Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

For years we've been worrying about what would happen after Walsh's passing and Grant's departure. Maine's success wasn't built on much more than success itself, and if you took that away, what would be left?

Sit down for a moment, if you aren't already. Because I have a secret to share. Those intangibles *did* go away. They're gone.

So, to answer your question: What I mean is that in the current landscape of D1 hockey, Maine is closer to being a nobody than to being a perennial power. A lot closer.

Tell me what Maine has?

Money? No. First class facilities? No. Winning track record (i.e., success breeds success)? No. Legendary coaching staff? No. Proximity to the BCHL? No. Proximity to the USHL? No. Proximity to OPJHL? No. Pipeline to the most elite Eastern prep schools? No. Pipeline to the national team development program? No. Proximity to major urban areas / media markets? No. Institutional prestige? No.

A 42-win season that's older than the kids that we're now recruiting? Yes. Dedicated fans? Yes.

Add it up, man. It ain't pretty.

edit:

So, while I've given Whitehead a hard time for not even meeting diminished expectations, I don't hold him to the same expectations as, say, Red Berenson at Michigan. And speaking of coaching - has anyone done less, with more, than ol' Red?

And Miami University? Seriously? That school has an endowment eight times the size of Maine's. They just put $36m into a new ice facility a few years ago, to go along with an aggressive, ambitious coaching staff. Blasi is a good coach, but Miami pays for it. Nearly half a million per year. If you're looking for comparisons for Maine . . . look lower. Western Mich is probably closer. UML is closer still.

Wow.......that is quite a glass half empty rant.

Guess what???.....Maine still has a Top 10 (5?) fan base......even after the last 5 years of dung. Probably tops in the East....especially in rabid loyalty. Facility is fine.......not the best, but plastic seat volume and shiny restrooms aren't exactly what recruits are looking at. The BCS schools + North Dakota will always have the $$$ advantage........but Maine is in a better position than you think.

 

[acs64]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Wow.......that is quite a glass half empty rant.

Guess what???.....Maine still has a Top 10 (5?) fan base......even after the last 5 years of dung. Probably tops in the East....especially in rabid loyalty. Facility is fine.......not the best, but plastic seat volume and shiny restrooms aren't exactly what recruits are looking at. The BCS schools + North Dakota will always have the $$$ advantage........but Maine is in a better position than you think.

Hello...hello...please return the-sandie-who-beetched-continuosly-about-the-facility-known-as-Alfond-for-years-blackbear.

 

[HockeyMan2000]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

The one thing I would say that if its anything like what they did with the Maine football playoff game, ESPN3 had a very watchable stream, especially with a descent computer on a large hdtv.

Or an Xbox 360, which has ESPN3 on it. Quality is usually good.

Just FYI, all the ESPN3 games are being syndicated by ESPN to local markets. Can't imagine one of your local outlets won't pick it up, so I wouldn't worry.

 

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Hello...hello...please return the-sandie-who-beetched-continuosly-about-the-facility-known-as-Alfond-for-years-blackbear.

Yeah, yeah.....I know.......

I think that Maine has an opportunity to build on recent success and a slight uptick in recruiting with Parker and York heading toward retirement and Umile mired in a Whitehead-like slump. As attendance has started to drop off everywhere in the East.......Maine's still strong fan base will be an even bigger recruiting advantage. Will help if Bishop, Howard, etc. keep having NHL success as well.

 

[john g]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Just got home from Boston and watched the Maine/BU game....was interested to hear Josh Ciacco state that he ran into Kieran Millan's AGENT....now, I would normally shrug it off to an analyst's general lack of knowledge in differentiating between an agent and a family advisor, but this is a recent Division 1 hockey player who should know the difference. I hope the Hockey East office was tuning in and has the nads to look into it....now THAT would make for an interesting week going into the Regionals!

 

[irishfan85]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Ask any player and no one will call their family advisor a family advisor. They will call it an agent. It's all ticky tack.

 

[gscott13]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Ask any player and no one will call their family advisor a family advisor. They will call it an agent. It's all ticky tack.

exactly. brian dumoulin's "family advisor" is an nhlpa certified agent... dumoulin was actively negotiating this off-season and turned down very good money to return to BC this year. the source of that info? the family advisor himself when he was on a local sports radio show...

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Ask any player and no one will call their family advisor a family advisor. They will call it an agent. It's all ticky tack.

Agreed. Representative, agent, family advisor. All the same thing. I highly doubt anyone even thought anything of it.

 

[chripy]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Well I was way off on where I thought this team would be at the end of this season. Now I only hope Abbott is a go next weekend so we all can see two of the probable Hobby Hattrick nominees square-off. If Maine beats UMD, I'm leaving the facebook group.

 

[RATIBB]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Hello...hello...please return the-sandie-who-beetched-continuosly-about-the-facility-known-as-Alfond-for-years-blackbear.

Are you going to Worchestah?

 

[ck1969]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

For years we've been worrying about what would happen after Walsh's passing and Grant's departure. Maine's success wasn't built on much more than success itself, and if you took that away, what would be left?

Sit down for a moment, if you aren't already. Because I have a secret to share. Those intangibles *did* go away. They're gone.

So, to answer your question: What I mean is that in the current landscape of D1 hockey, Maine is closer to being a nobody than to being a perennial power. A lot closer.

Tell me what Maine has?

Money? No. First class facilities? No. Winning track record (i.e., success breeds success)? No. Legendary coaching staff? No. Proximity to the BCHL? No. Proximity to the USHL? No. Proximity to OPJHL? No. Pipeline to the most elite Eastern prep schools? No. Pipeline to the national team development program? No. Proximity to major urban areas / media markets? No. Institutional prestige? No.

A 42-win season that's older than the kids that we're now recruiting? Yes. Dedicated fans? Yes.

Add it up, man. It ain't pretty.

edit:

So, while I've given Whitehead a hard time for not even meeting diminished expectations, I don't hold him to the same expectations as, say, Red Berenson at Michigan. And speaking of coaching - has anyone done less, with more, than ol' Red?

And Miami University? Seriously? That school has an endowment eight times the size of Maine's. They just put $36m into a new ice facility a few years ago, to go along with an aggressive, ambitious coaching staff. Blasi is a good coach, but Miami pays for it. Nearly half a million per year. If you're looking for comparisons for Maine . . . look lower. Western Mich is probably closer. UML is closer still.

I tend to agree w/you ABB. When Shawn passed I was out and out scared for the program. I cried that day, now looking back on it, not so much for him passing but more for fear of what would become of Maine Hockey. It's been a lean few years. But the entire lanscape of college hockey has changed a lot in the last 5-7 years. Many programs have gone from being powerhouses year to year to being mid pack eh. A select few ie: the BC's BU's Mich, ND of the world have continued to maintain. But they've done so because of the coach. Continuity at head coach with a track record of success breeds more success. Recruiting is EVERYTHING in todays landscape. Yorke, Jackie et al can land anyone they want. Success breeds success. Maine still has a proud tradition but like you said the 42 win season was a lifetime ago. Just like yesterday to you and me but not to the kids who wern't ever born yet. Maine has the best fan base of ANY team in college hockey. Proud, loyal and knowledgable. But it is what it is now. It's not 1992 anymore. it neveer will be. Some have come to grips with that, some haven't. It took me a long while to accept that fact. But now that I have I find myself enjoying the success(when we have it) as much as I did when we were "it". I can still be critical, have my gripes an piz and moan like everyone else. But I am also a realist now and can enjoy the past instead of living in it.

 

[Happy Husky]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Not to belittle the Maine fans that DO come "way down" to Boston to see Maine play........does anyone outside of Maine realize how many Maine fans and alums live within 2 hours of Boston??? That encompasses everything South of Portland. I think that it is funny how everyone in Beantown thinks that every Maine fan travels 4 or 5 hours to see them play.

I'm not seeing it the way you are,there seems to be tons of them coming down from the state of Maine,I'm sure there's some in Boston too and rightly so,the one's I've seen and met haven't been from Boston,Their fan base seems to be the most loyal of any I've seen in Hockey East and seems to be willing to travel and many more are wearing their team's jerseys which is cool too.

 

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

I'm not seeing it the way you are,there seems to be tons of them coming down from the state of Maine,I'm sure there's some in Boston too and rightly so,the one's I've seen and met haven't been from Boston,Their fan base seems to be the most loyal of any I've seen in Hockey East and seems to be willing to travel and many more are wearing their team's jerseys which is cool too.

Jeezus.........

Let me spell this one out.......if there were 5K Maine fans in Boston.......I'm betting 3K were from Portland/South and 2K were from North of Portland. A great turnout of MAINE fans any way that you slice it.



But since some of you WANT to make this into something it's not.........here ya go: 5K Maine fans were from the Greater Bangor area and drove 5 hours to get there. Happy, Happy???

 

[amherstblackbear]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

I can still be critical, have my gripes an piz and moan like everyone else. But I am also a realist now and can enjoy the past instead of living in it.

Yeah, it took me until . . .this season, really.

It occurred to me that the last couple years really have been a modest success. The hockey has been fun to watch. They missed the NCAAa last year, but they got in this year, and made a run in the conference tournament. Both years, we've been fortunate enough to watch Hobey finalists. This is actually a really good result for a program like Maine's.

Look at some of the coaches/programs that didn't get in this year: Wisconsin, Colorado College (talk about history), Nebraska-Omaha (Blais + heart of USHL), Notre Dame (Jackson), Ohio State, Harvard . . . all of these are programs that have real advantages over Maine. High-profile coaching staffs, rich athletic departments, location, recruiting base, prestige (in Harvard's case).

I would never say this as a coach, but I'm not a coach. I'm random internet guy - so I have the luxury of being honest. Maine already did good. No reason to settle for anything less than an A+ effort in Worcester, but the success of this season isn't riding on an upset of the defending champs.

 

[BlackI]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

For years we've been worrying about what would happen after Walsh's passing and Grant's departure. Maine's success wasn't built on much more than success itself, and if you took that away, what would be left?

Sit down for a moment, if you aren't already. Because I have a secret to share. Those intangibles *did* go away. They're gone.

So, to answer your question: What I mean is that in the current landscape of D1 hockey, Maine is closer to being a nobody than to being a perennial power. A lot closer.

Tell me what Maine has?

Money? No. First class facilities? No. Winning track record (i.e., success breeds success)? No. Legendary coaching staff? No. Proximity to the BCHL? No. Proximity to the USHL? No. Proximity to OPJHL? No. Pipeline to the most elite Eastern prep schools? No. Pipeline to the national team development program? No. Proximity to major urban areas / media markets? No. Institutional prestige? No.

A 42-win season that's older than the kids that we're now recruiting? Yes. Dedicated fans? Yes.

Add it up, man. It ain't pretty.

edit:

So, while I've given Whitehead a hard time for not even meeting diminished expectations, I don't hold him to the same expectations as, say, Red Berenson at Michigan. And speaking of coaching - has anyone done less, with more, than ol' Red?

And Miami University? Seriously? That school has an endowment eight times the size of Maine's. They just put $36m into a new ice facility a few years ago, to go along with an aggressive, ambitious coaching staff. Blasi is a good coach, but Miami pays for it. Nearly half a million per year. If you're looking for comparisons for Maine . . . look lower. Western Mich is probably closer. UML is closer still.

Sure all that... or it could be tradition. It could be the best fans in college hockey hockey. It could be the pride behind the two tone blue. It could be the access to a former NHLer behind the bench. It could be a lot of things. Not everything in life is as simple as money.

"Work hard and things come to you." and "If you don't have the best of everything, make the most of what you have." -God... or the anti-christ depending on your college hockey religion.

 

[amherstblackbear]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

"If you don't have the best of everything, make the most of what you have." -God... or the anti-christ depending on your college hockey religion.

I guess that's my point. At the moment, Whitehead is making the most of what he has. Time to give him some credit.

Just don't finish 9th in HEA again any time soon. I'll revoke that praise as quickly as I gave it.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

exactly. brian dumoulin's "family advisor" is an nhlpa certified agent... dumoulin was actively negotiating this off-season and turned down very good money to return to BC this year. the source of that info? the family advisor himself when he was on a local sports radio show...

Yeah, that's the sort of thing that makes my skin crawl.

If an NCAA athlete in football, hoops, etc., has any contact with an agent, they lose their eligibility instantly. In college hockey..? Not a problem! Just another example of how Bettman's NHL whores-out the NCAA as a free feeder-system, and gets away with it.

College Hockey Inc.'s main reason to exist seems to be to address this issue, and maybe they'll get somewhere... With >30% of all current NHL players having come from the NCAA, they ought to have some leverage.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

I didn't go to the pep rally Friday because I was at the game, but lines to get in anywhere on Saturday were insane, so I headed to the Greatest Bar for the Saturday rally. The pep rally was off. Seems the manager didn't expect Maine to defeat BU on Friday and canceled. It probably didn't help that they were charging a $20 cover and packing people in like sardines. Finally the owner agreed to let us have our pep rally, but it wasn't that great since we were shuffled off in a corner. I stayed for a bit but it was hot, incredibly crowded and not much fun so I left.

Probably not the best move to tell a Maine booster that they canceled the pep rally because he expected Maine to lose.

Oh, and the playoff format is probably going to change. Once Notre Dame joins Hockey East all 11 teams will go to the postseason - probably using the same format the CCHA has used with 11 teams.

 

[walrus]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

I would never say this as a coach, but I'm not a coach. I'm random internet guy - so I have the luxury of being honest. Maine already did good. No reason to settle for anything less than an A+ effort in Worcester, but the success of this season isn't riding on an upset of the defending champs.

To some degree I think it is riding on it. Don't show up and I'll consider this the same ol Timmay team we've seen for 5 years with a NCAA game. On the other hand, they did exceed expectations which is great but once they beat BU and BC midseason things changed. I think they're an underdog against UMD but they have to show up for 60 minutes win or lose for me to say it was a successful season. No NCAA experience for any of these players is pretty crucial if you ask me.

 

[acs64]

Re: Maine thread (cont) - Hobey Abbott goes Dancing

Are you going to Worchestah?

That'd be nice. Not sure I could afford the tickets. If I knew for sure those old bahstids from BC werent going to be there, I might. I would like to see the UMD matchup. You going?