And, everyone knows that history, so perhaps we should embrace it.
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UNH 2025 Offseason: Where in the World is MS7?
- Thread starter TheGrouchyCat
- Start date
Agree, seems like a slam dunk.
Jellsville USA
Registered User
I have to give MS7 some credit for being out in front with grabbing some high level CHL talent. I am hopeful they all have the core classes in place. I also feel as though mitigating a mass exodus to the portal was a win. I am ok with the loss of Conmy who never seemed to fit in here despite the talent. We should be 4 lines deep this season (helping prevent 3rd period let downs). My only reservation remains goaltending. If Maguire can help Whale improve behind his own net, we may have a decent rotation between Whale and Chauvette. The optimism is heating up again!!!!
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
There is no way Coach Umile is gonna take on the institution that gave him the opportunity to be be who he is. Publicly, he will always be the team player. Especially when he's the featured speaker on UNH's (lame) 100th anniversary video-to-the-world. Was it a live presentation, or recorded (w/edits?), Scott?
Although the quintessential "company man" in public, what he says privately about the situation to trusted confidantes comes across somewhat differently ...
It was a live ZOOM call with Mike Murphy as the moderator. I believe some of the questions that were asked may have been prepared, but Mike also fielded questions from fans on the ZOOM call.
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
As discussed, it's not like many on the current roster had a plethora of other options.
Let's not get too excited about retention stats
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Exactly.
What was Dick going to say? 'Well, Mike. A blind man could see that a change needs to be made. MS7 had his opportunity and hasn't risen to the challenge. As such, I'm announcing my return to the UNH bench. I've been practicing my whistling for months!"
Sparkee
Blackbear
That would be such a Dick move…
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
It's time for the mock turtleneck to make a comeback
Well of course Umile is going to tow the University line. But blaming the needed renovations on the Whitt because they are hampering MS7's recruiting efforts right now was a bit ridiculous coming from him.
Maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I don't recall Umile blaming the Olympic sheet or the lack of a decent training facilities in the Whitt impacting his recruiting, or the team's on-ice performance?
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
I didn't get to watch, but I'm curious if the enigma himself, MS7, made an appearance.
The school is grasping at straws and trying to spin a dysfunctional situation of its own making.
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2013hockeyfan
Active member
Do the CHL kids coming in all have 4 years eligibility?
2013hockeyfan
Active member
I missed the beginning and end but he did not appear during the majority of the discussion.
I personally enjoyed the roundtable but it felt more like a any-other-year type event than one celebrating the centennial season. Was particularly interesting to hear the perspectives of Weinberg-Hughes and Fisher-Bailey and their views on the history of the women's program which I'm much less familiar with. I hadn't realized how prominent that program was in the 90's. Sounds like it was the class of a burgeoning women's hockey movement nationwide.
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
If our AD fka SB didn't mandate the Head Coach's participation in this event, it tells the fans everything they need to know about the state of the program.
How can MS7 be a D1 coach in Hockey East if he has a phobia of the fans, the press and public speaking in general?
This could be tolerated if there was a sustained track record of success, a trip or two to the Garden or hell, let's dream big, a national championship, but he hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt. Right now, the school seems to be protecting him, looking the other way and shielding him from criticism or accountability from any party outside the UNH bubble.
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After the Whistle
Active member
Agree with your take on being out front on the early CHLers. Not sure how or why but it certainly appears to be a great job. Time will tell but I would imagine it could take awhile for the new guys to get their footing.
The third period let down it very obvious. I can really see it on the faces and posture. It is a
tough one since every coach wants his best players on the ice, all the time. You can see what happens as the games goes on, less and less ice for the third and especially the fourth line. To me the issue is “ice management”. Rotating lines longer into the game and balancing out ice time abit more.
Robert Balin
Active member
Yes.
I think that the big sheet worked in Umile’s favor with the smaller and speedier players that his assistants were able to recruit. And I think that the big sheet should have helped MS7 recruit those kinds of players also. UNH has never produced many future NHL players going back to the smaller sheet at Snively. I was for the Jumbotron before I was against the Jumbotron, but I was always against shrinking the rink.
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Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Figured I would post the following, which appeared in Friday's edition of the Union Leader in Chris Duffy's Editor's Notebook:
The feeling started as I watched Providence College practice in an empty SNHU Arena a day before they dropped the puck on the NCAA hockey regional.
The feeling continued all weekend, through three games played before good crowds, even as Denver put the finishing touches on its regional championship triumph over Boston College.
Then it really hit me, walking out of the arena flanked by a couple of twentysomethings, one of whom was sporting a Manchester Monarchs sweater — a nice Petr Kanko uniform No. 10, for those wondering.
“It was just great to see a hockey game,” said the young man, who appeared to be just old enough to remember the AHL Monarchs.
It most certainly was. No doubt his sentiment was shared by many.
The feeling overrode any other emotion: Was this the last hockey game, not counting high school championships and fundraiser contests, to be played at the big barn on Elm Street?
Ever? Because that would be beyond the sadness I was already feeling.
Forever is a long time. Who knows what ownership group or what college may decide to skate into our city.
In the short term, though, prospects for local hockey fans are not looking good.
Let’s start with the colleges. NCAA regionals, which have called Manchester home 10 times since 2004, have been booked through 2028 and we’re not on the dance card for future sites. Plus, as you have read on these pages, the college hockey powers that be, including influential coaches, seem to be leaning toward returning regionals to campuses.
That’s the postseason. Now consider the regular season. Remember when UNH played Maine there in 2016? Or when UNH and Dartmouth battled for Granite State supremacy in the Riverstone Cup there? Well, you can forget about a return for UNH. The Wildcats have no plans to play any upcoming regular-season games in Manchester.
Let’s move on to the pros. First, the AHL. Surely, you remember the AHL, with all those prospects skating through here, the big crowds and that shiny Calder Cup. Well, sorry, but every NHL team in the Northeast is happy with its AHL affiliate. And for good reason: They’re a car drive away, and transportation costs money. That’s one of the reasons the AHL Monarchs left us for a community that’s about 40 miles from the home of the parent Los Angeles Kings. The lone exceptions to that rule are the Springfield, Mass., Thunderbirds, the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, and they have a contract to stay put through 2031.
Now to the ECHL, the NHL’s version of Double-A, only without prospects. What’s that you say? Next subject, please? You’d be correct in asserting that we’re not an ECHL city — we’re better than that — and we proved it by virtually ignoring the ECHL Monarchs during their four-year stay that ended in 2019.
For the record, two NHL organizations, Columbus and Ottawa, lack ECHL clubs. Two days ago, the Greensboro (North Carolina) Gargoyles were announced as Carolina’s ECHL affiliate. We’re living in Bruins Country, of course, so what about Boston’s ECHL team? Well, it’s thriving in Portland, Maine, and although the affiliation is set to expire after the current season, there’s nothing to indicate the Bruins aren’t happy with the marriage and won’t do another extension.
Let’s keep trying. Professional women’s hockey? It’s a fixture in bigger cities, and it continues to expand (Vancouver and Seattle the latest), but it’s hard to envision Manchester as a home for a PWHL team. (WIS note - the Boston PWHL team plays its home games at Tsongas Arena in Lowell)
So now what? Are there any plans in the works? We asked Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who was elected in 2023.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to bring professional hockey back to the City of Manchester.,” said the mayor in an email.
We’ll take that as good news.
But for now, all we have are memories. And hope.
Hockey-free Manchester a sad reality
The feeling started as I watched Providence College practice in an empty SNHU Arena a day before they dropped the puck on the NCAA hockey regional.
The feeling continued all weekend, through three games played before good crowds, even as Denver put the finishing touches on its regional championship triumph over Boston College.
Then it really hit me, walking out of the arena flanked by a couple of twentysomethings, one of whom was sporting a Manchester Monarchs sweater — a nice Petr Kanko uniform No. 10, for those wondering.
“It was just great to see a hockey game,” said the young man, who appeared to be just old enough to remember the AHL Monarchs.
It most certainly was. No doubt his sentiment was shared by many.
The feeling overrode any other emotion: Was this the last hockey game, not counting high school championships and fundraiser contests, to be played at the big barn on Elm Street?
Ever? Because that would be beyond the sadness I was already feeling.
Forever is a long time. Who knows what ownership group or what college may decide to skate into our city.
In the short term, though, prospects for local hockey fans are not looking good.
Let’s start with the colleges. NCAA regionals, which have called Manchester home 10 times since 2004, have been booked through 2028 and we’re not on the dance card for future sites. Plus, as you have read on these pages, the college hockey powers that be, including influential coaches, seem to be leaning toward returning regionals to campuses.
That’s the postseason. Now consider the regular season. Remember when UNH played Maine there in 2016? Or when UNH and Dartmouth battled for Granite State supremacy in the Riverstone Cup there? Well, you can forget about a return for UNH. The Wildcats have no plans to play any upcoming regular-season games in Manchester.
Let’s move on to the pros. First, the AHL. Surely, you remember the AHL, with all those prospects skating through here, the big crowds and that shiny Calder Cup. Well, sorry, but every NHL team in the Northeast is happy with its AHL affiliate. And for good reason: They’re a car drive away, and transportation costs money. That’s one of the reasons the AHL Monarchs left us for a community that’s about 40 miles from the home of the parent Los Angeles Kings. The lone exceptions to that rule are the Springfield, Mass., Thunderbirds, the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, and they have a contract to stay put through 2031.
Now to the ECHL, the NHL’s version of Double-A, only without prospects. What’s that you say? Next subject, please? You’d be correct in asserting that we’re not an ECHL city — we’re better than that — and we proved it by virtually ignoring the ECHL Monarchs during their four-year stay that ended in 2019.
For the record, two NHL organizations, Columbus and Ottawa, lack ECHL clubs. Two days ago, the Greensboro (North Carolina) Gargoyles were announced as Carolina’s ECHL affiliate. We’re living in Bruins Country, of course, so what about Boston’s ECHL team? Well, it’s thriving in Portland, Maine, and although the affiliation is set to expire after the current season, there’s nothing to indicate the Bruins aren’t happy with the marriage and won’t do another extension.
Let’s keep trying. Professional women’s hockey? It’s a fixture in bigger cities, and it continues to expand (Vancouver and Seattle the latest), but it’s hard to envision Manchester as a home for a PWHL team. (WIS note - the Boston PWHL team plays its home games at Tsongas Arena in Lowell)
So now what? Are there any plans in the works? We asked Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who was elected in 2023.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to bring professional hockey back to the City of Manchester.,” said the mayor in an email.
We’ll take that as good news.
But for now, all we have are memories. And hope.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
... so it's time to dredge back up the "NH Beanpot" concept, Snives!! Lots of free time to banter about the pros and cons, but I've reached out to Chris Duffy, and one of my old travel soccer colleagues who currently works with Mayor Ruais, and *maybe* we can get some traction with folks who have a megaphone and power to make something like this a reality?? There has never been a better time than right now to try to get the ball rolling in a forward direction ... who's with me?!?!? 