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Hockey East: A New Big 4?

Drew S. said:
I wonder how Providence gets on next year. They lose like 10 players. I don't think there is a big four anymore, league is wide open.
Click to expand...

I heard the same thing when they lost Gillies and ended up having a goalie that ended up having the best season in school history.

PC is bringing in Penn State's Scott Conway from two seasons ago who was kicked out of school. He scored a ton in the BCHL this year with 56 goals and 60 assists in 56 games.

We will see if he replaces some scoring which we know PC didn't do at the end of the year.

Foley is a highly skilled forward as seen by his high drafted spot and showed flashes in the second half of the year.

Does Ellis come back for his senior year? That is one spot that PC isn't really worried about as Hawkey is highly regarded.

Plus with the Walman injury, do the Blues sign him or see him play another year? He was the best offensive d-man in the conference before his injury in Decemeber.
 
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Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

This year:

1.BC
2.PC
3.ND
4.UML
5.BU
6.NU

7.MC
8.UConn
9.UVM
10.UNH
11.Maine
12.UMass

Last year:

1.BU
2.PC
3.BC
4.UML
5.ND
6.NU

7.UVM
8.UNH
9.UConn
10.Maine
11.MC
12. UMass

Hard to say the league is wide open when nobody from bottom half of the league broke into top half this year.
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

J.D. said:
This year:

1.BC
2.PC
3.ND
4.UML
5.BU
6.NU

7.MC
8.UConn
9.UVM
10.UNH
11.Maine
12.UMass

Last year:

1.BU
2.PC
3.BC
4.UML
5.ND
6.NU

7.UVM
8.UNH
9.UConn
10.Maine
11.MC
12. UMass

Hard to say the league is wide open when nobody from bottom half of the league broke into top half this year.
Click to expand...
Hey, Merrimack gets the trophy for "Most Improved"!!
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

It may just be that the old Big 4 has finally reduced to the Big 2 (BU and BC) that we always figured would eventually happen. Except for Maine's one great decade, nobody else among the members has had staying power as a national contender.
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

Kepler said:
It may just be that the old Big 4 has finally reduced to the Big 2 (BU and BC) that we always figured would eventually happen. Except for Maine's one great decade, nobody else among the members has had staying power as a national contender.
Click to expand...

A decade is now 20 years? :p
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

J.D. said:
This year:

1.BC
2.PC
3.ND
4.UML
5.BU
6.NU

7.MC
8.UConn
9.UVM
10.UNH
11.Maine
12.UMass

Last year:

1.BU
2.PC
3.BC
4.UML
5.ND
6.NU

7.UVM
8.UNH
9.UConn
10.Maine
11.MC
12. UMass

Hard to say the league is wide open when nobody from bottom half of the league broke into top half this year.
Click to expand...

UCONN is knocking at the door with 3 less scholarships, and with a full slate in 2016-2017 they have a good chance to buck the trend.
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

Here's a thought guys....BC and BU will always have beaucoup bucks, so take them out of the discussion for now, but of PU, NU, UML, and UVM and MC for that matter, who besides UNH is spending money on Football? Therefore they have the $$$ and Admin backing for their hockey to become better.....in a state that funds it's State University 50th, how can UNH provide for both football and hockey programs to be premier?
 
zoofer said:
Here's a thought guys....BC and BU will always have beaucoup bucks, so take them out of the discussion for now, but of PU, NU, UML, and UVM and MC for that matter, who besides UNH is spending money on Football? Therefore they have the $$$ and Admin backing for their hockey to become better.....in a state that funds it's State University 50th, how can UNH provide for both football and hockey programs to be premier?
Click to expand...

I do not buy the lack of spending argument. We have the same number of scholarships as the others, and now a Jumbotron. I also do not buy the lack of training rooms and the other hoopla as an excuse. I think that what has changed at UNH has been a huge drop off in coaching and recruiting skills over the past decade.
 
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Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

zoofer said:
Here's a thought guys....BC and BU will always have beaucoup bucks, so take them out of the discussion for now, but of PU, NU, UML, and UVM and MC for that matter, who besides UNH is spending money on Football? Therefore they have the $$$ and Admin backing for their hockey to become better.....in a state that funds it's State University 50th, how can UNH provide for both football and hockey programs to be premier?
Click to expand...

Merrimack has D2 football for whatever its worth...
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

Snively65 said:
I do not buy the lack of spending argument. We have the same number of scholarships as the others, and now a Jumbotron. I also do not buy the lack of training rooms and the other hoopla as an excuse. I think that what has changed at UNH has been a huge drop off in coaching and recruiting skills over the past decade.
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I'm surprised to see you back after your original post. :) So, since Coach Umile has been head coach for 25 seasons how much change has gone on with his assistant/associate coaches? I know that constant coaching changes at Wisconsin has been used as one of the reasons the have done so poorly the past few seasons. Has Coach Umile also had a lot of changes the past few seasons?

Sean
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

The current Big 4 is BC, BU hanging in there but possible on the edge, UML and PC. Here's why, it's not league standings or seasonal records. It's coaching and the program.

BC has York and while they may have a down year that's it. At least until the old man retires.
BU is a big for because of Parker and his success. Quinn isn't doing great but hes kept the program in the top 4 so he gets a reprieve for now but it's on thin ice. I can see BU being relegated to the Mid pack tier with a few lackluster years and recruits start recognizing the medicine woman isn't producing champion ship teams.
UML brought in a new coach and immediately had success that they have sustained. That's not going away. With the elimination of the 20 seniors roster, the program will be more consistent and will always be right there in the top 4 or the cusp of it in a sustained way.
PC is a bit of question mark as they have benefited greatly from a few key players, but they showed this year it wasn't just Gilles or a few others. But the coaching staff again came in new and produced a quality team that they have maintained for several seasons. I think they are a top 4.

After that the question becomes whose going to challenge them? Northeastern? Possibly but they haven't show the same consistent success, even with Roy, Smatz, etc... They've had the recruits and I think they are a mid tier team, but not capable of sustained success.

UNH? Not until they get rid of Umile. The team had it's heyday, breaking the rules moved them to a mid tier team and that lack of success has kept the high end recruits coming in.

Maine? Gendron has show to be only marginally better the Timmay, certainly nothing to bring the program back into year after year after year of success.

UVM? Nope, Sneddon has made the team better, but he has hit a wall. In fact if anything the program is actually sliding backwards.

UConn? As much as I hate to give the fans any fodder, they perhaps have the best shot at becoming a Big 4 team. Good coach, larger school, etc etc. There is a lot of unknown with that program but a lot of potential.

The Big 4 is pretty easy right now, BC, UML, PC, BU...
 
Re: Hockey East: A New Big 4?

jcarter7669 said:
BU is a big for because of Parker and his success. Quinn isn't doing great but hes kept the program in the top 4 so he gets a reprieve for now but it's on thin ice. I can see BU being relegated to the Mid pack tier with a few lackluster years and recruits start recognizing the medicine woman isn't producing champion ship teams.
Click to expand...

Wow. Has a coach that in his first three seasons has taken his team to two NCAAs and one title game, and won the HE title, ever been doubted so much? I'm amazed at how much people are writing him off as not being a good coach, based on play over a handful of games. Is he the best coach in the country? No, but my goodness, give the guy a chance to learn and adapt. All three of his seasons have been very different at the outset and have provided their own set of challenges.

The results in his first three years are better than the body of work over Parker's last 16 seasons, save for one dream season in 2009. I don't like the way this season ended, but I'm still very pleased that he is the coach.
 
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