0
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                          • #58
                            Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                            UNH dominating 5x5 right now...

                            And now to its first PP.
                            Live Free or Die!!
                            Miami University '03

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                            • #59
                              Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                              Maass 3-0. PP
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                              • #60
                                Re: UNH Wildcats 2019/2020 Ready to Rock and Roll!!

                                Crowder just suplexed one of our guys. PP
                                Signature line intentionally left blank.

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