UML Fires Coach MacDonald

[John_Fuller]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Now, I'm a bit surprised this evening on two accounts. First off, I'm surprised that the University actually made the move to replace MacDonald. Secondly, the speed of the transaction was somewhat surprising to me; I didn't think the review would start at 9:00AM on the Monday following the season and would take a couple of weeks to parse through.

The current UML administration has made it clear that it will protect its major investment, the Tsongas Arena. After a very successful multi-million dollar renovation, five wins was the final straw. I'm very much of the belief now that there was contemplation of possibly dismissing him at the end of last year's debacle and unless he made the playoffs, he was going to be bounced. Once they were eliminated, it now obvious to say he was gone. The unexpected success of the 2009 HE season is the reason we are all here now.

This is a major step for the University for those of us like myself that have been watching this school for almost 15 years. Ten years ago, a move to fire a coach under contract would have never been dreamed of under the previous administration. It's seems like this administration is going to treat this program as a D-I entity, including spending money to cut bait. Let's face it, the University played its Trump Card. Not everyone is going to agree with the decision, but for my money, it was the correct one.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the third coach to be let go/resign/dismissed this 2010-2011 year. That's an awfully high amount of turnover for a small school like a UML whose history of long-tenured coaches have been a mainstay of the program. That's a signal to me that the dynamics of UML have changed significantly.

We've discussed the reason why Coach was dismissed but now its time to look to the future. The classes of 2013 and 2014 are under trememdous pressure to perform and bring home ice, an NCAA berth, and possibly an apperance at a HE championship. That's going to be a tall task and at this point, there are just as many questions as there are answers for the future of the team under the new leadership. There have been a lot of names thrown around but whomever receives that responsiblity is going to be under the microscope from the opening faceoff in October.

It's now impossbile to figure out how the team responds to the change next year. The change is going to bring excitement and expectation back to the team for some. I just hope that is realstic.

 

[boblav1]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Lowell Sun article:
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_17600523

 

[WisemanFromUmass-Lowell]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

As one who has pretty much made an annual call for a coaching change, I have to say that I'm pleased with this move. I agree with others that Blaise has done a great job with the off-ice part of the program (academics, community service, etc) but ultimately it's the on-ice success which a coach is measured by. And for what it's worth, I think Blaise's predecessors had done a decent job in those off-ice metrics as well. Every program will have outliers (these are kids after all) but I think Lowell has always seemed to miminize the number of "non-quality" people on their roster.

I'm not surprised that the change was made -- I had heard last summer from a contact in the school's front office that the Lowell admin had set some metrics for Blaise for the upcoming season and if he didn't meet them, he would be out. And while I don't know what these metrics were, allegedly they weren't all on-ice. (I had guessed one of them might be attendance related but given the decent attendance this past season, I was clearly wrong).

As many of you know, my biggest on-ice beef with Blaise was his seeming inability to get his team to improve the course of a season and/or players to improve over their four year career. At least to the degree of improvements I would expect (for example, compare a typical early season BU team with a late season BU team). What's ironic is that THIS past season is the season in which I think I saw the greatest improvement over the course of a season. In my mind, this past season was the only one during Blaise's entire tenure that his team met the pre-season expectatoins I had for it.

I never quite understood Dana Skinner's seeming infatuation with Blaise. Going all the way back to his start with the team. While Whitehead definitely had his faults, I never quite understood the rate at which he was kicked to the curb in favor of MacDonald.

Obviously these are just my opinions and I have certainly had many a spring-time argument on here with those that have disagreed with my annual calls for replacement. But I think this a good step for the program.

It will be inteesting to see what steps Skinner takes with the next hire. I'm hoping that person can maintain the off-ice strides the progams has made and be able to develop the team's on-ice performance. A bonus would be a guy who can give a media interview without speaking in sports cliches (another pet peeve of mine when it came to Blaise).

 

[dmjossel]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

I never quite understood Dana Skinner's seeming infatuation with Blaise. Going all the way back to his start with the team. While Whitehead definitely had his faults, I never quite understood the rate at which he was kicked to the curb in favor of MacDonald.

Well, I think there are Maine fans out there right now that would trade Whitehead for a bag of pucks. Certainly the legacy that Blaise inherited at UML isn't quite the same as the one that Whitehead came into at Maine, and that has to factor into how you compare their performances.

Around the time that Merrimack was looking to hire a new coach (ended up being Serino from UNH) I know many people who were looking at Blaise, who was at Niagara at the time, but I think he was still under contract. He was an assistant at a great program known for recruiting and developing. I had opportunities to meet and speak with him on more than one occasion, and was pretty impressed. Proven head coaches at that level are not in great supply, and lots of programs place their bets on taking another program's assistants-- Lowell took Whitehead from Maine, and then Maine took him back when Walsh passed; Merrimack took Serino from UNH and then Dennehy from UMass, and Niagara took Blaise from BU, and then he later went to UML.

As for a direct comparison... ask some Maine fans that if the only choice in the world was to swap Tim for Blaise, straight up, or stand pat, not as many as you'd expect would be against the idea. I think Blaise is a more forceful personality; he might be able to do more with Maine's resources than Whitehead has been able to so far. Many Maine fans consider this year's team to have underachieved a bit, where Lowell teams generally have to overachieve to have any success at all.

 

[RHawk]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

As many of you know, my biggest on-ice beef with Blaise was his seeming inability to get his team to improve the course of a season and/or players to improve over their four year career.

I agree with this statement 100%. Now that there will be change, I will renew my season tickets for next year, as will several other season ticket holders who were also on the fence about next year. Blaise was a good person, but not a great coach, so time will tell how things work out with new blood. I'll gamble things will improve.

 

[Patman]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

As for a direct comparison... ask some Maine fans that if the only choice in the world was to swap Tim for Blaise, straight up, or stand pat, not as many as you'd expect would be against the idea. I think Blaise is a more forceful personality; he might be able to do more with Maine's resources than Whitehead has been able to so far. Many Maine fans consider this year's team to have underachieved a bit, where Lowell teams generally have to overachieve to have any success at all.

Well, imagine if we didn't fire Whitehead... just maybe that happens. Honestly, I'm a little scared of Blaise and Grant Standbrook recruiting for the same side.

What I think Dana saw, and I'll admit this as this is more what I see, is you have a young (at the time) charismatic coach who kept his players on the up and up and, for the most part, the players seemed happy to play for him. Since so much of the game is personality and given the things we've had happen to our program in some ways it would seem that he did OK... it did appear that his teams seemed to hit their limits though.... players didn't improve, etc. That's a problem, but I don't see anything wrong with Dana keeping Blaise around.

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if a big driver behind this is Marty Meehan... but at this point, even if it is, I don't care because we need a change... but with the changes going on around the school I have to believe that Marty will be aching for that capstone hockey team to the stuff he's done in his brief tenure at Lowell.

 

[acs64]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Well, I think there are Maine fans out there right now that would trade Whitehead for a bag of pucks.

Bag of pucks? We'd settle for a lot less than that.

 

[John_Fuller]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if a big driver behind this is Marty Meehan... but at this point, even if it is, I don't care because we need a change... but with the changes going on around the school I have to believe that Marty will be aching for that capstone hockey team to the stuff he's done in his brief tenure at Lowell.

Couple of things, I think you had me in cache Patman, that was dmjossel's quote.

Meehan is the captain, conductor, ticket agent, and organizer of this cruise ship. I know nothing but I believe that Skinner was just following an order from his boss. I would think most people would not have too much of a beef with this editorial comment. He [Meehan] now has placed the hockey team squarely on his shoulders in some regards; if we are able to succeed over the next two to four years, he looks like a genius. If not, Lowell looks like the small school that no matter who the coach is, the economics simply aren't there. Especially if Blaise does find a D-I school and enjoys success.

Shawn Walsh to me would have been in the same class as a Jerry York, Jack Parker, and Red Berenson if fate was a little different for a lack of better words. Every coach makes a mistake or two every now and again, they are human like every one else. Walsh was by no means perfect, but got the best for his players, especially in that barn in Orono.

I'm not a fan of Whitehead personally, but believe he's a better coach that Lowell fans make him out to be. At the same time, Maine fans look for a Shawn Walsh and to me, and you're not going to find him in Whitehead or any coach for that matter. You can't replace a Shawn Walsh and IMHO, some Maine fans appear to don't get that. From the NESN game last night, Whitehead has made the NCAA's six times and has a .600 winning percentage at Maine. Lowell fans would kill for a record like that no matter who the coach was but for Maine fans, that's not good enough. They expect HE championship games and NCAA bids and some aren't happy until they get hardware. For most Lowell fans, getting back to the NCAA's would be a major accomplishment and would be tickled pink. Maine fans had the same reaction of jumping into the Penobscot as Golden Gophers fans did by jumping into the Mississippi when UAA embarrassed them in a sweep of the series capped with a Game 2 shutout at Mariucci. Hockey is the sport for these two schools and early playoff failure is not an option. That's the scale difference between us and them and a true comparison is difficult at best.

Not being able to beat Tim Whitehead in the playoffs was a major contributor, especially how last year ended. Dave Wilson had a career weekend in the 2010 HE QF's and I would have though most teams in HE would have struggled to win that series. Lowell had the momentum to start Game 2 and had a late third period lead. They just couldn't close the door. Turn the page to 2011 and we saw last night how a third line dominated a QF series at Lawler and beat a gifted Maine offense. Merrimack exposed a weakness in defense and goaltending and scored at least two goals that were soft, Madsen's five-hole special and the fifth goal to start the third.

Blaise MacDonald is a little bit of a scapegoat. Let's be honest, I don't think any coach would have survived some of the odds that Blaise had to ensure including until 2007, an administration that cared less about its athletic program, let alone a D-I hockey team. He moved this club to a viable D-I program and had many more positives than negatives off of the ice. However, the overall sentiment from Wiseman, Monty and a few others is accurate. Blaise's forwards really didn't improve from year to year and just couldn't score those big goals when it counted except for a certain overtime goal in 2009. His goaltenders and some of the defensemen did succeed in this endeavor it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Lowell lost a lot of big games to elite teams by a score of 2-1, 3-2, or 4-3, etc. On the ice, while there were good times, the bad times unfortunately dominated. Blaise want to mold a person and invest in all four years. Under the previous administration, that method would work. Under the current administration, it didn't fly and we saw the end result. We will see over the course of the next few years when or not this gamble will pay off for this University.

 

[amherstblackbear]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

I'm not a fan of Whitehead personally, but believe he's a better coach that Lowell fans make him out to be. At the same time, Maine fans look for a Shawn Walsh and to me, and you're not going to find him in Whitehead or any coach for that matter. You can't replace a Shawn Walsh and IMHO, some Maine fans appear to don't get that. From the NESN game last night, Whitehead has made the NCAA's six times and has a .600 winning percentage at Maine. Lowell fans would kill for a record like that no matter who the coach was but for Maine fans, that's not good enough. They expect HE championship games and NCAA bids and some aren't happy until they get hardware.

Speaking for myself, I couldn't care less about the Hockey East tournament. It's all about having an enjoyable season and then making the NCAAs, performing to the best of your potential when you get there.

Nobody is questioning Whitehead's aggregate numbers. The problem is that all the success was front-loaded. It's not as if Whitehead has literally guided Maine to the NCAAs 2 years out of every 3. He started out with an extraordinary supporting cast, and he was able to keep the ship afloat for a while because of that.

Now, he has his own staff and his own players, and we've seen the results. There is every reason to believe that the next decade of Maine hockey will look a lot more like the last 4 years than the first 6.

 

[Patman]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Couple of things, I think you had me in cache Patman, that was dmjossel's quote.

My bad... yeah... for some reason the multi-quote won't undo itself and I think I may have clipped away the wrong parts.

 

[John_Fuller]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Speaking for myself, I couldn't care less about the Hockey East tournament. It's all about having an enjoyable season and then making the NCAAs, performing to the best of your potential when you get there.

Nobody is questioning Whitehead's aggregate numbers. The problem is that all the success was front-loaded. It's not as if Whitehead has literally guided Maine to the NCAAs 2 years out of every 3. He started out with an extraordinary supporting cast, and he was able to keep the ship afloat for a while because of that.

Now, he has his own staff and his own players, and we've seen the results. There is every reason to believe that the next decade of Maine hockey will look a lot more like the last 4 years than the first 6.

Exactly my point, amherstblackbear. Of course, every fan wants to have their team succeed to the best of their potential.

To a Lowell fan, making the HE tournament in Boston and NCAA's is a big deal. For a team that hasn't made it to the NCAA's in a decade and a half now, that in and of itself for Lowell is a prize.

To a Maine fan, the NCAA's are commonplace and an expected goal. That's why Maine fans are unhappy.

That's a sizable difference in expection between our two schools. You may be right, Whitehead may not be able to get into the NCAA's every year or it may be once every four years. Like Lowell, the Maine adminstration will have the ultimate say on whether or not Whitehead will be there for the next five to ten.

 

[boblav1]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Follow up article by Chaz in today's Sun.
http://www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_17606336

 

[AMC]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Like Lowell, the Maine adminstration will have the ultimate say on where or not Whitehead will be their for the next five to ten.

Except there is no Maine administration right now. No President, No AD, No Decisions.

 

[Chris_NH]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

My brother-in-law lives next-door to MacDonald, and I met & spoke with him at the Apple Store in Nashua. Nice guy.

There wasn't a team in Hockey East that played eventual champion BC tougher last year, and I told him that.

I can't help but think that the meteoric rise of Merrimack helped make UML's decline all the more 'drastic.' Every team suffers falloffs; BC probably will next year. Not as precipitous perhaps, but this is the life of college athletics. There aren't many teams that can simply 'restock & reload.' That UML isn't one of them shouldn't be MacDonald's fault, even though the people in charge decided that it is.

 

[boblav1]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

Meehan is the captain, conductor, ticket agent, and organizer of this cruise ship. I know nothing but I believe that Skinner was just following an order from his boss. I would think most people would not have too much of a beef with editorial comment. He [Meehan] now has placed the hockey team squarely on his shoulders in some regards; if we are able to succeed over the next two to four years, he looks like a genius.

One positive I see coming from all of this will be an increase in the hockey budget. If Marty wants to move the program forward he will have to find the funds to bring the program's budget more in line with others in HE.

 

[Go-UML]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

<snip> There aren't many teams that can simply 'restock & reload.' That UML isn't one of them shouldn't be MacDonald's fault, even though the people in charge decided that it is.

That would be far more likely to be true if he had balanced the classes, but he didn't, and that IS his fault.

 

[leswp1]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

I agree with John. Many coaches wouldn't have survived the debacles of Blaises tenure- the program threatened, the lack of support etc. Marty is just hitting his stride as far as support goes. Regardless of who coaches it still takes a long time to get over the damage those things did. Recruiting is a process, not an event. They have tagged the first few yrs of recovery on Blaise. Now Blaise is gone they can say that the next coach will take a few rebuilding yrs to get it right. The next guy in will look like a superstar who ever he is and Blaise won't get much credit for the foundation. (I am just a little cynical).

Not saying I think the decision is right or wrong because I think it is both and I don't know enough about all the parts to give an opinion I could defend. I just remember when I first joined the Board and all the howling going on about how this would cause yrs of damage/how we might not recover and now it has one guy is supposed to erase it miraculously and in a shorter time than many claimed it would take to recover.

 

[FRICKER]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

I agree with whoever said that McDonald was kinda a scapegoat. Many don't realize it, but the assistant coaches play a VERY
important role in recruiting. On some teams, one assistant does it all, and on others, they split the chore. Some coaches let the assistants sort out the prospects down to a short list, and the head coach only meets with them on campus. I personally like the recruiting system where the coach sees a prospect play once. I wouldn't want to sign off on a player I've only seen on tape.
The common thread at Maine is Grant Standbrook. Shawn Walsh was the one who "collected" scholarship players and that's why they ended up with many more than the NCCA allows. Once a program establishes itself with a prep school or Junior program, they can create a recruiting pipeline and momentum. Not many teams have the luxary of a Michigan with the USA Hockey development program right down the street and the reputation that allow them to recruit ahead of most schools and have the pick of blue chippers. I have always had the perception that the Maine Administration was firmly behind the men's hockey program while UMass-Lowell's kinda tolerated it. Am I way off base? Anyhoo, now Michigan State & UMass--Lowell have head coach openings, which is healthy with the logjam of qualified guys in the pipeline.

 

[amherstblackbear]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

I agree with whoever said that McDonald was kinda a scapegoat. Many don't realize it, but the assistant coaches play a VERY
important role in recruiting. On some teams, one assistant does it all, and on others, they split the chore. Some coaches let the assistants sort out the prospects down to a short list, and the head coach only meets with them on campus. I personally like the recruiting system where the coach sees a prospect play once. I wouldn't want to sign off on a player I've only seen on tape.
The common thread at Maine is Grant Standbrook. Shawn Walsh was the one who "collected" scholarship players and that's why they ended up with many more than the NCCA allows. Once a program establishes itself with a prep school or Junior program, they can create a recruiting pipeline and momentum. Not many teams have the luxary of a Michigan with the USA Hockey development program right down the street and the reputation that allow them to recruit ahead of most schools and have the pick of blue chippers. I have always had the perception that the Maine Administration was firmly behind the men's hockey program while UMass-Lowell's kinda tolerated it. Am I way off base? Anyhoo, now Michigan State & UMass--Lowell have head coach openings, which is healthy with the logjam of qualified guys in the pipeline.

Random thoughts:

Different Hockey East school. The too many scholies problem was a BC thing. Maine's problem back in the day was that they had a broom closet for a compliance office. Institutional oversight was . . . lacking.

Maine's most recent AD was absolutely infamous among hockey fans for his lack of commitment to the hockey program. A new AD might renew the university's commitment to the program, but until that happens, you can put Maine squarely in that "tolerate" group.

 

[John_Fuller]

Re: UML Fires Coach MacDonald

One positive I see coming from all of this will be an increase in the hockey budget. If Marty wants to move the program forward he will have to find the funds to bring the program's budget more in line with others in HE.

100% agree, Bob. In fact, by relieving Blaise of his duties, that process has already begun.

Regardless of who coaches it still takes a long time to get over the damage those things did. Recruiting is a process, not an event. They have tagged the first few yrs of recovery on Blaise. Now Blaise is gone they can say that the next coach will take a few rebuilding yrs to get it right. The next guy in will look like a superstar who ever he is and Blaise won't get much credit for the foundation. (I am just a little cynical). Not saying I think the decision is right or wrong because I think it is both and I don't know enough about all the parts to give an opinion I could defend.

Les, you are correct. As I mentioned, if we take off to the next level, the admin looks good. If not, they will take the blame. The unfortunate part that we will never know; what would have happened in the next couple of years with MacDonald. In some ways, the admin could then say that "we tried". The problem is that we will not have an answer to your question for another three, five, and ten years.

I can't help but think that the meteoric rise of Merrimack helped make UML's decline all the more 'drastic.' .

Chris, don't think for a second that this did not have anything to do with what transpired on Friday. While I'm happy for Merrimack College as a college hockey fan and its chance for a spot in the sunlight, it's a scary proposition to have them as the top school in the Valley. After their impressive series win over the team that beat us last year in the playoffs, imagine if they do come away with a banner next weekend. At a minimum, they have a 25% chance and after was I saw this past weekend, I'd have to say it may be higher.