UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

[Snively65]

You know in many of the games I saw towards the end, he was doing more of that. Having a puck moving DMan is what UNH has desperately needed; as bad as this season turned out to be I can only imagine if Gildon wasn't here in the first place? The bulk of the goals and assists came from him in that Frosh class, am I right? (you know I won't look it up) I look forward to see what he brings to the game next year. We'll need him to continue to step up...

Gildon was 8+15=23
Maass was 4+13=17
Both played in all 36 games.

When was the last season that two frosh UNH D-men scored double-digit points? And, who were the two (only two, not three, not four).

 

[Greg Ambrose]

I do not know if it is a first, but I do know it is not good for recruiting.

Not a first. Hockey East’s inaugural season was 1985. UNH freshman forward, Steve Leach, made the All Rookie team. 1986 and 1987 nada
1988 Chris Winnes was an All Rookie. 1989 and 1990 nada again. Bet you can’t guess the name of UNH’s first first team All Hockey East. Answer below.






Eric Flinton, 1995

 

[J.D.]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Watched the press conference. Don't know if Souza can coach but he comes across as an impressive guy. Hope he does well, Hockey East is better when UNH is good.

Confused by one thing. Did Scarano say Mike's wife played at BC? Because I thought Souza got up there and talked about how he met his wife at UNH.

 

[Dan]

Watched the press conference. Don't know if Souza can coach but he comes across as an impressive guy. Hope he does well, Hockey East is better when UNH is good.

Confused by one thing. Did Scarano say Mike's wife played at BC? Because I thought Souza got up there and talked about how he met his wife at UNH.

She played two years at UNH and transferred to BC for two more...

 

[J.D.]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

She played two years at UNH and transferred to BC for two more...

Interesting that it sounds like she met Mike there and are now married but decided to transfer to BC

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

well in other non related UNH Hockey news that's one less UConn player to worry about as Letunov signs with the Sharks..

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Clark may return? I have my doubts given a few social media posts I've seen, but, here's the story from Fosters about the presser.

http://www.fosters.com/sports/20180314/souza-officially-introduced-as-unh-mens-hockey-coach

And this one from the Monitor where Souza brings up assistant coach stuff including the possibilities of having Stewie apply for the 'mack position:

http://www.concordmonitor.com/University-of-New-Hampshire-hockey-Mike-Souza-Dick-Umile-16212695

 

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Other notes form the Monitor

Souza brushed off the term “rebuild” when a reporter asked what needs to change to bring the program back to a place where it is contending for conference and national titles.

“I’m not too concerned with what went on this year,” Souza said. “I think the nucleus of our group is strong and excited to get working out this week and get after it. … There’s a lot to be optimistic about. But I’m also a realist and I understand that those words are hollow unless we win hockey games.”

Recruitment is the lifeblood of the college game, and Souza has spent the last seven years focused on building relationships across country and internationally.

From Fosters

“I don’t look at it as a rebuild at all,” Souza said. “Naturally we’ve got to start winning some hockey games and it just perpetuates itself. First you win one and then you win two. Winning becomes infectious just like losing does.

“We can’t worry about what didn’t happen this past season,” he added. “My full focus is on what’s going to happen.”

One of Souza’s biggest strengths is recruiting, and he has connections not only in North America but also in Europe where he played professionally for six years.

and this
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">(1/2) Scarano on resources for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNH</a> hockey: "We’re already working on it, and that’s what we’ve been doing for the better part of a month with my whole administrative team and our finance people, reallocating things, infusing resources into areas that Mike wants to do."</p>— Nick Stoico (@NickStoico) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickStoico/status/974104629167448066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">(2/2) Scarano on resources, continued: "He’s going to do things differently than coach Umile. Some of these areas that we’re going to have to resource are different than what coach Umile did. We’re committed to doing that."</p>— Nick Stoico (@NickStoico) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickStoico/status/974104778643996672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

So, UNH is providing the resources for overseas recruiting? (Thats prob why he thanked Clement, UNH's VP of Finance)

With UNH moving Pierson up for next year, that means there's probably about one or two missing pieces for this year's recruting class.

And with Pierson moving up, the lineup now seems pretty firm

Fr.Crookshank----Jr.Blackburn---Jr.Grasso
Sr.Nazarian------Sr.Vela---------So.Kelleher
Jr.BVR-----------Sr.Miller--------So.McAdams
Fr.Pierson-------Sr.Cefalu-------Jr.Fregona
Fr.Cipollone---- Fr.Esposito-----So.Sato
Jr.Sacco

So.Gildon----Jr.Wyse
So.Maass---Sr.Boyd
Fr.______----Fr.Verrier
Fr.Green-----Jr.Dawson

Fr.Taylor---So.Robinson-- Jr.Lazzaro

“Thinking about this for three years, there’s some people in mind,” he said.

If the assistant is a guy he's thought about for years and will announce soon, It sounds like it'll be White.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

He understands there is a lot of work to be done. His mind he may be closer to "rebuild" than his words are, but using the R word is a public indictment of the events of the past few years which he is savvy enough to avoid. Also, there are several quality pieces in place, the team did not lose all that much with the graduating seniors.

Unless the entire press conference was a politically crafted masterpiece, I am pleased and excited. Marty referenced not being a succession plan advocate except for Mike who is an excellent modern age recruiter. The best part was Mike saying that he has failed if, down the road players look back on their UNH experience as the best four years of their lives.

 

[Greg Ambrose]

If the assistant is a guy he's thought about for years and will announce soon, It sounds like it'll be White.

Wasn’t there a post yesterday that indicated that White was scouting for Winnipeg? My guess would be that a pro job is always better than a college one. Nolan is a pro scout. Mowers is a well. Neither of them have been rumored as candidates at UNH so maybe White is out of the mix as well.

And if the UNH Administration is increasing the hockey budget I’m left wondering how it was previously stacking up against other schools. Perhaps it was no accident that UNH had never recruited in Europe. Or maybe Umile or Borek never asked, or worse, cared.

 

[J.D.]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Depends on if that scout really wants to get into coaching. Believe Madigan went right from being a pro scout to head coach at NU.

 

[Dan]

Where has this 'master recruiter' with loads of NA and international contacts been the last three seasons? We've seen Souza's recruiting in action, to date. He doesn't think UNH needs a rebuild? Until top kids start committing to UNH this is the same bill of goods we were sold three years ago - about how personable he was and how he was going to immediately upgrade incoming talent...

Please, nobody text back with the 'Umile was the HC defense'. It's garbage. Souza was in sole charge of recruiting since his arrival. He's right about one thing though - you have to do it not say it. Despite all theyre saying 'today' about recruiting - very little has been done the last three years to change things at UNH via recruited personnel. With the way they're touting Souza's recruiting chops he better turn things around big time, starting this summer, or they'll end up looking completely foolish and that term will become a punch line...

Bringing in Pierson early may he a good move long term - we still don't really know who he'll be with a mere two games ever played above HS hockey - but will do very little to change next year's fortunes. He's unlikely to be a big time offensive contributor next season. Proven scorers, ready to make a real impact, remain available in the USHL, master...

Turning to an 18 year old with nada junior experience instead, and touting the returning core, leads me to believe Souza doesn't think adding proven USHL scorers is necessary...

 

[Lemonade]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Where has this 'master recruiter' with loads of NA and international contacts been the last three seasons? We've seen Souza's recruiting in action, to date. He doesn't think UNH needs a rebuild? Until top kids start committing to UNH this is the same bill of goods we were sold three years ago - about how personable he was and how he was going to immediately upgrade incoming talent...

Please, nobody text back with the 'Umile was the HC defense'. It's garbage. Souza was in sole charge of recruiting since his arrival. He's right about one thing though - you have to do it not say it. Despite all theyre saying 'today' about recruiting - very little has been done the last three years to change things at UNH via recruited personnel. With the way they're touting Souza's recruiting chops he better turn things around big time, starting this summer, or they'll end up looking completely foolish and that term will become a punch line...

Bringing in Pierson early may he a good move long term - we still don't really know who he'll be with a mere two games ever played above HS hockey - but will do very little to change next year's fortunes. He's unlikely to be a big time offensive contributor next season. Proven scorers, ready to make a real impact, remain available in the USHL, master...

Turning to an 18 year old with nada junior experience instead, and touting the returning core, leads me to believe Souza doesn't think adding proven USHL scorers is necessary...

I watched the press conference and although I like what Souza stands for I am not sure his vision is possible. I didnt get a wave of fresh air, a new strategy, a new focus, a new intensity, a new drive....I got the same old feeling with just a different voice at the podium. The recruiting the last few seasons has been abysmal and so have the results. This program absolutely needs a rebuild and not the same old.

 

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Turning to an 18 year old with nada junior experience instead, and touting the returning core, leads me to believe Souza doesn't think adding proven USHL scorers is necessary...

That was my sense. Message seemed to be that we're a decent team, and improvement will be through off season workouts, not upgrade in personnel.

 

[HockeyRef]

That was my sense. Message seemed to be that we're a decent team, and improvement will be through off season workouts, not upgrade in personnel.

He's counting on his sophomores to develop into big impact players...I hope he's right.

 

[Dan]

I watched the press conference and although I like what Souza stands for I am not sure his vision is possible. I didnt get a wave of fresh air, a new strategy, a new focus, a new intensity, a new drive....I got the same old feeling with just a different voice at the podium. The recruiting the last few seasons has been abysmal and so have the results. This program absolutely needs a rebuild and not the same old.

An elite recruiter would realize that a press conference is about reaching more than just the media - it's a chance to speak directly to top recruits, their coaches and advisors and express to them how they might fit in your program. It's a call to arms that you're coming for talent of their ilk. This was a huge opportunity missed.

Additionally, I'm sure it might help fill the Whitt - a stated goal - if you give the disgruntled and departed fans a reason to expect something different and return. The idea that UNH is right there and can win with the same approach they've had in recent years isn't going to bring anyone back.

You can accomplish both without belittling your current team or bagging on the previous coach. This was a press conference that inspires those who wanted to be inspired...

---

The offense is not getting much better next year as is. They have no one truly capable of creating for themselves or others consistently. There is not a TK or AP in the bunch.

And as we learned - just having a couple of those guys isn't good enough anyway. UNH needs to get back to having consistent classes of top talent. That's how teams win. Stack talent in waves. He may expect the SO to take big jumps - it's still not remotely enough. They need to add scoring talent AND hope the SO (and JRs) take big jumps if they even want to sniff competitiveness next season...

And let's be realistic - the two top scoring SO are defensemen. You cannot count on defensemen to carry your offense - if you do, you have no offense. See the 2017-18 season (long time ago, easy to forget)...

CK will never be TK - he can be very good though, IF he plays with real talent (I.e. The USHL kids). If you're ever planning on EM being a critical scorer you're in trouble. The SO class isn't the answer alone...

Any truly dangerous O will come from the development of the JRs - who will be gone soon, must be replaced and haven't been. Any true team success will only come from supplementing the existing talent with a whole lot more new talent. Otherwise, this team is facing three more years of the same before future recruits would matriculate and at that point it will be real hard for even a master recruiter to attract anyone...

UNH has always needed a UM/Carvel type rebuild - instead they still seem assured that if they just remind people that they're UNH (and they're a family - as if they're the only school who treats players respectfully, allows them to be student-athletes, etc. Thats an expected baseline for every program and not special to UNH. FFS.) things will work out. No change necessary. That's what was reinforced by this press conference...

 

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Couple of possibilities for new UNH assistant are alum Mark White, a Winnipeg Jets scout, and St. Mark’s coach and BU alum Carl Corrazini. Both have longstanding connections to new HC Mike Souza.</p>— Jeff Cox (@JeffCoxSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffCoxSports/status/974365541505826816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Lemonade]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

An elite recruiter would realize that a press conference is about reaching more than just the media - it's a chance to speak directly to top recruits, their coaches and advisors and express to them how they might fit in your program. It's a call to arms that you're coming for talent of their ilk. This was a huge opportunity missed.

Additionally, I'm sure it might help fill the Whitt - a stated goal - if you give the disgruntled and departed fans a reason to expect something different and return. The idea that UNH is right there and can win with the same approach they've had in recent years isn't going to bring anyone back.

You can accomplish both without belittling your current team or bagging on the previous coach. This was a press conference that inspires those who wanted to be inspired...

---

The offense is not getting much better next year as is. They have no one truly capable of creating for themselves or others consistently. There is not a TK or AP in the bunch.

And as we learned - just having a couple of those guys isn't good enough anyway. UNH needs to get back to having consistent classes of top talent. That's how teams win. Stack talent in waves. He may expect the SO to take big jumps - it's still not remotely enough. They need to add scoring talent AND hope the SO (and JRs) take big jumps if they even want to sniff competitiveness next season...

And let's be realistic - the two top scoring SO are defensemen. You cannot count on defensemen to carry your offense - if you do, you have no offense. See the 2017-18 season (long time ago, easy to forget)...

CK will never be TK - he can be very good though, IF he plays with real talent (I.e. The USHL kids). If you're ever planning on EM being a critical scorer you're in trouble. The SO class isn't the answer alone...

Any truly dangerous O will come from the development of the JRs - who will be gone soon, must be replaced and haven't been. Any true team success will only come from supplementing the existing talent with a whole lot more new talent. Otherwise, this team is facing three more years of the same before future recruits would matriculate and at that point it will be real hard for even a master recruiter to attract anyone...

UNH has always needed a UM/Carvel type rebuild - instead they still seem assured that if they just remind people that they're UNH (and they're a family - as if they're the only school who treats players respectfully, allows them to be student-athletes, etc. Thats an expected baseline for every program and not special to UNH. FFS.) things will work out. No change necessary. That's what was reinforced by this press conference...

Exactly my thoughts. They need a Carvel type rebuild - create some buzz in the hockey world. Hire an up and coming new head coach with a fresh vision for the program. Lets face it, not one recruit was alive when UNH was a Frozen Four team, that glory day theme has long left the barn. Recruits only know UNH as an also ran and currently the worst team in Hockey East. Add to that a rookie head coach with an unproven track record and its going to be a massive uphill battle for Souza. If you are a prized recruit you are looking at every other Hockey East program before UNH - maybe Merrimack or UVM is behind them.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH 2018 Offseason- Out with the old , in with the semi new?

Haven't had a chance to follow closely, but I'm with Dan and Lemonade in being underwhelmed by yesterday.

Put me down for Corrazini over White. Liked him as a player, and a non-UNH perspective would be nice.

 

[Dan]

Haven't had a chance to follow closely, but I'm with Dan and Lemonade in being underwhelmed by yesterday.

Put me down for Corrazini over White. Liked him as a player, and a non-UNH perspective would be nice.

Put me down as extremely underwhelmed if, after years of hoping Souza planned in adding legitimate recruiting help, he hires a guy who has NEVER recruited or coached at the collegiate level. I suppose he recruits to St Marks (someone with prep school ties can tell me how he does in that regard) and he may have the right personality, but I'm not really interested in simply hoping he can do it...

I'll be underwhelmed with either - simply hiring a buddy does nothing for me and would be a red flag...