TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Mike Souza...The Great Communicator on par with Mumbles Menino
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UNH 2025 Offseason: Where in the World is MS7?
- Thread starter TheGrouchyCat
- Start date
Oh, Elwood. What NH hillibillies like you don't understand is responsibility. UNH is a state school. The taxpayers are responsible for it. It's a bit silly to expect private donors from Massachusetts (that's Buford's plan) to fund the UNH hockey program. BTW, where did the $6 million in state money come from to couple with the 4 million Key Auto donation for the "likely never to happen" renovation plan from 2023? You made it clear such contributions from Concord are, you know, impossible. Until they aren't
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Question: when did you sustain the catastrophic head trauma that led you to the above anti-logic train wreck?? TDL/Key Auto Group has made noises about their $4M "share" of a so-called "renovation". To date, there is a fluorescent sign on the exterior of The Whitt bearing the name of TDL's primary business interest ... and that's all there is, skippy. Now that Concord is cutting the USNH budget ... if indeed a $6M share from Concord ever truly existed in the first place, you can bet your bottom dollar Concord will claw that back from USNH (who'd gladly hand it back over to reduce further budgetary carnage) since it hasn't been expended. The KAG sign hardly costs $4M, much less $10M (probably $4,000 tops w/labor). If any of that Concord money was real, they would have started the project well over a year ago, as an incentive to attract further donations/investments towards the total $16M price tag. They didn't. QED.
But still you have this bizarre notion that all someone has to do is go schmooze a couple of prominent pols in Concord, and make it rain. In fact, IIRC I think you were going to make some of those visits yourself, and show us how easy it is. Looks like you struck out, eh slugger??
Now, as far as getting money from out of state private donors goes, buckle up slappy 'cuz here's the funny thing ... money knows no artificial boundaries, and perhaps the most prominent private donor in the long history of another state school (in this instance, UMaine) not only was very generous to his adopted home state's flagship university - despite not even being an alum - he also was generous to other schools and projects, including UMass Amherst and Rollins College (Florida), and also picked up a chunk of the Boston Red Sox along the way.
https://www.umass.edu/pubaffs/chron... addition to distance-learning,3, Wigdor said.
Harold Alfond Obituary (2007) - Portland, ME - Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
View Harold Alfond's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.
www.legacy.com
In the meantime, TDL has enough dough to have bought his own private island lair just off downtown Portsmouth, is running a primary business worth in the tens of millions of dollars (at least), and just bought the most expensive real estate parcel in the entire state basically on spec with $9M he found between the couch cushions. He's already established his willingness to be one of those elusive private donors to make up some of the funding shortfalls from Concord.
Then there is the case of Joe Faro, another UNH alum whose personal net worth from his Tuscan ventures in food and real estate (Tuscan Village Salem NH) is comfortably in the 9 figure range, and is probably a little younger than TDL, but also a little more wealthy. And finally, there is Sal Lupoli, and while others have pointed out he is a Northeastern grad, he is basically a "brother from another mother" with Faro, as paisan entrepreneurs raised in the Merrimack Valley but with deep business and personal ties to southern NH. Lupoli transformed the desolate stretch of abandoned mill buildings in Lawrence MA into his own 9 figure wealth, and is only a couple of routine approvals away from moving forward with a $600M project to revamp Hampton Beach's Casino property.
And with MA's "Millionaire's Tax" shedding tons of wealthy former residents to the more favorable tax situation north of the border, we are only scraping the surface as to possibilities of private donors in the near future. And with most Merrimack Valley communities in MA being far more conservative on the whole than their government-loving brethren further south (including you, potty), they will find a better fit here than with the total mess going on down in Boston.
Whether you make your fortune schlepping cut rate shoes, new and used cars, or hustling pizza slices into transformational real estate ventures, your money has no attachment to schooling or residency. Just look at Harold Alfond. If it can happen in Orono ME, no reason it can't happen in Durham NH.
Robert Balin
Active member
Jack Cronin from Princeton is transferring to UNH out of the portal. Missed last season with injury in 2023-2024 had 11 goals and 8 asst in 26 games.
That's a solid (B/B+) pick up. He has two double digit goal seasons in his career with - perhaps - a more productive Harrison Blaisdell type senior season in his future. I'd love another forward with true skill and playmaking ability (Rickwood - NoDak seems to think they're landing him - or a CHLer), but that may very well (most likely) wrap up the forward group...
R. MacPherson - Oliver - LeClerc
Newcomb - Ring - Cronin
Winters - Lavins - Turner
Skrastins - C. MacPherson - Siedem
Walsh - DeTurris - Bradshaw
Not exactly how I hoped it would come together, but that's how I'd line them up for now.
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TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Our AD fka SB to the rescue by leveraging her Princeton influence to Shanghai a transfer to Durham! He may be blindfolded and look like a dazed hostage, but dammit, UNH won the portal!
Who needs Guiliano to recruit?
Robert Balin
Active member
Iv'e said along Grouchy that Souza could have done better, but took an inexperienced Assistant coach before shopping around more
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
As with any hire, you need to find the right person with the right set of skills. This seems like a family affair based on connections rather than competence.
In addition to a high-skill forward, there are still two NH natives in the portal who could make this team better. Defenseman Nate Benoit from North Dakota/Quinnipiac and recent entry Kyle Chauvette, who spent two seasons as Union's starting goaltender.
Chauvette entered on the heels of Michigan goalie Cameron Korpi transferring to Union. His numbers the last two seasons have been just OK, but he'd make for a solid tandem with Jared Whale should the team defense play well in front of both...
Chauvette entered on the heels of Michigan goalie Cameron Korpi transferring to Union. His numbers the last two seasons have been just OK, but he'd make for a solid tandem with Jared Whale should the team defense play well in front of both...
Oh, Buford! Yeah, all italians are precisely alike and are paisans. You know Lupoli and Faro so well! If they knew (doubt they do) that a 64 year old man with child's bowl haircut was on social media speculating that they are good candidates to save UNH hockey and that you are calling them "brothers from another mother", I'd imagine they'd lol. You have no idea how the wealthy think.Question: when did you sustain the catastrophic head trauma that led you to the above anti-logic train wreck?? TDL/Key Auto Group has made noises about their $4M "share" of a so-called "renovation". To date, there is a fluorescent sign on the exterior of The Whitt bearing the name of TDL's primary business interest ... and that's all there is, skippy. Now that Concord is cutting the USNH budget ... if indeed a $6M share from Concord ever truly existed in the first place, you can bet your bottom dollar Concord will claw that back from USNH (who'd gladly hand it back over to reduce further budgetary carnage) since it hasn't been expended. The KAG sign hardly costs $4M, much less $10M (probably $4,000 tops w/labor). If any of that Concord money was real, they would have started the project well over a year ago, as an incentive to attract further donations/investments towards the total $16M price tag. They didn't. QED.
But still you have this bizarre notion that all someone has to do is go schmooze a couple of prominent pols in Concord, and make it rain. In fact, IIRC I think you were going to make some of those visits yourself, and show us how easy it is. Looks like you struck out, eh slugger??
Now, as far as getting money from out of state private donors goes, buckle up slappy 'cuz here's the funny thing ... money knows no artificial boundaries, and perhaps the most prominent private donor in the long history of another state school (in this instance, UMaine) not only was very generous to his adopted home state's flagship university - despite not even being an alum - he also was generous to other schools and projects, including UMass Amherst and Rollins College (Florida), and also picked up a chunk of the Boston Red Sox along the way.Of coursehe did grow up inMaineSwampscott MA.
https://www.umass.edu/pubaffs/chronicle/archives/00/08-11/alfond40.html#:~:text=In addition to distance-learning,3, Wigdor said.
Harold Alfond Obituary (2007) - Portland, ME - Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
View Harold Alfond's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.www.legacy.com
In the meantime, TDL has enough dough to have bought his own private island lair just off downtown Portsmouth, is running a primary business worth in the tens of millions of dollars (at least), and just bought the most expensive real estate parcel in the entire state basically on spec with $9M he found between the couch cushions. He's already established his willingness to be one of those elusive private donors to make up some of the funding shortfalls from Concord.
Then there is the case of Joe Faro, another UNH alum whose personal net worth from his Tuscan ventures in food and real estate (Tuscan Village Salem NH) is comfortably in the 9 figure range, and is probably a little younger than TDL, but also a little more wealthy. And finally, there is Sal Lupoli, and while others have pointed out he is a Northeastern grad, he is basically a "brother from another mother" with Faro, as paisan entrepreneurs raised in the Merrimack Valley but with deep business and personal ties to southern NH. Lupoli transformed the desolate stretch of abandoned mill buildings in Lawrence MA into his own 9 figure wealth, and is only a couple of routine approvals away from moving forward with a $600M project to revamp Hampton Beach's Casino property.
And with MA's "Millionaire's Tax" shedding tons of wealthy former residents to the more favorable tax situation north of the border, we are only scraping the surface as to possibilities of private donors in the near future. And with most Merrimack Valley communities in MA being far more conservative on the whole than their government-loving brethren further south (including you, potty), they will find a better fit here than with the total mess going on down in Boston.
Whether you make your fortune schlepping cut rate shoes, new and used cars, or hustling pizza slices into transformational real estate ventures, your money has no attachment to schooling or residency. Just look at Harold Alfond. If it can happen in Orono ME, no reason it can't happen in Durham NH.
And to call lobbying schmoozing is a tell that you haven't a clue. Lobbying is about using influence to broker political deals. Massachusetts money ain't coming north of the border to save knuckleheads like you that have no idea how government and private business work hand in hand to build a society. Live free or die! Well, thanks to birdbrains like you UNH is dying.
JB
Desk Chair Coach
You are confused. I have completely bought into your thinking.
Even though you have extremely limited evidence to support you argument. I just touched on it once... WMU recent national champion is now my poster school example. Lawson 40 years old with minor renovations vs Whitt 20 years old with minor renovations. WMU hockey budget less than UNH hockey budget. The gap between WMU hockey budget and UND, the largest in NCHC is much greater than budget gap between UNH and BC. WMU new arena 100% private funded, it is more akin to Tsongas built for City of Lowell than the Whitt and still makes my point. However am going to bow down to your superior knowledge in all thing government funded, business and rich people finance.
In short you are brilliant I am ignorant.
My question: If you are a UNH fan and if lobbying is so easy, I just want to know when you are meeting with the powers that in Concord to get it done.
PS - if you look at my prior posts I have indicated I think education is the best investment in the future (with the exception of do you want fries with that degrees). I am completely in favor of everybody in NH giving an additional $50 a year to be solely used on education, ~$70M. So there are 2 voters in favor Mrs. JB fully agrees, us that as part of your lobbying.
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Under on both. You are losing a lot of D (although a regression from the 20 win season) and your top D would be Fitzy at this point.
Unless the freshman goalie can take over and stand on his head, Whale has his moments that usually result in losses.
And... is there buying from the upper classmen into Souza and whatever grand plan he might try this year.
Oh, Elwood. As befits your, ahem, rather modest IQ, you failed to remember the WMU arena story. It's been discussed and explained already. Hint: private downtown Kalamazoo mixed use real estate development that includes minor league hockey team and other businesses (Kalamazoo Event Center). College hockey is a small part of it.
New renderings for $300M downtown arena cast spotlight on Western Michigan University
New images were released to the public on Thursday, Jan. 25.
www.mlive.com
Let me help you further. Imagine NH minor league hockey team and UNH mens, womens hockey and basketball moving to Portsmouth to be part of a real estate project designed to liven up area of the city (concerts, etc...) Portsmouth Event Center, etc... 700,000-800,000 visitors per year.
I am impressed that you admit that I am brilliant and you are ignorant. I don't agree with the brilliant comment. I am ordinary smart. I also don't agree with you being ignorant, which suggests you have room to grow. Let's just settle on you being less intelligent than most with zero growth potential.
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Interest will be lukewarm. At best.
Its hard to be too optimistic because there are so many questions surrounding even the exciting pieces on this roster...
First and foremost, how will CHLers transition to college hockey? I expect players will transition from major junior leagues similar to how they do from the USHL. UNH is really counting on their four CHLers to make an immediate impact - on both sides of the puck - and that may not be enough to expect the immediate scoring/defending/leadership impact necessary to lift the Wildcats up the standings.
While I like the top-nine as I have the lines constructed, they are all somewhat hopeful for a number of outcomes, including a more consistent upperclass season from LeClerc, notable leaps forward from Ring and R. MacPherson, an immediate return to from after a season away from the game for Cronin and (of course) immediate plus-impact from Oliver and Newcomb.
Fortunately, all three forwards on the third line could play top-six roles. I just like how they might gel together and become a very hard line to play against. The fourth line doesn't look like it will contribute much outside of a jump for C. MacPherson, or the formation of an above average defensive line with Skastins/DeTurris/Bradshaw/Walsh.
They could score more, they could score less - I'd guess they score around the same number of goals. Give me another forward (Zetterberg, Rickwood, CHL).
Defensively, they're starting from scratch and I feel they need Carr, DeAngelis and Conn/DeHaro to all seamlessly step into top-four roles immediately for the unit to improve. Without adding a transfer they'll essentially start five freshmen on the blueline next year after Player managed limited minutes in just 13 games last year. That's a tough ask; one more upperclass piece could help a lot (Benoit, Ashton, CHL)...
DeAngelis - Conn
Fitzgerald - Carr
Player - DeHaro
Hahn - Philbrick
By my count they need another goaltender, and I'd prefer a scholarship caliber prospect (Clark, Chauvette, Hesse, Outen, CHL). I do think Whale can be the strong-side of a platoon, but I think he needs more rest than he was given last season. I'm not sold ESL as a regular platoon partner just yet. As they sit currently, I'd expect Whale to play quite a bit.
Whale
(TBD)
ESL
So, all that said, I'd guess their absolute ceiling is 7th and their floor is clearly 11th. There are reasons for optimism, but loads of questions, and genuine concerns. At this stage, Ill take the unders and hope I'm wrong.
Ninth or tenth - and around the same team they were last year in Hockey East - worse in the non-conference. Their non-conference results propped them up last year and I'm not sure they'll be so fortunate this coming season. Without knowing the entirety of the schedule, two versus Quinnipiac and two at Michigan State sounds a lot like 0-4-0, maybe 1-3-0...
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JB
Desk Chair Coach
Can you actually read. You know a discussion with you might be interesting if you could actually read.
WMU new arena 100% private funded, it is more akin to Tsongas built for City of Lowell than the Whitt and still makes my point.
It makes my point because it is a form of private funding for a State school resource. It is very similar to the state and federal funding to build the Tsongas for the City of Lowell. Tsongas was built for AHL Hockey, concerts, and UML athletics. Do you see the similarities or is this too big a leap for you.
I like how you didn't address any of the rest of it. Budget - aka commitment to the program. 40 year old arena looks like a lack of commitment to the program. Clearly there is no reason WMU can even expect to compete with such a budget disparity, such horrible old facilities. What did they do? Get another in a line a really good coaches to come in and win. How did they do it? Well good coaching and not a bunch of whining.