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UNH 2024/2025 Goldberg Edition

bakchk20 said:
Sorry to sidebar from the current dialog. Some fair points and considerations from all you guys in this debate. To distill it down to the simplest and most obvious, as Nike said of Tiger: "winning takes care of everything". Just win...

Chuck - I don't think this is a fair bullet to fire at MS7. I know you loved the big sheet, as did a bunch of other people on here (nod to you, Dan, with due respect for our long-ago repartee on the topic...). And truthfully, I did as well - intially. But over time I reaized it was the novelty I liked, not the game on the big sheet. Clearly, some of this boils down to personal preference and for me, some personal experience. Probably TMI but I've played (poorly) decades of sh!!ty mens league hockey all over NH. But the eye-opener for me was during the 3 years I lived in Orlando. We played at the RDV facility which has both; NHL and Oly sheets. Playing D, I hated games on the big sheet. Of course it was no-check so with all that perimeter room, you never dared to challenge a forward entering the zone. Goalies would be screaming at us; "step - up on him!!" We'd be like, "ok, but you'd better be ready for the guy to be in your face...alone". At the much higher level of D-1 hockey, I gotta believe this became a real factor - of the many - in the now universal decisions to shrink college rinks. The advantage for jitterbug forwards was not an advantage for the guys playing D.

Anyway, I digress and recognize I'm beating a dead horse. Bottom line for me as a fan...I prefer to see the skill (or not) of players in tight, close quarters under pressure with impending contact, not winging it around the perimeter, going for a sunday afternoon lake-skate, which always bored the crap out of me. But thats just me.

Lastly, as a matter of fact, by this time next season - fall 2025 - the last 2 Oly sheets in college hockey (Alaska and St. Cloud) will be converted to NHL or hybrid. That makes all (probably a dozen+/-) rinks build in the Oly-sheet zenith of the 90's to be shrunk. Seems that a lot of qualified hockey minds don't feel the "competitive advantage" (goalies hated it too) stands up as a "must have" anymore. It was largely a recruiting thing at the time that evolved to became a recruiting disadvantage, especially when the IOC allowed NHL players into the winter games in late 90's. Times have changed.

FWIW, this is a link to an old article on the topic but the case made for shrinking still holds up, IMHO.

https://www.therinklive.com/mens-div...are-going-away
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I think the answer to the developmental issue - especially for defensemen - is right before our eyes. Pesce and TvR both played exclusively on the big sheet. Regardless, both moved seamlessly into the NHL, and both have been decade-long steady, valued players - Pesce as a top four guy on good teams, and TvR as a bottom four guy on a wide range of teams - but one that won the ultimate trophy. Otherwise, there was a LONG line of Umile Era forwards who reached the NHL, at various levels of tenure and success. MS7 has virtually zip, and it's not like he just started a year or two ago.

I'll flesh this issue out a LOT further once we get to the mid-semester break. Research is already in the can, folks.
 
HockeyRef said:
Not a bad guess Snives! Despite a lousy 3rd we hung on to get the W. Sweet game for our boy Marty! Da Whale continues to impress when it counts.

wow didn't realize we went ten seasons without a win at Matthews...I should because I went to most of them!

Three in a row and 5-1-1 in their last 7 (according to NESN guys?) Big PWR test coming with the Big Green...

14 in PWR FWIW dept...go 'Cats!
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Our old nemesis St Lawrence knocked off Big Green in Hanover 3-2 tonight, which dropped Dartmouth from 3rd to 13th in PWR, so Reid Cashman will be looking to right their ship next weekend.

Hey, at least we are out of the the HEA basement for the time being, at least until UMass-Flagship plays at BU tomorrow night.
 
TheGrouchyCat said:
Yes. I grew up in Exeter and lived next door to Dana Barbin.

He would bring the bring the team over to the house for homecooked meals and beer. As a little boy, I was the keg pumper and an unofficial mascot. I think all my sticks were cutoffs given to me by various players, in addition to hand me down gloves.

My first memory ever was a game at Snively. My dad grew up in Duluth and was quite the player himself, so we always went to games.

As for UNH, I went because it was relatively cheap. I was the poor kid who was accepted to the Exeters and Andovers of the world and the Tier 1 universities but didn't have the cash. So, I found UNH terribly easy and quite boring. I ended up going to the library to read a book a day on whatever caught my fancy. As an autodidact, I found it easy to teach myself, but knew I needed a degree.

Upon graduation, I moved to the border of China/Mongolia to work for a company as the only foreigner in a city of 4mm and never looked back. Even then, my parents would send VHS tapes of games broadcast on Channel 11.
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Urumqi, Hohot or Lanzhou? Ramona says each of those are hundreds of miles/km's from the Mongolian border ... :D ;)
 
Potluck said:
Dan: I appreciate the Tony Robbins speech but that's all it really is. The failure to get the renovations going is about money. Second rate player facilities is money. Your argument that you can simply talk people into accepting less is pretty hollow stuff when the audience knows better. Good recruits have advisors and parents that can see through the Tony Robbins foolishness. Commitment is unmistakable when you see it. I've been reading about the third rate customer service treatment season ticket holders get from the administration. That's NOT Mike Souza. The elimination of the Friends of UNH hockey. Not Mike Souza. Mike Souza is likely not the solution. But he's also not the problem.
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Some of these decisions are not Mike Souza, but as a coach you should express to the AD and other powers that this treatment is a detriment to the program. That is Mike Souza. Not working the streets and having face to face time is on him. Last week there were 100+ people in the lobby for the charity event. Perfect time to walk around, say hi, and have some conversations. Instead, it was a 10–20-minute appearance in a corner and then gone.

I am beyond tired of the money/facility argument. You got $6M and all we have is a blue sign on the building. Where is the outreach? Emails with updates on where the project stands? Any sort of events to raise funds? Per the UNH website construction manager interviews were August 8th. Thats the update. The on-ice performance, recruits that is him.
 
Potluck said:
Dan: Umile had a brand new hockey arena fall into his lap a few years into his tenure. When built, the Whit was the number 2 college hockey rink in the east. Bill Bowes likely could have recruited good hockey players during the first few years in that place. Umile took advantage of the low hanging fruit and won a lot of games. But then the building and Whistling Dick aged . The one that could be updated never was.

Umile only got the big salary boost by threatening to leave for UMass. That’s not supporting a program. That’s responding to a threat. That’s very poor management to let it come to that.

I’d like to know the recruiting budgets at all HE schools. During Walsh’s heyday he had Grant Standbrook basically on the road full time recruiting. Does anyone doubt UNH is near the bottom of HE recruiting budgets?
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Umile coached 6 seasons prior to the Whit opening so it did not fall into his lap.
 
HockeyRef said:
...5-1-1 in their last 7 (according to NESN guys?) Big PWR test coming with the Big Green...
Click to expand...

0-0-1 vs Maine
2-0-0 vs RIT
1-0-0 vs LIU
2-0-1 vs Northeastern

Beating the teams they should. That has to continue, here's what's next...

Dartmouth
Rensselaer
Princeton
Princeton
Connecticut
Connecticut

They really need 5-1-0 or 4-2-0, at worst, through this stretch. Split with UConn, sweep RPI & Princeton and the Dartmouth very important for how that stretch is viewed in totality/PWR.

After the UConn series - outside of two with UVM and one with Merrimack - its all Boston University (3), Boston College (3), Maine (2), Lowell (2) and UMass (2). So the time to make hey, and generate momentum, is now...
 
Right now, we (UNH) are scratching the surface with TDL (Tony DiLorenzo of Key Auto Group). There are guys who are on the back end of very profitable careers in the real world like Joe Faro (Tuscan Village empire in Salem NH) and Sal Lupoli (Sal's), who is about to try to launch a billion dollar upgrade to the Casino complex on Hampton Beach, which is working its way through the local planning boards. IIRC at least Faro has his education history in Durham. Lupoli has sold a lot of pizza slices up and down the Merrimack Valley, and has transformed a decent chunk of the Lawrence waterfront (hold the chuckles) into profitable commercial real estate. Dean Kamen is also a name that comes to mind, although I'm not sure his Segway thing ever changed the world like many thought it would. At least two of these guys could match if not surpass what the Alfond Family Trust has done for UMaine. Are the folks in Durham too snooty to mingle with two Italian guys who made their dough on pizza and Italian cuisine?? Maybe Faro and Lupoli missed a trick, not buying out The Rosa one of the half-dozen times it's changed hands since Umile was its favorite customer???

These questions need to be asked. Darius??? ;)
 
Chuck: Lazy? Sal Lupoli went to Northeastern but, you know, Faro and Lupoli are both Italian and I’m sure that’s enough for Lupoli to help fund renovations at the Whit.
 
Potluck said:
Chuck: Lazy? Sal Lupoli went to Northeastern but, you know, Faro and Lupoli are both Italian and I’m sure that’s enough for Lupoli to help fund renovations at the Whit.
Click to expand...

Yes, lazy. Look at my post, I said "at least Faro" because I know he attended UNH, and I was uncertain about Lupoli.

But Sal is running a potential billion-dollar project at Hampton Beach, maybe 15-20 miles away from State U. I'm sure playing nice with USNH has crossed his mind at some point to attract support up in Concord, once the project clears the Town (and it's getting close). You'd think folks in Durham would be paying attention to all three of these guys (I'm not even sure if TDL is a UNH guy, but that hasn't stopped him, has it?) in these days of dwindling enrollments and developing public-private partnerships. I'm certainly not limiting stuff to The Whitt, either.

Faro has shown how to develop a major league destination out of a deserted racetrack - stuff that has eluded folks in Seabrook, East Boston and Revere (to name a few within an hour of the Seacoast). I bet he could do something similar on the back side of UNH, across the tracks from The Whitt (or even closer to Chez Scarano across the street), and fortunately away from any population mass, with easy access to Route 4. It would work like a smaller version of what Krafty Bob has built over the last 20 years around the new Foxboro stadium. Talk about public-private, and a host of seasonal employment opportunities for nearby students. You just have to get the mix right.

He's eventually gonna finish Tuscan Village in Salem, so a similar project with his college of yore could be pitched as his ride-off-into-the-sunset, second once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He's an ambitious guy, a visionary who has encountered failure in the past, and emerged all the stronger in the wake of early missteps. The idea of doing something with UNH, I'd bet a fair slice he'd be up for that, so what's the harm in asking? TDL can put the finishing touches on The Whitt upgrade, and Faro/UNH can plot UNH's way for the next half-century. The Seacoast has grown a lot in my time here (almost 40 years now), so if the next generation or two is gonna feature less federal subsidies for colleges/universities, why not get a further head start on becoming more and more self-reliant?

Nice road win tonight for the 'Cats. Take down the Big Green next weekend, and we go to the break kinda happy ...
 
Darius said:
UNH sweeps this weekend. By Monday there are dozens of new posts on this thread. A few have to do with the games. ;)
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Does it count as a sweep if the poster/predictor didn't look and the schedule and know it was a one game weekend? lol
 
Dan said:
After the UConn series - outside of two with UVM and one with Merrimack - its all Boston University (3), Boston College (3), Maine (2), Lowell (2) and UMass (2). So the time to make hey, and generate momentum, is now...
Click to expand...
I happened, for some unknown reason :rolleyes:, to actually look at the schedule. This stretch will be telling with potential to be ugly.
 
Darius said:
Does it count as a sweep if the poster/predictor didn't look and the schedule and know it was a one game weekend? lol
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You bet! Another way to look at it is we 'won' the series with NU...hey it's a start...(insert smiley face)
 
Chuck Murray said:
Right now, we (UNH) are scratching the surface with TDL (Tony DiLorenzo of Key Auto Group). There are guys who are on the back end of very profitable careers in the real world like Joe Faro (Tuscan Village empire in Salem NH) and Sal Lupoli (Sal's), who is about to try to launch a billion dollar upgrade to the Casino complex on Hampton Beach, which is working its way through the local planning boards. IIRC at least Faro has his education history in Durham. Lupoli has sold a lot of pizza slices up and down the Merrimack Valley, and has transformed a decent chunk of the Lawrence waterfront (hold the chuckles) into profitable commercial real estate. Dean Kamen is also a name that comes to mind, although I'm not sure his Segway thing ever changed the world like many thought it would. At least two of these guys could match if not surpass what the Alfond Family Trust has done for UMaine. Are the folks in Durham too snooty to mingle with two Italian guys who made their dough on pizza and Italian cuisine?? Maybe Faro and Lupoli missed a trick, not buying out The Rosa one of the half-dozen times it's changed hands since Umile was its favorite customer???

These questions need to be asked. Darius??? ;)
Click to expand...
I know nothing of or about DiLorenzo and Faro or the ethnic circles Durham folks mingle in. Dean Kamen I do know a little about. He has a LOT of money, probably a lot more than DiLorenzo and Faro combined. The Segway was cool but a tinker toy compared to the work Dean has done with infusion pumps, dialysis machines, the iBot, water purification systems and now ARMI which I believe UNH Manch with its STEM focus is involved with. I've been fortunate to meet Dean a few times at his facility and once at a fundraiser he hosted in his home. He is definitely a man who successfully partners with many government and non government organizations, but I never got the impression he cares at all about sports.

Fun fact: the fundraiser meal was served in the large attached garage with a door large enough to allow Dean to pilot his helicopter in for storage or maintenance.
 
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