Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I saw on twitter neither Fossier or Spicer are going to sign letters of intent this signing period. Maine desperately needs two more forwards who can put the puck in the net for next fall. I do like the looks of Rai. I'm not sure on Perez as his team is way ahead of everyone else in the league. I think goaltending is the least of our problems right now.

Goaltending will be the KEY to turning this Program around...if your solid in net then the rest will fall in place.

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I think Spicer will, not sure if it happens next year though. I'm not sure on Fossier. It sounds like at one point he was really good for his age group, but who knows where things have gone wrong this year. Maybe he is injured or something and will get back on track.

Spicer will be @ Orono next fall.

 

[umhockey91]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

New D commit tonight.......

Robbie Michel - 6-0, 178# D (Ottawa Senators - CJHL) - 28 GP, 10 G, 17 A (highest scoring defenseman in the CJHL)

http://cjhlsens.stats.pointstreak.com/playerpage.html?playerid=7089491&seasonid=12881

 

[Drew S.]

New D commit tonight.......

Robbie Michel - 6-0, 178# D (Ottawa Senators - CJHL) - 28 GP, 10 G, 17 A (highest scoring defenseman in the CJHL)

http://cjhlsens.stats.pointstreak.com/playerpage.html?playerid=7089491&seasonid=12881

I've never seen this kid play, obviously, but for me this is exactly the kind of recruit Maine should be going after. I'm sure he has been way below the radar and probably played other sports in HS. I said this a month ago or so but I want to see Maine get kids who are good players at 21-23 versus 15-17.

 

[gscott13]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I saw on twitter neither Fossier or Spicer are going to sign letters of intent this signing period. Maine desperately needs two more forwards who can put the puck in the net for next fall. I do like the looks of Rai. I'm not sure on Perez as his team is way ahead of everyone else in the league. I think goaltending is the least of our problems right now.

Perez did not sign an NLI either

 

[BlackI]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I've never seen this kid play, obviously, but for me this is exactly the kind of recruit Maine should be going after. I'm sure he has been way below the radar and probably played other sports in HS. I said this a month ago or so but I want to see Maine get kids who are good players at 21-23 versus 15-17.

I disagree with you for a couple of reasons. First, the NCAA backed off on how early recruits can be contacted. Maine needs to take advantage as other schools will in order to retain talent and not lose to major junior. Second, there are kids in Maine that have gone to other programs and it would be nice to retain those kids as well. Providence has had a lot of Maine kids do very well for them lately. It would be nice to not lose Maine kids to other teams. These are my two reasons. But I would like to hear why you prefer otherwise.

 

[Drew S.]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I disagree with you for a couple of reasons. First, the NCAA backed off on how early recruits can be contacted. Maine needs to take advantage as other schools will in order to retain talent and not lose to major junior. Second, there are kids in Maine that have gone to other programs and it would be nice to retain those kids as well. Providence has had a lot of Maine kids do very well for them lately. It would be nice to not lose Maine kids to other teams. These are my two reasons. But I would like to hear why you prefer otherwise.

I could not agree more on kids from Maine. The top kids from the state should be going to UMaine regardless of their age.

There are a few issues I have with the younger kids. The first and most obvious is that Maine is at a huge disadvantage to schools like BC, BU, UMN, UMI, etc. I don't think its the greatest use of resources to waste a lot of time with the top tier kids all of those schools are going after. I think a kid like Santini at BC who was pretty much can't miss and has ties to Maine it makes sense to go after, but for the most part I don't think many of those kids are realistically in play. That leads to Maine going after more of the second tier kids in that age group. What worries me about a lot of them is that they are specializing in a sport at a young age which I think hurts you down the road. I think a lot more kids burnout than you realize too. I'd cite certain guys at Maine who I think burnout has happened to but don't want to post them here. There are others who I think have just matured quicker than their peers and by the time they get to college age are nothing special. What do you do with them at that point? There is one kid on the team right now who I think is a good example of that.

The contrast to this is getting recruits who are a little bit older and might have flown under the radar. This could be because they played other sports or they just developed physically a little slower than others in their age groups. I think they offer a lot of things that is advantageous to the other group. The most obvious thing is that they are a little older. This helps physically but I also think it can make a big difference as far as maturity and work rate. I think the ones who have had the experience of overcoming adversity are at a huge advantage as far as adjusting to college hockey too. There is only maybe one in a 1000 players who can come in and dominate straightaway. If they are someone who played other sports I think that is a big advantage too. I've read that the best predictor of how good someone will be in their primary sport is how good they are at their third sport (don't know if its true or not, but makes a lot of sense to me).

Again, I don't think Maine should never offer 15 and 16 year olds, but I think their bread and butter should be the kids who are a bit older and might have escaped the big program's attention when they were 14-18. I think the key in today's game is finding a large group of players who can be solid 15-35 point guys and also play decent defense. I like the odds of finding them in older players much better.

 

[umhockey91]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

UMaine almost never gets recruits from Southern Maine in ANY sport. Most of the talent in the Southern part of the state are enamored with UNH, BC, Boston schools, and Ivys........they don't even think about anything North of LL Bean.

 

[AMC]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

UMaine almost never gets recruits from Southern Maine in ANY sport. Most of the talent in the Southern part of the state are enamored with UNH, BC, Boston schools, and Ivys........they don't even think about anything North of LL Bean.

It's not just athletic talent. I work at a high school in Southern Maine, we can't get kids to even apply to Orono. Zero interest in going north for school. They'd all rather go to SMCC (not USM, SMCC!). Anything north of Freeport/Brunswick really is looked at as the end of the world. I'd say the most popular schools for graduating seniors who aren't aiming for the stars to apply to are 1. USM, 2. UNE, 3. St. Joe's, 4. UNH.

 

[Drew S.]

UMaine almost never gets recruits from Southern Maine in ANY sport. Most of the talent in the Southern part of the state are enamored with UNH, BC, Boston schools, and Ivys........they don't even think about anything North of LL Bean.

Maine might not get every recruit from Souhern Maine but certainly they can do better than they have in recent times. Michaud looks like a decent recruit.

I honestly can't blame the average student for not wanting to go there. The facilities are not in the condition they should be and for a lot of careers there are not many options in that area. The school desperately needs leadership from Maine who is worried about what is best for Maine kids and nothing else.

 

[BBDiehard14]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

In terms of top Southern Maine players passing on Maine for the Boston schools, the kid from Biddeford certainly comes to mind.

 

[umhockey91]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I wouldn't even bother with Northern Massachusetts........kids from most other states and countries have a better attitude toward UMaine and the state in general. The snotty kids and their parents in Northern Massachusetts have always thumbed their nose at anything outside the Portland Metro area.

 

[BBDiehard14]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Jake Rutt's parents obviously didn't

 

[AMC]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I wouldn't even bother with Northern Massachusetts........kids from most other states and countries have a better attitude toward UMaine and the state in general. The snotty kids and their parents in Northern Massachusetts have always thumbed their nose at anything outside the Portland Metro area.

Giving up on over 1/2 of the state's population (and probably 2/3 of the wealth) probably isn't the answer.

UMaine hasn't sold itself statewide as anything but impoverished for about a decade and a half. Every week there's a new front page story in the BDN or PPH about program cuts, lack of funding, etc. People see that constantly here. If you are a recruit from out of state, you don't. You just pop in for a visit, see the new fieldhouse, maybe the rec center, don't get taken ANYWHERE near an academic building (because it might fall on your head), maybe see one dorm room (although those are getting very dicey) and get led right straight out of town.

Non-athletes see UMaine as just another crappy school on par with USM or SMCC. Parents (for some reason) all seem shocked I went to Orono, and think of it as a huge party school they wouldn't send their kids to. Having visited UNH, UVM and UMass to visit friends in undergrad I think that's crazy talk, but oh well. That's their feedback.

 

[blackbear80]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I wouldn't even bother with Northern Massachusetts........kids from most other states and countries have a better attitude toward UMaine and the state in general. The snotty kids and their parents in Northern Massachusetts have always thumbed their nose at anything outside the Portland Metro area.

Nolan Vesey and Mark Hamilton are from northern MA.

 

[Drew S.]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Nolan Vesey and Mark Hamilton are from northern MA.

The southern part of northern MA

 

[gscott13]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

In terms of top Southern Maine players passing on Maine for the Boston schools, the kid from Biddeford certainly comes to mind.

BC
Brian Dumoulin - Played two years of high school before heading to the Monarchs
Brian Billett - Played at Brunswick, then NYA, before joining the Monarchs - I don't think he is better than what Ouellette or Sully were, so no huge loss...

Providence
Jon Gillies - G - I don't believe he played high school hockey in Maine, and if I recall correctly played the bulk of his youth hockey down in MA, then to the USHL
Kevin Hart - F - 34 points in four years
Derek Army - Spent some time up here in Maine, but followed his dad to Providence

Harvard
Brian Hart - F - 39 points in 68 games so far.

This is just off the top of my head, but are there any others... maybe 1 or 2 at Quinnipiac over the years, but not many recently...

Maine
Rutt - Personal opinion, he's a marginal D1 player. That Maine must rely on him, I think, says a lot about how far in the ditch Timmay drove this thing
Williams - Could not crack line-up and has moved on from Maine


The reality is this. Kids do not come from four years of Maine HS Hockey and play at the college level right away... They have to go elsewhere (largely) to be noticed and when they do, they are in the field of view of all of the other programs. It's been discussed ad nauseum on here about losing Southern Maine kids to other programs. I live in Portland and can be at the TD Garden as quickly as I can get to Alfond. And if given the choice to play at BU, BC, Lowell (right now), Providence vs. Maine, it would be hard to pick Maine. Those programs are better than Maine right now.

You want to get those kids in the future. Win. That's how Shawn got the top Maine kids that he did. That's why when I was growing up, it was my dream to play for the Black Bears. Now that didn't happen, but that dream corresponded with an absolute hatred of BU, BC, etc because they were the teams that Maine had to overcome to win titles.

That said, the most talented Maine kids, most of us have never even heard of. As I mentioned before, they're not playing at Maine High Schools, and most leave before they have made a name for themselves in Maine. Of the talent that remains, most are not good enough to play at the D3 level, and the ones that do, typically do a PG year or a couple of years in juniors before they make it.

Take the Travis Roy Award Winners to date:
2014 - Kyle Lemelin - Enrolled at NMCC (not playing NCAA hockey)
2013 - Parker Sanderson - 5 points in 20 games for an expansion team in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League that has won a single game. I think he played a handful of games with the Walpole Express before leaving the team and joining the Moose in Augusta
2012 - CJ Maksut - F - Playing at D3 Salve Regina
2011 - Cam Pussard - G - Played PG at Brewster Academy after graduating. Could not find any continued hockey beyond that.
2010 - Trevor Fleurent - F - Played for the Junior Pirates and is now on D3 UNE
2009 - Richard Paradis - D - I do not believe played after high school
2008 - Tony Dube - G - Played at D3 UNE
2007 - Kit Smith - D - Played at D3 Bowdoin
2006 - Ted Fabian - F - Played a year at D3 Fitchburg State before transferring to D3 UNE
2005 - Peter Gustavson - F - Played 11 games for D3 Hamilton
2004 - Kyle Smith - F - Played at D3 USM
2003 - Nate Hart - F - Cannot find any indication he continued his career beyond HS
2002 - Josh Benson - D - Played at D3 Hamilton
2001 - Joey Dumais - F - Played at Quinnipiac and now coaches at UConn
2000 - JD Walker - Could not find info on
1999 - Chad Hart - Played at D3 Bowdoin
1998 - Casey LaFlamme - F - Had 69 points in 4 years for D1 Fairfield
1997 - Matt Greason - F - Played at D3 Trinity, now head coach at Trinity
1996 - Brian Toussaint - F - Played at D3 Plattsburgh

Obviously this doesn't account for all the other top talent in Maine at these times, but it gives an idea of where Maine kids stack up. Counting on the occasional top talent that might be a D1 stud like Dumoulin to help build the buzz in Southern Maine is like pouring a cup of water into the ocean....

 

[BBDiehard14]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Have to agree with you on Rutt. Just another Timmay guy that will be gone in a couple years. Just another version of Joey...takes stupid penalties

 

[Drew S.]

BC
Brian Dumoulin - Played two years of high school before heading to the Monarchs
Brian Billett - Played at Brunswick, then NYA, before joining the Monarchs - I don't think he is better than what Ouellette or Sully were, so no huge loss...

Providence
Jon Gillies - G - I don't believe he played high school hockey in Maine, and if I recall correctly played the bulk of his youth hockey down in MA, then to the USHL
Kevin Hart - F - 34 points in four years
Derek Army - Spent some time up here in Maine, but followed his dad to Providence

Harvard
Brian Hart - F - 39 points in 68 games so far.

This is just off the top of my head, but are there any others... maybe 1 or 2 at Quinnipiac over the years, but not many recently...

Maine
Rutt - Personal opinion, he's a marginal D1 player. That Maine must rely on him, I think, says a lot about how far in the ditch Timmay drove this thing
Williams - Could not crack line-up and has moved on from Maine


The reality is this. Kids do not come from four years of Maine HS Hockey and play at the college level right away... They have to go elsewhere (largely) to be noticed and when they do, they are in the field of view of all of the other programs. It's been discussed ad nauseum on here about losing Southern Maine kids to other programs. I live in Portland and can be at the TD Garden as quickly as I can get to Alfond. And if given the choice to play at BU, BC, Lowell (right now), Providence vs. Maine, it would be hard to pick Maine. Those programs are better than Maine right now.

You want to get those kids in the future. Win. That's how Shawn got the top Maine kids that he did. That's why when I was growing up, it was my dream to play for the Black Bears. Now that didn't happen, but that dream corresponded with an absolute hatred of BU, BC, etc because they were the teams that Maine had to overcome to win titles.

That said, the most talented Maine kids, most of us have never even heard of. As I mentioned before, they're not playing at Maine High Schools, and most leave before they have made a name for themselves in Maine. Of the talent that remains, most are not good enough to play at the D3 level, and the ones that do, typically do a PG year or a couple of years in juniors before they make it.

Take the Travis Roy Award Winners to date:
2014 - Kyle Lemelin - Enrolled at NMCC (not playing NCAA hockey)
2013 - Parker Sanderson - 5 points in 20 games for an expansion team in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League that has won a single game. I think he played a handful of games with the Walpole Express before leaving the team and joining the Moose in Augusta
2012 - CJ Maksut - F - Playing at D3 Salve Regina
2011 - Cam Pussard - G - Played PG at Brewster Academy after graduating. Could not find any continued hockey beyond that.
2010 - Trevor Fleurent - F - Played for the Junior Pirates and is now on D3 UNE
2009 - Richard Paradis - D - I do not believe played after high school
2008 - Tony Dube - G - Played at D3 UNE
2007 - Kit Smith - D - Played at D3 Bowdoin
2006 - Ted Fabian - F - Played a year at D3 Fitchburg State before transferring to D3 UNE
2005 - Peter Gustavson - F - Played 11 games for D3 Hamilton
2004 - Kyle Smith - F - Played at D3 USM
2003 - Nate Hart - F - Cannot find any indication he continued his career beyond HS
2002 - Josh Benson - D - Played at D3 Hamilton
2001 - Joey Dumais - F - Played at Quinnipiac and now coaches at UConn
2000 - JD Walker - Could not find info on
1999 - Chad Hart - Played at D3 Bowdoin
1998 - Casey LaFlamme - F - Had 69 points in 4 years for D1 Fairfield
1997 - Matt Greason - F - Played at D3 Trinity, now head coach at Trinity
1996 - Brian Toussaint - F - Played at D3 Plattsburgh

Obviously this doesn't account for all the other top talent in Maine at these times, but it gives an idea of where Maine kids stack up. Counting on the occasional top talent that might be a D1 stud like Dumoulin to help build the buzz in Southern Maine is like pouring a cup of water into the ocean....

I believe Nate Hart made the Maine roster for a year or two. Laliberte at BU and Libby at Providence were a couple other decent Maine players who went elsewhere.

I think the bottom line is that the Maine kids aren't going to make or break us but they're certainly nice to have. I think realistically there is only maybe one kid every three or four years who is going to be a good player at the D1 level.

 

[gscott13]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I believe Nate Hart made the Maine roster for a year or two. Laliberte at BU and Libby at Providence were a couple other decent Maine players who went elsewhere.

I think the bottom line is that the Maine kids aren't going to make or break us but they're certainly nice to have. I think realistically there is only maybe one kid every three or four years who is going to be a good player at the D1 level.

Somehow managed to forget about those two... And I think you're spot on... they're nice to have, but not going to make or break the program... and that, I think, is the genesis of what I'm saying... the coaching staff should be focusing on areas where the talent pool is deeper because drawing those players will be a difference maker... adding to that the occasional Maine native that can contribute is simply icing on the cake....