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UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

gfmorris said:
I always publicly believed that we'd get in, but there was a 2-3 month period when I thought that we were done.

GFM
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I didn't share my optimism or pessimism because it would change from day to day. I hate contradicting myself. :)
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

UAHStatman said:
I didn't share my optimism or pessimism because it would change from day to day. I hate contradicting myself. :)
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Well, I decided that it didn't help things if I expressed doubt. People would wrongly assume that I had information from the school.

GFM <-- "But if you saw me in person, ..."
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

Well, the slog is over. I couldn't tell you what the record was, because it really doesn't matter. I want to thank our seniors for their hard work and willingness to lead the team through a very tough time. I want to thank all of them for not giving up — the effort was almost always there, and it is appreciated. [And then there was the Adrian game.] We will build on the base of scrappy guys that carry forward from here, hope for a few good recruiting classes of players who want a strong shot at playing time their first year in, and then we'll see success in the WCHA. As I wrote in the UAHHockey.com recap, I think that this season is an inflection point, and I think that these last four games have been a part of that.

We'll have a couple of things this week, and then we're going to go into offseason mode.

GFM
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

Winless streaks and winless seasons are especially bitter. This crew deserves special thanks for Nov. 16.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

gfmorris said:
Three guys so far. We're typically busiest in April-July. The WCHA decision timing probably doesn't help us too much this year, but maybe I'm wrong.

GFM
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Then again, any further delay on the decision would've been worse. As it stands, it's been 1 1/2 months since the decision, and still 1 1/2 months until the first signing day (April 17). Not optimal, of course, but that's three months of that question answered. Whether that translates to a bump for this signing period, I don't know.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

I know UAH is working on bringing in an NCHC school for non-conf play, but with 14 guaranteed home dates thanks to the WCHA, is UAH a little more flexible in their stance against the new conferences and willing to go to 2-for-1's or 3-for-1's to play at NCHC and B1G schools? Could be a way to scoop up one or two good kids who want to play against them with regularity.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

Michael — you're right, of course. I think that we got it in the best timeframe we could. I know that the coaches have all been out recruiting given how few games we've had.

aparch said:
I know UAH is working on bringing in an NCHC school for non-conf play, but with 14 guaranteed home dates thanks to the WCHA, is UAH a little more flexible in their stance against the new conferences and willing to go to 2-for-1's or 3-for-1's to play at NCHC and B1G schools? Could be a way to scoop up one or two good kids who want to play against them with regularity.
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We have before, and I'm sure that we will again. As an example, we've played a number of games at DU, and they were going to come here this season before Portera blew up the program and our schedule. We even got tOSU in a home-and-home a few years ago, which was big for us because their name resonates down here in football country. I'm sure that Kleinendorst and Garber will be lining those games up for the forseeable future. I think I might pass out if we got 18 home games.

GFM
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

beaverhockeyfan said:
Time management might become an issue with fewer open weekends at your disposal. But I suppose it is a good tradeoff!
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Indeed, it would be. I'd really love to have the rhythm of always being at the rink again. I haven't had that for a decade. There's nothing like it.

GFM
 
gfmorris said:
5-10, 175? I didn't think that we were recruiting small guys anymore. [I know that I just called you small, Craig.]

GFM
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The game is changing. Big hitting is getting penalized much of the time now, at least in most of the leagues. Small quick guys are now in demand, especially at the forward position.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

UAHStatman said:
Then again, any further delay on the decision would've been worse. As it stands, it's been 1 1/2 months since the decision, and still 1 1/2 months until the first signing day (April 17). Not optimal, of course, but that's three months of that question answered. Whether that translates to a bump for this signing period, I don't know.
Click to expand...

How many openings are there for this upcoming fall? Lost 4 seniors and one other left earlier, for 5 known so far. Three before the WCHA announcement, and this latest today makes 4 total verbals, so only room for one more unless exisiting offers pulled, right?
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing

Bill said:
The game is changing. Big hitting is getting penalized much of the time now, at least in most of the leagues. Small quick guys are now in demand, especially at the forward position.
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I just got the sense that we were going big.

Also, fangers, I don't know the targets, mainly because I haven't asked. I think that they may expand the roster further. We were at 25 this year (not counting Kotlarz leaving mid-season), so losing five takes us to 20. I've seen us put as many as 28 on a roster before, and our two most often-used numbers are 25 and 27. You lose three forwards (Cseter, Geoffrion, Kotlarz), a defenseman (deBruyn), and a goalie (Griggs). Best as I can remember it, our breakdown coming into the season was 14-8-3, although that eight counted Lasse playing defense, which he really didn't do in the last dozen games or so. Call him a forward and you're at 12-6-2 into the offseason.

We've picked up three forwards and a goaltender, which brings us to 24. I doubt they'll go to four goalies, so we're looking at at least one more defensemen and probably two to give us the depth to use Lasse up front. That would put us to 15-8-3, and I wouldn't be surprised to pick up another forward so we're either 16-8-3 or 15-9-3 depending on where Lasse plays. I think that generates a lot of push for playing time, and I think that could be a good thing. Kurt definitely seems to like mixing and matching.

Will he clean house and pull offers? It's possible. The returning players aren't his guys, and he's repeatedly said that we just don't have the talent to compete. I rather expect that the players have read that and probably don't love him for it. Could he cut ties with guys because they're not what he wants or because he feels that they haven't bought into his system? It's entirely possible. You don't see it happen very often, though.

GFM
 
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