What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

I never saw him play, but he has been a healthy scracth for most of the season. Any insight here?
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

That's too bad. I thought the kid had potential, but I'm not surprised that he left. His younger brother will be a freshman at BC next fall. If he goes there, he will pay a lot of tuition. He's from Dallas. I gather that he's headed for Youngstown. There's always a possibility that he could return to NU as a sophomore next year.

Perhaps he'll eventually head for Arizona State (where we play next year) FWIW, Ryan Belonger is playing for ASU. He sat out last year and is most unproductive this year.

Actually, there is a silver lining here. Cotton had a meaningful scholarship. This may allow us to sweeten the pot for an impactful recruit that we are still involved with. or a stud goalie? We'll see
 
Last edited:
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

HHound said:
That's too bad. I thought the kid had potential, but I'm not surprised that he left. His younger brother will be a freshman at BC next fall. If he goes there, he will pay a lot of tuition. He's from Dallas. Perhaps he'll head for Arizona State (where we play next year) FWIW, Ryan Belonger is playing for ASU. He sat out last year and is most unproductive this year. At least he's getting to play.

Actually, there is a silver lining here. Cotton had a meaningful scholarship. This may allow us to sweeten the pot for an impactful recruit that we are still involved with. or a stud goalie? We'll see
Click to expand...

I thought he was on of there more invested recruit, so what happened here, he has hardly played. Was there anyone else on this kid? I know his brother is going to BC and NU was in on him. Was this kid here hoping his younger brother would also choose NU?
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

HHound said:
That's too bad. I thought the kid had potential, but I'm not surprised that he left. His younger brother will be a freshman at BC next fall. If he goes there, he will pay a lot of tuition. He's from Dallas. I gather that he's headed for Youngstown. There's always a possibility that he could return to NU as a sophomore next year.

Perhaps he'll eventually head for Arizona State (where we play next year) FWIW, Ryan Belonger is playing for ASU. He sat out last year and is most unproductive this year.

Actually, there is a silver lining here. Cotton had a meaningful scholarship. This may allow us to sweeten the pot for an impactful recruit that we are still involved with. or a stud goalie? We'll see
Click to expand...

Belonger never sat out. He didn't have to. He went to ASU to play ACHA Division 1 club hockey, and that's what he did last year. Then, they announced they were going NCAA Division 1 and he was permitted to play right away without sitting out any time at all, per NCAA rules.

This is terrible news. Cotton was an impactful player who was never given a chance. He was a sniper, as he showed the one time he received any meaningful ice time (albeit, the exhibition game). He also looked good in Belfast. I think he is the best freshman on the team. A lot of people I speak to agree.

I think this is a case of the coaches over-recruiting and having to freeze out somebody to get them to leave. My guess about why Cotton sat while Gaudette and Griffin played has less to do with ability and more to do with their connections (advisors, prior coaches, parents, scouts, etc.). Some coaches build up these connections to get a pipeline of players in the future. For example, Gaudette and Griffin are local kids and NU has been historically bad at competing with BU and BC for the best of the local crop. Perhaps that would explain the reasoning. Or. perhaps, the HC just wants to keep his connections happy so he will have a nice place to land when the axe comes down.

In any case, it was criminal that this kid never got a chance after his exhibition performance. I think it is a demonstration of all that is wrong with this program, but hey, look how good we look now that it doesn't matter and another season is wasted.
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

beanstalk said:
Belonger never sat out. He didn't have to. He went to ASU to play ACHA Division 1 club hockey, and that's what he did last year. Then, they announced they were going NCAA Division 1 and he was permitted to play right away without sitting out any time at all, per NCAA rules.

This is terrible news. Cotton was an impactful player who was never given a chance. He was a sniper, as he showed the one time he received any meaningful ice time (albeit, the exhibition game). He also looked good in Belfast. I think he is the best freshman on the team. A lot of people I speak to agree.

I think this is a case of the coaches over-recruiting and having to freeze out somebody to get them to leave. My guess about why Cotton sat while Gaudette and Griffin played has less to do with ability and more to do with their connections (advisors, prior coaches, parents, scouts, etc.). Some coaches build up these connections to get a pipeline of players in the future. For example, Gaudette and Griffin are local kids and NU has been historically bad at competing with BU and BC for the best of the local crop. Perhaps that would explain the reasoning. Or. perhaps, the HC just wants to keep his connections happy so he will have a nice place to land when the axe comes down.

In any case, it was criminal that this kid never got a chance after his exhibition performance. I think it is a demonstration of all that is wrong with this program, but hey, look how good we look now that it doesn't matter and another season is wasted.
Click to expand...


Agreed. Really unfortunate what some of these coaching staffs do to highly skilled players. Cotton WAS the best freshman on this team and will certainly come back to haunt. Same with Berry, not playing is a travesty, a sham and a mockery :)
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

For what it's worth Barry is apparently redshirting, not just sitting around.
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

Barry is redshirting. He had an upper body injury that required an operation around the end of November.

I was sorry to see that things didn't work out for Cotton. I know that he left on very good terms with the coaches. I wouldn't be surprised if they helped him to land in Youngstown with the objective of getting some more ice time. He did very little in Tri-City (45 1-4-5) two years ago, but found a niche in the BCJHL. Apparently he could really shoot the puck, but his game was lacking in some other areas.
I'm sure the coaches gave him ( and his new coach) a good idea of what he needs to work on. Playing 30 games in the USHL should give him a chance to polish those skills and to attract another D1 opportunity. If he's as good as many of us thought, he should be a real help to his new team.

Best of luck to him.
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

HHound, how do you know that we'll be playing at Arizona State next year? Do you know approximate time of year (Regular schedule or holiday tourney)?

Thanks
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

HHound said:
Barry is redshirting. He had an upper body injury that required an operation around the end of November.

I was sorry to see that things didn't work out for Cotton. I know that he left on very good terms with the coaches. I wouldn't be surprised if they helped him to land in Youngstown with the objective of getting some more ice time. He did very little in Tri-City (45 1-4-5) two years ago, but found a niche in the BCJHL. Apparently he could really shoot the puck, but his game was lacking in some other areas.
I'm sure the coaches gave him ( and his new coach) a good idea of what he needs to work on. Playing 30 games in the USHL should give him a chance to polish those skills and to attract another D1 opportunity. If he's as good as many of us thought, he should be a real help to his new team.

Best of luck to him.
Click to expand...

I like the spin, but I am not buying it. product of an inept staff with a poor history. "needs to work on" give me a break. Not playing on a poorly coached team. I am he said thanks but no thanks. He will probably end up at BC. He is a better player than David.
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

RonnieB
You sound like Cotton's agent.
If he had been playing as well as his teammates, he would have gotten more ice time. As for whether he is or will be better than his brother, you will get a real argument from the NHL scouting combine, but, in all fairness, that group makes all kinds of misjudgments. We'll find out if you are right in the next few weeks as they will be playing in the same league for the first time.

Walrus:
According to the ASU site, Belonger has a line of 20-3-4-7 and has scored just 1 goal since October 16 against mostly mediocre competition. That is why I described him as being unproductive.
 
Last edited:
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

Step 1: Drastically under perform the first 2 months of the season, making an at-large bid next to impossible.
Step 2: Get hot mid-December through January.
Step 3: Pull a first round Beanpot win out of our azz.
Step 4: Have many articles written about this is finally the year the 'Pot comes back to Huntington.
Step 5: Lose the Beanpot Final in heartbreaking fashion.
Step 6: End the season with a whimper and an early round HE tournament exit.

We are well into Step 2 of the Jim Madigan Six Step Program.
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

HHound said:
RonnieB
You sound like Cotton's agent.
If he had been playing as well as his teammates, he would have gotten more ice time. As for whether he is or will be better than his brother, you will get a real argument from the NHL scouting combine, but, in all fairness, that group makes all kinds of misjudgments. We'll find out if you are right in the next few weeks as they will be playing in the same league for the first time.

Walrus:
According to the ASU site, Belonger has a line of 20-3-4-7 and has scored just 1 goal since October 16 against mostly mediocre competition. That is why I described him as being unproductive.
Click to expand...

Walrus was looking at his overall stats, rather than just NCAA. There were two games against Alberta where Belonger had 2 goals and 3 assists. Thus, the discrepancy.

The fact of the matter is that Belonger left a scholarship situation at a Hockey East school to play club hockey in the desert. What does a coach have to do to cause a kid to do something like that? Well, another kid, an absolute stud, left to sit out a whole year at AGE 23, so he could transfer to a first-rate hockey program. What does a coach have to do to cause a kid like Szmatula to do something like that? Rosenthal, our best player in Belfast, sat out almost the entire end of the season last year - coach's decision. If he hadn't already used up his transfer, he probably would have left, too. And now, Cotton, the only kid who showed any flashes of brilliance among the freshman class, never got a chance to help a team that couldn't win a game for two months with the unchanged top 9 lineup that buried them in this hole.

It is so comforting to know that they all left on good terms. Yes, everybody acted like a grown up on the way out the door. What do you think they are telling their hockey buddies after they leave? Are they telling them what a fine program NU is? Or are they telling them that they had better coaching at the squirt level?
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

Thiessen'sBetter said:
Step 1: Drastically under perform the first 2 months of the season, making an at-large bid next to impossible.
Step 2: Get hot mid-December through January.
Step 3: Pull a first round Beanpot win out of our azz.
Step 4: Have many articles written about this is finally the year the 'Pot comes back to Huntington.
Step 5: Lose the Beanpot Final in heartbreaking fashion.
Step 6: End the season with a whimper and an early round HE tournament exit.

We are well into Step 2 of the Jim Madigan Six Step Program.
Click to expand...

Sad, but true. Perhaps next year we can start our league schedule after Thanksgiving and make the Beanpot into a Christmas tournament.;)
 
beanstalk said:
Walrus was looking at his overall stats, rather than just NCAA. There were two games against Alberta where Belonger had 2 goals and 3 assists. Thus, the discrepancy.

The fact of the matter is that Belonger left a scholarship situation at a Hockey East school to play club hockey in the desert. What does a coach have to do to cause a kid to do something like that? Well, another kid, an absolute stud, left to sit out a whole year at AGE 23, so he could transfer to a first-rate hockey program. What does a coach have to do to cause a kid like Szmatula to do something like that? Rosenthal, our best player in Belfast, sat out almost the entire end of the season last year - coach's decision. If he hadn't already used up his transfer, he probably would have left, too. And now, Cotton, the only kid who showed any flashes of brilliance among the freshman class, never got a chance to help a team that couldn't win a game for two months with the unchanged top 9 lineup that buried them in this hole.

It is so comforting to know that they all left on good terms. Yes, everybody acted like a grown up on the way out the door. What do you think they are telling their hockey buddies after they leave? Are they telling them what a fine program NU is? Or are they telling them that they had better coaching at the squirt level?
Click to expand...

Win or lose..
Madigan needs to go.
 
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

beanstalk said:
Walrus was looking at his overall stats, rather than just NCAA. There were two games against Alberta where Belonger had 2 goals and 3 assists. Thus, the discrepancy.

The fact of the matter is that Belonger left a scholarship situation at a Hockey East school to play club hockey in the desert. What does a coach have to do to cause a kid to do something like that? Well, another kid, an absolute stud, left to sit out a whole year at AGE 23, so he could transfer to a first-rate hockey program. What does a coach have to do to cause a kid like Szmatula to do something like that? Rosenthal, our best player in Belfast, sat out almost the entire end of the season last year - coach's decision. If he hadn't already used up his transfer, he probably would have left, too. And now, Cotton, the only kid who showed any flashes of brilliance among the freshman class, never got a chance to help a team that couldn't win a game for two months with the unchanged top 9 lineup that buried them in this hole.

It is so comforting to know that they all left on good terms. Yes, everybody acted like a grown up on the way out the door. What do you think they are telling their hockey buddies after they leave? Are they telling them what a fine program NU is? Or are they telling them that they had better coaching at the squirt level?
Click to expand...

First of all Belonger left a partial scholarship after he learned that he would have less icetime than he had the year before. He went to a place where he was pretty sure he would play regularly. He may have gotten some financial help. I don't know. But, I hope he feels better about life and about hockey and gets his degree.

Szmatula may have been a stud from the neck down, but he was a selfish teammate who was known to have lobbied at least one official scorer in order to get additional assists credited to him. He chafed at having to play behind Kevin Roy. He felt that he should have had even more PP minutes than he was getting. He was a serial decomitter, but yes, he was a stud on the ice who played the game for his personal gratification and aggrandizement. He should have turned pro when his junior eligibility ended. Perhaps we'll see him next year.

Outside of the exhibition game, when did you see "flashes of brilliance" from Mr. Cotton. I was hoping he could continue his productivity from his time in Kelowna. While I did see some positive moves, I also saw a number of turnovers and lost battles against the boards. With so few goals being scored , compared with past decades, a player's game has to be measured by what he does without the puck, how he backchecks or plays defense. Apparently he had yet to measure up. Do you really think he was better than Gaudette or Williams?

Try to keep in mind that most of these kids come to college hoping to get an education, even a degree, before they realize their ultimate dream of turning professional. Coaches and parents have often pampered them and allowed them harbor the notion that they have something coming to them. When they encounter a coach who demands more than they have or want to give, they often react by looking for what they believe will be greener pastures. It happens at every school in virtually every sport. The flip side is that we have four transfers who chose to come here. The basketball team benefitted from a center who transferred in. The soccer, baseball and track teams get and lose transfers every year. In each case the athlete feels that he will benefit in some way from the move.

Blame the coaching if you wish, but you will be missing dozens of other reasons that motivate these movements.
 
Last edited:
Re: Northeastern 2015-16: Hobey Roy Kenobi and the Freshman Force

Cotton got Jacked by a broken coach in a broken system. 5-12-4. You play (A LOT) if your dad is an NHL coach or you are a Dman that is -11. Scratch that..... how do you play if you are a Dman that is -11. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top