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UMaine 25-26: Marques My Word: Back to the Big Time

Carmine Scarpaglia said:
Let's see what happens here. BC has blown 2-0 leads twice in the last month going back to 2/13. Next goal is huge and BC is extremely mentally fragile and already took 1 stupid penalty. BC also makes no adjustments so Barr will have a chance to figure something out here.

edit - actually BC has blown a 2-0 lead three times in the past month. Next goal really is huge.
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Would’ve been nice if Barr knew this
 
I was upset I had to miss the game as sometimes work gets in the way. Sucked.

But now I’m glad I did miss it.

Ugh. Disappointing season.

However, I do think this team had a small and weak senior class but a strong rookie class. So the team should see a stronger future because you aren’t losing much and getting a strong incoming class again.

While nobody likes to hear this during the sting of the end of the season defeat… I think the team will be stronger going forward.

This assume not many key players transfer out.

I wish this season could have ended differently, but still wouldn’t trade in being a Blackbear hockey fan for anything even in a shitty than expected season.

Looking forward to seeing what happens in the off-season.

I’m happy Fowler got defensive forward award. He’s a high effort top penalty killing forward. I think he should be the captain next season. He never seems to give up. He also does a lot to get his teammates up and into it with his riling them up antics. He is a pest that gets under the other teams skin. He’s kind of a cross between Brendan Walsh and Jimmy Leger with a touch more skill.
 
Next season is where the rubber meets the road for Ben Barr. I think that we see many changes next season because whatever was done this season.......did not work.
 
umhockey91 said:
Next season is where the rubber meets the road for Ben Barr. I think that we see many changes next season because whatever was done this season.......did not work.
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That isn’t the case. While he didn’t have his best season, and likely it was his worst as the coach at Maine… he still guided the team to 4 games above 0.500.

So let’s not get it twisted. Barrs worst season is a good or great season for Red.

He has a winning record at Maine even including the first year which was a 7 win season.

Ignoring that rebuild season Barr has gone 80-50-16 since. That is very good.
 
Sparkee said:
That isn’t the case. While he didn’t have his best season, and likely it was his worst as the coach at Maine… he still guided the team to 4 games above 0.500.

So let’s not get it twisted. Barrs worst season is a good or great season for Red.

He has a winning record at Maine even including the first year which was a 7 win season.

Ignoring that rebuild season Barr has gone 80-50-16 since. That is very good.
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He doesn't get "bonus points" for winning a HE Championship in 2025 after a season like this. If this program is spinning its wheels or *gulp*....it gets worse in 2026-2027......then we will all have questions for Ben Barr on why that is.
 
I can't imagine anyone posting on here who thought Maine had much of a chance to win last night. The season started ok and ended badly. Its over now, time to move on. The big question at this point is how many players hit the portal. Then what kind of talent does Barr bring in. Is their a goaltender out there? Will their be staff changes? I still believe NIL money will be key in how successful a program can be in todays world.
 
that was a pathetic night in umaine sports,,women lost other than smith the rest of team was a no show like the hockey team... baseball looses it in the 9th on shitty pitching as usual what a horrible night
 
It will be interesting to see who leaves voluntarily or who is told by Barr we no longer want you. We'll probably never know which is the case. I don't think making wholesale changes every year builds team unity. There's something to be said for finding talented players with character and developing them. For whatever reason this current team did not have sustained growth and development over the course of the season.
 
tony potter said:
that was a pathetic night in umaine sports,,women lost other than smith the rest of team was a no show like the hockey team... baseball looses it in the 9th on shitty pitching as usual what a horrible night
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True. But at least the Maine women were in the championship game. Alisa Kresge in her 8 years at Vermont has taken the Catamounts to 3 conference titles in the last 4 years!
 
Runsub5 said:
It will be interesting to see who leaves voluntarily or who is told by Barr we no longer want you. We'll probably never know which is the case. I don't think making wholesale changes every year builds team unity. There's something to be said for finding talented players with character and developing them. For whatever reason this current team did not have sustained growth and development over the course of the season.
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I doubt Bringing in another 13 for next year is going to work any better and I don't believe that is what is going to happen. Pretty tough to meld personalities in a short season.
 
walrus said:
I doubt Bringing in another 13 for next year is going to work any better and I don't believe that is what is going to happen. Pretty tough to meld personalities in a short season.
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I don't think anyone is hoping for that outcome, however, I wouldn't be surprised if there was significant turnover again.

The upside is, aside from Holt, I don't think we're losing much in the senior class.
 
We are proud to announce that NAHL forward Jaden Johnson has committed to Aurora University to play college hockey
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Congrats Jaden
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This was posted a few days ago didn't know if youv'e seen this Sparky.
 
I dont see how next year cant be another rebuilding year.
Four seniors to replace. Maybe 5 with Fowler.
One goalie is needed.
Theres at least 3 players that should get upgraded.
Another 2 to 4 hit the portal.
Thats +- 10 new players needed.

The new norm will likely be lots of new players every year.
 
Fowler already said he was staying but with NIL you never know. Anyone see Quinnipiac got shut out, wonder mouth piece is?
 
Two things can be true at the same time- this season was ultimately a bit disappointing because the difference between an NCAA tournament appearance and finishing in the Hockey East quarters wasn't an inability to beat the best teams on the schedule but rather avoiding losses to the worst teams on the schedule. At the same time, I'd have probably taken an 18 win season if you offered it at the start and told me about the goaltending issues. A top 5 Maine team was predicated on an All-American Albin Boija, and that Albin Boija wasn't here this year.

I do keep coming back to the question of whether it's reasonable for us to consider a Maine hockey season that finishes ranked about #20 to be a failure. I'm not overly sold that it is. I keep harping back to the funding/investment in the program- we live in a hypercapitalist society and expecting results beyond investment is a fallacy. Mike McMahon recently answered a question in his newsletter about Hockey East funding, and he tiered it out as follows:

HIGHEST LEVEL: BC, Providence, UConn, BU
MIDDLE LEVEL: Maine, Northeastern, Lowell, UMass
LOWEST LEVEL: Merrimack, UVM, UNH

Which does make sense on the one hand, those high investment programs are in the ACC, Big East, or a major city with no other baskets to put eggs into. On the other hand, Maine has always cared more about hockey than Providence and especially UConn. If we are at the point where the money gulf is so large that Providence can spend, in one year, enough to pay a basketball roster $12M, pay their basketball coach a $10M buyout, AND put together the best hockey roster in the conference including first round NHL draft picks, we may be stuck.

None of that is to absolve the micro level issues like consistency, and wondering why two straight All-American level goaltenders finished their careers benched due to their own poor performance and not being run down by some freshman stud. But "we invest the fifth most money in the conference and we finished fifth in the conference and 20th in the nation" isn't an absurd result.
 
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