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Merrimack College 2017-2018

Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

RENCEB said:
You are overstating it by a mile (more like 100 miles). Wonderful record on Hockey East All Academic team to be sure. To be honest, I wouldn't mind a couple of B- students who could score a goal or 2. You say that the coach "....puts a team on the ice each night that can beat anybody...."; but for the most part, they DON'T win those games. Again, they finished in 10th in a very down year for Hockey East, and the outlook for next year is even worse. I'm not looking for numerous HE titles or a few National Championships (don't get me wrong, that would be nice), but how about an occasional foray into the 3rd to 6th place positions in HE? The highest they have EVER finished is 4th because Da Costa fell into their lap for 2 years, and Canatta opted not to wait to play at BC. If the very best that could be hoped for was an 8th to 11th place every year under the current leadership, then it was time to make a change somewhere.
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amkirby10 from Maine probably said it best... Dennehy got the most out of his players.

I looked at MC's Hockey East history going back to 1989-'90. Trust me... its not pretty.
Merrimack College will have made the right call and done well if they bring in a coach that can accomplish more than Dennehy has over his 13 seasons at MC.

There is a soft spot in my heart for Merrimack. I hope they succeed in their future endeavors. :)
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

dmjossel said:
I also seem to recall that being said about both Serino and Anderson.

Part of the problem may be is that when it is suggested that Merrimack either drop D1 hockey or go to another league (Atlantic, ECAC) the response comes that there is value in being part of a high-profile competitive league like Hockey East.

It seems reasonable to me that Hopey (and Santagati before him) might interpret that as leveraging the school's participation in Hockey East into improved fundraising opportunities, in which it would be logical to involve the head hockey coach.

That said, I would not have expected the announcement of an immediate nationwide search for a new head coach if the school were considering leaving Hockey East.

I also wonder how many years of Dennehy's contract Merrimack is eating, if any. Didn't he get a "multiyear" extension just prior to this season?
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I think the value of being in Hockey East has dropped a lot in the last 20 years. There just isn't the interest in it like there used to be. Going to Atlantic Hockey would be a pretty good move for Merrimack in my opinion.
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

dmjossel said:
That said, I would not have expected the announcement of an I also wonder how many years of Dennehy's contract Merrimack is eating, if any. Didn't he get a "multiyear" extension just prior to this season?
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Yup, last feb: http://www.uscho.com/2017/02/02/mer...ntract-extension-for-head-coach-mark-dennehy/

If his superiors were already questioning his future at that point, maybe it was a heavily incentivized contract with some performance based outs for the school?

Some salient points from McMahon:

@MikeMcMahonCHN: People look at 2011 and 2012 and say that those years were Dennehy's best work. On the ice, they definitely were. But those years don't happen if he didn't convince the powers that be, at the time, that the program could be competitive and viable as a D1 team in Hockey East.

@MikeMcMahonCHN: He'd host a recruit on Monday, game plan on Tuesday, meet with the college president on Wednesday with a powerpoint presentation on why the program should be saved, then coach games on the weekend. It was a crazy time, and he fought to keep Merrimack hockey afloat.

@MikeMcMahonCHN: I've heard the stories. People have no idea what Dennehy went through from 2005 to around 2007 or 2008. Literally kept that program alive while people above him in the administration were considering cutting it or dropping it to Atlantic Hockey or D3.

Why would ANYONE have wanted that job, I wonder?
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

BCeagle said:
Do you think Dennehy would do a lot better at BC with more resources?

Would he get the same recruits that York and Cavanaugh get at BC?
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haha, Ray... If I knew the answers to those questions, I'd never have to attend another game. I'd know the outcome of every game years in advance. ;)

But let me put it this way. I would like to see Cav back behind the BC bench. If not him, I'd go get Montgomery from Denver. If neither of them, there are some guys I would probably give up my season tix if they were to take over the program. Dennehy is not one of those guys. He can coach kids up. I think he would do well. JMO.
 
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Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

I can't believe a lot of you pin the program floundering on MD, what planet are you on, all of your great history in hockey occurred as a DIV2 program and the biggest reason you can't recruit with consistency is you are essentially a DIV 2 school trying to compete in DIV 1 and if you didn't have Stéphane Da Costa and Joe Cannata in 2011 your last good season would have been 1988. LOL! I mean have you looked at the academic rankings at places like PC, BU, NU, BC have you looked at there endowments? Your program is awesome and is amazing as it is but if you think 2011 season is going to happen year in and year out and you expect to steal great recruits ask yourself this how and why...? Really the landscape of hockey has changed and recruits are looking at far more than hockey and a pretty suburban campus Look how quickly schools like Arizona, UCONN and Penn State and likely soon to be IL have gone from non existence to respectability in NCAA hockey. Its about $$, I don't care who you have at the helm... MD has done a pretty good job all things considered. There simply isn't ayoung Jack Parker somewhere in the wings waiting to take the wheel at a place like MC. Sorry this is the truth and the truth hurts!
 
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Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

Jeff Cox had a tweet about how booster Richard Gallant influenced the decision. He has since deleted that tweet.
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

I'm glad some of our "boosters" don't have this level of influence.

Seriously though, what the heck? You guys took 2 in OT from Lowell last week, battled BC. BEE CEE!!! And this? Makes no sense.

To the booster: be careful what you ask for....
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

J.D. said:
Jeff Cox had a tweet about how booster Richard Gallant influenced the decision. He has since deleted that tweet.
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Gallant had nothing to do with this. Gallant & Dennehy weren't best of friends and he has influence at MC but not when it comes to decisions like this. Unfortunate this is what we're talking about.
 
FiveHole12 said:
haha, Ray... If I knew the answers to those questions, I'd never have to attend another game. I'd know the outcome of every game years in advance. ;)

But let me put it this way. I would like to see Cav back behind the BC bench. If not him, I'd go get Montgomery from Denver. If neither of them, there are some guys I would probably give up my season tix if they were to take over the program. Dennehy is not one of those guys. He can coach kids up. I think he would do well. JMO.
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I would think the BC job would come down to Cav or Brown.
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

jwatkins19621962 said:
Gallant had nothing to do with this. Gallant & Dennehy weren't best of friends and he has influence at MC but not when it comes to decisions like this. Unfortunate this is what we're talking about.
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Hmmm ... this is your first post?? You've obviously been planted here for a reason! Should be interesting to see what direction you go! As far as Coach Dennehy is concerned, I wish him and his coaching staff all the best. It is amazing how social media has changed the unrealistic "win at all cost" attitude of fans and some AD's - with no backbone!
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

sk8tronthepond said:
Hmmm ... this is your first post?? You've obviously been planted here for a reason! Should be interesting to see what direction you go! As far as Coach Dennehy is concerned, I wish him and his coaching staff all the best. It is amazing how social media has changed the unrealistic "win at all cost" attitude of fans and some AD's - with no backbone!
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long time listener...first time caller. Just felt the need to address the inaccuracies. Not sure anyone would plant someone on a chat forum that has fewer than 250 posts about Merrimack for an entire season. Thanks for the welcome tho!
 
Re: Merrimack College 2017-2018

RossiRules said:
I can't believe a lot of you pin the program floundering on MD, what planet are you on, all of your great history in hockey occurred as a DIV2 program and the biggest reason you can't recruit with consistency is you are essentially a DIV 2 school trying to compete in DIV 1 and if you didn't have Stéphane Da Costa and Joe Cannata in 2011 your last good season would have been 1988. LOL! I mean have you looked at the academic rankings at places like PC, BU, NU, BC have you looked at there endowments? Your program is awesome and is amazing as it is but if you think 2011 season is going to happen year in and year out and you expect to steal great recruits ask yourself this how and why...? Really the landscape of hockey has changed and recruits are looking at far more than hockey and a pretty suburban campus Look how quickly schools like Arizona, UCONN and Penn State and likely soon to be IL have gone from non existence to respectability in NCAA hockey. Its about $$, I don't care who you have at the helm... MD has done a pretty good job all things considered. There simply isn't ayoung Jack Parker somewhere in the wings waiting to take the wheel at a place like MC. Sorry this is the truth and the truth hurts!
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Mark Dennehy is a class guy, and a good coach. He made the most of what he had to work with.
Let's face facts, Merrimack is a bottom feeder in Hockey East, based on facilities and status. They simply aren't going to beat BU, BC, Providence, UNH and now Lowell and Northeastern to the best talent.
Dennehy did a good job making Merrimack tough to beat.

Ambition is always required. So is realism.
There is no easy fix for Merrimack. Under Dennehy, it wasn't broken. It just was what it realistically could be.
 
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