UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

[After the Whistle]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

First, I’ve always liked sitting down near ice level. When I was a student, I stood in the corner at the scoreboard end of Snively. In those chain link days you could hear just about everything said on the ice and almost feel like you were part of the action when UNH was racing into the zone or setting up on a PP (back when UNH actually knew how to score on one). When I got season tickets at the Whit, they were fourth row, on the blue line, section 104. I was sitting right there when Ben Guite blasted Mark Mowers into the glass, knocking him unconscious. I could hear his teammate Tom Nolan, rushing over, saying “Mark, you okay, you okay” and waving frantically for the trainers to get on the ice. Being that close back in the glory days it was a wonder to watch the skills of those guys close up and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

As for the hockey end of things, I can guarantee you that those clamoring for a narrower sheet are doing so solely based on feel, anecdotal observations and certainly without hard statistical evidence. You say you like the narrower sheet where it takes a high skill set to create and execute and, I assume score. Hello! Scoring in college hockey is at an abysmal low right now and you’re an advocate of making it even more difficult to get on the board? Now I’m sure from the way you talk that you are some sort of hockey savant, but 90% of those attending a college game are not. If they attend an endless trail of games with 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 finals, with both teams unable to even create scoring chances, how often do you think they will come back? College hockey attendance is down almost everywhere. The reasons are myriad, but making it even more difficult to score is not going to help things. Hope you agree.

Greg, I am with you on sitting close. Been on the first row, initially because that was all that was available, but just love it. Hence ATW! I watch every kid after every shift at my end as well as after every period and the game. You would be surprised how accurate a temperature you can take by looking at their faces and physical reactions. Currently I can say the far, near corner is out of my site lines, and certainly those of you up 8 - 15 rows can get a much different view of a breakout but love the action and up close. Perhap we could dig down in the 10 feet we will gain and add a row or 2. I know we don't need 600 more seats but the last thing we need is a 10 foot walkway on the glass.....aaaah!
As to the "proposed changes", i couldn't be less happy. It ain't the size of the sheet. It may deter a recruit or 2 but it brings in a recruit or 2. As for scoring, i did a look back last year over the last 20 years and Watcher and others are so right. I do take a different stance on the total why. Yes the top recruits have not landed here in large numbers recently but I watch the current group and honestly feel they are far more capable than the 90 or so goals they will total this year. Can't finish and no snipers is what we say. Hard to argue but I see a lot more talent and ability than i see scoring. Please could we coach these kids up a bit! This age group is so used to being given tons of feedback and we now hear, they don't need in game coaching. How does one who is in the middle of the fight look objectively on what just happened? Someone tells him what happened, why and perhaps how to avoid it. Waiting until Monday is too late! Sorry, but that is what i am seeing and i totally respect these coaches, just think they need to reevaluate what clearly isn't producing. This team had 110 goals it.

[ClOuD 9]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

Finally, at least for me, the change in the dimensions of the rink is just so unnecessary. The argument is that the larger sheet prevents UNH from attracting quality players and, therefore, prevents them from winning. This argument ignores the fact that there are several schools out west that have large sheets and despite this “disadvantage,” do quite well. And,,of course, it goes without saying that in the first 20 years that the Whit was open, UNH made the NCAA tournament 16 times, made the Frozen Four four times and won several Hockey East regular season and playoff championships. Back then there was apparently no problem with the size of the rink. Might it be because we had better players? Here’s a suggestion Marty. Instead of spending a million bucks or more to chop up the arena and, in the process, ruin the “fan experience” for hundreds, how about turning that money over to the hockey program so that they could increase their recruiting budget?

It also feels unusual given that for the first time in the ~20 years I've been following they are recruiting international players with some regularity: Eriksson, Engaras, Sato (who actually played with Japan for Olympic qualifiers). One would expect these players would be used to and benefit from the larger sheet.

Greg, Very good analysis.
1. This shrink-the-rink is what I'd call "One Man's Bad Idea": not much input from anyone (high or low), no discussions, no publicity until recently, not thought through, no rationale (except it's a convenient time). They've know about the need to upgrade the refrigeration system for years, why weren't the pros and cons of the rink size discussed years ago?
....
4. Maybe I'm wrong, but this looks like Souza's idea and no one said, "Can we just wait a minute...... ? The Shrink Stinks.

To be fair, this was initially floated by Umile (with Scarano's backing) a decade or so ago. There was a short lived PR campaign in some of the local papers pushing for it but I'm guessing they ultimately balked at the price.

[Snively65]

Yes, the 2.5 over/under is goals as I wrote, not points. See 'watcher's lengthy post for hints.

Tweet! Ok, time's up. Only two entries. HR predicts three goals, which would give us 90 on the season, one more than last year, and two more than the year before. So, that would be yet one more sign of improvement.

I predict one goal (but, for a win and a split), which falls one goal short from last year.......... unless the split allows us two more games at Conte, where all bets would be off.

[Darius]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

https://www.startribune.com/gophers-...eet/504842431/

Interesting .......... International hockey now moving to smaller sheet .........

"Mariucci is heading toward that fate, just a little slowly. The program announced its intentions in 2014 to reduce the size of the 25-year-old rink to a hybrid 92.5-foot width. Since then, the Gophers have revamped their locker rooms and players' lounge and will next update the weight room and coaches' offices. The last part would be the actual ice, something Brian Deutsch, assistant director of athletic communications, called a "long-term project" for which "fundraising efforts are ongoing." The smaller ice would also increase seating and create better sightlines."

Because MN is waiting to do it correctly.

Good rink size history, how we got here: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sp...are-going-away

"We decided to go with an Olympic-sized ice sheet. The only unfortunate part is that you can't go back to an NHL-style ice sheet if you want. You can't go back without moving seats or anything."

[Darius]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

All the intel on the project is posted on the UNH projects web portal, if you dig deep enough, no pun intended. I'm not going in there to read it again but my recollection is that rather than raise the seats, the concept was to pull (drag) the seats toward the new boards. The seasting system is modular, so another engineer believed this would be the best fix for maintaining existing sight-lines. The result - and again - going purely on 9 month old memory - is that the concourse would become ~5' wider.

On the pragmatic side, as observed here, the price tag is not whimsical - it's big $$. But the refrigeration system is toast and they have no way out of that one. Obviously, doing both elements at once makes total sense, whether you agree with shrinking or not. Hey -- side bene! -- as a former rink manager said to me last week, the energy costs will also shrink (a little).

The first paragraph matches my recollection except I think the seats would be raised as well as dragged. I am in favor of big ice, but liked the plan with much improved sight lines and a wider concourse.

It is expensive, but there is a lot to be said for doing it right. Perform as much size change prep work as possible while replacing the refrigeration system and wait until a Wildcat Stadium/Football locker room/Soccer facility fundraising effort raises the funds to do it right.

[BlackI]

Wouldnt changing rink size effect the type of skaters they'd be looking for? Seems like they might need to go bigger and not quicker if they changed to a smaller rink. Personally I think the speed game adds more to college hockey and the resultant atmosphere than slower more physical style. I know I always preferred an upbeat style of play at Maine to the alternative. And, I would think there would be more gifted skaters capable of playing that style than the prototypical pro players. Yeah.....I think you've got some advantage already in the big sheet....they just might screw that up.

Great engineer. Great body of work. Actually you need to have beer with me.

[BlackI]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

Who cares. It is great though.

[BlackI]

Sorry for this lame question but...is the main reason the rink needs to shrink because of the refrigeration system? They cant replace it without pulling the dimensions in?

I'm with Greg...show the fans what it's going to look like for their seat. Cant wait to see all the unsupervised kids that are going to race up and down the sides like they do at one school I will not publicly name....

We believe you should not do disruptive things. But you can if you want too.

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

Fourth straight year without 100-point scorer. TyK was last with 167 in 2017. Who were previous 10?

[e.cat]

Fourth straight year without 100-point scorer. TyK was last with 167 in 2017. Who were previous 10?

Off the top of my head; Bobby Butler and Kevin Goumas would be two.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

Off the top of my head; Bobby Butler and Kevin Goumas would be two.

Cheated: (looked it up...) Downing, Saviano, Radja, Sislo, Thompson, DeSimone, Aikins and Fornataro (not necessairily in this order, but the last 10 including Butler and Goumas. Brett Hemmingway prob deserves to be in the last 10 list?

No doubt Potsy could have been had he stayed, and, now, who might be on track, Crookshank? Boy, did I miss out on some amazing players...

[e.cat]

Cheated: (looked it up...) Downing, Saviano, Radja, Sislo, Thompson, DeSimone, Aikins and Fornataro (not necessairily in this order, but the last 10 including Butler and Goumas.

No doubt Potsy could have been had he stayed, and, now, who might be on track, Crookshank? Boy, did I miss out on some amazing players...

I was going to tell Snives to look it up and get back to us on it

[wildcatfan_GoNH]

Fourth straight year without 100-point scorer. TyK was last with 167 in 2017. Who were previous 10?

I was thinking about this recently. It’s a shame. Not necessarily indicative of a good or bad program to have 100+ pt scorer in every class or other class. But you’d like to have some “go to” scorers on the roster to post 25+ points per year consistently. What is scary is that UNH really hasn't had a shot at this type of scorer since TyK and Pots (maybe Warren F would have done it recently). E.i. No high caliber player has left earlier since then before posting his likely 100+ points. Broken record alert but recruiting for consistent and pure scorers has been weak since approximately the Thompson, Sislo, Desimone era IMO. That team could score. Who remembers Thompson scoring late in the third at the Whitt to beat Maine at white out after Nyquist just missed somewhat of an empty net. I loved that team and era about ten ish year ago

[wildcatfan_GoNH]

I was thinking about this recently. It’s a shame. Not necessarily indicative of a good or bad program to have 100+ pt scorer in every class or other class. But you’d like to have some “go to” scorers on the roster to post 25+ points per year consistently. What is scary is that UNH really hasn't had a shot at this type of scorer since TyK and Pots (maybe Warren F would have done it recently). E.i. No high caliber player has left earlier since then before posting his likely 100+ points. Broken record alert but recruiting for consistent and pure scorers has been weak since approximately the Thompson, Sislo, Desimone era IMO. That team could score. Who remembers Thompson scoring late in the third at the Whitt to beat Maine at white out after Nyquist just missed somewhat of an empty net. I loved that team and era about ten ish year ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuXfvEJNhmc

Golly I want this team to be good again. Those were great days to be a wildcats fan. Bring us some talent and a competitive fire Souza. Win on whatever width the rink is

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Hockey: Where Do We Go From Here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuXfvEJNhmc

Golly I want this team to be good again. Those were great days to be a wildcats fan. Bring us some talent and a competitive fire Souza. Win on whatever width the rink is

LOVE this...of course, mostly coz Kevin G is on the ice!! Great footage. Very talented skaters! Why was the next season not so hot?