UNH At The Starting Gate....

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I don't give a rat's butt about the Regular Season Championship other than getting the top seed in the tournament. We've seen plenty of those around here, and what has it got us? 2 Hockey East titles in what seems like a different era. I want to see UNH playing their best hockey heading into the post-season, and then see what happens from there. Tonight was a good sign, UNH was able to beat NU 6-3 in their barn a week after BC lost 2-1 to them. Not saying that means anything at all, but we know UNH CAN skate with anyone when they're playing their best. That's what it'll take to win against BC, who is, until proven otherwise, the best team in the nation...

 

[SteveF]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

You win a regular season crown and you are the best. The playoffs and NCAAs are the cherry on the top of the sundae.

it is a little early for sour grapes, no?

I hate to be the first to take the bait from (oxymoron alert!) an insufferably charmless BC fan, but I will.

this might be bittersweet, so i hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but that isnt an oxymoron at all. quite a successful failure. and since we are grossly misusing the term, i will go so far as to say that it is a definite possibility that you are an oxy-moron for ever even thinking it was.

here is a little something to get you back on track

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o3GHYPUiNwg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

you're welcome

I guess BC just must be the luckiest team in the world and UNH the unluckiest. Uh huh.

are you saying uhn has bad luck???? (oxymoron alert!!!!)

 

[i'zonprize]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Coach Umile made a gutsy and, in retrospect, effective decision to move Paul Thompson to the third line. It could not have been an easy decision for him given how much he respects his seniors. Also, it wasn't just that he moved Thompson down - he altered the lines to play to strengths.

Line changes were great- was is great to see Sislo's shot again or what? Also, early on he out raced an NU guy to the puck along the boards, from the opposite circle, setting a tone. UNH won a LOT of loose pucks tonight they way they did during the first month or so of the season. D men carrying the puck in deep, keeping the puck in the zone vs. conceding the puck. 2nd line is humming- etc..

PS- Thompson's goals were on a 4x4 and PP situations, no? Not part of the 3rd line that he was on tonight.

Regardless- was a solid, agressive, in your face, 60 minutes by ALL! Hopefully the 'cats have found their second wind and can ride it for another 5-6wks!

On to BC.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Surprising to see PT dropped to the 3rd line. I suspect the final straw for Coach was Saturday night when NU started the break out leading to their first goal and PT instead of immediately back checking, coasted for a bit in the offensive zone with raised arms in search of a call. I love the guy, but this is a trend. On Saturday there was a similar play not resulting in a goal where PT turned and swept his stick sideways at a NU player breaking out of his zone as opposed to ferociously back checking like his teammates were doing most of the night.

Speelman who has been playing with Sislo and Phil on the power play for a while brought great energy to that line. Sislo played a fantastic game. If anything PT made the 3rd line look a bit de-energized. I hope his 2 goal top star performance does not mask the message being sent to him. He is a New Hampshire kid with a chance to do something great, a chance that very few NH kids ever have.

 

[Onion Man]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

you win a regular season crown and you are the best. The playoffs and ncaas are the cherry on the top of the sundae. May

omfg

 

[goblue]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Oh it's a tremendous accomplishment for sure. I would be thrilled if BC won it. But... it's hilarious to write what this guy writes every year. Of course, postseason success is luck. I guess BC just must be the luckiest team in the world and UNH the unluckiest. Uh huh.

I do find it hilarious that someone could write that and then write in their signature the number of Stanley Cups their favorite NHL team has won. I would have expected to see Detroit President's Trophy seasons listed instead.

Don't they teach logic (or even reading comprehension) at BC? I didn't say that the post-season success is luck, as you say. I said that certain things have to fall in place, and that there is often luck involved. Example (filed under the 'woulda-shoulda-coulda' category): UNH clanging the puck off the post in '99 FF championship game OT, just before Maine comes down and scores game (and title) winner.

BC's recent success is built on talent, from the coach (best in the business, in my humble opinion) on down. But there is always a degree of luck involved as well. Single-game eliminations are far more susceptible to luck -- good and bad -- than the gamut of a 27 (conference) game season, where the luck factor evens out.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I want to see UNH playing their best hockey heading into the post-season, and then see what happens from there.

i think y'all need to listen to this guy, he gets it

 

[Onion Man]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Don't they teach logic (or even reading comprehension) at BC? I didn't say that the post-season success is luck, as you say. I said that certain things have to fall in place, and that there is often luck involved. Example (filed under the 'woulda-shoulda-coulda' category): UNH clanging the puck off the post in '99 FF championship game OT, just before Maine comes down and scores game (and title) winner.

BC's recent success is built on talent, from the coach (best in the business, in my humble opinion) on down. But there is always a degree of luck involved as well. Single-game eliminations are far more susceptible to luck -- good and bad -- than the gamut of a 27 (conference) game season, where the luck factor evens out.

I assume you were quite satisfied and ecstatic at how the NE Patriots did this past season then. I have to say, crowing about a regular season title and minimizing the post season may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I don't give a rat's butt about the Regular Season Championship other than getting the top seed in the tournament. We've seen plenty of those around here, and what has it got us? 2 Hockey East titles in what seems like a different era. I want to see UNH playing their best hockey heading into the post-season, and then see what happens from there. Tonight was a good sign, UNH was able to beat NU 6-3 in their barn a week after BC lost 2-1 to them. Not saying that means anything at all, but we know UNH CAN skate with anyone when they're playing their best. That's what it'll take to win against BC, who is, until proven otherwise, the best team in the nation...

i probably should have replied with his entire quote because it's a good one

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Surprising to see PT dropped to the 3rd line. I suspect the final straw for Coach was Saturday night when NU started the break out leading to their first goal and PT instead of immediately back checking, coasted for a bit in the offensive zone with raised arms in search of a call. I love the guy, but this is a trend. On Saturday there was a similar play not resulting in a goal where PT turned and swept his stick sideways at a NU player breaking out of his zone as opposed to ferociously back checking like his teammates were doing most of the night.

Speelman who has been playing with Sislo and Phil on the power play for a while brought great energy to that line. Sislo played a fantastic game. If anything PT made the 3rd line look a bit de-energized. I hope his 2 goal top star performance does not mask the message being sent to him. He is a New Hampshire kid with a chance to do something great, a chance that very few NH kids ever have.

Well said. I hope Thompson responds with a positive attitude.
This may not be a factor but I wonder whether the apparent injury Thompson received in the 2nd Maine game is effecting his play. Toward the end of that game, he appeared to be experiencing pain in his neck and the back of his shoulders. I remember him scoring a subsequent goal and appearing not to be able to raise his arms up very high.
Regardless of the cause(s) - nagging injury, wounded sense of pride, inflated sense of importance, or whatever - he needs to improve his effort and play in order for UNH to advance deep into the H.E. and NCAA playoffs.

 

[goblue]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

it is a little early for sour grapes, no?




this might be bittersweet, so i hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but that isnt an oxymoron at all. quite a successful failure. and since we are grossly misusing the term, i will go so far as to say that it is a definite possibility that you are an oxy-moron for ever even thinking it was.

you're welcome



are you saying uhn has bad luck???? (oxymoron alert!!!!)

Steve, you're absolutely right. I meant to say "redundancy" alert, meaning most BC fans (at least those who post, as well as a few that I've met) are insufferably charmless. (Perhaps I should have added "pedantic" as well.) But thanks for pointing it out -- I honestly abhor the misuse of words, and in a better moment, would have caught my error.

 

[Malts18]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Ahahahahhahahahahah.

Every year you come up with some absolute gems when it comes to quotes about the regular season title.

This one might take the cake, though!

Oh I knew I would catch hell for this... but the playoffs do largely come down to luck a lot. UNH was a hit post from a NC in 99.

My point was that 27 games do show your ability over a full season (not just four games in a row). That is all.

I understand everyone's saying that the NC and HE playoffs are all that matter, but I do think that the reg season does matter. It does show your strength overall for the whole season... not just four games.

 

[goblue]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I assume you were quite satisfied and ecstatic at how the NE Patriots did this past season then. I have to say, crowing about a regular season title and minimizing the post season may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Huh???
Who's "crowing"? Who's "minimizing"? Not me -- read my original post, as well as the follow-ups.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

From concordmonitor.com:

With a huge grin and a humbled chuckle, Dick Umile stood in a Matthews Arena hallway last night and hurriedly dismissed a reporter's assertion.

"Ahh, I don't know about a genius," laughed the University of New Hampshire's self-deprecating hockey coach. "No one's ever told me I look like a genius, or that I am a genius."

But based on how a 6-3 win came together for his Wildcats, the label seemed to fit. At least for a night.

For the first time all season, Umile separated his three senior forwards - disbanding a line built of a trio that had each scored at least 102 points in his career, had combined for 119 points in this campaign, and had vaulted its left wing into serious consideration for national player of the year honors. That player, Paul Thompson, was relocated to the third line. With the league title still at stake, it seemed something of a risk for a team entering with a single triumph in its last five skates.

By the end, though, it proved a brilliant bit of button pushing.

Mike Sislo and Phil DeSimone combined on the icebreaker, then Thompson tallied twice to put things out of Northeastern's reach, and five Wildcats registered multiple points as a rejuvenated offense sent UNH to the season's final weekend with the upper hand in its fight for a fourth Hockey East title in the past five seasons.

"We just wanted a little more depth in our scoring," Umile explained. "It wasn't just that line. We wanted to get some other lines going as well. I thought Thompson helped that line, and (Dalton) Speelman helped DeSimone's line. We got what we wanted out of both lines."

 

[Malts18]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

i think y'all need to listen to this guy, he gets it

Ster, Carmine, Onion... I GET IT. I want a NC and more HE Playoff titles as much as anyone, but I will be dam ned if I will discount a regular season league championship like it is irrelevant and means nothing. UNH could win this year... hope they do...but if they don't, the season is not a total wash. Of course I want UNH to be playing their best hockey heading to the post-season. Of course, I want UNH to sweep BC next weekend and do well in the playoffs. It goes without saying.

But, WS says it in his post "... and then we'll see what happens from there." Well... is this season a total bust if UNH does not win the HE tourney? The NC?

 

[Malts18]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I assume you were quite satisfied and ecstatic at how the NE Patriots did this past season then. I have to say, crowing about a regular season title and minimizing the post season may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

How is it minimizing it? You prepare as well as you can for the playoffs and hope you can win in them. I am not trying to say they are not important. They are huge. But my whole initial post was not to say the playoffs are any less than what they are, but to basically say that the regular season crown does matter.

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

How is it minimizing it? You prepare as well as you can for the playoffs and hope you can win in them. I am not trying to say they are not important. They are huge. But my whole initial post was not to say the playoffs are any less than what they are, but to basically say that the regular season crown does matter.

Gee, why don't you tell us that the sky is blue too while you're at it. Of course it matters. It means you're almost 100% assured of an NCAA bid and have the best seed possible for the conference tournament.

I'll say what I said last night. I find it absolutely hilarious you talk about the Stanley Cups won by your favorite team and yet don't seem to care about President's Trophies they've won. But when it comes to UNH hockey, a team that traditionally falls on their face like no other program in the playoffs, that's just icing on the cake and you really get jazzed up about the regular season title.

As a Red Wings fan, you must be awfully happy that they get lucky so often in the playoffs to have won all those Stanley Cups. But... maybe not... maybe you're just happy if they win the President's Trophy. Right? Right?

You can spin this any way you want. At the end of the day, you sound like a buffoon talking about regular season titles as being so amazing and minimizing the postseason tournaments as if they are just exhibitions being played for fun after the REAL games have decided the truly best team.

Yes RS titles are a great accomplishment. But... MAYBE... MAYBE you won it because the other 9 teams have their heads on straight and are saving some energy for the real games? Maybe?!

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

most BC fans (at least those who post, as well as a few that I've met) are insufferably charmless.

so ALL of us that post are "insufferably charmless" ? generalize and stereotype much? I'm in MM, last row, come on over Friday night if you are there and i'll show you that you are dead wrong

UNH was a hit post from a NC in 99.

enough already , been there and done that three times (Mich '98, twice hit the post in OT at the Fleet Center, Wisc in '06 with a second left to tie it and Mich ST in '07 to go up 2-0) if we had any luck in the FF we'd have had 5-6 NC's during this run

 

[Malts18]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Gee, why don't you tell us that the sky is blue too while you're at it. Of course it matters. It means you're almost 100% assured of an NCAA bid and have the best seed possible for the conference tournament.

I'll say what I said last night. I find it absolutely hilarious you talk about the Stanley Cups won by your favorite team and yet don't seem to care about President's Trophies they've won. But when it comes to UNH hockey, a team that traditionally falls on their face like no other program in the playoffs, that's just icing on the cake and you really get jazzed up about the regular season title.

As a Red Wings fan, you must be awfully happy that they get lucky so often in the playoffs to have won all those Stanley Cups. But... maybe not... maybe you're just happy if they win the President's Trophy. Right? Right?

You can spin this any way you want. At the end of the day, you sound like a buffoon talking about regular season titles as being so amazing and minimizing the postseason tournaments as if they are just exhibitions being played for fun after the REAL games have decided the truly best team.

Yes RS titles are a great accomplishment. But... MAYBE... MAYBE you won it because the other 9 teams have their heads on straight and are saving some energy for the real games? Maybe?!

They are not "so amazing". They are a "great accomplishment" (your words).

As for the Red Wings.. they have been around for 80+ yrs and have won a lot of Stanley Cups and a ton of Pres. Trophies. Yeah, I want them to win the SC every year, naturally. If they don't win (see the 09 postseason... had two games to win the Cup vs PIT and lost both), it is hard to say they had bad season if they accomplished much along the way.

Despite your obvious dislike of me (and what I say), I do find your posts sometimes intriguing, Carmine... and even in this scathing post, you still came up with something that would be a good thread all by itself:

"Yes RS titles are a great accomplishment. But... MAYBE... MAYBE you won it because the other 9 teams have their heads on straight and are saving some energy for the real games? Maybe?!" That is...how much do teams relax a bit down the stretch (if at all) knowing the playoffs are near and want to save some energy for them?

 

[goblue]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

most BC fans (at least those who post, as well as a few that I've met) are insufferably charmless.

so ALL of us that post are "insufferably charmless" ? generalize and stereotype much? I'm in MM, last row, come on over Friday night if you are there and i'll show you that you are dead wrong

If I had a ticket to the game, I'd take you up on the offer -- if I can come up with one, then I'll need a bit more information than "in MM". (How can I tell one turned-up collar from another? )

And if you're going to be at the game on Saturday, let me know --I'll probably be there as well (my ticket isn't assured at this point, but I'm hopeful.) I'd love to be proven wrong -- but am willing to concede the point to you, as can't recall any of your posts that would qualify as described.

Hey, in all honesty, most college hockey fans -- of whatever team they root for -- and whom I've met face-to-face are pretty decent to me, and I hope I'm the same with them. I attended a UNH-BC game at BC a few years ago, and sat next to a rather obnoxious, slightly inebriated BC fan (who arrived late and left early,) but who nevertheless was a lot of fun to sit next to. (However, there's also another one I had the misfortune to meet at the Garden during the HE championship a few years ago, whose face, and whose complete lack of grace, I will never forget. Considering his age -- I'll bet he was in his late 50's -- he ought to have been better mannered.)

There are relatively few BC posters on this board, and I suspect that some have several usernames and alter egos (with a certain one whom I'll refer to as "BennyBraggadoccio" claiming multiple Italian or French personalities) so there are probably even fewer than would be thought. I regret using generalities, but most are indeed insufferable and arrogant. They aren't always, and I often enjoy their comments, especially when their wit is in evidence. I doubt such arrogance was displayed before BC's recent success in the NCAA's, when BC was a backwater team for several years -- but who knows?

This isn't to say that the UNH fanbase, or any other group of fans, isn't without similar characters. Maybe it's just my milquetoast mantra, but people should be gracious in defeat, and even more so in victory. In between, there's plenty of room for the winking allegation, the witty reposte, and the brilliant analysis of the game we all seem to have a love/hate relationship with.