UNH 2021 Off-Season Thread: Finally!?!

[NCAA watcher]

I'd written more, but it hurts the soul to see a program do what UNH should have done. Yelling in anger or "I told you sos" at the current hockey program doesn't accomplish anything. But it is important to remind that fault lies foremost with Umile, who had leverage from his lifetime contract and chose to use it in an awful way. There was some suggestion he deliberately screwed it up to improve his legacy. No, he's just incompetent. And purely local. It permeated his recruiting before McCloskey and permeated all of his relationships and hiring. So, him forcing the process for "his guy" is such a fitting legacy to him.

I yell a lot about Scarano, because he was complicit. But we don't know what his options were. Remember, Umile recruited him to UNH with the godfather Italian restaurant meeting, so maybe Scarano was a full-blown believer that Umile knows best and that a standard hiring process (say, a search committee of outside voices) or hiring someone with any sort of track record (like, being an assistant with a team over .500) was not needed.

But in fairness, assuming Scarano knew better (i.e., that the transition plan was stupid and that the hire was unworthy of the choice), what choice did he have? If Umile truly had the lifetime deal, and said "I'll hold the program hostage, and drag this program down even more over the next 10 years while I cling to power unless you do what I say," wouldn't you capitulate? Hire an unqualified guy on the off-chance that Umile might make a right personnel decision. And if it doesn't work, you have the same "lost decade" that you would have watching Umile fumble around trying to find Melrose kids to fill the roster.

But let this sink in:
Barr has been signed to a four-year contract that will pay him more than $235,000 per year at the start, the Bangor Daily News reported

Coach Souza
2019--$378,120
2020--$378,120

Barr, for all of his track record, still faces formidable obstacles to get kids to go to Maine. But I bet he has a plan and will actually hit the ground running, unlike other new coaches, ahem. I'd say UNH and Maine go after the same sort of kids (non city kids), with UNH having an advantage geographically and academically. It's been weak solace saying we're better than them. If Maine now manages to jump over UNH is the cost to push UNH to hire standards, then I will have to accept this, without jealousy or animosity. And hope that someone other than Scarano makes the next hire.

 

[Chuck Murray]

I'd written more, but it hurts the soul to see a program do what UNH should have done. Yelling in anger or "I told you sos" at the current hockey program doesn't accomplish anything. But it is important to remind that fault lies foremost with Umile, who had leverage from his lifetime contract and chose to use it in an awful way. There was some suggestion he deliberately screwed it up to improve his legacy. No, he's just incompetent. And purely local. It permeated his recruiting before McCloskey and permeated all of his relationships and hiring. So, him forcing the process for "his guy" is such a fitting legacy to him.

I yell a lot about Scarano, because he was complicit. But we don't know what his options were. Remember, Umile recruited him to UNH with the godfather Italian restaurant meeting, so maybe Scarano was a full-blown believer that Umile knows best and that a standard hiring process (say, a search committee of outside voices) or hiring someone with any sort of track record (like, being an assistant with a team over .500) was not needed.

But in fairness, assuming Scarano knew better (i.e., that the transition plan was stupid and that the hire was unworthy of the choice), what choice did he have? If Umile truly had the lifetime deal, and said "I'll hold the program hostage, and drag this program down even more over the next 10 years while I cling to power unless you do what I say," wouldn't you capitulate? Hire an unqualified guy on the off-chance that Umile might make a right personnel decision. And if it doesn't work, you have the same "lost decade" that you would have watching Umile fumble around trying to find Melrose kids to fill the roster.

But let this sink in:
Barr has been signed to a four-year contract that will pay him more than $235,000 per year at the start, the Bangor Daily News reported

Coach Souza
2019--$378,120
2020--$378,120

Great post, 'Watcher. If we agree that (perhaps) the AD had to swallow a bitter pill to get Umile off the bench ... well, it's been three (3) full seasons now, what's preventing the AD from growing a pair and moving in his own direction? Unless the Umile direction is one and the same as the AD's direction? Or is the AD worried that Umile "knows people", and he doesn't like to hear violin music when he's ̶d̶o̶z̶i̶n̶g̶ working hard at his desk?

At some point, when do we hold the AD as complicit in allowing this fiasco to continue?

 

[NCAA watcher]

At some point, when do we hold the AD as complicit in allowing this fiasco to continue?

The problem with mediocrity is that it's hard to distinguish between acceptable mediocrity vs. excellence. Like what Maine had with Gendron -- overall bad results but with a few positives that you can point to to say "maybe."

I can find enough good points to say "give him a couple of years." Transfers like Ward and Blaisdell, and recruits like Evans, Ardanaz, Carfagna, Gagne are the sort you can hope work out and move UNH to mid-HE. They've improved over the god awful recruiting from 2015-2018 of friends and family relationships.

But is dreaming about a 5th place finish the goal? So, I'd say three more years to see if the positive signs move the program more steadily in the right direction to the 5-7 range, AND if that translates to recruiting in a more selective category.

 

[HockeyRef]

The problem with mediocrity is that it's hard to distinguish between acceptable mediocrity vs. excellence. Like what Maine had with Gendron -- overall bad results but with a few positives that you can point to to say "maybe."

I can find enough good points to say "give him a couple of years." Transfers like Ward and Blaisdell, and recruits like Evans, Ardanaz, Carfagna, Gagne are the sort you can hope work out and move UNH to mid-HE. They've improved over the god awful recruiting from 2015-2018 of friends and family relationships.

But is dreaming about a 5th place finish the goal? So, I'd say three more years to see if the positive signs move the program more steadily in the right direction to the 5-7 range, AND if that translates to recruiting in a more selective category.

I appreciated this 'Watcher as I had been thinking that, wait a minute, we've got some good prospects coming in, and, have other strengths. Could be an interesting 2-3 years as you say. I'm game. Go 'Cats!

 

[Chuck Murray]

Do we want to have some kind of Stanley Cup predictions/discussion to get us through the next couple of months, with the dead spot in the college hockey calendar now upon us?

So I'll go first. My picks for each division (head vs. heart picks, too):

East: B's over Caps/Islanders over Pens/B's over Islanders (head); Islanders (heart)
Central: Bolts over Panthers/Canes over Preds/Bolts over Canes (head); Preds (heart)
North: Leafs over Habs/Jets over Oilers/Leafs over Jets (head - really!); Jets (heart)
West: Vegas over Wild/Blues over Avs (head - upset)/Vegas over Blues; Blues (heart)

B's looking really strong down the stretch, only question to me is whether Trotz can trip them up in the Divisional Finals. Only leaning towards TBL in the Central due to their status as defending champs, otherwise Florida and Carolina look really strong too. This will be the year for Toronto to finally make the next big step in their development, I think the Oilers will flatter to deceive despite the McDavid love-a-thon that's been going on lately. In the West, the Avs' defensive issues likely will cost them in the postseason yet again, they strike me as "Toronto West", a couple years behind the curve.

Jump in, anyone and everyone ...

 

[HockeyRef]

Do we want to have some kind of Stanley Cup predictions/discussion to get us through the next couple of months, with the dead spot in the college hockey calendar now upon us?

So I'll go first. My picks for each division (head vs. heart picks, too):

East: B's over Caps/Islanders over Pens/B's over Islanders (head); Islanders (heart)
Central: Bolts over Panthers/Canes over Preds/Bolts over Canes (head); Preds (heart)
North: Leafs over Habs/Jets over Oilers/Leafs over Jets (head - really!); Jets (heart)
West: Vegas over Wild/Blues over Avs (head - upset)/Vegas over Blues; Blues (heart)

B's looking really strong down the stretch, only question to me is whether Trotz can trip them up in the Divisional Finals. Only leaning towards TBL in the Central due to their status as defending champs, otherwise Florida and Carolina look really strong too. This will be the year for Toronto to finally make the next big step in their development, I think the Oilers will flatter to deceive despite the McDavid love-a-thon that's been going on lately. In the West, the Avs' defensive issues likely will cost them in the postseason yet again, they strike me as "Toronto West", a couple years behind the curve.

Jump in, anyone and everyone ...

Bruins will have to be on their A game to beat both Wash and Islanders (assuming Isles can beat Pitt). I think they can. Fun part: 4 former UNH'ers in the mix of all of this (Pesce, TvR, Foegel, deSmith) although saw on Twitter today Pesce not at morning skate? Let's go Bruins!!!!!!

 

[Snively65]

Bruins will have to be on their A game to beat both Wash and Islanders (assuming Isles can beat Pitt). I think they can. Fun part: 4 former UNH'ers in the mix of all of this (Pesce, TvR, Foegel, deSmith) although saw on Twitter today Pesce not at morning skate? Let's go Bruins!!!!!!

Who is missing from this group? Oh, wait ...... I remember ....... our most successful UNH alum in the NHL. Sigh.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Who is missing from this group? Oh, wait ...... I remember ....... our most successful UNH alum in the NHL. Sigh.

Yup. But JvR did lead the 6th place Flyers in overall scoring this season, while former UNH commit/defect Joel Farabee led the Flyers with 20 goals. JvR has proven himself to be exactly what I've stated he was all along - an above-average NHL player who can be a top-sixer on a non-contending team, but only an expensive spare part (3rd line/PP specialist?) for a true Cup contender.

For those who think UNH Hockey is rich with excuses, check out this post-mortem on the Flyers ...

Flyers drop from trendy East favorite to another lost season | Hockey | stltoday.com

 

[NCAA watcher]

I appreciated this 'Watcher as I had been thinking that, wait a minute, we've got some good prospects coming in, and, have other strengths. Could be an interesting 2-3 years as you say. I'm game. Go 'Cats!

Let's see what kind of momentum they get. On August 1st the recruiting period for 05s opens up. UNH has been shut out of top NE players for a while, and at last year's 8/1 deadline similarly was not active with top players. BU/BC/Northeastern/Providence and U.Mass always get the cream of the crop. That's a good barometer of how the advisor community views the staff. Hard to win without those top 1%ers.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Let's see what kind of momentum they get. On August 1st the recruiting period for 05s opens up. UNH has been shut out of top NE players for a while, and at last year's 8/1 deadline similarly was not active with top players. BU/BC/Northeastern/Providence and U.Mass always get the cream of the crop. That's a good barometer of how the advisor community views the staff. Hard to win without those top 1%ers.

Gotta think there will be another school added to the list of "haves" this season, making inroads into the top recruits' hearts and minds. Better still, that school will be a northern New England school ... unfortunately, it'll be the school located about 3 hours northeast of Durham along the extended Route 95 corridor. Because, you know, they now have a coach respected by those in the "advisor community". As opposed to being "Dick Umile's nephew" (per Luce Canaan, circa 2015) ...

 

[Dan]

I wish I shared Watcher’s optimism about an uptick in recruiting. Looks the same to me, some good players - not enough. Bottom third of the standings...

Nineteen skaters dress. A Gildon, or even a Poturalski/Kelleher, can’t do it alone - and UNH’s current top guns aren’t at that level anyway.

If a Rickwood signing starts a snowball effect we’ll see, but until then I don’t see anything from the past six years that says I’m trending up and deserve three more...

—-

As most have seen I’m sure, Kacey Bellamy is retiring - the last link to UNH Women’s hockey relevancy. At least the UNH men haven’t fallen THAT far...

 

[Chuck Murray]

I wish I shared Watcher's optimism about an uptick in recruiting. Looks the same to me, some good players - not enough. Bottom third of the standings...

Nineteen skaters dress. A Gildon, or even a Poturalski/Kelleher, can't do it alone - and UNH's current top guns aren't at that level anyway.

If a Rickwood signing starts a snowball effect we'll see, but until then I don't see anything from the past six years that says I'm trending up and deserve three more...

The most troubling thing I've taken from 'Watcher's recent post was just how poorly UNH is apparently viewed as a place for top player development throughout the advisor community. Hard to make anything but slow incremental progress through development of mid-level prospects, to establish you can indeed develop your recruits into next-level players.

I guess the best example of that is what Bazin has done for the most part at Lowell. But even with a more-than-decent track record of getting the most out of his teams, even Bazin apparently isn't allowed to sit at the "big kid's table". If that's the case, you can only imagine the road that MS7 and his staff are going to have to travel to gain access to top level talents in this area anyway.

 

[NCAA watcher]

The most troubling thing I've taken from 'Watcher's recent post was just how poorly UNH is apparently viewed as a place for top player development throughout the advisor community. Hard to make anything but slow incremental progress through development of mid-level prospects, to establish you can indeed develop your recruits into next-level players.

Its nothing new. UNH used to be the #3 choice for Mass kids who didn't want to be in the city with BC/BU. We won recruiting wars for difference makers like Sean Collins and Mike Souza. We're six years into the new era, and we're relegated to hoping the Austin Prep coach Lou Finocchiaro will send an interesting B- prospect like Eric Macadams, Ryan Verrier or Aiden Curran to us, or Tim Lovell/Boston Advantage will send his 3rd or 4th best player like Wyse, Cronin, Jack Ring, Nick Ring, Joe Nagle, or NHLers will send their not-BC/Bu worthy kids to us, like Joe Sacco, David Sacco, Connor Sweeney, Brendan Fitzgerald.

While we're killing time to next weekend, let's have a poll of the Souza five and a half years since he was hired by Scarano and Umile from U.Conn in 2015.
Question 1: UNH's tradition of elite Mass kids like Kelleher, Butler, Moses, Thompson, Pollastrone, Collins, Saviano, Souza, Bognuicki, Tom Nolan, Eric Nickulas. Who is the best New england recruit of the Souza era? I'm thinking Wyse has it by a long amount, but who is number 2? J.P. Turner????

And Dan, as for the uptick in recruiting, I agree the top end is less dynamic than Gildon, but more importantly, there is more depth. Recruiting is not bringing in kids we all scratched our heads at from 2015-2018. Remember the core of the D that Souza recruited? Lucas Bahn, James Miller, Corson Green and Ryan Verrier? Each recruiting profile started with "what other schools did you consider? Well, I visited X, but they hadn't offered. UNH was the first to offer." And confirming the point, the Souza apologist kept saying Souza was finally ready to pounce, visiting Nova Scotia, going after Connor Hillis, etc., only to strike out soundly. You and I both saw this fallow period coming.

Against that really low bar, the past two years have had far fewer head scratching choices. The lineup for the D, with Gagne, Ardanaz and Carfagna, seems strong behind Luke Reid (and I guess Eriksson, if he can find a role). Sure, Penney had a weak year, and Huard is limited but that's a solid foundation.

On offense we still have more lower profile recruits, like Margel, Winters, Devlin, where you shrugged your shoulders why they were picked, but then again, I like Liam Connors more than Devlin at St. Sebs, and looks like I was wrong about that. But they also have John Evans, who will be like Crookshank, Ward, Blaisdell and Pierson, and if they could get Rickwood, and if Carfarelli busts his but to compete, there's a 6-8 HE squad.

So, it is the slow and steady Madigan build -- an unimpressive head coach in a good spot waiting for his Jerry Keefe to be able to sell that. I'm not claiming UNH reached that tipping point, but there's enough there so that the right assistant hire could put some lipstick on the UNH slow build and push UNH up.

 

[wildcatdc]

Watcher, you can add Margel back into the mix for the Fall.

 

[Chuck Murray]

So, it is the slow and steady Madigan build -- an unimpressive head coach in a good spot waiting for his Jerry Keefe to be able to sell that. I'm not claiming UNH reached that tipping point, but there's enough there so that the right assistant hire could put some lipstick on the UNH slow build and push UNH up.

Does anyone have any insight into whether "the right assistant hire" is in any way imminent, or is just another mirage-like milepost we'll have to wait indefinitely to happen, since our esteemed AD has his default programming option set to inactivity and malaise?

I mean, gosh, I'd really hate to break up the band, it's been SO successful after all, but maybe just *maybe* some of UNH's dedicated fanbase might like to see some "rearranging of the deck chairs" on the Titanic, because, y'know, things presently don't seem to be working? I mean, what's the worst that can happen?? Another bottom 3 finish with no real postseason???

 

[NCAA watcher]

Updated:

Sr.Ward----------Sr.Pierson--------Sr.McAdams
Jr.Blaisdell------Sr.Engaras--------So.Gendron
Jr.Stevenson---Jr.Hermann-------Fr.Cronin
So.Richels-------So.Cafarelli--------Fr.Evans
Fr.Margel--------Sr.Cipollone-------Sr.Esposito
Fr.Ring-----------Fr.Sweeney-----Jr.Hankinson

[out - Crookshank, Kelleher, Grasso, Sato, in --- Cronin, Blaisdell, Evans, Sweeney, Ring, Margel]

Jr.Eriksson------So.Reid
Sr.MacKinnon---Sr.Verrier
Fr.Huard--------So.Jenson
Fr.Gagne-------Sr.Semandel
Sr.Hickey
[out- Maass, Nagle, in -- Huard, Gagne, possible Ardanaz]

Sr.Robinson----Jr.Fessenden------So.Forman

 

[Dan]

...But they also have John Evans, who will be like Crookshank, Ward, Blaisdell and Pierson, and if they could get Rickwood, and if Carfarelli busts his but to compete, there's a 6-8 HE squad.

So, it is the slow and steady Madigan build -- an unimpressive head coach in a good spot waiting for his Jerry Keefe to be able to sell that. I'm not claiming UNH reached that tipping point, but there's enough there so that the right assistant hire could put some lipstick on the UNH slow build and push UNH up.

The problem remains a lack of consolidation of top talent - and hanging on to certain upperclassmen ensures that the development of UNH's better recruits is spread far too thin. Most of the upperclass names you mention are fine players, but they're not top-line or top-pair talent and the depth behind them is either not up to par or not quite ready for par...

By the time Evans, Turner or potentially Rickwood would be ready to contribute in a top-six role, Ward, Pierson and Blaisdell will be gone. It's a continuation of the cycle UNH has been stuck in for years - some talent, not enough...

When UNH was successful they rostered an elite upperclass first line, emerging top-line talent on the second unit and at least one more line of developmental first line players. Current UNH teams are lucky to have 2-4 top line talents at all, let alone developed together for one season in time. I don't see that changing as currently put together.

I'm not impressed by Madigan from afar, but NU fans who are much closer to the situation speak highly of his salesmanship. I'm not sure its an apt comparison other than his slow start. Additionally, I share Chuck's concern about whether hiring a hot-shot recruiting assistant is even on the horizon. Remember, last time Souza was in a position to hire a recruiter he hired Giuliano, who had ZERO recruiting experience...

--

In a surprising move, Peter Mannino left his HC gig in the USHL to be an assistant at CC. He is the kind of guy who could have had a huge impact at UNH. He did a great job recruiting in short stings at UNO and Miami - and honestly, it would have been VERY interesting to see what he could have done at Miami if Blasi hadn't been fired after one season. That said, I see no urgency from UNH to hire a recruiter and no signs of Souza wanting to give up command of that role despite the results (back end of the roster being his only real sustained success)...

 

[NCAA watcher]

Remember, last time Souza was in a position to hire a recruiter he hired Giuliano, who had ZERO recruiting experience...

--

In a surprising move, Peter Mannino left his HC gig in the USHL to be an assistant at CC. He is the kind of guy who could have had a huge impact at UNH. He did a great job recruiting in short stings at UNO and Miami - and honestly, it would have been VERY interesting to see what he could have done at Miami if Blasi hadn't been fired after one season.

Now, why are you trying to stiffle my attempt at optimism? I mean, I was in a funk when Maine surprisingly did the right thing and hired 1) an outsider and 2) someone who actually had a track record of success.

Now you come at me with Colorado College hiring an outsider with success as an assistant (not even the top job), and on the heels of this, U.Mass fills its assistant job with a successful assistant who was even able to bring Princeton to the NCAAs.

“We are very excited to welcome Matt Lindsay to our program,” Carvel said in a release. “Matt is one of the most experienced and well-respected assistant coaches in college hockey. He has a long track record of impressive recruiting which has resulted in championship level teams at Penn State and Princeton. Matt brings a wealth of knowledge and professionalism with him to UMass and is known as one of the hardest working recruiters on the circuit. Beyond all of that he is a high quality person and he will add to the culture of our program.”

He was with the Nittany Lions when they debuted as a Division 1 program in 2012 and helped Penn State to a conference tournament championship in 2017 and regular season title in 2020. He was an assistant at Princeton from 2007-11 when the Tigers made two NCAA Tournaments and set a school record for wins in 2009.

Sure, its not three sub-500 years at Brown, followed by three sub-500 years at UConn before being appointed the heir apparent by your near uncle, and getting the job three years later after three more sub-500 years at UNH. But remember, as they say in the commercials, past results are not indicative of future performance. At UNH they take that very seriously. It's all if you're a member of the family and how well you do in the meeting with the don in the backroom of his Italian joint.

See, you've done it again Dan, distracting me from the potential optimism, back to the dark place that Umile brings me to every time I think about him.

Reminds me of the Celtic's 1993 demise:

Paul Gaston, who had assumed control of the team from his father, Don Gaston, earning him the nickname "Thanks-Dad"

 

[Chuck Murray]

Sure, its not three sub-500 years at Brown, followed by three sub-500 years at UConn before being appointed the heir apparent by your near uncle, and getting the job three years later after three more sub-500 years at UNH. But remember, as they say in the commercials, past results are not indicative of future performance. At UNH they take that very seriously. It's all if you're a member of the family and how well you do in the meeting with the don in the backroom of his Italian joint.

So that means MS7 is now up to a dozen years of non-winning hockey in a row, eh?

I never thought I'd live long enough to see UNH Hockey eclipse UNH Hoops in the futility stakes ...

 

[NCAA watcher]

So that means MS7 is now up to a dozen years of non-winning hockey in a row, eh?

Not quite. U.Conn was 15-9 in the Atlantic Conference his first season as an assistant, and UNH hit .500 in 2019-20.

Cavanaugh's contract extension began in April, 2021, and runs through April, 2026, with a starting salary of $360,000, which will increase each season for a total package of $1.9 million, plus performance incentives and a retention bonus of $150,000 that will be paid on April 1, 2026 if he is still the UConn coach.

"Eight years ago, Mike Cavanaugh was tasked with the challenge of leading UConn hockey through its transition from Atlantic Hockey and into the best conference in the country," Benedict said. "Over the last several seasons, we have been competitive with the best teams in the country and there is a lot of momentum behind this program. It is clear that Cav is a great fit and the right leader to take UConn hockey to the next level."