TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Let's dilute Division I College Hockey even more...
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UNH 2024/2025 Goldberg Edition
- Thread starter norbert
- Start date
Let's dilute Division I College Hockey even more...
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
MS7 doesn't ooze confidence or competence, if we're being honest, to either prospective players or potential donors. He is the Willy Loman of college hockey coaches.
Didn't attend last Friday's game due to another commitment, but followed the live stats online.
DB's statement above is something that I could not have said better. "The Emperor has no clothes" (which was a throwback to the latter Umile years, for those of you that have been here a while). BIG MISTAKE AD SB!!! I would sure love to know her thought process in giving Souza three more years. No Whittemore Center improvements in sight, and a seemingly "experienced team" that cannot put a puck in the net or generate scoring opportunities against a seemingly "inferior team". I dunno folks.....not feeling any sort of excitment for this team at all and I'm almost to the point where last season's 20 wins could have been a huge fluke. And next year?? with a junior varisty d-man corps??? Egads......
I will say that I am real impressed with Whale in net.....without him, things could be a lot worse. That being said, I would not be surprised if the team comes up with double goose eggs at the PO'D Q this weekend.
ENJOY SITTING BACK ON LAST SEASON'S UM, "LAURELS" SOUZA!!
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Might be teams the 'Cats can beat...just sayin'.
d.gerry
Five for Fighting
That's a big "might" 'Ref. MS7 is destroying the last vestiges of a once proud program.
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HockeyRef
Well-known member
Hey a girl can dream right?!?
I was about to write the same.
But, I still think that it would be a win-win to have two more Div 1 teams in Cow Hampshire, whereas Maine and Vermont have only one, as even if St Anselm’s and SNHU joined AHA, we still should play both once per year along with a Granite Cup game every three years. And the second win would be stimulating more interest in college hockey outside of Durham and Hanover.
As for our uninspiring start to the season, we have missed 26% of our goal scoring from last season (28 of our 106 goals were scored by Conmy, LeClerc, and Jensen). Other than Gagne at +13, those three on the IL were the next three best in +/- at +9 (Conmy) and +7 (the other two). I am not defending MS7, who never deserved a three-year contract extension, but I do think that not having those three guys available is a huge problem. Just look at the impact of early-season injuries at NU last season.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
You will be a good judge of this then, Snives ... the last time I visited Quinnipiac was when our eldest was in the midst of her college search, so as a precursor to her actual visit with the rest of the family (I had some other commitment for the follow-up visit, as it turned out), I snuck by the campus for a quick impromptu tour while in the area on business. Never in my life have I seen a greater concentration of fresh red brickwork across the campus, since the days I matriculated at the corner of Beaver & Forest. That was disqualifying to me, but I kept it to myself. The kid(s) eventually went to UNH. Thank goodness. Let me know if the Hamden CT campus reminds you of more familiar haunts closer to home after your upcoming visit.
Even if The Grouch ain't down with the concept, I'll still spend a few posts every winter lamenting its absence from the otherwise stellar Downtown Manch festive calendar until someone pulls it off ... even if by then it's a straight D-2 or D-3 event.
As for D-1 hockey, it would be SO UNH to sweep next weekend and continue another "Champs of October" unbeaten* start ...
HockeyRef
Well-known member
I was about to write the same.
But, I still think that it would be a win-win to have two more Div 1 teams in Cow Hampshire, whereas Maine and Vermont have only one, as even if St Anselm’s and SNHU joined AHA, we still should play both once per year along with a Granite Cup game every three years. And the second win would be stimulating more interest in college hockey outside of Durham and Hanover.
As for our uninspiring start to the season, we have missed 26% of our goal scoring from last season (28 of our 106 goals were scored by Conmy, LeClerc, and Jensen). Other than Gagne at +13, those three on the IL were the next three best in +/- at +9 (Conmy) and +7 (the other two). I am not defending MS7, who never deserved a three-year contract extension, but I do think that not having those three guys available is a huge problem. Just look at the impact of early-season injuries at NU last season.
Think I have alluded to that same thing in another post. Makes a difference when key players are out. Yea-a team absolutely should have secondary scoring. Gotta see some
guys step up this weekend...I'm looking forward to seeing them play the Q.
It's disconcerting that there are no public updates on the planned renovation project to the Whit. It's a key to whatever future UNH has as a competitive D1 program. From a distance it seems that UNH hockey is really just limping along. If there's a fundraising issue regarding the renovations there should be an aggressive public campaign to raise money. I am concerned that the seed money will be withdrawn from the main donor due to lack of interest.
God forbid that happens, but if it does, it will speak volumes as to how much the UNH administration really wants to field strongly competitive Mens and Womens hockey programs in the future. It's already starting to show with contract extensions being awarded to mediocre coaches.
umhockey91
Well-known member
Agreed.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
No idea, Drew. In retrospect, I'm not quite sure why UNH didn't strongly consider offering former Men's Soccer head coach Marc Hubbard the AD's job? Hometown boy, leading HC across the board in all aspects at UNH, would have allowed him to preserve his long-term future, with a doubling of his income to handle his HC job in addition to the AD's job. If there was even the slightest inkling that Hubbard was going to look elsewhere - and to some degree, even if there was no inkling - he is the best you've got at the time, and he's leading a program in an emerging D-1 sport which is actually drawing paying fans by the thousands to your home games, where dozens used to be the case.
And who better to determine if the other HC's leading UNH's other programs are putting in the effort AND have the know-how to compete at the highest level???
Looks like Hubbard has the Wolfpack in the Top 25 and in line for tourney consideration. UNH? Uh, not quite ...
umhockey91
Well-known member
What will be interesting is comparing the athletic fortunes of Maine and UNH over the next decade. Maine has received $200+ million for new and renovated athletic facilities over the past 5 years and is in the midst of an athletic campus makeover while UNH has done minor renovations and is struggling to find larger scale donors.
Well, we did have an apparently frugal career librarian at UNH who left $3 mil to the school, ostensibly for student scholarships, from which somehow the former AD was able to get $1.1 mil of that gift redirected to a new scoreboard for the football (and soccer?) field. As the story goes, the librarian had no real interest in sports until he watched football on TV for a few months (weeks?) in hospice care. Someone please correct me on this post, as I simply writing from memory and not researching online.
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Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
I think you've got most of the key elements right. I highlight ostensibly because although the donor was a late football convert (at best), he did apparently leave his money to the school with no real strings attached. And if that's the case, then the school gets to decide, and I for one have not criticized UNH for this. IIRC the school was already in the midst of a huge capital improvement phase, so to shift a million out of many more millions overall to provide for a new scoreboard to go with the new stadium, I had (still have) no objections with that.
Much was made of TDL's financial gravitas last season, and how that tied in with MS7 and his extension. Joe Faro is another UNH guy who is raking it in, hand over first, over at the Tuscan Village juggernaut in Salem. These guys are both builder types, in their respective primes, and one of them is already fretting over legacy to the point he's got a sign up on The Whitt. So ... what gives?!? Are there strings, and if so, what are they? What kind of strings do the Alfond Family have over how their money is used up in Orono?
I'd much rather be worrying about what is happening out on the ice, but when last year SO much of the hiring process was tied into the current coach's ties to TDL and others, it's hard not to feel AD f/k/a SB got sold a bill of goods.
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Pretty much that was the story going around. Where's scoreboard when you need him? He had a handle on that one as I recall! (Smiley face)
As per the lack of info coming from UNH athletics particularly in the Whitt rennovations its not surprising. I mean the days of pressers seems to have dwindled and the only way you read about game comments is in the Union leader and Seacoast papers.
But those papers don't really cover that info. And sigh there's no more FOH meetings where the question of 'where are we at with funds for the project' might be asked. Tell you what if there is another gathering I will ask that question.
Surely somebody out there knows what's up. And as was already mentioned you'd think there would be a fundraising push. Between periods maybe something on the 'tron laying out the project etc but haven't noticed.
Selling jerseys is cool but they aren't going to create the 8 mill (if I have that right) they need.
Not to disparage our players but guess who's gonna have a new arena before us etc because their coach has a winning formula going? Yep...Bennie and da Blackbears!
Jellsville USA
Registered User
Just my optimistic 2 cents after 3 games. We are undefeated. We haven't had a full roster yet. We have given up only 2 goals in 3 games. We killed off a 5 minute major at the end of regulation on Merrimac's home ice!!!
HockeyRef
Well-known member
[QUOT
E=Jellsville USA;n3900270] Just my optimistic 2 cents after 3 games. We are undefeated. We haven't had a full roster yet. We have given up only 2 goals in 3 games. We killed off a 5 minute major at the end of regulation on Merrimac's home ice!!![/QUOTE]
Very good points! As a side note UNH women's coach will be doing a pretty game interview tonight before the B's game...
Yes killing off that 5 min penalty was a good thing. And..we had alot of decent possession but gotta score...
E=Jellsville USA;n3900270] Just my optimistic 2 cents after 3 games. We are undefeated. We haven't had a full roster yet. We have given up only 2 goals in 3 games. We killed off a 5 minute major at the end of regulation on Merrimac's home ice!!![/QUOTE]
Very good points! As a side note UNH women's coach will be doing a pretty game interview tonight before the B's game...
Yes killing off that 5 min penalty was a good thing. And..we had alot of decent possession but gotta score...