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UMaine Offseason...Belly Up to the Barr Boys

A

acs64

Well-known member
Well chit, seems like the Barr has been raised but not always reached yet. More work to do, definitely a work in progress, but in the meantime beers on me, so belly up and discuss ! (Besides the other thread was getting long in the tooth, very long)
 
Bruneski and Fawcett are both in the portal. No sign of Henbrant, Poisson or anyone with more than a year of eligibility.

Obviously it’s still early but I’d say that is a good sign. Sirota leaves big shoes to fill but let’s not forget Holt missed a large chunk of the second half. Also, with the additions of Hopkins and Nobes, the blue line should be improved from what was already the best blue line in a decade.

Side note on the portal, Cal Kiefiuk and Reed Lebster from UMass are in there. They are both grad transferring, probably nothing there but there is the connection with Barr so it’s worth noting.
 
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acs64 said:
You think Breen deserved first team? Meh, prolly not.
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Not sure on Breen, we haven't seen much for offense lately so he stands out to us. Ostman getting 2nd team surprised me.

I'd take Borek for COY, MC surprised me
 
BU vs. Providence and Lowell vs. Merrimack. Hockey East can't be too happy having 3 of the smallest fan bases in Hockey East at the Garden.....one of the least sex-y Hockey East Final 4s ever.
 
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Looking forward to the Nadeau Brothers next year. But wondering how long we'll have them in Orono.
 
BlackBearFan19 said:
Side note on the portal, Cal Kiefiuk and Reed Lebster from UMass are in there. They are both grad transferring, probably nothing there but there is the connection with Barr so it’s worth noting.
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I saw those two in the portal and thought hmmm, Barr must have recruited them, maybe theyd play for him again. They score a few goals, either would be a good addition.
 
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Could be just one HE team in NCAAs this year. I dont think HE is that bad this year either. Regardless of the records the margins are thin in HE except with BU, unfortunately lol
 
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How in the world does Maine have like 30 players committed there over the next 3 years? Your recruit list is wild
 
Scott Borek (MC), Jay Pandolfo (BU), and Ben Barr (UMO) have been named the finalists for Hockey East's Coach Of The Year Award.
 
This was posted on Maine fans facebook page
A Letter from Coach Barr to Black Bear Hockey Fans,
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Wednesday, March 8[SUP]th[/SUP], was a very tough day for our team as the season came to an end against UVM in a home playoff game. I've had some heartbreaking endings to seasons over the years, but Wednesday was as difficult of a game as I've been a part of. There is a long time between now and our next game to ponder Wednesday's game, but I am fairly sure there was one main reason which I will speak about later in the email. I'm sure many of you can relate to this, but not delivering a win for the Alfond faithful on Wednesday completely broke my heart. The rink had been electric the last few months and seeing people leave disappointed was very difficult. This program is so much bigger than the team as you all know.

Our team finished the regular season in 6th place in Hockey East. We saw signs of growth in the second half of the season, and earning a home ice playoff game was a great accomplishment for a team that was picked to finish last with 16 new players to integrate into the roster. I have coached teams that won the whole thing, and I can honestly say that our team this year gave as much or maybe even more than some of those top teams. The way we were built made it a necessity to be the hardest working team every night, and it was so enjoyable to watch the boys get rewarded at times as the season went along. As a coach, having a hard-working team makes our jobs very rewarding. We had a year-end meeting and I had a hard time speaking to the team two days after the loss - they are a great group of kids. I did not realize this until our Faculty Rep emailed me a few weeks ago, but every member of our team was at the MClub Academic Honor Roll dinner a few weeks back. I believe that speaks to the type of kids we have in the room.

On November 12, our team lost to Merrimack which made our record 2-8-1 at the time. Fast forward a few months to February 25th, and we just swept Boston College to make our record 15-13-5. Going into the final regular season weekend, we had a chance to potentially get a first round bye in the Hockey East playoffs. Fast forward to March 8th, and we just lost our last three games, and the season was over. As a staff, there are a million things that we can dissect about what happened the last three games. I believe that what changed those last three games is Expectations. Until the UMass weekend, there really hadn't been a game since our staff had been here, where we had Expectations. The team earned the ability to have expectations at the end of the year, and for that our staff is extremely proud. Unfortunately, we weren't ready to take that next step and perform with those expectations. What we will remember from the 2022-23 season is that we built a culture that has Expectations as many of you experienced as a Black Bear. I believe we will view this past season as the foundation that allowed Black Bear Hockey to become a national contender again. Our challenge pushing forward is learning how to manage Expectations and push the Standard even further. I believe the boys will do that, and we will be forever thankful for this year's team for the growth they accomplished. Our offseason is way too long, but rest assured that come October: Black Bear Hockey Expectations will be high.
Ben
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Walrus, thanks for posting the letter. Coach Barr is everything we could have hoped for in terms of returning Maine Hockey to relevancy. Even more importantly when you read that letter it speaks directly to how much he loves his players. Thus any recruit seeing this letter to the fans can feel great about their decision to choose U. Maine. He's definitely a coach you would want to play for!
 
BobF said:
Walrus, thanks for posting the letter. Coach Barr is everything we could have hoped for in terms of returning Maine Hockey to relevancy. Even more importantly when you read that letter it speaks directly to how much he loves his players. Thus any recruit seeing this letter to the fans can feel great about their decision to choose U. Maine. He's definitely a coach you would want to play for!
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Agreed, that was authentic as I’ve seen and I believe that Barr is the one to bring us back to national relevancy. Next year will be a HUGE year for the boys in blue! Already can’t wait.
 
Chuck Murray said:
Does Barr get Hockey East COTY, or does it go to Borek by a whisker?
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MC was picked to finish 8th, finished second, is deep in the playoffs, and has better than even odds on getting into the NCAA's. Borek is completely accountable for the roster having been there for 5 years. MC was able to put together a strong finish after a dreadful January that more often than not would dreail a season. There's also the matter of rallying the team past the tragic death of AC Josh Ciocco.

Brar coached his team to a 6th place finish and first round playoff exit. Sure, they got picked to finish last, big whoop. We all know the preseason poll is a joke and that's not enough to hang this hat on.

I kinda get the Pandolfo BU rump swabbery being a factor, but I'm genuinely curious why TF Brar is even in the conversation.
 
Yuppie Scum said:
MC was picked to finish 8th, finished second, is deep in the playoffs, and has better than even odds on getting into the NCAA's. Borek is completely accountable for the roster having been there for 5 years. MC was able to put together a strong finish after a dreadful January that more often than not would dreail a season. There's also the matter of rallying the team past the tragic death of AC Josh Ciocco.

Brar coached his team to a 6th place finish and first round playoff exit. Sure, they got picked to finish last, big whoop. We all know the preseason poll is a joke and that's not enough to hang this hat on.

I kinda get the Pandolfo BU rump swabbery being a factor, but I'm genuinely curious why TF Brar is even in the conversation.
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I agree with you that Borek deserves to win but Barr certainly deserves to be in the conversation.

Not only was Maine picked last in the poll, they finished last the prior season. They won 7 games in 2021-2022 and won 15 in 2022-2023. Merrimack was a good team last year finishing 5th and having 19 wins. Currently they are at 22 and counting.

Since there are 3 nominations, Barr deserves to be one of them. Maine had 16 new players this season and still had themselves in the picture down the stretch. What Borek has done using the portal is pretty extraordinary, especially at a school that doesn't have a ton of hockey history. Merrimack has definitely found their guy and will be relevant as long as he's there.
 
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