2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

[GoMaine24]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

1.Perhaps there were other factors at play besides what sklills they had, or what they 'had to offer' the ice? Perhaps they had crappy attitudes, lousy work ethics, and were chronic malcontents and complainers. You don't know.

2. He was an asset to the team, and it didn't come from out of nowhere. it came from watching the kid play. You can't build a team of all skill players. Someone's gotta do the ugly, dirty work.

Fair enough, so seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. If you were forced to cut 1 player based solely on what we see on the weekends, who would it be?

 

[BobF]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

OK, so just to clear a few things up. I wouldn't have had this resentful approach if it weren't for two things:

1. I feel that all 3 players that were cut last year....Orsini, Randall and Belmore....all had more to offer than Soloman yet he stuck around, and of his qualities defended...I thought Belmore in particular *someone who also had injury problems as a sophomore* brought more to the table in that regard than Kyle, and even had more of a scoring touch in the offensive zone. So I was a little ticked watching them go over him.

2. Out of no where, folks were acting like he was an asset to the team. Hey, maybe he could have amped up his game, who knows? But up to this point, he hasn't shown us more than 1 dimension, so I would rather get some freshmen who are supposed to take this ship over in the future when we graduate Tanner, Robby, Gus, Brian, Spencer, etc over the next couple years...I'd rather get their feet wet and get them some exposure and let THEM show us if they have the balls to play at this level over our least effective upperclassman.


That said, out of curiousity, a total hypothetical:

-What if circumstantially, Kyle was part of the picture and didn't have this terrible situation.... but Maine had to cut one of their forwards before next year.


Who would you guys cut first? 2nd?

Okay GoMaine what you have to understand is that Kyle was essentially a recruited walk-on. No scholarship money and thus no risk. Not sure but I am guessing the 3 players you mentioned were all getting $! Also Kyle was a player willing to give up his body to make a play, thus all the blocked shots. Maine did not have to cut anyone, when you are losing a non-scholarship player, how does that impact you?

Also we don't know how the other players impacted the locker room, what kind of attitude, etc. They may all have been great guys, or there may have been one or two who were a bad influence.

The kid was a 4th line grinder, every team needs them! If you have 4 lines of guys who think they should be on the 1st line, then you don't have players willing to play certain roles. Look at guys over the years like Leger, Vitorino, Stewart, and I could name 20 more who were 3rd and 4th line grinders they knew there role.

 

[Maine Event]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Nice story on Gustav in The Hockey News

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/33573-Prospect-Watch-Gustav-Nyquist.html

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Who is the frickin' genius in the AD office who scheduled Homecoming when the hockey team is in East Lansing?

 

[GoMaine24]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Who is the frickin' genius in the AD office who scheduled Homecoming when the hockey team is in East Lansing?

Well I know who is in charge of that office and some of his other fine pieces of work include ticking off one the bigger financial contributers over a radio contract, and cutting two varsity programs in preparation of less than necessary renovations **I agree the pit is a better place for basketball, but that's an awful lot of money for minimal alterations for a sport that won't make that investment back for years**....we're still without volleyball and men's soccer, and King James still can't afford his pipe dream pit.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

http://twitter.com/MaineIceHockey

(Thanks for the link!)

I wish they wouldn't schedule the USU18's for Portland.

I saw the U-18's beat the snot out of my local D-3 team last season,and that was interesting enough,but it doesn't translate well to D-1.Why not make that Portland game one that counts for Maine,FCS?

I ain't gonna drive for 5 hours to watch a mere exhibition,especially in mid-season,and I doubt that the casual fan in Cumberland County is going to keep showing up for a game that doesn't matter.Bring in Jimmy Montgomery and his RPI squad every year,or something...Please!

 

[Maineiak]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

...and cutting two varsity programs in preparation of less than necessary renovations...

Where do you get your info? I don't believe the cuts in programs were solely for the purpose of funding the renovations. Not to mention, one of the programs cut was Women's Volleyball, who would benefit from the renovations. Some donors have ponied up some big money for those renovations, don't forget. (Collins of Collins Center for the Arts ring a bell?)

 

[GoMaine24]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Where do you get your info? I don't believe the cuts in programs were solely for the purpose of funding the renovations. Not to mention, one of the programs cut was Women's Volleyball, who would benefit from the renovations. Some donors have ponied up some big money for those renovations, don't forget. (Collins of Collins Center for the Arts ring a bell?)

I was more or less being a smart ***. Of course they're relying on private donations, but I'm not sure how realistic they thought it was to get 100% that way. It's not like the budgets of those two sports would have compensated a huge portion of the project....but I thought it was awfully presumptuous to undertake such an expensive project that doesn't even qualify as a 'need' when the program was facing budget cuts as it is.

Edit: When I said 'need'...of course, moving the basketball games back to memorial gym would free up a lot of ice time for the hockey rink, and perhaps even marginally decrease the rink's staffing budget, but short of being a little cosmetically outdated, and helping it become a little more handicap accessible, its just a crazy thought to put that much money into it...for what return? If I had 12 million bucks to throw at the University, there would be a laundry list of things I would put ahead of renovating the pit!

 

[MaineMan]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

(Thanks for the link!)

I wish they wouldn't schedule the USU18's for Portland.

I saw the U-18's beat the snot out of my local D-3 team last season,and that was interesting enough,but it doesn't translate well to D-1.Why not make that Portland game one that counts for Maine,FCS?

I ain't gonna drive for 5 hours to watch a mere exhibition,especially in mid-season,and I doubt that the casual fan in Cumberland County is going to keep showing up for a game that doesn't matter.Bring in Jimmy Montgomery and his RPI squad every year,or something...Please!

Jim Montgomery is no longer coaching for RPI..

I agree though, U-18 in Portland is foolish, it should at very least be a game that counts. Honestly, having a BU or BC game there wouldn't be a bad idea considering the amount of people from the Boston area in Portland.

 

[Pucknut]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

(Thanks for the link!)

I wish they wouldn't schedule the USU18's for Portland.

I saw the U-18's beat the snot out of my local D-3 team last season,and that was interesting enough,but it doesn't translate well to D-1.Why not make that Portland game one that counts for Maine,FCS?

I ain't gonna drive for 5 hours to watch a mere exhibition,especially in mid-season,and I doubt that the casual fan in Cumberland County is going to keep showing up for a game that doesn't matter.Bring in Jimmy Montgomery and his RPI squad every year,or something...Please!

Monty is with the Dubuque Fighting Saints as GM and head coach.

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

(Thanks for the link!)

I wish they wouldn't schedule the USU18's for Portland.

I saw the U-18's beat the snot out of my local D-3 team last season,and that was interesting enough,but it doesn't translate well to D-1.Why not make that Portland game one that counts for Maine,FCS?

I ain't gonna drive for 5 hours to watch a mere exhibition,especially in mid-season,and I doubt that the casual fan in Cumberland County is going to keep showing up for a game that doesn't matter.Bring in Jimmy Montgomery and his RPI squad every year,or something...Please!

Monty is no longer with RPI. He's the head coach/GM of the Dubuque Fighting Saints (no oxymoron there ) of the USHL.

I believe Maine was planning on playing Clarkson in Portland, but that deal fell through. The Black Bears usually play someone from the ECAC down there (RPI, Brown, St. Lawrence).



Here are a few more articles about The Maine Man and his new team.

 

[Pucknut]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Jim Montgomery is no longer coaching for RPI..

I agree though, U-18 in Portland is foolish, it should at very least be a game that counts. Honestly, having a BU or BC game there wouldn't be a bad idea considering the amount of people from the Boston area in Portland.

I always thought it would be great to play unh there having a game in Durham, Orono and Portland one year and the next year Orono, Durham and the Phone Booth in Manchester.

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

I always thought it would be great to play unh there having a game in Durham, Orono and Portland one year and the next year Orono, Durham and the Phone Booth in Manchester.

There would be more UHN fans there than Maine fans. Why would Maine give up home ice, the crowd AND the game gate against a traditional rival?

 

[Stevo1091]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

There would be more UHN fans there than Maine fans. Why would Maine give up home ice, the crowd AND the game gate against a traditional rival?

Agreed, not playing at the Alfond would be dumb, it would basically be giving up any and all home ice advantage.

 

[MaineMan]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

There would be more UHN fans there than Maine fans. Why would Maine give up home ice, the crowd AND the game gate against a traditional rival?

Because it would be a big step in expanding the fan base to southern Maine, where people are.. But I would rather they play UNH up in Orono and a BU or BC at Portland

 

[gscott13]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Because it would be a big step in expanding the fan base to southern Maine, where people are.. But I would rather they play UNH up in Orono and a BU or BC at Portland

ask the unh fans their thoughts on playing at the vwa... they hate it... why give up the home ice advantage against a league opponent... portland should be hosting an out of conference game, but unfortunately, they have a limited home ooc schedule this year... as was mentioned, they were supposed to play clarkson in portland, but something happened with clarkson's schedule and they pushed the game to the following year. as much as they would like to expand the fan base, they need to re-establish the school's profile nationally for recruiting purposes, etc.. to do that, you need to win, and alfond gives them the best chance to do that..

 

[bearsFan93]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

USCHO article on Soloman's concussions.

http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,18630/ConcussionsBringCareertoCloseforMainesSolomon.html

 

[ck1969]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Because it would be a big step in expanding the fan base to southern Maine, where people are.. But I would rather they play UNH up in Orono and a BU or BC at Portland

Continued success will expand the fan base. Or regain some of the fairweather fans anyway

 

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Continued success will expand the fan base. Or regain some of the fairweather fans anyway

You mean all of the fans that have come on board since the 92-93 season?

Maine will do well to hang onto the 4,000 or so diehards that they currently have.......nevermind "expanding" it. As long as Whitehead is around, there will be a glass ceiling on the popularity of this program.

 

[GoMaine24]

Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater

Because it would be a big step in expanding the fan base to southern Maine, where people are.. But I would rather they play UNH up in Orono and a BU or BC at Portland

Those schools travel well, too.

Give a Boston school's traveling fans an opportunity to drive 2 hours instead of 4+ to see the Maine game, let alone get to sit in seats where they can see the scoreboard and not get dripped on...it would be pretty appealing.

I like playing the ECAC there.