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Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

MulletMadness said:
No offense to the coaching staff and athletic department, but can MC really not schedule better teams? I mean, after a breakout season, one would think they could get at least one major conference opponent. It's nice that they have this "rivalry" going with Army, but come on! Is it that difficult to work in the WCHA or CCHA?
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Chiefwahoo has a good point below. And no offense, but you're still Merrimack. No one at Michigan is going to rush out to by tix for Merrimack-Michigan at Yost. It is what it is.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Yuppie Scum said:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/the_bonus/07/27/chic.kelly/index.html

This story broke today. I'm surprised I don't remember hearing any real mention of Chic Kelly during my time at MC. (Especially considering Travis Roy came in for Convocation one year). I hope we all can step up here and support a member of our community, and prove that MC really is a special kind of college.
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http://www.eagletribune.com/sports/...after-he-was-paralyzed-Chic-Kelly-soldiers-on

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2008/01/04_onetough.php
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Nick Papagiorgio said:
Chiefwahoo has a good point below. And no offense, but you're still Merrimack. No one at Michigan is going to rush out to by tix for Merrimack-Michigan at Yost. It is what it is.
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Fair point on the ticket angle at an NCAA giant like Michigan. However, MC did travel to UND two seasons ago and supposedly had UNO in the works for this season. It was disappointing to see the final scheduling. Probably not a stretch to call it the worst N/C schedule in college hockey.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

MulletMadness said:
Fair point on the ticket angle at an NCAA giant like Michigan. However, MC did travel to UND two seasons ago and supposedly had UNO in the works for this season. It was disappointing to see the final scheduling. Probably not a stretch to call it the worst N/C schedule in college hockey.
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I'd much rather see RPI, Union, Colgate, St. Lawrence, Dartmouth, etc on the schedule than Alabama-Huntsville and UCONN. It's looking up as we added Colgate, Union, St. Lawrence and possibly Dartmouth to this year's schedule. The problem is not many teams are willing to come to Lawler still. All of the big games in the past decade have been away or at a neutral site like Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan, Michigan State, etc.

Merrimack is playing at Colorado College and Denver in 2012-13 and hosting Harvard. I'd like to avoid all AHA teams with the exception of RIT, Niagara, Army and Air Force. I'd like to see a non-conference schedule with four ECAC teams, 1 AHA team and two CCHA/WCHA teams one year then the next maybe five ECAC and two AHA teams.

Minnesota-Duluth and MSU-Mankato have both been out here for UML and PC in recent years. No reason Merrimack cannot get at least SCSU, Duluth, Mankato, Bemidji, Lake Superior, Ferris State, etc teams out for a series.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Nick Papagiorgio said:
Chiefwahoo has a good point below. And no offense, but you're still Merrimack. No one at Michigan is going to rush out to by tix for Merrimack-Michigan at Yost. It is what it is.
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Good point but they'll be buying tix for Michigan-Bentley to start the season.

The Mack will probably have a lot of trouble scheduling the bigger name teams to visit. No disgrace in getting smoked at BU or BC but the success at Merrimack will have to last a few years at least before the big name teams aren't embarassed taking a loss at Volpe. Given how well they've recruited and developed players it may come to that.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

WDR357 said:
Good point but they'll be buying tix for Michigan-Bentley to start the season.

The Mack will probably have a lot of trouble scheduling the bigger name teams to visit. No disgrace in getting smoked at BU or BC but the success at Merrimack will have to last a few years at least before the big name teams aren't embarassed taking a loss at Volpe. Given how well they've recruited and developed players it may come to that.
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Agreed, the fact that Merrimack has been successful the last couple seasons makes it even tougher to book the top NC teams, even on the road. The attendance numbers probably won't increase despite their success, and MC will give them a tough game more than likely.

We can't really judge their effort to schedule quality NC opponents until next year since a lot of Merrimack's NC games for this season were already set in stone.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Per USHR:

Curtis Carr, the head coach/GM of the Youngstown Phantoms (USHL), has been hired as an assistant on Mark Dennehy's staff at Merrimack College.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

WarriorDJ said:
Per USHR:

Curtis Carr, the head coach/GM of the Youngstown Phantoms (USHL), has been hired as an assistant on Mark Dennehy's staff at Merrimack College.
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A little disappointed. Didn't play NCAA hockey, but we'll see.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

and he was the conductor and engineer of a train wreck in Youngstown.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Hokydad said:
and he was the conductor and engineer of a train wreck in Youngstown.
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Conductor AND engineer??? I mean if he was just the conductor or the engineer I might look past it...but both at once?!
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Maybe he was the best person for the program at this time. You think Dennehy deserves a little leeway in this?
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

I don't think he's as bad as people are making him out to be. He's been a part of some successful organizations, notably with Mahoning where as an assistant coach and player development coach they posted a 142-61-11 record. I think he'll be just fine as an assistant coach.

Not sure what you meant by "didn't play NCAA hockey"....didn't he play 4 seasons with Kent State?
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Salvo1017 said:
I don't think he's as bad as people are making him out to be. He's been a part of some successful organizations, notably with Mahoning where as an assistant coach and player development coach they posted a 142-61-11 record. I think he'll be just fine as an assistant coach.

Not sure what you meant by "didn't play NCAA hockey"....didn't he play 4 seasons with Kent State?
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It all comes down to recruiting, period. maybe they feel his USHL connections will open doors there where they have had zero success. With Yopik gone from BCHL, this might be a new angle. He was a head coach and GM in the elague and will have access to the coaches and players. That is the key league for MC if they want to remain a top 5/6 program in Hockey east. They got lucky with Dacosta as an over ager there and this might make them a viable canaidate for their top young kids. I doubt it as that org is not liked around the league but you never know.
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Salvo1017 said:
I don't think he's as bad as people are making him out to be. He's been a part of some successful organizations, notably with Mahoning where as an assistant coach and player development coach they posted a 142-61-11 record. I think he'll be just fine as an assistant coach.

Not sure what you meant by "didn't play NCAA hockey"....didn't he play 4 seasons with Kent State?
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Kent State is ACHA, not NCAA, and I believe they are only a club team at this point...

Hokydad said:
It all comes down to recruiting, period. maybe they feel his USHL connections will open doors there where they have had zero success. With Yopik gone from BCHL, this might be a new angle. He was a head coach and GM in the elague and will have access to the coaches and players. That is the key league for MC if they want to remain a top 5/6 program in Hockey east. They got lucky with Dacosta as an over ager there and this might make them a viable canaidate for their top young kids. I doubt it as that org is not liked around the league but you never know.
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Right on the money, MC has leaned very heavily on Western Canada (with pretty good success) and less than a handful of USHL kids. With a former Youngstown coach and GM on the coaching staff it can only help our ability to recruit USHL talent. Granted, we will never be able to coax recruits the way BC/BU/UNH/Maine do, but this is a nice start...
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

ah yes, my bad. I had assumed Kent state was D3....but it's not even that lol

In my mind at least we have a direct connection to the USHL now, we really didn't have anything going for us in that arena at all prior did we?
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

Salvo1017 said:
ah yes, my bad. I had assumed Kent state was D3....but it's not even that lol

In my mind at least we have a direct connection to the USHL now, we really didn't have anything going for us in that arena at all prior did we?
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Cannata was a U.S. National Under-18 Team recruit (USHL), we also have a freshman Dan Kolomatis who was a USHLer with the Tri City Storm. The only other kid I can think of who played in the USHL at all is freshman Josh Myers who played there for two seasons before shifting to the BCHL and Langley.

In terms of alums, obviously Da Costa came from the USHL, Pat Bowen, Joe Loprieno, Matt Jones, Rob Ricci, Pat Watson -- all guys who made an impact on the program...there were others I'm sure, but the point is--we need players like these guys to stay competitive...
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

WarriorDJ said:
Cannata was a U.S. National Under-18 Team recruit (USHL), we also have a freshman Dan Kolomatis who was a USHLer with the Tri City Storm. The only other kid I can think of who played in the USHL at all is freshman Josh Myers who played there for two seasons before shifting to the BCHL and Langley.

In terms of alums, obviously Da Costa came from the USHL, Pat Bowen, Joe Loprieno, Matt Jones, Rob Ricci, Pat Watson -- all guys who made an impact on the program...there were others I'm sure, but the point is--we need players like these guys to stay competitive...
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Right, I meant inside the organization (coaches, admins, etc) this is the first direct link to the USHL correct?
 
Re: Merrimack Offseason: ya, so that was fun.........

When Cannata was with natl team they were not in USHL.
The key is getting the younger, elite kids from USHL, not the over agers. Those are nice and help but you want contact with the blue chippers, which this guy might get because of his ties there.
 
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