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UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

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Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

More affirmation UNH is trying to "do a Lowell". Now if only Souza can be Bazin Mach 2, we're on our way back!! :)
 
NCAA watcher said:
Thoughts, C-H-C?
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It took Rohlik 4 seasons to get Ohio State back to the NCAA Tournament, which they did last season (the first time since 2009). He got Bittner, an OSU alum, to come last spring and Steve Miller to come to OSU last summer. The three of them have received commitments from four, 4-star or higher recruits in the last 5 weeks - Gildon 4.5, Prokop 4.5, Layton 4.25 and Vanderbeck 4.0. Getting back to the NCAA Tourney can help attract top assistant coaches and recruits. Also, both Bittner (‘16 World Junior A) and Miller (‘17 World Juniors) had recent success as assistant coaches of Team USA squads. Top college recruiters often have experience coaching top USA Hockey teams on their resume.
 
Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

C-H-C said:
It took Rohlik 4 seasons to get Ohio State back to the NCAA Tournament, which they did last season (the first time since 2009). He got Bittner, an OSU alum, to come last spring and Steve Miller to come to OSU last summer. The three of them have received commitments from four, 4-star or higher recruits in the last 5 weeks - Gildon 4.5, Prokop 4.5, Layton 4.25 and Vanderbeck 4.0. Getting back to the NCAA Tourney can help attract top assistant coaches and recruits. Also, both Bittner (‘16 World Junior A) and Miller (‘17 World Juniors) had recent success as assistant coaches of Team USA squads. Top college recruiters often have experience coaching top USA Hockey teams on their resume.
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Apart from the noticeable difference in credentials of the assistants (Miller recruited for years at NCAA champion Denver and also for NCAA champion Providence, Bittner coached in one of the prime recruiting spots, the USHL), care to make the same contrast between Rohlik and Souza (years coaching, NCAA Appearances, broader peer recognition by items such as being selected to coach USA teams)?

How do you see any of those differences as impacting your hopeful "four year/only need to hire qualified recruiters" path?

And final question, if attracting top notch assistants is critical, do you anticipate that, because Umile's coaching tree has almost no branches (he had little interest in fostering younger proteges), we might even see UNH abandon its affirmative action plan of hiring underqualified UNH alums, at the expense of more qualified on-UNH alums?
 
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Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Would like to know (and we prob won't) if UNH was in the picture for Michael G. This recruiting thing is tough. Sometimes I feel like UNH is like a rock in a hard place; due to the past few seasons it's tougher to get those players? But to get back to where you once were you need those players? Quite the quandary...Seems like the elite players have a track to run on; one that ensures they play in the best place to get them to where they ultimately want to go, which is professional hockey I would assume. C-H-C points out that path in his post.

That doesn't mean UNH isn't that place. But surely we didn't expect him to come to us simply because his brother did...doesn't always work out that way. So before anyone chops my head off, believe me...it would've been great had he chosen us. Not sure this is sigh worthy??? :p
 
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Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

C-H-C said:
It took Rohlik 4 seasons to get Ohio State back to the NCAA Tournament, which they did last season (the first time since 2009). He got Bittner, an OSU alum, to come last spring and Steve Miller to come to OSU last summer. The three of them have received commitments from four, 4-star or higher recruits in the last 5 weeks - Gildon 4.5, Prokop 4.5, Layton 4.25 and Vanderbeck 4.0. Getting back to the NCAA Tourney can help attract top assistant coaches and recruits. Also, both Bittner (‘16 World Junior A) and Miller (‘17 World Juniors) had recent success as assistant coaches of Team USA squads. Top college recruiters often have experience coaching top USA Hockey teams on their resume.
Click to expand...

I know Quinnipiac just lost out on Layton Ahac. They finished second to Ohio State for him.
 
Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

HockeyRef said:
So before anyone chops my head off, believe me...it would've been great had he chosen us. Not sure this is sigh worthy??? :p
Click to expand...

Any individual choice can be explained by extraneous factors. That's why one has to take a broader view of patterns. Losing kids who already had a natural reason to come (already committed (Farabee, Ryczek, Commesso), were already here (Foegele), have a family connection (Gildon)) is one data point. Having absolutely no traction whatsoever in recruiting top 15 year olds (last in HE in 2000s commitments), and little traction in any recruiting (lowest number of commits of HE, and that includes holdovers Cipollone and Darcy), and having to overpay for marginal talent (scholarships to non-descript walkons Sato, Sacco, Cefalu) where other teams get more talented players at little cost because they want to play for an up and coming program, are all signs of a larger pattern about how UNH and its coaches to be are viewed by the hockey world.

Until and unless they develop some traction, and use the (false?) appearance of being a top 15 team on the upswing to bump recruiting, they are spinning their wheels. This is now year three of essentially killing time waiting for a change, and rather than use the time to build a foundation, that foundation has eroded to the point that the pipeline is one I would trade for almost every top 30 NCAA team, and all HE teams except UMass and perhaps Merrimack.

You also might notice a pattern that when a new coach comes, they have a definite idea of who they want, and have connections with kids, so that when hired, there is a flurry of new commits. See Michigan, Northern Michigan, Michigan State, U.Mass, etc. That signals a plan. Compare that to UNH's inaction, it sends a vibe of learning on the job. Not exactly what a kid who wants to advance in hockey would sign up for.


So, no, Michael Gildon is not sigh worthy, if that makes you feel better.
 
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Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Watcher...I'm hearing your point. And I will say...I am hopeful that our recruiting steps up. It has to or there is little hope we will have a shot at getting back to where we once were. Leaps and bounds aren't going to happen overnight; this is going to take some time. Credibility is everything...not to impugn our current players and or coaches; it's just the way of things. That OSU coach took 4 years to build his program back to prominence. Mike Souza is just getting started. I cannot vouch for how it's (recruiting) going am not qualified to speak of that, but I do believe he will be a great HC and I'm looking forward to seeing what he (and his associates) come up with. Making some noise this season would be a good start...in fact...it's more important than any round number if you ask me. It's our future. Period.

I have so little experience in these discussions, but I do look at a program like Union. 2000 kids go there. Their facilities (I have only been once) aren't the Taj. But dang if they don't get it going. (National Champs) So that (facilities) can't be a big excuse. We have so much to offer potential players! It's frustrating...

Ps...I think I am out of sighs after the loss of DC....:p
 
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Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

I honestly question the strategy of UNH recruiting right now. Obviously they dont have the leverage to get the young blue chip prospects currently....or they arent active in recruiting the young blue chips - could be either. That would mean they will rely on the late bloomers like the UMass Lowells of the hockey world....not sure Souza is of Norm Bazin level of coach to pull that off. In my opinion UNH is stuck in the middle, they arent getting the young blue chips competing with the likes of BC/BU/PC and they dont seem to be getting the late commits either (other than Gildon who fell into their lap). Its a tough spot to be in - they have no recruiting identity.
 
Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Is it a strategy? Sometimes a result can just be the product of a failure.
 
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Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

NCAA watcher said:
Apart from the noticeable difference in credentials of the assistants (Miller recruited for years at NCAA champion Denver and also for NCAA champion Providence, Bittner coached in one of the prime recruiting spots, the USHL), care to make the same contrast between Rohlik and Souza (years coaching, NCAA Appearances, broader peer recognition by items such as being selected to coach USA teams)?

How do you see any of those differences as impacting your hopeful "four year/only need to hire qualified recruiters" path?

And final question, if attracting top notch assistants is critical, do you anticipate that, because Umile's coaching tree has almost no branches (he had little interest in fostering younger proteges), we might even see UNH abandon its affirmative action plan of hiring underqualified UNH alums, at the expense of more qualified on-UNH alums?
Click to expand...

I was trying to understand why the younger Gildon would choose Ohio State over Big 10 powerhouses like Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. OSU's recent success in getting commitments from multiple 4.0+ Star prospects appears to be related to the factors I described (e.g., returning to the NCAA Tournament, hiring assistants with long recruiting resumes and connections to USA hockey). I wasn't prescribing a strategy for UNH recruiting.

I do think getting back to the NCAA Tournament is a key to UNH attracting multiple 4.0+ Star recruits. UNH hasn't been competitive on the ice at the national level since 2012-13. As of now, Souza and Stewart have obtained commitments from these 4.0+ Star players: Gildon (4.75) and Maass (4.0) for 2017; Angus Crookshank (4.25) and Corson Green (4.0) for 2018; Chase Stevenson (4.0) for 2019. Those numbers would likely increase if UNH qualifies for the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
 
Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

No strategy + no vision = no top shelf recruits.

Dynamite Mike and his sidekick Glenn had better prove to be excellent at coaching their guys up.
 
Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

The comparison between Souza and Bazin is interesting. Souza, like Bazin, has a style of play in mind for getting back to the NCAA tournament on a regular basis and the type of recruits that will succeed in that system. Bazin has succeeded largely, though not exclusively, by searching for older players in leagues other than the USHL. Souza and Stewart are taking a somewhat different approach. They are getting commitments from younger players (16 to 18-year-old range) who play the style they are looking for and who have, in their judgement, substantial upside as they mature into 20-year-olds.
 
Re: UNH Commits & Recruiting: 2017 and Beyond

Bazin
Head Coach DIII 2008-2011
Primary recruiting assistant at Colorado College 2000-2008
NCAA appearances in 2001, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08
Recruited multiple All-Americans

Rohlik
3 seasons as assistant to Mark Osiecki at Ohio State
10 seasons on the coaching staff at Minnesota Duluth (2001-10) where the squad advanced to two NCAA tournaments, including a Frozen Four appearance in 2004, and won the 2009 WCHA playoff title. He was part of the staff that put together the roster of the Bulldogs’ 2010 NCAA Championship squad.
three seasons at Nebraska-Omaha, joining the program for its inaugural campaign in 1997-98. In the team’s first year as a member of the CCHA (its third year as a Division I team), the squad advanced to the 2000 CCHA Championship final.
five years as the head coach at Hill-Murray High School


Souza
Second Assistant at Brown 2011-13 (12th place and 7th place)
assistant at U.Conn 2013-15 (one year in Atlantic conference, last place HE in second year)
 
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