HockeyRef
Well-known member
College Hockey News dubs UNH Team of the Week ...with remarks about a contract extension by MS7
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UNH Hockey 2023-2024 Season Thread - End Of The Cellar-Dweller Era??
- Thread starter Scott
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Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Kudos to the writer, he's not outwardly shilling for MS7, but merely stating that the topic is out there, and fuels discussion on this board/thread. I still think a whole range of potential outcomes is possible - anywhere from UNH letting the deal expire without a renewal, to a 3 year extension.
It is indeed all left to play for, with UMass this weekend, BC the next, and finally with UMass Bazin, to determine HEA playoff seedings, and what kind of chance us UNH fans have of traveling to Boston in late March with a dog ('Cat?) in the fight. UNH arguably carries the momentum into this weekend's series ... then, they encounter a potentially undermotivated BC team with little to play for, and catch UML late in a poor season by their recent standards. Given that this is the schedule, and it's set in stone ... I don't think you could hope for better conditions surrounding the games than the ones UNH will be faced with coming up. Would a 4-1-1 run be enough? If the loss is to BC, and the tie is either with UMA or BC, then my guess is "possibly yes". Can't wait to find out ...
According to the Magic Losing Numbers grid in the Hockey East link posted by Felger, even if our Cats lose out all our remaining six games, the cellar spot would be still out of reach, so Scott’s thread title question is now answered, that is our cellar dweller era is over. Would that alone be enough to ensure MS7 an extension?
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Well in the article he pretty much says they are working on something...and he mentions those that have invested many times over. It's in the bag. Hey!
How's about he makes up a cool sneaker...oh wait..ha! Just read on the UVM board that their coach signed a 4 year deal...
Better yet...just win and play like you know you can 'Cats!
Ps..this server suxs.
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Yeah, I get it. My question that you highlighted was rhetorical, although I am not happy about the answer. And, of course, I would be delighted if our Cats ran the table, or even just swept UMass-Flagship and UMass-Bazin, which might just barely be enough to grab the 14th PWR slot if some Nacho teams beat up one another over their remaining regular season games. Also, in the past there has been plenty of PWR movement for bubble teams during the conference tournaments.
Ferrrao1994
Member
What concerns me is that zoomass is a pretty solid team on the road.
HockeyRef
Well-known member
...and UNH...isn't at 5-8. But when I look at their W's on the road, we can do it (am not even going to mention the Army game). When I first started following the team
UNH won handily (as most teams did before the Carvel era) at Mullins, we've won a play off game there (Max Gildon's last season HE play in). Almost threw my computer
against the wall when we squandered a 5 to 6 goal lead (think we tied?). Anyhoo..
Surely it's not lost on the team just how big a weekend this is, you know Carvel is going to have his troops ready and MS7 surely gets it. Whether or not
UNH 'comes to play' when they need to, is the question. Sorry, but you can't help but wonder who is going to show up with them, this is not a secret. I think most
fans were pleasantly surprised about how this past weekend went, but we can't rest on that going forward.
Go 'Cats!!!
Maybe I am the one that is na?ve, I don't think it is in the bag.
If it was a done deal it would be announced. Why? If you have made this choice, than you like what Souza is doing and you want to provide stability/certainty for the current players and recruits.
Of course Souza is going to express confidence something can get done. Why? He wants it to get done. He doesn't want to be out job, making $240k and hunting for a new one with his record. He probably also doesn't want to move his family.
Lastly the investment money. Those "Key Auto Group" dollars are marketing and that is already getting paid back and the project hasn't broken ground. Yes, $4M is a good chunk of change and he got a "name" out of it. That is not much money to tie the AD hands from doing what is right for a program and University. Now if you want to tack on an endowment that pays the coaches annual salary and produces enough additional return to keep up with the rate of the positions pay inflation, maybe, just maybe, we can chat about demanding a certain coach. I would be amazed if the University, even as much as it wants donations, would give up so much for so little.
They are basically the same team from a numbers perspective. I have not seem UMA so I don't know how these two compare in style
[TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]UNH[/TD]
[TD]UMA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Record[/TD]
[TD]16-11-1[/TD]
[TD]16-9-3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goals[/TD]
[TD]89/3.18[/TD]
[TD]88/3.14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goals Against[/TD]
[TD]74/2.64[/TD]
[TD]79/2.82[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]PP[/TD]
[TD]21.9%[/TD]
[TD]20.8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]PK[/TD]
[TD]79.6%[/TD]
[TD]77.7%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Avg. Height/Weight[/TD]
[TD]6' 0.07" / 156.2[/TD]
[TD]6' 0.79" / 186.6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Avg Age[/TD]
[TD]22 y 1m[/TD]
[TD]21y 11m[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
So UMA is .75" taller and 2 months younger and a touch worse on special teams
They have both lost to UVM and MC...
HockeyRef
Well-known member
First off, I was being alittle flippant with my 'in the bag' comment, but think he (MS7) would not mention the contract extension in the manner he did. If he
didn't have an inkling I'd think he'd say as much. But whatever, maybe its best to leave this stuff alone anyway and focus on what's at hand...
Right now I want the 'Cats to do the best they can going forward. Who's behind the bench at this point is not where the
focus should be (note to self).
With not much to do today having fun re-watching our 3rd period v Maine (sat). Yeah that was delish.
If I was Mike Souza and I wanted a contract I wouldn't shut-up about it either. I think that he is talking about it so much is even more reason to believe it is not done. My guess is they aren't even talking about it so he is running a public relations campaign in the media buoyed at different points by the record this year. At this point he has a huge advantage, the University will not say anything, beyond some legal/HR speak that they don't comment on contracts, blah, blah, blah.
If it were done it would be announced.
Ferrrao1994
Member
The updated Bracketology was released. Looking at the teams that we can realistically catch, there are 4 that come to mind.
St. Cloud (T11th PWR) Providence (T11th PWR), Cornell (14th PWR), Western Michigan (10th PWR) are the fringe playoff teams that we're behind.
St. Cloud, and Western Michigan have tough end of the season schedules like we do. Cornell we can only hope that they lose an ECAC game they have no business losing to. Thoughts?
St. Cloud (T11th PWR) Providence (T11th PWR), Cornell (14th PWR), Western Michigan (10th PWR) are the fringe playoff teams that we're behind.
St. Cloud, and Western Michigan have tough end of the season schedules like we do. Cornell we can only hope that they lose an ECAC game they have no business losing to. Thoughts?
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
I've heard a lot of speculation on both sides of the issue over the last few weeks, but I'm with you almost word-for-word, JB. If there was indeed a deal in place, what would the reasoning be not to announce it right now - especially after the UMaine sweep?? Everything so far has been from Souza-friendly media folk, whether they simply float the issue, get MS7 to add commentary to the issue, or offer their own opinions on the issue.
It absolutely has ALL the hallmarks of a self-induced PR campaign, aided by friends in the media.
I don't remember Herrion doing this on his own behalf at this point last year, but (1) I don't follow UNH Hoops that closely, and (2) UNH Hoops gets a small fraction of the coverage UNH Hockey does. so maybe I missed it?
If I'm AD Rich, I'm not sure if my reaction would be amusement, annoyance, anger or neutrality. I mean, she would be the only person other than MS7 to know what's actually been said between the two, and in reading Souza's most recent commentary, it sounds like he's more hoping for a deal than expecting one in his public comments. I'd caution the coach not to overdo it, though, as some AD's could get annoyed, thinking that one of their revenue-sport coaches is thinking he can "play" her, as a relative newbie to being in charge??
I won't pretend to know the AD, and the only "book" we really have on her is Herrion, so based on that alone, if I'm Souza, my immediate goal is to get the team to Boston to surpass where Herrion came up short. As for AD Rich, keeping things in neutral to assess whether one good season is enough to warrant a reinvestment, and if so, what the scope of that renewal might look like if/when granted, is all she should be focusing on.
Going forwards, I would also recommend the AD make sure there is at least a year's worth of salary buried in the seat cushions of the annual budget to have a buyout option available if it's needed, whether it be in Hockey, Football, Soccer or Hoops. I suspect it's in there already, but if not, having that flexibility around if/when needed allows you to do your job better.
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I agree with this assessment, and I do not think that Cornell will get bumped out as they split with Quinnipiac, have not lost a game since December 2nd, and have four easy opponents to finish the regular season. Earlier I predicted that the ECAC would get only one team into the NCAA’s, but I had not looked at their schedule carefully until you just mentioned it. So, we not only need to hold off UMass-Flagship with a sweep, and sweep UMass-Bazin of course, but we also need some help from Nacho teams to knock out either W Michigan or St Clown, or both.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
As with everything hockey-related, perhaps the solution to MS7's current quandary can be found in Slapshot??
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Chuck et al I never said the deal / a deal was done at least I dont think so..at any rate...I dont buy he's doing a PR campaign. I just think it would be odd to 'put the cart before the horse' so to speak. He must feel pretty confident to speak of it publicly?
Hey he's the one who's saying in articles and on the most recent CHN podcast that he feels confident they are moving towards something.
He also says in the next breath that whether or not he's the coach the improvements at the Whitt are necessary for the success of the program. I agree.
Let me put it this way..did anyone know UVM was negotiating with their interim coach before they announced the final result/contract? No..at least I never saw or heard. Maybe a UVM fan can speak to that.
If they had a finalized contract/ extension yeah they'd announce it. When...who knows...not sure what the standard practice is with these things.
Let's play some hockey!!!! Beat UMassy! (But keep it classy
Hey he's the one who's saying in articles and on the most recent CHN podcast that he feels confident they are moving towards something.
He also says in the next breath that whether or not he's the coach the improvements at the Whitt are necessary for the success of the program. I agree.
Let me put it this way..did anyone know UVM was negotiating with their interim coach before they announced the final result/contract? No..at least I never saw or heard. Maybe a UVM fan can speak to that.
If they had a finalized contract/ extension yeah they'd announce it. When...who knows...not sure what the standard practice is with these things.
Let's play some hockey!!!! Beat UMassy! (But keep it classy
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Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
'Ref, I never thought you said a deal was OR wasn't done. I think we're all unsure, and reading the tea leaves.
In Slapshot Reg Dunlop creates his own PR narrative with media friends about the sale of the Chiefs to Florida geezers.
In UNH Hockey 2024, MS7 may be trying to do the same with this "new deal is within reach" narrative??
My admiration for the new UNH AD grows, the longer she draws this out, and demands actual results from MS7.
Every single one of us on here knows Souza would have been renewed last offseason quietly by her predecessor, and even if he somehow did allow Souza into his final season without a deal, an extension would have arrived early in the season after the "Champs of October" start, right? And even if AD Rich were to extend Souza after this season, it won't be a long extension (guessing two years, and a buyout slush fund on the side) ... at least until MS7 proves himself as someone who can deliver a winning program on a consistent basis ... as it should be.
In Slapshot Reg Dunlop creates his own PR narrative with media friends about the sale of the Chiefs to Florida geezers.
In UNH Hockey 2024, MS7 may be trying to do the same with this "new deal is within reach" narrative??
My admiration for the new UNH AD grows, the longer she draws this out, and demands actual results from MS7.
Every single one of us on here knows Souza would have been renewed last offseason quietly by her predecessor, and even if he somehow did allow Souza into his final season without a deal, an extension would have arrived early in the season after the "Champs of October" start, right? And even if AD Rich were to extend Souza after this season, it won't be a long extension (guessing two years, and a buyout slush fund on the side) ... at least until MS7 proves himself as someone who can deliver a winning program on a consistent basis ... as it should be.
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