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

[Snively65]

Snively, I like your positive attitude. Unfortunately, goals mean little when you give up more than you get.

Hockey East games
54 goals for vs 69 against

All games
91 goals for vs 97 against

Good point. Also, I got total goals wrong for this year and last, corrected below. Note that we also improved this season in our goals against.

2019-2020: 91 G, 2.84 GPG, 97 GA
2018-2019: 90 G, 2.57 GPG, 103 GA
2017-2018: 88 G, 2.44 GPG, 104 GA

I know, along with a 0.500 record, just baby steps, but at least it is improvement. But, can that improvement continue without No. 8?

[BCeagle]

Hate to be the guy to pee in the end-of-season punchbowl … but tonight meant nothing.

Window dressing for an awful stretch run - anytime this team needed a win, they didn't get it.

Disappointed, annoyed, aggravated, take your pick. Not good enough.

Meaningless game for both teams but UNH went down fighting. I was happy BC salvaged a point when they should have lost last night

[NCAA watcher]

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

Men's hockey: .500 or below 7 of the last 10 seasons
Women's hockey: .500 or below 9 of the last 10 seasons
(Women's seasons .500 or below 1977-2010: ONE, .500 in 2000-2001)

Scarano must have nude pictures of the USNH board of trustees.

Just more evidence of how bad the rink is hurting the teams

Identify the problem and a sucker with money to CON and you become Commissioner of Hockey East. It's called failing upward.

I will be interested in Mike's post season wrap up. The flooding of recruits suggests (finally) some sense of urgency after a passive five years of transition. Usually you see that in year one of a transition (remember UMass cutting 8 kids right away)? The way Scarano and Umile set it up, they neutered Souza's ability by not giving him power and making him an assistant. Even when he took the top position he worked to maintain continuity rather than shake things up. You can't "change the culture" by not only not cutting existing guys, but then keeping them as 5th year seniors, when they already have satisfied the implied four year obligations. Souza has done that with a couple of marginal guys, and has another one on the roster who really has not earned a fifth year. Will we see some real changes to the culture?
Perhaps we are seeing the first signs of him asserting himself. At some point he needs to stop being the "nice guy" and take drastic steps. Greg A points out that UNH clawed out of the bad days, but really it was an intense group of Kullen and Coady, who immediately cleaned house and sold new kids on the direction of the new boss. They didn't do it gradually -- the first two recruiting classes were four NHLers and several all-americans like Amodeo. Same with McClosky, who was both personable but incredibly intense. And the gold standard, Shawn Walsh was intense. And it sells to the kids -- they know whose going places by will alone. Just "getting along and not making waves" and being OK being neutered by your boss for three years is something that has to be changed -- that's all on Mike reinventing who he is -- a daunting challenge, especially for a 40 year old "kid" in the game.

The jump start is not usually gradual -- each new coach earns or loses credibility quickly as a story line evolves. Mike has a short remaining window to create some excitement before falling into that "we know him, he's OK" category where a couple of network guys will refer players (see below) but for the top guys they will pass.

Step 2 is recognizing one's limitations and getting someone who can do those things you are bad at. Souza is a bad recruiter. His track record at Brown and at U.Conn establish this, and his three years at UNH 2015 to 2018 are the reason for the major holes in the roster. There are worrisome signs on the inability to "close" on kids who have a tie to the program. Souza needs someone with ties beyond the Boston Advantage program or his Lou Finocchio Austin Prep/Malden Catholic kids. The defensive pipeline is decent, and so it should be OK going forward. The offensive pipeline is pretty weak. I see 4 with potential top two line upside (Richels, Cafarelli, Turner and Sacco) but 5 kids who will struggle for playing time. That's not a great ratio.

2020-21
Jr.Crookshank---Jr.Pierson---------Sr.Kelleher
Fr.Richels--------Jr.Engaras -------Sr.Grasso
Sr.Sato-----------So.Stevenson----Sr.MacAdams
Fr.Margel---------Fr.Cafarelli-------Jr.Esposito
Jr.Cipollone------So.Herrmann-----Sr.Sacco
Fr.Sweeney------So.Hankinson---Fr.Gendron

Sr.Maass---------So.Eriksson
Jr.MacKinnon----Fr.Reid
Fr.Jenson-------Jr.Verrier
So.McElhaney----Fr.Nagle
Jr.Hickey

2021-22
Sr.Crookshank--Sr.Pierson------Sr.Engaras
So.Richels-------Jr.Stevenson-----So.Cafarelli
Sr.Esposito------So.Margel--------Fr.D.Sacco
Fr.Devlin---------Fr.Bakos-------Fr.Cronin
Sr.Cipollone----Jr.Herrmann-------Fr.Curran
Fr.J.Ring-------So.Sweeney-------Jr.Hankinson
So.Gendron

Jr.Eriksson--------Fr.Ardanaz
Sr.MacKinnon-----So.Reid
Sr.Verrier----------Fr.Gagne
Jr.McElhaney------Fr.Penney
So.Nagle----------So.Jenson
Sr.Hickey

2022-23
Jr.Richels------Sr.Stevenson---Jr.Cafarelli
-------Fr.Turner--------So.D.Sacco
Jr.Margel--------So.Bakos--------So.Curran
So.Devlin--------Sr.Herrmann----So.Cronin
So.J.Ring-------Fr.Leclerc--------Sr.Hankinson
---Fr.Winters-------Jr.Sweeney--JrGendron

SoArdanaz-----Sr.Eriksson
Jr.Reid---------Fr.Carfagna
So.Gagne------So.Penney
Sr.McElhaney-----Jr.Nagle
Jr.Jenson


At this point, the Madigan model is what we could realistically aspire to: a decent track record that gets a boost by hiring a young proven assistant (Jerry Keefe) who actually had success at Brown, and kids even followed him because they believed in him (NHLers Kevin Roy, Aston-Reese). We can't just carry the myth that Mike will be a great recruiter because he's likeable -- this is an area in which UNH needs dramatic accountability.

[HockeyRef]

Meaningless game for both teams but UNH went down fighting. I was happy BC salvaged a point when they should have lost last night

Thanks for this...going to the wire..coming back from a 2 goal deficit and taking it to OT was ****ed admirable esp knowing the games outcome did not "matter". Going 1-1-1 with BC this season is better than the 'Cats have done for years. Too bad we could not find that game when we needed it...but I'm proud of them nonetheless. Good luck going forward.

Oh..and the game "mattered" to the fans who went amd to the 'Cats. They could have mailed it in finding out right before they weren't going ahead in their season. Interestingly for me at least, I actually found a sense of enjoyment being there. I'm sad its over...

[HockeyRef]

Just more evidence of how bad the rink is hurting the teams

Identify the problem and a sucker with money to CON and you become Commissioner of Hockey East. It's called failing upward.

I will be interested in Mike's post season wrap up. The flooding of recruits suggests (finally) some sense of urgency after a passive five years of transition. Usually you see that in year one of a transition (remember UMass cutting 8 kids right away)? The way Scarano and Umile set it up, they neutered Souza's ability by not giving him power and making him an assistant. Even when he took the top position he worked to maintain continuity rather than shake things up. You can't "change the culture" by not only not cutting existing guys, but then keeping them as 5th year seniors, when they already have satisfied the implied four year obligations. Souza has done that with a couple of marginal guys, and has another one on the roster who really has not earned a fifth year. Will we see some real changes to the culture?
Perhaps we are seeing the first signs of him asserting himself. At some point he needs to stop being the "nice guy" and take drastic steps. Greg A points out that UNH clawed out of the bad days, but really it was an intense group of Kullen and Coady, who immediately cleaned house and sold new kids on the direction of the new boss. Same with McClosky, who was both personable but incredibly intense. And the gold standard, Shawn Walsh was intense. And it sells to the kids -- they know whose going places by will alone. Just "getting along and not making waves" and being OK being neutered by your boss for three years is something that has to be changed -- that's all on Mike changing his mindset.

Step 2 is recognizing one's limitations and getting someone who can do those things you are bad at. Souza is a bad recruiter. His track record at Brown and at U.Conn establish this, and his three years at UNH 2015 to 2018 are the reason for the major holes in the roster. Souza needs someone with ties beyond the Boston Advantage program or his Lou Finocchio Austin Prep/Malden Catholic kids. The defensive pipeline is decent, and so it should be OK going forward. The offensive pipeline is pretty weak. I see 4 with potential top two line upside (Richels, Cafarelli, Turner and Sacco) but 5 kids who will struggle for playing time. That's not a great ratio.

2020-21
Jr.Crookshank---Jr.Pierson---------Sr.Kelleher
Fr.Richels--------Jr.Engaras -------Sr.Grasso
Sr.Sato-----------So.Stevenson----Sr.MacAdams
Fr.Margel---------Fr.Cafarelli-------Jr.Esposito
Jr.Cipollone------So.Herrmann-----Sr.Sacco
Fr.Sweeney------So.Hankinson---Fr.Gendron

Sr.Maass---------So.Eriksson
Jr.MacKinnon----Fr.Reid
Fr.Jenson-------Jr.Verrier
So.McElhaney----Fr.Nagle
Jr.Hickey

2021-22
Sr.Crookshank--Sr.Pierson------Sr.Engaras
So.Richels-------Jr.Stevenson-----So.Cafarelli
Sr.Esposito------So.Margel--------Fr.D.Sacco
Fr.Devlin---------Fr.Bakos-------Fr.Cronin
Sr.Cipollone----Jr.Herrmann-------Fr.Curran
Fr.J.Ring-------So.Sweeney-------Jr.Hankinson
So.Gendron

Jr.Eriksson--------Fr.Ardanaz
Sr.MacKinnon-----So.Reid
Sr.Verrier----------Fr.Gagne
Jr.McElhaney------Fr.Penney
So.Nagle----------So.Jenson
Sr.Hickey

2022-23
Jr.Richels------Sr.Stevenson---Jr.Cafarelli
-------Fr.Turner--------So.D.Sacco
Jr.Margel--------So.Bakos--------So.Curran
So.Devlin--------Sr.Herrmann----So.Cronin
So.J.Ring-------Fr.Leclerc--------Sr.Hankinson
---Fr.Winters-------Jr.Sweeney--JrGendron

SoArdanaz-----Sr.Eriksson
Jr.Reid---------Fr.Carfagna
So.Gagne------So.Penney
Sr.McElhaney-----Jr.Nagle
Jr.Jenson


At this point, the Madigan model is what we could realistically aspire to: a decent track record that gets a boost by hiring a young proven assistant (Jerry Keefe) who actually had success at Brown, and kids even followed him because they believed in him (NHLers Kevin Roy, Aston-Reese). We can't just carry the myth that Mike will be a great recruiter because he's likeable -- this is an area in which UNH needs dramatic accountability.

+1 The status quo in this day and age does.not.cut.it.

Ps...I'd be curious as to the end of season report as well, but I have a feeling you can get the gist of it by listening to the presser at the end of the game last night. I think the ending comments speak volumes...(and I'd be surprised if there is any sort of 'end of the season' wrap up...if I'm being honest.)

[HockeyRef]

Men's hockey: .500 or below 7 of the last 10 seasons
Women's hockey: .500 or below 9 of the last 10 seasons
(Women's seasons .500 or below 1977-2010: ONE, .500 in 2000-2001)

Scarano must have nude pictures of the USNH board of trustees.

Bread and butter sport at the U? Just another sport at the U and somehow? I think they are just fine with that.

[e.cat]

Hate to be the guy to pee in the end-of-season punchbowl … but tonight meant nothing.

Window dressing for an awful stretch run - anytime this team needed a win, they didn't get it.

Disappointed, annoyed, aggravated, take your pick. Not good enough.

Not entirely meaningless. Apparently the Beagles took a big hit in the pairwise potentially preventing them a number one seed in the regionals.

[Aerman]

Not entirely meaningless. Apparently the Beagles took a big hit in the pairwise potentially preventing them a number one seed in the regionals.

That was coming regardless of the outcome just by virtue of playing us. Obviously a win would have dulled their impact a bit.

[HockeyRef]

Not entirely meaningless. Apparently the Beagles took a big hit in the pairwise potentially preventing them a number one seed in the regionals.

Not to mention gee if they had lost on that call at the end of the game...🙄

[e.cat]

That was coming regardless of the outcome just by virtue of playing us. Obviously a win would have dulled their impact a bit.

True.

[e.cat]

Not to mention gee if they had lost on that call at the end of the game...🙄

Just heard about that goal. Should it have stood?

[HockeyRef]

Just heard about that goal. Should it have stood?

Not according to the crowd...oh I dunno. Too big a hit to BC 's PWR...Seriously the 'Cats had a penalty called (too many on the ice ) and then that so surviving OT at all was a gift I guess. Was hoping we would get a break but nope. What I dont get is why the ref felt the need to go over to the BC bench afterwards what explanation was needed?? Prob protocol I suppose...whatever.

[Chuck Murray]

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

Men's hockey: .500 or below 7 of the last 10 seasons
Women's hockey: .500 or below 9 of the last 10 seasons
(Women's seasons .500 or below 1977-2010: ONE, .500 in 2000-2001)

Scarano must have nude pictures of the USNH board of trustees.

You presuppose the USNH Board of Trustees gives a rat's *&%$ about how their sports programs fare, which may be the only part of your post that may be even the slightest bit off-point. I'm guessing that on a list of top ten concerns from the BoT, the on-field performances of the revenue producing sports programs is a solid #11 at best, and more likely barely on the radar. We've gotten glimpses and insight into their collective mindsets in recent years in seeing how they've handled the dismantling of the Friends booster clubs and the Coach McCloskey situation, who somehow despite the purported acts that led to his dismissal, has since somehow maintained his ability to continues to work in his chosen field with young athletes of both genders.

As to the long-standing AD … a decade or so ago, I tagged him with the "Blue Skies" moniker because he was seemingly content to sit back, collect his paycheck, and watch Men's Hockey slowly but steadily deteriorate into what turned out to be the current mess we see it mired in. At the time, the program was still winning, and playing in important games in mid-to-late March, but the April part of the program's success from a decade prior had gone missing. A decade later, the decline was complete with last-place regular season finishes and missing the post-season tournament for the first times in about 30 years. Women's Hockey may arguably already have been on the decline in McCloskey's last couple of seasons, but his dismissal and replacement has done nothing to bring that program back to where it was when McCloskey was in his heyday, and the years before his arrival.

In addition, the UNH Football program has now seen a decline in performance, after an amazing run of over a dozen seasons at least in their national postseason tourney (although like Men's Hockey, they too also found a way to come up short of winning a NC), so we now have examples on both sides of the street that no matter what you do with upgrading facilities, the evidence that these improvements - which appear to be at the top end of the current AD's supposed strengths - pay off in the ability to compete at the top end of their leagues/divisions is elusive if not entirely absent. And let's not even get into the "success" of UNH Hoops.

Men's Soccer coach Marc Hubbard is a Durham native who had already established himself at SNHU before he was brought to UNH, which was probably the job he'd been aiming for all of his life. I doubt his success can hardly be laid at the feet of the current AD.

The current AD is approaching his mid-60's and is presiding over an athletics program where his signature achievements have been almost exclusively to the facilities side - although UNH Hoops remains stuck in Lundholm instead of back at the Whittemore where they were intended to be. With Wildcat Stadium and the soccer field having been completed, and now the commitment for rink retrofit at Whittemore on the immediate horizon, it would seem the current AD has exhausted his usefulness to the U, and should step aside to let someone else take over things like hiring coaches who know how to build winning programs.

Otherwise, the idea of Mr. Mediocrity remaining in charge for another 5-10 years should be chilling to all fans of UNH athletics. The track record is well-established for two decades now, and another decade like this last one cannot be allowed to happen.

JMHO.

[Chuck Murray]

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

Not according to the crowd...oh I dunno. Too big a hit to BC 's PWR...Seriously the 'Cats had a penalty called (too many on the ice ) and then that so surviving OT at all was a gift I guess. Was hoping we would get a break but nope. What I dont get is why the ref felt the need to go over to the BC bench afterwards what explanation was needed?? Prob protocol I suppose...whatever.

You clearly haven't been following the expose on The Effingwoods Hockey Almanac thread, HR.

All roads in Hockey East lead to Boston. All officiating roads in HEA lead to Chestnut Hill.

I'm sure the official was just making sure he wasn't in trouble with the powers-that-be.

[HockeyRef]

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

You clearly haven't been following the expose on The Effingwoods Hockey Almanac thread, HR.

All roads in Hockey East lead to Boston. All officiating roads in HEA lead to Chestnut Hill.

I'm sure the official was just making sure he wasn't in trouble with the powers-that-be.

Oh I've read it...I just didn't wanna SAY THAT outloud here and believe me...it was NOT LOST on me and hubby. Typical....And while we are on the subject, and being an umpire, you'd be surprised how much optics can mean to fans. CERTAIN OFFICIALS WHO WON'T BE NAMED (Shea) are particularly 'good' at skating over to said Boston team benches and schmooze...sitting where we do you can see this over and over again. UGH. New HE commish, if you're listening....