Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?
I know, I focus too much on that "big" loss to RIT after the "big win" over Cornell in 2010. Sigh.
That game still gives me nightmares. That is one of those games that just snowballed
Another example for total lack of in-game adjustments.
I think it's an example of not getting the guys up for a lesser opponent.
I think you're all correct. In retrospect it's easy to see the RIT loss as the point where a lot of the accumulated faith in Coach Umile began to leak away. With the teams in the latter part of that decade, and the 2010 team, that really should have been the 3rd "peak" of the Umile era, with one or two more FF appearances, and *maybe* that elusive D-1 title. But the 2010 loss especially registered, since there was every reason to believe (1) UNH would/should beat RIT, and (2) Coach would have learned from the prior postseason disasters - and one very similar one against unheralded Niagara earlier in that decade - and there would be no further "Umile-ations". *cough* 6-2 *cough* And then reality set in, and here we were again, with another inexplicable postseason gack job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU_4NehrBdI
And then there was the post-game presser, when Coach moans about some bad breaks and bounces, and 3 goals in 2 minutes to break open a close game in the second period ... and his guys (Butler and LeBlanc) echo the same things, seemingly unaware of any differences between the tactics put out there by Cornell in the previous game, and RIT in the Regional Finals.
I think it's fair to say that a lot of us (myself included) had bought into the idea that Coach had learned his lessons and would eventually figure it out. Peak One ('98 & '99) got them to the FF's twice, and the close call OT with UMaine. Peak Two ('02 & '03) again got them to the FF's twice, with another close call (Vanek's 3rd period in '03 @ Buffalo) but the first two (and still only) HE Tourney titles in program history. I was much less actively following the UNH program during the Peak Three era due to other commitments I'd taken on (happily), but I do remember the RIT loss as a watershed moment where I started really believing that *maybe* Coach really hadn't figured it out after all, and that the '02 & '03 tourney wins were all about Saviano, Collins and Ayers, et als.
Things were already sliding (almost imperceptibly) by 2010, and that began to accelerate (decelerate?) over the next 5 years, which has then been followed by the cratering of the program over these last three seasons. But the last vestiges of unvarnished optimism about Coach Umile's "ceiling" were vanquished in many fans' minds by that 2010 loss to RIT.
I asked the question a couple of days ago in this thread ... what if Coach Umile stepped down at around that point, at around the same age as Coach Lucia when he stepped down at Minnesota? Coach McCloskey at that point had ripped off several HE Women's titles in a row, and was still in the good graces (to say the least) and probably had it at least in the back of his mind that he'd be ready to switch back over to the Men's side if/when his former boss decided to retire. But Coach Umile decided to continue, and *maybe* a frustrated Coach McCloskey was never the same after that, as BOTH programs began the slide down the league's standings.
I can't help but think McCloskey would have jumped in with both feet had he been offered the reins of the Men's program at the time, and who knows how things would have turned out? I think this may be the most underplayed and under-discussed topic arising from the UNH Hockey programs over the last generation.
Thoughts as offseason grist for the discussion mill (p.s. apologies for breaking the thread rules again)??
got Miller?!?
