Small sample size, and I have no evidence to support this (though that doesn't seem to matter here) but perhaps it is that the malcontents flew the coop and this team really seems to enjoy playing together.
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UNH Hockey 2023-2024 Season Thread - End Of The Cellar-Dweller Era??
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Small sample size, and I have no evidence to support this (though that doesn't seem to matter here) but perhaps it is that the malcontents flew the coop and this team really seems to enjoy playing together.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
"Swagger" usually only lasts until a few losses set in. Let's see how the boys fare against NU first, and if that goes well, then we can see how they handle the temptation of doing a premature "victory lap" against Dartmouth ...
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Would love to hear your thoughts on specific examples, Felgie - Captain Clutch? Messy Fessy?? Blue Skies himself???
I did check back at last season's roster for potential clues, and all I can come up with is, many/most of the returning players were double digit negatives (-10 or lower) on their plus/minus over a roughly 30 game schedule, which extrapolates into -20's and -30's at an NHL length 70-80 game regular season. Those are numbers that tend to get you traded, demoted and/or released. It almost seems counterintuitive, but maybe these early scoring outbursts have been at least fueled in part by more players willing to play a 200 foot game? If there was a delta with early season conditioning, that tends to level itself off after a few weeks of games. I guess we'll see ...
U. of New Hampshire 2022-23 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com
In other "separate yet different" hockey news, it's been a fun October so far for yours truly, with DRW riding a 5 game winning streak, tied for the Atlantic (and Eastern) lead with the B's and their matching 5 game winning streak. The Wings did lose their opener on the road to the Devils in a close one, and have since blasted through Tampa Bay (H), Columbus (A), Pittsburgh (H), Ottawa (A) and Calgary (H), building leads of 3 or more goals in each of those games, which has been a pleasant surprise to date. Looks like the Wings and B's will be meeting this Saturday and next Saturday, and 3 times in all over the next 30 days. So November will be a chance to test/expose both of my favorite teams' chances for the duration of the season. Looking forward to it all ...
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
If that were the case, the UMaine Men's Hockey program would have been disbanded by now. ;-)
Pot/kettle/black, etc. etc. etc.
Touche dude !
Fair enough.
How about a cause for the earliest of two obvious inflection points in the following UNH W-L-T series, beginning with 2022-23 season at top left?
11-21-3, 14-19-1, (6-14-3), 15-15-4, 12-15-9, 10-20-6, 15-20-5, 11-20-6, 19-19-2, 22-18-1
Could be more players willing to play a 200-foot game. Orrrrr, could be players needed a year to learn how to play a 90-foot-wide game.
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Souza alludes to a new attitude of the players that he hasn't seen in recent seasons (Union Leader article on Sunday)...with no disrespect to those players who have left...maybe the chemistry is clicking.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Just saw the latest UNH Hockey item in the UL ... along with MS7's "chemistry" bit ... it all brings me back around to the famous Mike Tyson quote about how "everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face".
It will be interesting to see where that "punch" happens, who will register it, and how MS7 & Co. respond ...
It will be interesting to see where that "punch" happens, who will register it, and how MS7 & Co. respond ...
Robert Balin
New member
They can get a monkey off their back Thursday against Northeastern. In their last fifteen games UNH is 1-13-1 against the Huskies.
And that one win was in OT at the Whitt on 11 January 2020, with 7 losses since. Absolutely stunning recent dominance by NU over UNH, which we can extend to 3-16-2 since the 2014/15 season. That is more than just a monkey on our backs, more like an elephant.
HockeyRef
Well-known member
NU BU take your pick regarding losses to said teams! It would be huge to see a W against the Huskies...Also Yukon was a bit of a dry spell ; never saw them win at the XL (and come to think of it never at Matthews...maybe a tie?)
Let's go 'Cats! Turn the Huskie corner!
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Howsabout "Return to Dominance" instead of "turn the corner"? Northeastern was the perennial doormat of HEA for most of the first 20 years of HEA's existence, and UConn was a glorified D-2 program (when not an actual D-2 program) for the first 30 years of the league. We've fallen SO far in the last decade that we've assumed the position these two nonentities used to occupy ... whilst neither of the Huskies can lay claim to success even approaching UNH's "second-tier elite" status as a former perennial HEA RS contender/winner, NCAA qualifier, etc. as nauseum.
Not picking on you 'Ref, but it frosts my pumpkin to see where MS7's "learning on the job" has left UNH in the overall scheme of things, and for so long the young'uns don't know better ...
Ok, it has been over 24 hours without anyone suggesting a cause for the precipitous drop from 19-19-2 to 11-20-6 in the 2015/16 season, which I think resulted from the installation of the Jumbotron. (Full disclosure that I was for the Jumbotron before I was against the Jumbotron.)
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
IIRC it was the first season of Coach Umile's three year "Long Goodbye", where he needed a mere 40 wins over 3 seasons to get to the mythical NRN of 600 (of course, he fell short). Plenty of creamy cupcakes got crammed into those seasons, and again IIRC it was the year of the senior laden, first checking line of MacDonald (C), Gaudreault & Smith, likewise featuring their all-time "feel good" (yet disastrous) captaincy decision.
Without question, the first time it was blatantly obvious that Coach Umile had (badly AND sadly) lost the plot ...
2015-2016 was also the year of Warren Foegele (NHL - GP 355, G 63, A 63) not getting 1st line or PP playing time for said Senior "checking forwards". After playing 34 games his freshman season (5-11-16) he played 5 as a sophomore (0-1-1) and IIRC down on a lower line (3rd), before bailing out to the OHL. This is an athlete that had decided to stay in Canadian prep school because education was important. Gets to OHL and scores basically a point per game rest of the year (GP 52, 12-35-48). I look at Foegele as an early "transfer portal" casualty as there have always been other options if you don't take care of your talent.
How bad was that roster? Poturalski has had 4 NHL GP, nobody else even had a cup of coffee. If we subtract Poturalski, Foegele has played more NHL games than the entire rest of that roster had AHL games. (at least a factor of 10x)
All in hindsight. That was the year it became crystal clear Umile had completely lost his "fastball". It had been bumpy from ~2008-09 and if we are honest, the decline probably was really triggered by a change the end of 2002. For those who don't remember, from 1990-91 to 2014-15 Umile had just 2 sub .500 seasons (.412 in 1995-96 and .446 in 2011-12). As fans we would start the year expecting to win at least 20-25 games. Sadly he finished .378, .438, .361.
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Foegele got two more goals the other night in a lopsided Oilers win. I agree that Umile completely humiliated Foegele by sitting him in the stands most nights fall semester of his sophomore season, which was equally as bad as elevating the perennially scoring-challenged and oft-injured seniors to the first line. It almost seemed like Umile was intentionally trying to lose rather trying to reach his NRN that season. I never thought that Umile had a “fastball” to lose, but was rather the beneficiary of some assistant coaches who were excellent recruiters early on. I was just kidding about the Jumbotron being the cause of that debacle of a season, although it was coincidentally installed to begin the 2014/15 season.
You don't take a team to 4 Frozen Fours in 6 years and have that sort of sustained winning over 20+ years without some form of a "fastball". If Umile's had been better there would have been more H.E. titles and at least 1 NCAA in those 20+ years.
That is not to give more credit than is due to a head coach that GREATLY benefited from some really good recruiting assistants, one in particular which is the 2002 change. However, being fair you need to give credit all around. I believe, where Umile went wrong was after 2002 staying with his "piasan" (even if not all were necessarily piasans) network and not evolving with the game to a younger hungrier recruiter. In hindsight I don't think Umile ever understood recruiting, and unfortunately I don't think MS7 understands it either.
After the Whistle
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