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Merrimack…not what we hoped for in year three.
- Thread starter Bradz
- Start date
Bradz, you are a mind reader. I expected so see some modest improvement this year, but it is the same old same old. Still no goaltending, special teams are well below average. Still take too many penalties. Jefferies was a really good get this year, Uens and Carlile have been good, but beyond that, the huge recruiting class from last year hasn't impressed. We're now in year 3, and Borek's record is 16-46-6 (.279). These are HIS recruits/players other than a couple of holdovers. I was not excited when he was hired, and I haven't seen anything to change my mind so far. I'm "assuming" he has a least 1 more year on his contract (couldn't find any contract length details).
I remember your comments very well, and I personally was willing to give Borek a chance while having a modicum of optimism, but I’ve lost a lot of optimism at this point. When Borek got rid of Curtis I kind of figured things weren’t headed in the right direction, and to replace him with Jewell was a head scratcher for me as was his hiring of Ciocco as neither Ciocco nor Jewell have what I would consider good recruiting resumes at any level. Bowling Green sure is doing well since Carr got there. I thought hiring Emery might help but at least at this point it doesn’t seem to have helped much. “Mission Merrimack” as Borek described it seems like it might be suffering from mission creep or something similar.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
This thread reminds me that as bad as things are at UNH, they could be even worse.
Dennehy did a decent job with a lot of limitations. Why a national search led to Borek ... ???
Not picking on you guys, and I genuinely wish Merrimack well.
Dennehy did a decent job with a lot of limitations. Why a national search led to Borek ... ???
Not picking on you guys, and I genuinely wish Merrimack well.
“Why a national search led to Borek ... ???”
There is no such thing as a national search, it is all about who you know not what you know.
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/ne...Candidates.php
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Unfortunately, you pretty much nailed it right there. Kind of how UNH's national search went too.
Souza was a done deal from the get-go everyone knew Souza was Umile’s favorite, Borek and Lassonde saw the writing on the wall.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Yeah, and that seems to have worked out SO well for UNH.
Hopefully Borek turns things around for MC. But his first 3 seasons are worse than Souza's so far, which prompted my initial comments. Sadly, I think both programs will need to move on to the next HC before they see any real turnarounds, though.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
My guess is Mrs. Metcalf will pull the plug on Borek well before Blue Skies Scarano even realizes there's a problem at UNH. And that's good news for you folks down in North Andover.
You've always wished for the best for Merrimack (unless of course they are playing your beloved 'Cats!); kinda like UNH's little brother!
I went back and looked at the "finalists" for the position, and if Jerry Keefe REALLY was one of the finalists, then it was a swing and a miss to not get him. Northeastern continues to excel, and I have to believe that he is the one bringing in the stud recruits every year, not Madigan. Not that he necessarily would have been able to bring that same level of recruit to Merrimack, but it would have been a good opportunity to make a real change. And as Bradz indicated, looks like Curtis Carr is doing okay at Bowling Green. It's just frustrating when the best I can hope for them is to achieve mediocrity.
If I remember correctly Keefe pulled out early perhaps sensing something. I also thought he would be a great choice he has always been a leader and an honest recruiter with an eye. I think it would be hard for him to move though when you consider his great relationship with Madigan and their success. When this season is over it will be interesting to see what the administration does with both the men’s and women’s programs it could be a little too much UNH influence.
It will also be interesting to see if Borek himself makes any changes should he still have a job.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
You gotta think if Keefe is ever going to leave NU, it'll be for something more compelling than MC or present-day UNH. Might have been a different story a decade or so ago at UNH, but Keefe wasn't "Keefe" yet, and Blue Skies was still wed to Umile at the time. And in the end, it's often all about the timing. Maybe Carr gets the call the next time the MC job opens up?
Split-N
All Hail
At the risk of oversimplifying, Keefe finds the talent and Madigan closes the deals (it is said in NU circles that Madigan could sell refrigerators to eskimos). It is very much a collaborative effort both on and off the bench and it is widely assumed that Keefe is HC-in-waiting.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Just as the Walshy-Standbrook team used to operate a generation ago up in Orono.
Except Standbrook knew his strengths and limitations, and never pursued the HC job post-Walshy.
That is the kind of HC/AC relationship the Warriors need, neither can walk into a room thinking they are the smartest person in the room, the sales pitch always starts with the AC and the HC closes. Maybe Merrimack’s future is brighter than I suspect but only time will tell. It would be pretty hard for Borek to find a Keefe clone the way things have been going.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
As pointed out in my last post, you get a unique AC/HC situation like that maybe once a generation or so. Too often your hot-shot AC is lusting after his first HC post, and whether it's in another program OR as the successor to his current boss HC, by definition it's breaking up the pairing that's working so well in the first place.
An example of the scenario of the ambitious AC who does want to run his own show is what UNH had a generation ago with McCloskey doing to recruiting for Umile. As long as that lasted, UNH was formidable, and competing pretty closely with the Walsh/Standbrook juggernaut. And once Walshy passed, IF McCloskey had continued in his AC role for the UNH Men, that success likely would have continued unabated. But McCloskey wanted a HC job, and took the UNH Women's job, which worked out pretty well for the better part of a decade. Until the man tells me otherwise face-to-face, I will always believe McCloskey felt he would coach the Women's team until Umile retired, and then slide over to run the Men's team.
Unfortunately, Umile decided to continue past his sell-by date, which probably annoyed McCloskey to some degree, there was slippage and then frustration as a result, and McCloskey got booted at the first opportune moment, ending that scenario. The guy who had replaced him as head recruiter for the UNH Men (some guy named Borek, you guys ever hear of him?) couldn't match what McCloskey had done, but was kept on board even longer, and he too probably had a belief that he would be the nect UNH HC when Umile retired. That didn't work out the way he hoped, either.
If you have a guy like Standbrook who is content to do the hard work on recruiting, and does a top notch job at it, then you are generally set for the long run - and your HC is a very lucky guy indeed. If Keefe is content to be "Standbrook" under Madigan's "Walshy" then Northeastern is set for the long run. If Keefe gets antsy and moves, Madigan will be OK for a few years working through Keefe's recruiting inventory, sure, but what happens after that? Unless he can find the "next Keefe" then he's probably on the road to retirement a few years earlier than he'd like to be.
Long story short - if you can get such an HC/AC team in place where both are happy in what they do, and both do it well, then you're probably set for a long time. But ... easier said than done.
FLHockeyMom
New member
Per Mike McMahon:
Merrimack will be without Ben Brar and Alex Jefferies, who are both out with injuries. We’re working on getting a status of both players moving forward.