UNH 2026-27 Season Let's Go 'Cats!

[whittemore1995]

Let's say MS7 leads this team to a 10-16 record by the end of Jan. What is the harm in shipping him out at that point in the season (if it's even possible to nuke the contract)? What do ya have to lose? There's enough coaching in the room, plus Torterella, to finish HE in 10th. Yippee!

One advantage that strikes me is that UNH would be one of the first schools into the "new coach" pool. If MS7 is released, everybody then knows the spot is available. Or, maybe they immediately hit a home run with some idle wizard who becomes permanent.

From the players perspective, they'd know change (improvement?) is coming, maybe giving any guys on the fence confidence to stick around. Might even help recruiting.

I'm sure there are downsides to this sinister plot as well; just can't think of what they might be at the moment...

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying keeping Souza is the answer. Herb Brooks could come back from the dead and coach and i still think we would struggle and continue to finish in the basement of hockey east. A new coach doesn't fix all our problems we will be climbing out of the hole Allison and Marty put us in for the next decade + .

 

[Robert Balin]

Let's say MS7 leads this team to a 10-16 record by the end of Jan. What is the harm in shipping him out at that point in the season (if it's even possible to nuke the contract)? What do ya have to lose? There's enough coaching in the room, plus Torterella, to finish HE in 10th. Yippee!

One advantage that strikes me is that UNH would be one of the first schools into the "new coach" pool. If MS7 is released, everybody then knows the spot is available. Or, maybe they immediately hit a home run with some idle wizard who becomes permanent.

From the players perspective, they'd know change (improvement?) is coming, maybe giving any guys on the fence confidence to stick around. Might even help recruiting.

I'm sure there are downsides to this sinister plot as well; just can't think of what they might be at the moment...

Mid-season head coaching firings are rare in NCAA college hockey.
Unlike professional leagues (such as the NHL), where mid-season dismissals happen frequently, college hockey programs almost always wait until the conclusion of the regular season or the end of the academic/contract year to make coaching changes. A formal mid-season firing (where a coach is dismissed mid-game or mid-schedule with an interim taking over immediately) occurs in less than 1% to 2% of seasons across NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey—translating to roughly zero to one occurrence in a typical year, Maybe UNH will be the one occurrance if they tank.

 

[whittemore1995]

Mid-season head coaching firings are rare in NCAA college hockey.
Unlike professional leagues (such as the NHL), where mid-season dismissals happen frequently, college hockey programs almost always wait until the conclusion of the regular season or the end of the academic/contract year to make coaching changes. A formal mid-season firing (where a coach is dismissed mid-game or mid-schedule with an interim taking over immediately) occurs in less than 1% to 2% of seasons across NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey—translating to roughly zero to one occurrence in a typical year, Maybe UNH will be the one occurrance if they tank.

This will not happen mid season. Stewart , Giuliano and Tortorella are also not any better options if Souza goes they all should go .

 

[norbert]

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying keeping Souza is the answer. Herb Brooks could come back from the dead and coach and i still think we would struggle and continue to finish in the basement of hockey east. A new coach doesn't fix all our problems we will be climbing out of the hole Allison and Marty put us in for the next decade + .

Scott Borek is doing it at MC, coming off a HE championship and currently with a 5-1 record. Lawler is no the taj ma hall of college rinks. Maybe, just maybe coaching has something to do with it.

 

[whittemore1995]

Scott Borek is doing it at MC, coming off a HE championship and currently with a 5-1 record. Lawler is no the taj ma hall of college rinks. Maybe, just maybe coaching has something to do with it.

Great point! I wish UNH would of promoted Borek instead of going the Souza route. Could argue UNH has not been competitive since Lassonde and Borek left.

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

A new coach doesn't fix all our problems we will be climbing out of the hole Allison and Marty put us in for the next decade + .

But, it's a start...

 

[norbert]

Great point! I wish UNH would of promoted Borek instead of going the Souza route. Could argue UNH has not been competitive since Lassonde and Borek left.

Another miss by Marty. The minor rules violation was the nail in Borek's coffin.

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

Great point! I wish UNH would of promoted Borek instead of going the Souza route. Could argue UNH has not been competitive since Lassonde and Borek left.

As has been discussed here a million times.

 

[HockeyRef]

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying keeping Souza is the answer. Herb Brooks could come back from the dead and coach and i still think we would struggle and continue to finish in the basement of hockey east. A new coach doesn't fix all our problems we will be climbing out of the hole Allison and Marty put us in for the next decade + .

Um Herb Brooks prob would like to have a word ha! Seriously ...isnt changing saying you care about this program and are realistically looking at the record? Isn't it not fair to the talent that comes in and in 3 games in they were already losing step? And so much more..
I mean at some point you gotta try! To me this is a pivotal weekend..even this early in. I know the team really wants more for themselves and hope they go for it...that's who I'm cheering for...

 

[Potluck]

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying keeping Souza is the answer. Herb Brooks could come back from the dead and coach and i still think we would struggle and continue to finish in the basement of hockey east. A new coach doesn't fix all our problems we will be climbing out of the hole Allison and Marty put us in for the next decade + .

The issue with UNH, as it ALWAYS is, pertains to money. An excellent coach can be easily attracted to UNH with a good salary. FYI, regarding salaries, Arizona State's recently terminated and deeply disgraced head coach Greg Powers had 4 year for $1.7+ on his contract when he got fired. About $430k per. You better believe Dave Hakstol, an excellent college hockey coach Arizona State found on moments notice, will get more. He inherited the worst crap show imaginable with a player on a respirator and traumatized teammates in season. I'll bet Hakstol is getting $500K per.

If UNH offered $400K per year excellent candidates would line up overnight down Main Street. Rest assured, UNH will offer a low salary to a has been head coach looking for a few years behind the bench before retirement or a young coach that is completely unproven for short money. I bet UNH pays a new coach $250K and $275K per max - perhaps less. I'd imagine the AD will talk up the free parking space he'll receive.

 

[HockeyRef]

Scott Borek is doing it at MC, coming off a HE championship and currently with a 5-1 record. Lawler is no the taj ma hall of college rinks. Maybe, just maybe coaching has something to do with it.

You might just be onto something

 

[Whalers]

There are many coaches who would most assuredly turn things around in season. Herb Brooks would have no problem at all, as would Shawn Walsh. Jerry York inherited a BC program that wasnt BC and had to rebuild it into what the program is today. Carvel, Barr, Leaman, Borek and that is just recent Hockey East.

There are so many reasons coaches like this are successful, but a few are they practice repetition on the small details because they are important and hold players accountable. They set expectations and make it so players are uneasy about playing time. They also learn to change their ways and evolve. Me thinks that not a lot of this has occured in Durham the past decade.

Watch the Nick Saban 4 part series on Netflix and any documentaries on Parcells, Belichick, Pitino or Calipari. Motivate the current talent, Sell the story to new talent, dont make excuses, change when necessary, purge when necessary. Lather, Rinse, Repeat!!

Time to stop making poor me excuses and get to work.

 

[Jellsville USA]

Agreed the problem is far beyond Souza , my concern is has he been giving the tools to succeed and bring UNH back to Glory? We certainly don't have the same quality facilities as the top tier programs. Former AD Allison Rich did next to nothing to help. UNH is not like Arizona State that has former NHL coaches lining up to fill the position .

I think it's too easy to fall back on facilities and administrative support as explanations for UNH's struggles. While no one would argue that UNH has invested at the level of BC, BU, or UMass, the reality is that plenty of programs have achieved significantly more with similar or even fewer resources.

The Whittemore Center is still one of the larger and more impressive buildings in Hockey East. Recruits aren't walking in and seeing a facility that prevents them from committing to UNH. Programs such as Quinnipiac, Cornell, Minnesota State, and even Maine during portions of its resurgence have shown that strong leadership, player development, and recruiting can overcome perceived resource disadvantages.

At some point the results have to matter. Souza has had nine seasons of futility. Every coach faces obstacles, but the benchmark is how you perform relative to the programs you compete with every night. UNH has consistently finished in the bottom half or lower third of Hockey East throughout his tenure.

Furthermore, if facilities were the primary issue, we would expect UNH to be uncompetitive across the board. Instead, the Wildcats occasionally knock off ranked opponents and play good hockey in stretches. That suggests the talent gap is not insurmountable. The larger problem has been this coaching staff's inability to put the players in a position to win consistently. How about changing the style of play to the players you have. I do not see much coaching going on during tight games from the bench.

Former AD Allison Rich can certainly be criticized for not prioritizing hockey more aggressively, but coaches are ultimately judged on results. The fact that the program's problems extend beyond Souza does not mean Souza should be exempt from accountability. Both things can be true: UNH needs greater institutional commitment, and UNH needs a new voice behind the bench.

If the standard is getting UNH back to being a legitimate Hockey East contender, nine years is enough time to show clear evidence of progress. At this point, blaming facilities or administrative support risks overlooking the most obvious factor: the program simply has not won enough games in conference under its current leadership. (Optimistic after Souza).

 

[FlagUp17]

Not to take away from the current conversation, but we have just about reached another weekend of hockey with a home and home with UML. The Riverhawks are coming off a weekend split with Colgate, which must be disappointing for them giving Colgate their first win of the year (I thought Colgate was fairly hapless when we played them a few weeks ago…)

Giving the ongoing flip-flop nature of how UNH responds to tough weekends, coupled with UNHs continued struggles against HockeyEast teams, it’s tough to predict how they will do. If they play like they did against MSU, I think it will be a fairly easy sweep, as UML seems to be falling quickly out of the top tier of HockeyEast, almost akin to how Umile tailed off in his last few years. If this continues I wonder how long Lowell will stick with Norm…

Fri: UNH 1 UML 3
Sat: UNH 2 UML 1


I’ll go with the weekend split, as It’s just really hard to see a HockeyEast sweep by UNH. Outside of the Maine series last year, when did UNH last sweep 6 points in a HockeyEast weekend?

In all reality though, this really NEEDS to be a sweep for UNH. As others discussed, they’ve already dug themselves a hole in conference play, and it’s tough to foresee a winning record when we have the BCs and BUs of the world still on the schedule. I put the minimum bar for Souza saving his job as getting back to 20 wins and a trip to the garden. You gotta have these 6 points if you want to finish in the top half of the conference.

As bad as things went at UVM, I thought the special teams did really well. They really need to work on 5x5 scoring though, or it will be tough to get more than 2 goals per game.

Looking forward to another weekend of hockey!

 

[Will]

UML seems to be falling quickly out of the top tier of HockeyEast, almost akin to how Umile tailed off in his last few years. If this continues I wonder how long Lowell will stick with Norm…

Post in thread 'UMass Lowell 2025-2026: Youth will be served'

Sep 21, 2026

He's actually a lame duck. His current contract expires at the end of this season. Three options, all dependent on how the year goes IMO:

1. Re-sign him and hope this transition period is over and he knows how to coach in the new NIL, rev share, transfer portal era.
2. He retires/parts ways/moves on, etc and Boschetto is automatically promoted to head coach, which would confirm that was the plan all along.
3. Coutts ends the Bazin/Bazin affiliate era entirely and opens a national search.

If we look back in March and those polls were correct, my vote is for option 3. Lot of talented...

• ScottK

Word on the street is he just signed a five year extension. However, I cannot find anything about this in writing anywhere else

 

[norbert]

Not to take away from the current conversation, but we have just about reached another weekend of hockey with a home and home with UML. The Riverhawks are coming off a weekend split with Colgate, which must be disappointing for them giving Colgate their first win of the year (I thought Colgate was fairly hapless when we played them a few weeks ago…)

Giving the ongoing flip-flop nature of how UNH responds to tough weekends, coupled with UNHs continued struggles against HockeyEast teams, it’s tough to predict how they will do. If they play like they did against MSU, I think it will be a fairly easy sweep, as UML seems to be falling quickly out of the top tier of HockeyEast, almost akin to how Umile tailed off in his last few years. If this continues I wonder how long Lowell will stick with Norm…

Fri: UNH 1 UML 3
Sat: UNH 2 UML 1


I’ll go with the weekend split, as It’s just really hard to see a HockeyEast sweep by UNH. Outside of the Maine series last year, when did UNH last sweep 6 points in a HockeyEast weekend?

In all reality though, this really NEEDS to be a sweep for UNH. As others discussed, they’ve already dug themselves a hole in conference play, and it’s tough to foresee a winning record when we have the BCs and BUs of the world still on the schedule. I put the minimum bar for Souza saving his job as getting back to 20 wins and a trip to the garden. You gotta have these 6 points if you want to finish in the top half of the conference.

As bad as things went at UVM, I thought the special teams did really well. They really need to work on 5x5 scoring though, or it will be tough to get more than 2 goals per game.

Looking forward to another weekend of hockey!

Tough to discuss hockey when the team is abysmal, but I will bite. I see the opposite prediction. Embarrassed at UVM and come out firing with a decent effort and a 4-2 win. Then it settles in we can beat this team and the take it for granted approached with a 3-2 loss, late goal to make it close but it was never there.

 

[norbert]

The issue with UNH, as it ALWAYS is, pertains to money. An excellent coach can be easily attracted to UNH with a good salary. FYI, regarding salaries, Arizona State's recently terminated and deeply disgraced head coach Greg Powers had 4 year for $1.7+ on his contract when he got fired. About $430k per. You better believe Dave Hakstol, an excellent college hockey coach Arizona State found on moments notice, will get more. He inherited the worst crap show imaginable with a player on a respirator and traumatized teammates in season. I'll bet Hakstol is getting $500K per.

If UNH offered $400K per year excellent candidates would line up overnight down Main Street. Rest assured, UNH will offer a low salary to a has been head coach looking for a few years behind the bench before retirement or a young coach that is completely unproven for short money. I bet UNH pays a new coach $250K and $275K per max - perhaps less. I'd imagine the AD will talk up the free parking space he'll receive.

Maybe you and the other trustees should appropriate additional funds for the program with the old need to spend money to make money approach.