UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

Article on Darling that takes a look as his winding road from Orono to Chicago last night! http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on...scott-darling-took-long-road-to-first-nhl-win

Congratulations to him on what he has been able to accomplish. And agree with earlier post that it was Scott's demise that unfortunately had a steamroller impact on Maine Hockey as he proved most difficult to replace. We had just lost Bishop when he arrived as the successor and went through the Sirman, Wilson period of porous goaltending the next few years. IMHO we are still searching for a goalie who can steal a game. Marty lived up to expectations last year but one year out of four does not a career make!

You are right about the Goaltending...right now Maine has to be hoping that out of the 3(Morris-Remeo-Nugnes)...one of these guys can seize the chance to excel...but at this point and its very/very early there is no game changer as of yet...maybe Nugnes when healthy can get a shot...but Maine needs solid Goaltending if they are to jump start the Program back...there are many other areas to improve,but imo solid goatending & defense wins in this Conference(Hockey East).

 

[all bear]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

I would speculate that if Scott Darling's demise did not occur, Tim Whitehead would still be head coach. Maine would likely have won the HE championship vs BC in 2010 and gone on to do well in the NCAAs. With good goaltending, the Nyquist/Flynn/Abbott teams could have achieved so much more.

Oh well.

Thank you Scott.... bows, bows, bows

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

Morrison (or possibly Frank Doyle) is the most underrated goaltender in Maine history. Still ****ed that Yeats got the start over him in the NC game. Morrison carried the team all season long.

I was a fan of Morrison's too, but I think that Frank was one of the best Maine ever had. His timing wasn't great, playing concurrently with Jimmy on the roster, but that kid was as quick as a cat. One of my all-time favorite Maine hockey memories was watching him relieve Howard for the 3rd v. Harvard in the Albany Regionals, trailing 4-1, and making a few amazing stops en route to the best Maine comeback since Lake State in '93. I just think that the guy didn't get enough exposure in that day and age to get a fair shake from the pro ranks.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

Article on Darling that takes a look as his winding road from Orono to Chicago last night! http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on...scott-darling-took-long-road-to-first-nhl-win

Congratulations to him on what he has been able to accomplish. And agree with earlier post that it was Scott's demise that unfortunately had a steamroller impact on Maine Hockey as he proved most difficult to replace. We had just lost Bishop when he arrived as the successor and went through the Sirman, Wilson period of porous goaltending the next few years. IMHO we are still searching for a goalie who can steal a game. Marty lived up to expectations last year but one year out of four does not a career make!

Thanks for the link. Really happy for him that he found his way.

And your point about the Wilson/Sirman era..? Let's just say that I generally see better 'tending at low-level D-3 games than I saw from them back then. That was the lowest point in Maine hockey history as far as the goalie position went. I cringed every single time they faced a shot.

 

[TERRIERFANinLA]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

Thanks for the link. Really happy for him that he found his way.

And your point about the Wilson/Sirman era..? Let's just say that I generally see better 'tending at low-level D-3 games than I saw from them back then. That was the lowest point in Maine hockey history as far as the goalie position went. I cringed every single time they faced a shot.

oh, come on, that's not fair and it's not true about the D3 goaltending. I was fortunate enough to be a Tufts student when they had their best goalie ever and set the school record for saves in a career, only because he had NO D in front of him (Scott Barchard) . But he was facing D3 opponents, plain and simple. He faced at most 2 players all season long who MIGHT have had a chance at a fourth line spot at Merrimack.

Wilson was an OK D1 goalie, he had games where evertything that was put on net was simply absorbed into his chest. But I will agree he was NOT what maine fans were used to at the Alfond. goalie stats are mostly the result of the D out front.

 

[BBDiehard14]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

http://board.uscho.com/showthread.p...d-from-Alfond-to-Boston&p=6024819#post6024819

 

[walrus]

oh, come on, that's not fair and it's not true about the D3 goaltending. I was fortunate enough to be a Tufts student when they had their best goalie ever and set the school record for saves in a career, only because he had NO D in front of him (Scott Barchard) . But he was facing D3 opponents, plain and simple. He faced at most 2 players all season long who MIGHT have had a chance at a fourth line spot at Merrimack.

Wilson was an OK D1 goalie, he had games where evertything that was put on net was simply absorbed into his chest. But I will agree he was NOT what maine fans were used to at the Alfond. goalie stats are mostly the result of the D out front.

one thing about willie, he gave it his all, he didn't look to the bench to get pulled like sir man did when he was getting killed. Willie wasn't great but he was a gamer.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: UMaine: No Cure for the Summertime Blues but to BEAR the Months 'till October!

oh, come on, that's not fair and it's not true about the D3 goaltending. I was fortunate enough to be a Tufts student when they had their best goalie ever and set the school record for saves in a career, only because he had NO D in front of him (Scott Barchard) . But he was facing D3 opponents, plain and simple. He faced at most 2 players all season long who MIGHT have had a chance at a fourth line spot at Merrimack.

Wilson was an OK D1 goalie, he had games where evertything that was put on net was simply absorbed into his chest. But I will agree he was NOT what maine fans were used to at the Alfond. goalie stats are mostly the result of the D out front.

Not sure where Tufts was when you attended, but they're pretty-much off the radar these days. Maybe not a valid comparison.


Lots more disparity in D-3 than in D-1, for sure, but I have definitely see a few D-3 goalies who were better than Willie. I remember a weekend at UMA when it looked as though he had never been on skates before. But I agree with Wally that he worked hard, and even had a great game or two at Maine.

 

[walrus]

Maine up 4,3 at start of 3rd, had 3,0 lead. Hayes with a couple. Maines d sucks