I can't imagine the stuff that is going on behind the scenes as it concerns the future of the UM Hockey program. While money might be tight and the program might be down.....let's not kid ourselves......this is still a very attractive college hockey head coaching position. There are only so many of them.....and this is one of the better ones in terms of visibility, fan support and future improvements to facilities.
OK so again, I'm here in peace, and just trying to add a neutral's perspective to this looming hire, which has now become an even more compelling situation in the wake of the events of the last couple of weeks. I don't want anyone to take any of my comments as an attack on your program, the school OR the area. So with that disclaimer, I have to chime in on the above ...
I do think UMaine has carved out a unique position in the D-1 hockey world, but I respectfully disagree that UMaine presents itself as an exceptional head coaching opportunity. If you believe that, then you pretty much have to buy into a place like Lake State being a parallel type situation, where they enjoyed a protracted stretch of success under an iconic coach about a generation ago, and when the iconic coach wasn't there any longer, the program drifted off into mediocrity and isolation in their remote location. I'm not saying the potential isn't there with a rabid but dormant local fan base starved for a return of the old success - there clearly is, no doubt about it. But "one of the better ones"? Money is tight, the program is a mess, there's no guarantee on the facilities being improved (see
money is tight) and if "visibility" means you are a big deal in a remote northern outpost, but no one near civilization many hours away knows you even exist, maybe you're right?
The potential is there. UMaine Hockey was huge for a couple of decades, it can be again. But it's been a generation almost since the "glory days", and the longer that time slides away, the less contact you have left in the area to reconnect with the "glory days". UNH - which has been in the D-1 Hockey game longer than UMaine, thus with deeper roots - is experiencing the same thing. In a bizarre way, UMaine's history under Walshy almost works against it that way. If UMaine does succeed in luring the next big deal in D-1 coaching to come to Orono, they will forever be compared against the Walshy/Standbrook juggernauts. If that same guy were to go to UNH, then he knows if he wins big, no one is going to be comparing him to Umile or Holt - he wins, hands down.
A guy like Montgomery makes sense (if he's willing to go for it) mostly because he knows the place, he played for Walshy, he's shown he can coach and be successful at the Walsh level, and would embrace being seen as connected by history with Walsh. Some guy like Barr (for example) has already won as an assistant at 3 other places, why does he need UMaine and why deal with comparisons to some guy no one will ever think you can match? Monty doesn't have that.
Again, this is not meant to degrade UMaine or the hockey program or its current or future occupant(s). Someone will be the next coach - whether that's Guite or someone else, we'll find out soon enough. They'll say this is their dream job, and that it's a great program with great history, like every new HC ever always does. But if you think it's "one of the better ones" I don't think I can agree with that? Most kids nowadays don't remember when UMaine mattered (ditto UNH) and the longer that goes on, the harder it gets to return to and restore past glories. For the most part, as of now, it probably means a lot less to future HC candidates now than you think, other than as check-off lines for their job interviews (and if they're chosen, their first presser) so the AD and the fans know you've done your homework. and honor your history.
The good news is that magic can still happen at weird places in D-1 hockey. Other than the Duluth run in recent years, a lot of newbies have been in the mix. That matters, both in Orono and Durham, because the "glory days" you/we remember as if they were yesterday, sadly do not register on the consciousness of the modern day casual college hockey fan. So places like UMaine (and Lake State) are pretty much seen as "newbies" in the same way as places like Union, PC, Yale and UMass used to be seen a few short years ago. JMHO.
