Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Knicks are kindred spirits.
FWIW, I really wanted to see a Toronto - Edmonton final.
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UNH 2025 Offseason: Where in the World is MS7?
- Thread starter TheGrouchyCat
- Start date
Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Knicks are kindred spirits.
FWIW, I really wanted to see a Toronto - Edmonton final.
Robert Balin
Active member
So College hockey has been turned upside down bye the new CHL player rule, myself I'm not a big fan but I guess it's time to adapt. UNH should benefit bye the new rule as Souza has picked up some nice players and it will be interesting to see what happens. There are still some nice 2007's out there not CHL so I'll list a few. Ryan Hedley Salisbury school. Ryan had a line of 21-27-48 points last year and is a excellent skater very athletic and strong in corners. Hayden Russell. played in the BCHL with Cowichan valley. led the team in scoring with 56 points in 53 games is from California and has a twin brother that plays defense. Hopefully they have a good year and it can jump start getting some young high end talent.
Can we expect that introduction of CHL players will drive up the age of college hockey players and further diminish 18-20 year old freshmen? I'd imagine CHL eligibility is profoundly changing recruiting strategies. Unless there's a huge disparity in skill level, a 21 year old freshman with CHL experience and maturity seems like a much better bet than an 18 or 19 year old. I also wonder if the CHL is now a major threat to the status of the USHL. The BCHL appears likely to the go the way of the US post grad 1 yr prep school.
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umhockey91
Well-known member
I'm thinking that the BCs and Minnesotas of the world are not liking this change. Those 2 programs in particular seem to historically rely on the top American 17/18 year olds coming in and making huge impacts. On the other hand....the Maines, UNHs, UMass-Lowells plus many other programs.....are loving life right now. Things will settle out eventually but right now the top collegiate hockey talent has shifted to many more programs.
I think the CHL will be fine. It will just transform into being the stop before NCAA for most players, rather than being on roughly equal footing with NCAA like it has been now. And besides, there will be some kids, particularly from Canada, that dont want to play in NCAA, and instead will stay in the CHL until they age out (or get signed by their NHL team early). And, there will be plenty of old-school NHL execs who still want to select primarily from the CHL to get those good ol' Canadian boys. The real losers of this rule change are the leagues like the USHL, NAHL, and BCHL. They're going to lose their status as the top feeders into the NCAA, being supplanted by the CHL. I think the USHL will fare a bit better than the others, due to its current prestige, but the others might face some serious challenges ahead.
I agree. The CHL will only benefit. It will be the destination of choice for the most promising players worldwide. For the first two or so years, the CHL will lose a lot of players that suddenly opt for the NCAA, especially with many college programs going to 26 scholarships. But the CHL will get a huge influx of players that in past years went USHL, BCHL, AJHL and SJHL will also get stripped of its best players. The CHL will take over - especially in light of the fact is will have resources to pay the players.
Over time BC, BU, Minny, UND, Denver and the Big Ten schools will take over and all go to 26 scholarships. They will have the NIL dough (although I wonder just a bit about BU) to compete for top talent. They also have the facilities and training staffs to treat the players like professionals. They will get the 18 year old first and second round talents and also get the elite 21 year old freshmen from the CHL. The extra scholarships will let them do both. I actually think in 5-7 years this will bury UNH, ULowell and Merrimack. UMass, UMaine and Providence will step up.
2013hockeyfan
Active member
Hadn't realized Maine had grabbed the most CHL commits thus far
Am i the only one that is intrigued to see how Chris Heisenberg adapts his site to the new CHL recruiting? I hope he does his usual incredible job. Has the Hockey News ever written a profile of what drives him and how he does it? Hey, that's a story that needs to be written.
Sparkee
Blackbear
It isn’t just who teams grabbed, that number includes recruits in the pipeline that swapped from Junior A to join CHL. Maine has had a 5 recruits swap leagues. And more are swapping next year, I know of 2 more so far.
Oilers win game 1 — yay! I was for Marchand before I was against Marchand. Always thought that Marchand was a punk, but when he was a Bruin, I dealt with him, as he was our punk. But now that Marchand is a Panther, I can root against him as their punk.
Meanwhile, speaking of rivalries, UNH returns to Bentley Arena on November 29th, Thanksgiving Break, so there should be lots of seats available.
2013hockeyfan
Active member
Ahh that makes a lot of sense. Thank you.
Darius
Go 'cats!
Poached from the UMA thread: The revenue-sharing era of college athletics is on the clock. How will UMass handle it? A good read overall, <ctrl> F "hockey" for the most relevant reading.
The student they wrote the story, Dan Wendell, did an outstanding job on it. Very well done for a college paper.
The spoiler: UMass will spend $400k-$600k nil money on hockey players for 2026-27. It expects to have one of the top 5 payrolls in college hockey.
Btw if the story is correct, the future of UNH in HE is dubious. Simply, BC, Providence (hoop), UMass, UConn will have significant NIL funds available (especially BC) from tv revenue etc. from hoop or football and will use a small portion on their hockey programs. My guess is BU will come up with the dough and probably Maine with Alfond money to stay in the NIL mix. UNH doesn’t have to dough to build a locker room.
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2013hockeyfan
Active member
From UNH Athletics marketing email today:
Building the Future of UNH Athletics
I’m thrilled and humbled to share that – thanks to the support of many generous donors (along with the state and University) – we’ve secured $19.75 million for the Hockey Arena Renovation project – bringing our bold vision for the future of UNH Hockey to life. With the design phase nearly complete, construction is set to begin this fall and is planned to wrap up in time for the 2026-27 season. This transformative project will enhance both the functionality and aesthetics of the arena – ensuring our Wildcats have the resources they need to thrive on and off the ice. Explore the latest renderings on the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex webpage.
Building the Future of UNH Athletics
I’m thrilled and humbled to share that – thanks to the support of many generous donors (along with the state and University) – we’ve secured $19.75 million for the Hockey Arena Renovation project – bringing our bold vision for the future of UNH Hockey to life. With the design phase nearly complete, construction is set to begin this fall and is planned to wrap up in time for the 2026-27 season. This transformative project will enhance both the functionality and aesthetics of the arena – ensuring our Wildcats have the resources they need to thrive on and off the ice. Explore the latest renderings on the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex webpage.
This news all but guarantees that MS7 will get another three-year contract through 2030/31 regardless how the team performs the next two seasons.
Robert Balin
Active member
As I expected Sebastian Bradshaw has been deferred till 2026, so it looks like we have our 2025-2026 team.
2013hockeyfan
Active member
This doesn't sound like a circumstance all that different from the present. It will certainly make it challenging to be competitive in HE but that has always been the case. No reason to leave the conference.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Probably depends upon whether any of the new donors are attached to him (like apparently TDL) or not. If indeed the influx of new donors/new money IS attached to MS7, he's making a better case for taking Jimmy T's job as "Hockey CEO", and should leave the coaching thingie to others who are better at it.
Interesting timing, to say the least ... what with all the uncertainty still out there with Concord and the USNH budget ... I remember someone telling us private donors could not be relied upon to get projects like this done ... in the famous words of Gomer Pyle USMC, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!!"
