UMaine will find the money to pay coaches that they really want to keep. Times are changing in college athletics and outside sources will be relied on more and more to fund athletic departments. The Alfond investment was a game changer....they aren't going to have nice facilities for programs run by sub-par coaches. That being said....there are definitely a few programs out there that could lay out enough money to snatch Barr....mostly Big Ten programs, Denver, North Dakota. I think that Barr's next stop will be the pros after he brings a couple of NCs to Orono.
Agree with you 100% on the first two points. Not so sure on his next stop being "the pros", as his skill set seems to be specifically geared to the recruiting piece of the job, and relating to young college-bound players. You really don't get to recruit in the pros, and working with young kids isn't the huge slice of the job in the NHL as it is in D-1 hockey - you have a whole roster's worth of (mostly) grown men to coach and motivate, and most of them ain't gonna be impressed by a CV that is limited to only D-1 hockey - player and coach - without so much as a single shift as a pro (not even ECHL, SHL or lower European leagues). Here, Monty is the exception, not the rule, and guys like Walshy, York, Parker, Leaman and a long list of others who've had D-1 success opted for the long, relatively low-stress career as an extension of academia, as opposed to the dog-eat-dog world of the NHL. Two different universes entirely. Luckily for UMaine, he's at the center of your universe now, and is likely to stay there for the foreseeable future, as long as he wins (something he's been able to do regularly as head recruiter at several stops now), and he and his family are happy. $o UMaine ju$t need$ to keep him happy. I mean, what else does he have left to prove in the Big Ten et als anyway?
Maybe someday RPI comes to its senses and brings him home to his alma mater? Or maybe not - he's been winning D-1 titles at a long series of D-1 outposts for a decade now, and it hasn't turned RPI's head yet. I've been to Troy a few times, and cannot fathom leaving a tranquil slice of Downeast Maine to drag a young & growing family back to another Capital District afterthought, since he's also experienced a good chunk of Schenectady as well (and promptly left).
As predicted, you guys are onto a winner (and I'm jealous), so just sit back and enjoy the incoming success ...
