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Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

I'd grade him at a B for his time at UNH, which disappointed as he was following an A assistant. He made several notable mistakes that contributed greatly to UNH dropping from top 4 to the middle, but also was instrumental in the couple of high profile recruits like JVR and Farabee. You can see how UNH completely fell apart after he left in 2015 (recruiting and on-ice), and how top level recruits de-committed (Farabee, Ryczek). This shows that he was doing all the work while the Former Coach took early retirement. He then did well at Providence, with the benefits of a higher profile and more engaged coach.

He's not a home-run hotshot. But he's a solid hockey guy, like Dennehy, but perhaps with a better eye toward the sort of recruits Merrimack would attract, and also is comfortable in getting volume more than high-end, so will really help get Merrimack the depth needed for HE.

Well i’m Going to have to disagree with my fellow UNH fan. In the time Borek was the lead recruiter, the quality of the talent brought in got progressively worse. Yes, JVR played at UNH but, honestly, he fell into their lap since he had made it known that he wanted to play on the big sheet to allegedly improve his skating. No question he was treated well and it is why TVR and BVR followed. Watcher also glosses over the email fiasco,which led to a four month ban on emailing recruits and two years probation, and the loss of players like LaLeggia and Vecchione who he recommended be deferred. Ultimately the problems at UNH the past half dozen years should be placed on Umile’s doorstep. But Umile was never much of a hands on recruiter and put his faith in his assistants to do the heavy lifting. When McCloskey and Lassonde were on board, there were few disappointments on and off the ice. After McCloskey went off to coach the UNH women and Borek was brought in the quality of the product dropped. There should be no dispute on that.
 
Well i’m Going to have to disagree with my fellow UNH fan. In the time Borek was the lead recruiter, the quality of the talent brought in got progressively worse. Yes, JVR played at UNH but, honestly, he fell into their lap since he had made it known that he wanted to play on the big sheet to allegedly improve his skating. No question he was treated well and it is why TVR and BVR followed. Watcher also glosses over the email fiasco,which led to a four month ban on emailing recruits and two years probation, and the loss of players like LaLeggia and Vecchione who he recommended be deferred. Ultimately the problems at UNH the past half dozen years should be placed on Umile’s doorstep. But Umile was never much of a hands on recruiter and put his faith in his assistants to do the heavy lifting. When McCloskey and Lassonde were on board, there were few disappointments on and off the ice. After McCloskey went off to coach the UNH women and Borek was brought in the quality of the product dropped. There should be no dispute on that.

Agree. Though it may be worse now at UNH than when he was there.
 
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Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

@mattyfranche: I have decided to reopen my recruitment process and decommit from Merrimack College, looking forward to the challenges ahead!
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

@mattyfranche: I have decided to reopen my recruitment process and decommit from Merrimack College, looking forward to the challenges ahead!

Great recruits already jumping ship
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

Thoughts from presser:
1) both Gibson and Borek thanked GALLANT in their opening statement. ***?? Seems like the rumors are true about his influence. Borek said he met with GALLANT, hopey, and Gibson on his first visit. Wow.
2) I actually really liked his message and his attitude. Exactly what I wanted to hear.. and i think what a lot of alums wanted to hear. The story about his son was very touching.
3) Gibson was a college baseball player? Yet bulldozed MCs baseball field and has pretty much buried that program? What kind of former athlete would do that to THEIR sport - weird.
 
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Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

Really impressed with Boreks interview with McMahon and CHN. Very self aware and honest when talking about Lake state.. very self aware, knows his vision, and has a fire and intensity that is refreshing. I was skeptical but very excited to see how things work out.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

I really respect that Hopey is not about a "Well, that's how we always did it" culture. Which Merrimack traditionally had.. very incestuous in terms of hiring back alums into staff and faculty.. I think there's a place for that but in order to improve as a school, we have to balance that with looking outside the bubble.

I don't know much about this Gallant guy as a person, and it is a little concerning if he butted heads with all around great guy Dennehey, but one major donor is better than zero major donors. We very easily could have ended up like Mt. Ida. And the academic offerings at the school seem to be doing pretty well, which is what really ends up being important.
 
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Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

Borek said himself: "were here to win championships"
People can laugh at that.. whatever, but it's a nice change! Guess what? If he never wins a championship- if he only has 2 winning seasons over 13 years ... he's still accomplished as much as the previous guy! Why not use this rhetoric?! I love it.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

Borek said himself: "were here to win championships"
People can laugh at that.. whatever, but it's a nice change! Guess what? If he never wins a championship- if he only has 2 winning seasons over 13 years ... he's still accomplished as much as the previous guy! Why not use this rhetoric?! I love it.

I'd rather that than "well we competed tonight, we worked hard, thought there were long stretches where we played well" after losing 4-1.
anyone hearing anything about this Gallant guy?Some of the players who where there when I was at the school, who I am still close too, say that there are some things there that might come out soon and could be bad.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

Borek said himself: "were here to win championships"
People can laugh at that.. whatever, but it's a nice change! Guess what? If he never wins a championship- if he only has 2 winning seasons over 13 years ... he's still accomplished as much as the previous guy! Why not use this rhetoric?! I love it.

Time will tell here but Bazin said something similar about winning championships during his introductory event at Lowell in 2011. We were all sort of "yeah, right" as Lowell was coming off of an horrendous 5 win season. But lo and behold, Lowell found themselves in the NCAA regional finals the very next season in 2012 and one win short of the Frozen Four. The first Hockey East tournament championship came the next season in 2013 and a Frozen Four appearance. So lightning can strike and Lowell is proof of it since 2011-2012.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Plenty of interest already in <a href="https://twitter.com/BrownMensHockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrownMensHockey</a> assistant coach job with impending departure of Josh Ciocco to Merrimack</p>— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkDivver/status/985223863289221120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

We got some new sweaters: http://www.themackreport.com/news/merrimack-unveils-new-mens-and-womens-hockey-jerseys/

I like the return to home whites and the option for the third jersey. I like the commitment to the MC logo - I believe it has gotten some traction out there in the world. Otherwise, a little blah. I liked our old road jerseys a lot. I know Underarmor does BC as well and they also are pretty meh outside some of their gimmick jerseys.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

Like The new white jerseys - sad to see the old blues go.. always a fan favorite. Borek got his first recruit.. supposedly "seney-esque" lots of speed/hard working.
Also seems like we'll be playing Bentley at their new arena this year.. looking forward to that.
 
Borek got his first recruit.. supposedly "seney-esque" lots of speed/hard working.

I suspect this guy profiles to what some UNH people call typical Borek light scholarship/build depth player. Certainly huge difference between Seney who was a true freshman and Ungren-Sternberg who is an aged out junior player, and mostly likely full vs partial scholarship, NHL radar vs not.

I would be interested if Borek was on him in his 16U days while at UNH and this is the culmination chasing the kid since he was 15 or 16?

He committed to Brown before 13-14 season coming out of 16U play for 16-17. Not sure of why decommitted from Brown in ‘16 except he was deferred, in interim while committed he went to the Wenatchee after a poor 1/3 of season in USHL and had a full season at Wenatchee which would leave his future in those who Still saw positive projection in his skill set.

Borek clearly did as sometime in fall of ‘16 PC showed interest in him. Suspect he couldn’t sell Leaman on him and first Forward PC got about time interest waned was another Borek pick from his UNH days Jason O’Neill, so I’d say his expectations would be slightly lesser version of O’Neill pumped up by fact Borek clearly sees something to build on in this kid.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

I do not think Lake Superior fans were to happy with the time Borek spent there as head coach .
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

I'd grade him at a B for his time at UNH, which disappointed as he was following an A assistant. He made several notable mistakes that contributed greatly to UNH dropping from top 4 to the middle, but also was instrumental in the couple of high profile recruits like JVR and Farabee. You can see how UNH completely fell apart after he left in 2015 (recruiting and on-ice), and how top level recruits de-committed (Farabee, Ryczek). This shows that he was doing all the work while the Former Coach took early retirement. He then did well at Providence, with the benefits of a higher profile and more engaged coach.

He's not a home-run hotshot. But he's a solid hockey guy, like Dennehy, but perhaps with a better eye toward the sort of recruits Merrimack would attract, and also is comfortable in getting volume more than high-end, so will really help get Merrimack the depth needed for HE.

What has he really done at Providence? He came into the program coming off a national championship team and has a bunch of "grinding" players with no elites under him. Both Foley and Pinho were before Borek came to the school. Who on their roster (freshmen and sophomores this past season) do you see playing at the next level? I am a Providence supporter but hated the Borek hire and wasn't happy with his recruits who haven't shown anything.
 
Re: Merrimack 2018-19: It's Time For The Scotty Bo Show

What has he really done at Providence? He came into the program coming off a national championship team and has a bunch of "grinding" players with no elites under him. Both Foley and Pinho were before Borek came to the school. Who on their roster (freshmen and sophomores this past season) do you see playing at the next level? I am a Providence supporter but hated the Borek hire and wasn't happy with his recruits who haven't shown anything.

I do not know when these players committed, and to who, but out of the freshmen and sophomore on the Providence roster, Wilkins, Duhaime, Bryson, Bjorkqist, Mirageas, Sukumaran and Young would almost all be the best players on next year's merrimack team. Maybe Seney and Kovacevic are better than some, but those guys are better than almost everyone else on Merrimack last year.
 
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