Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

[RockTheWhit]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

22/24 players on BCs roster are American. Kobasew played for BC a decade ago. Granted, 1 of the 2 Canadiens they have is Cam Atkinson - but transfer Atkinson to Maine and you think that fixes our problems? They have horses.

Not even going to double check the Gophers' roster as they've been roughly as relevant as Maine over the last half decade.

Atkinson is from Connecticut, so BC has one Canadian and he's been a healthy scratch lately. I'm not sure if Minnesota has ever recruited a Canadian.

 

[TripleE]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Here's a new twist on a topic that sounds like its been beaten to death.

List our biggest impact players....

Nyquist (Sweden), House (BCHL), Flynn, Abbott (OJHL), Diamond (U17/USHL/OJHL), Dee (USHL), O'Neil (USHL), Dimmen (can't even remember, but not the category I'm pointing out)

Out of those 8 guys, 1 came from this Monarchs pipeline. Matt may be our 2nd best ex-Monarch, but he's a career 3rd liner with no finishing skill.

 

[TripleE]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Atkinson is from Connecticut, so BC has one Canadian and he's been a healthy scratch lately. I'm not sure if Minnesota has ever recruited a Canadian.

Oh, sorry for the error. The Hockey East website has him listed "Greenwich, BC"

 

[walrus]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Not to stick up for Timmy, but I think Maine fans have to consider the possibility that Walsh may have been the only guy that could really keep Maine going as a top program.

I think their is some truth in this but I don't believe Shawn is the only guy who could keep Maine at the top,at this point it appears Tim is not the guy. Team D and goaltending is killing this team, a full time Goalie coach may be the answer at this point?. Maybe Corkum or Kerluke are the guys that need to go?.We all see the same ol, same ol, night in and night out, season to season, nothing seems to change except the recruits are better which drives the fan base even more insane.

 

[carltonbarrett]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

22/24 players on BCs roster are American. Kobasew played for BC a decade ago. Granted, 1 of the 2 Canadiens they have is Cam Atkinson - but transfer Atkinson to Maine and you think that fixes our problems? They have horses.

Not even going to double check the Gophers' roster as they've been roughly as relevant as Maine over the last half decade.

Bradford and Bertram were both highly recruited very important cogs in some FF teams, as was Matt Price to a lesser extent. Also, BC has two Canadian gems in the pipeline, Matheson and Straight, both who would have been a lot more likely to go to Orono 15 years ago.

 

[carltonbarrett]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

We all see the same ol, same ol, night in and night out, season to season, nothing seems to change except the recruits are better which drives the fan base even more insane.

I think you are giving a little too much credit to the players on the current roster. You have some talent, but other than Nyquist, the rest of the forwards would have been 2nd or probably more like 3rd line guys on past teams. The defense is even more weak and the goaltending speaks for itself. Maine used to make headlines with the recruits they landed, not so much any more.

 

[walrus]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

I think you are giving a little too much credit to the players on the current roster. You have some talent, but other than Nyquist, the rest of the forwards would have been 2nd or probably more like 3rd line guys on past teams. The defense is even more weak and the goaltending speaks for itself. Maine used to make headlines with the recruits they landed, not so much any more.

I'm realistic about the amount of talent, its no where near a Walshy team, I'm only looking at the last 4 years, all the rest of the guys Tim has had are Walshy and Grants guys. The D and goaltending are the weak points with little doubt. The D especially. The goalies are Freshman so having a rough game isn't out of the ordinary especially when the D is awful.

I didn't say or imply this team was Natl Championship caliber team, but they are underachieving and have been for 2 years

 

[TripleE]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Bradford and Bertram were both very important cogs in some FF teams, as was Matt Price to a lesser extent. Also, BC has two Canadian gems in the pipeline, Matheson and Straight, both who would have been a lot more likely to go to Orono 15 years ago.

I appreciate the viewpoint, but the 2nd half is total heresay. There are 58, working on 59 programs to choose from. Do you know these kids' preferences, personally? Maine wasn't the only school trying to land Paul Kariya; conversely, Shawn didn't exactly land every single Canadien kid he wanted either.

 

[TripleE]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

I think you are giving a little too much credit to the players on the current roster. You have some talent, but other than Nyquist, the rest of the forwards would have been 2nd or probably more like 3rd line guys on past teams. The defense is even more weak and the goaltending speaks for itself. Maine used to make headlines with the recruits they landed, not so much any more.

If and WHEN Maine doesn't make the tournament, and INCH does their fun 'redraft' -- you're going to see a lot of Maine players taken. After Nyquist, I think any D1 team would LOVE to add a Flynn, Abbott, Diamond or Dee.

And you'd see plenty of those guys on many team's 2nd or even 1st (Abbott, Flynn) lines.

 

[carltonbarrett]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Atkinson is from Connecticut, so BC has one Canadian and he's been a healthy scratch lately. I'm not sure if Minnesota has ever recruited a Canadian.

I'm quite certain MN has brought in some Canadians recently, not to mention other foreigners such as Vanek, who again Maine may have had a better chance of landing back in the mid 90's when MN wasn't going that route. BC and MN were just two examples, as lots of other D-1 programs are now looking North of the border. I've heard some D-1 coaches (including York) talk about the expanding of their traditional recruiting territory to out west and up into canada, so I'm pretty sure it's a legit point that has effected Maine.

 

[fiqure8]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Here's a new twist on a topic that sounds like its been beaten to death.

List our biggest impact players....

Nyquist (Sweden), House (BCHL), Flynn, Abbott (OJHL), Diamond (U17/USHL/OJHL), Dee (USHL), O'Neil (USHL), Dimmen (can't even remember, but not the category I'm pointing out)

Out of those 8 guys, 1 came from this Monarchs pipeline. Matt may be our 2nd best ex-Monarch, but he's a career 3rd liner with no finishing skill.

Funny...........Flynn was a walk on.........Beattie has a ton of upside......seems like the Monarch pipeline and/or the EJHL is still more successful due to the fact the USHL is heavily recruited by other D1 programs and generally the duds are left over.........most CDN kids going the Major junior route as they believe it is a fast track to the pros due to more games played and more development possibly...........Maine needs Grant to develop and instill confidence at the goaltending position..........maybe go out and recruit a goaltender..........as he has a good track record finding guys that have moved on to play pro........

 

[GoMaine24]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Alright. I love this program too much. Enough internet nutcase chatter. Rep or PM me with your e-mail address and USCHO handle and we can start some face to face discussions in the near future about what the fans can start doing to be more vocal. I'm game.

 

[carltonbarrett]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Alright. I love this program too much. Enough internet nutcase chatter. Rep or PM me with your e-mail address and USCHO handle and we can start some face to face discussions in the near future about what the fans can start doing to be more vocal. I'm game.

Uhmmm, this sounds like pretty serious stuff, don't get yourself into any trouble, it's not worth it....

 

[J.D.]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Honest question, can anyone explain to me Maine's goaltending rotation? As an outsider who doesn't know if there's been injuries/suspensions, etc....I see two freshmen and a sophomore. All have subpar numbers. Sirman has the best winning percentage and save percentage. Sullivan the most wins and best GAA.

Given how shaky they've all been, has it pretty much been picking out of a hat who to start? Is there a consensus with the fans on who gives them the best chance to win? Who's been the "best" in regard to the eyeball test? Anyone in the pipeline supposed to be better than these guys?

It might seem like there are a lot of issues with your team, but the not even average goaltending is obviously #1 on that list and a big reason Maine hasn't met expectations this year. Although, the goaltending concerns before the season couldn't have been more accurate.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Atkinson is from Connecticut, so BC has one Canadian and he's been a healthy scratch lately. I'm not sure if Minnesota has ever recruited a Canadian.

Not many. Not sure on the total, but Kris Chucko comes to mind a few years ago. They rarely even go outside Minnesota, nevermind the country. Maybe it's not such a wise move anymore.

I'm realistic about the amount of talent, its no where near a Walshy team, I'm only looking at the last 4 years, all the rest of the guys Tim has had are Walshy and Grants guys. The D and goaltending are the weak points with little doubt. The D especially. The goalies are Freshman so having a rough game isn't out of the ordinary especially when the D is awful.

Seems to me that everything was geared up for this year and Whitehead failed miserably at finding even an average goaltender. I like a lot of Maine's forwards, but they can only do so much.

If and WHEN Maine doesn't make the tournament, and INCH does their fun 'redraft' -- you're going to see a lot of Maine players taken. After Nyquist, I think any D1 team would LOVE to add a Flynn, Abbott, Diamond or Dee.

And you'd see plenty of those guys on many team's 2nd or even 1st (Abbott, Flynn) lines.

Umm ya, sign me up for everyone, but Diamond. Thanks.

 

[MEpucknut]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Alright. I love this program too much. Enough internet nutcase chatter. Rep or PM me with your e-mail address and USCHO handle and we can start some face to face discussions in the near future about what the fans can start doing to be more vocal. I'm game.

Exactly. Obviously those with "deep pockets" are not going to take action. Something has to be done.

A place to start the "face to face" chatter might be the "Please Fire Tim Whitehead-Save Maine Hockey" facebook group which, since yesterday, has nearly doubled in membership. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=186978081078&v=wall). Interesting to note that former Maine Captain Jeff Marshall has joined.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

You know, people always joke about Umile not being able to win the big one, but at least you know UNH is gonna be in the tourney every year. I imagine Maine would kill for that right now. And really, I don't see why Maine can't go out and find at the very least, another Umile. If the administration doesn't make a change after this season--given the expectations and who Maine will lose--you have to wonder if they ever will.

 

[Hockeypuck]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

If the administration doesn't make a change after this season--given the expectations and who Maine will lose--you have to wonder if they ever will.

I highly doubt any change is made after this season since they just gave him a 3 year extension before the season. With what Maine will be losing after this year they will be floundering as a 8th to 10th place team until Whitehead leaves and then whoever comes in after him will have to try and clean up a complete mess.

 

[rufus]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Funny...........Flynn was a walk on.........Beattie has a ton of upside......seems like the Monarch pipeline and/or the EJHL is still more successful due to the fact the USHL is heavily recruited by other D1 programs and generally the duds are left over.........most CDN kids going the Major junior route as they believe it is a fast track to the pros due to more games played and more development possibly...........Maine needs Grant to develop and instill confidence at the goaltending position..........maybe go out and recruit a goaltender..........as he has a good track record finding guys that have moved on to play pro........

Grant? Grant? Grant ain't been coaching goalies or recruiting anyone for a few years now. He ain't gonna be the one to right this ship.

To start, they need to can this part-time goalie coach and hire someone else on a full-time basis. And also hire someone who knows something about coaching defensemen. A forward as defense coach just doesn't cut it.

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

STUCK with Whitehead,UNLESS New AD and President after seeing his magic for a season and getting the low-down from the Deep-Pocket Donors and a loss in Season Ticket Holders come to their sense's and figure we can't LOSE The Maine Hockey Program to once every 4 years of 2 games above .500 hockey and 3 years of re-building...this program continues at this pace for 3-4 years and they will NEVER recover....imo and check out Lake State...it's easy to blank on TW,BUT he deserves it and he is NOT going to turn this Program any time SOON....last season was awful enough knowing they could have at least made the NCAA's and got a taste of it...but this season with Expectations High...or at least with a decent chance at making some noise...well it is going quickly down the drain.....if you want to remember Maine Hockey in its glory days you'll have to watch tapes/DVD's and talk to Old Timers as this Program is going over the Cliff...........