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UNH Hockey 2023-2024 Season Thread - End Of The Cellar-Dweller Era??

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Here is my concern ... this is already a team that's probably giving maximum effort 90% of the time, which is pretty darned good, so there's probably only a very small delta left, even if you can get them to 100% max effort consistently. Scoring first and playing with a lead against BC is going to be critical. Unless BC shows up with less than 80% of their full effort, they will almost certainly dictate play for long stretches of the game, and if they manage to get out front, that can be very demoralizing to a willing but less talented team - especially one whose head coach doesn't seem to have the ability to throw a new wrinkle or two at an opponent to keep them off balance. If he does have this ability, it would have been nice to see it displayed at any point last weekend. Seems Coach Carvel stole a march on his former assistant by reading the UL and seeing Coach Souza's publicized "get the puck behind their defense and press the crap outta them" tactics, and preparing his team for it, where Coach Barr didn't. I give the team full marks for pulling something out on Saturday, but in the end, it was lost on Friday.

And this is ultimately why I believe we need the program to move in a new direction. If UNH is gonna improve the faculity, well, that's only the third most important piece of the overall puzzle. We've seen this movie before with the Jumbotron issue ... bells and whistles are fun and nice, but if the car's engine isn't good enough, no one cares about shiny new things/distractions. That Coach Souza is popular with his HEA peers is hardly a surprise; the guy winding down the last year of his deal always engenders sympathy at this level, especially if he's a likeable guy. But does that bring the talented players into the program, and for the guys who do join the program, is there a history of talent development, so MS7 can point to guys who have been with his program in Durham, and since moved on to the NHL?? Not recently, as the last few to pull that off are a small handful of guys on either side of 30 who (barring Foegele) can point to productive time under much-maligned Coach Umile.

If UNH was historically just a mid-level nowhere D-1 program, keeping a popular alum who will likely post a narrow winning record for the first time in almost a decade at his alma mater, could be an easy sell. And if that's what UNH wants to be in the future, then Souza is the guy. But this has NOT been that type of program historically ... and with all my personal swooning over the now-departed Coach Hubbard, it remains it's been the likes of Coaches Holt Umile who have made UNH a hockey school, and their standards are competing at or near the top of ECAC (Holt) and HEA (Umile) regular seasons, winning a few league tourneys, making frequent trips to the NCAA's, and making 6 Frozen Four trips, including two to the National Title game. Does AD Rich and UNH leadership still have this same vision? If they claim to, there is really only one decision to be made next month ...
 
Darius said:
BC is 13 - 2 in 2024. They have won six in a row by a combined score of 33 - 9, three of which were in a three and a half minute span vs. UMA when they apparently forgot to play hard. Other than that, skill mattered. Big time. Their “freshman line” puts on a skill clinic every game. These next two aren’t if, but by how much.
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Gulp. Well, when you put it that way, I guess skill does count. Nope, not kidding myself that BC isn't a force. Looking back I remember our 20-21 sweep, I mean we've had
some decent games with them here and there. Tough qtr final loss OT loss to them in Yorks last season (2022). Swept us in 2022-2023; a bright spot for them
despite an uncharacteristic losing season.

What makes it worse is my brother in law who's a Beagle alum enjoys rubbing it in! Sometimes we get 'lucky' at Conte; this year? Suspect its going to
be a long weekend...staying out of the box is going to be a task trying to subdue their top line, if there is such a thing...
 
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HockeyRef said:
Gulp. Well, when you put it that way, I guess skill does count. Nope, not kidding myself that BC isn't a force. Looking back I remember our 20-21 sweep, I mean we've had
some decent games with them here and there. Tough qtr final loss OT loss to them in Yorks last season (2022). Swept us in 2022-2023; a bright spot for them
despite an uncharacteristic losing season.

What makes it worse is my brother in law who's a Beagle alum enjoys rubbing it in! Sometimes we get 'lucky' at Conte; this year? Suspect its going to
be a long weekend...staying out of the box is going to be a task trying to subdue their top line, if there is such a thing...
Click to expand...

This has been our problem for a number of years now, no skilled goal scorers. Don't get me wrong, we've had some good goal scorers (and still do) but we haven't had, and still don't have any exceptionally skilled goal scorers. That's why we are 16th, 17th, 18th in the county and the BC's, BU's and NoDaks of the world or where they are. Sure, effort will win you a game here and there, but team skill is the absolute most important factor.
 
HockeyRef said:
Gulp. Well, when you put it that way, I guess skill does count. Nope, not kidding myself that BC isn't a force. Looking back I remember our 20-21 sweep, I mean we've had some decent games with them here and there. Tough qtr final loss OT loss to them in Yorks last season (2022). Swept us in 2022-2023; a bright spot for them despite an uncharacteristic losing season.

What makes it worse is my brother in law who's a Beagle alum enjoys rubbing it in! Sometimes we get 'lucky' at Conte; this year? Suspect its going to be a long weekend...staying out of the box is going to be a task trying to subdue their top line, if there is such a thing...
Click to expand...

It's funny, the UNH v. BC series was probably close to a 50-50 split (overall history-wise) with UNH holding narrow all-time leads well into the Umile Era, 'Ref. Then you arrived, and it's been all downhill since ... ;-)

UNH vs. BC was the grist that made the USCHO Fan Forum churn for over a decade. It was basically "Which is the greatest D-1 choke program" through the 2001 BC win over NoDak, which UNH nearly answered in the next two years with FF trips that fell short. The kill shot(s) that ended any realistic discussion/comparison came with the BC run of 3 titles in 5 seasons about a decade after 2001. And by that time, UNH was falling gradually shorter and shorter from the national title goal every year, until we fell of the cliff in Late Stage Umile.

FWIW it's been over a decade now since BC won the whole enchilada, so they don't even possess bragging rights in their own conference now. Boasting about RS exploits is something there was no shortage of between UNH and BC, running up to circa 2001. Maybe your brother-in-law could do with a reminder that "BC" actually stands for "Beanpot Consolation", which again seems to be one of their specialties in recent years!
 
Chuck Murray said:
It's funny, the UNH v. BC series was probably close to a 50-50 split (overall history-wise) with UNH holding narrow all-time leads well into the Umile Era, 'Ref. Then you arrived, and it's been all downhill since ... ;-)

UNH vs. BC was the grist that made the USCHO Fan Forum churn for over a decade. It was basically "Which is the greatest D-1 choke program" through the 2001 BC win over NoDak, which UNH nearly answered in the next two years with FF trips that fell short. The kill shot(s) that ended any realistic discussion/comparison came with the BC run of 3 titles in 5 seasons about a decade after 2001. And by that time, UNH was falling gradually shorter and shorter from the national title goal every year, until we fell of the cliff in Late Stage Umile.

FWIW it's been over a decade now since BC won the whole enchilada, so they don't even possess bragging rights in their own conference now. Boasting about RS exploits is something there was no shortage of between UNH and BC, running up to circa 2001. Maybe your brother-in-law could do with a reminder that "BC" actually stands for "Beanpot Consolation", which again seems to be one of their specialties in recent years!
Click to expand...

You aren't the the first to say that my becoming a fan has led to the downfall of the 'Cats...sigh. I haven't renewed my STIx ...yet maybe I should re consider given this obvious roadblock to Wildcat success!

Noted that it's been awhile for the Beagles to win a NC but they are favorites this season. I'll be sure to pass along your comments to my brother in law..
 
d.gerry said:
This has been our problem for a number of years now, no skilled goal scorers. Don't get me wrong, we've had some good goal scorers (and still do) but we haven't had, and still don't have any exceptionally skilled goal scorers. That's why we are 16th, 17th, 18th in the county and the BC's, BU's and NoDaks of the world or where they are. Sure, effort will win you a game here and there, but team skill is the absolute most important factor.
Click to expand...

Totally get that point and you just watch..once we get the Whitt renovated they are going to come in droves and will have to be turned away!!!
 
Western Michigan plays North Dakota this weekend
St. Cloud plays Denver
Michigan plays Minnesota

There's chance to make up ground if we get some help. But we're going to have to steal a game on Friday.
 
d.gerry said:
This has been our problem for a number of years now, no skilled goal scorers. Don't get me wrong, we've had some good goal scorers (and still do) but we haven't had, and still don't have any exceptionally skilled goal scorers. That's why we are 16th, 17th, 18th in the county and the BC's, BU's and NoDaks of the world or where they are. Sure, effort will win you a game here and there, but team skill is the absolute most important factor.
Click to expand...
How many NHL draft picks does UNH have? Maybe there’s a reason they don’t develop under MS7
 
StillKIA2 said:
How many NHL draft picks does UNH have? Maybe there’s a reason they don’t develop under MS7
Click to expand...

Ha ha! I don’t hold MS7 blameless, but the difference in the level of talent between UNH and BC/BU is glaring. It’s not a development issue, it’s a lack of talent being brought in that’s the issue. Don’t bother trying to convince me our drafted players are anywhere close to BC’s. If you want to blame MS7 for recruiting, sure, that’s valid.
 
'Watcher would often come on here to outline who the blue chip players were visiting among the HEA schools, and invariably in recent years, it's been UNH and UMass Lowell who have been on the outside looking in. The non-van Riemsdyk talent pool coming out of UNH - short of the brief cups o' coffee enjoyed by the likes of Crookshank and Poturalski, probably one or two others - can be reduced to Bret Pesce and Warren Foegele, the latter of whom literally packed his bags early in his soph season to run away to Major Juniors, because he was shuttling between the bottom six and the stands for a head coach who had gone temporarily insane, and a new lead assistant who didn't have the foresight OR chutzpah to advocate for him to keep him in school. I'm sure this is a well-worn tale that's made the rounds among various coaches. recruiters and player advisors, and so when MS7 wants you to believe it's the building that's holding him back ... well, whatever gets you through the night, right?

'Ref, please do not get yourself into a proxy war with your brother-in-law over BC vs. UNH, I've committed many sins over the years on these boards, I do not want to add family counseling for the HR Family as one of them ...
 
Nick, so how do you reconcile the fact the so-called lead "choker" on those UNH teams is BC's Associate Head Coach?
 
Chuck Murray said:
Nick, so how do you reconcile the fact the so-called lead "choker" on those UNH teams is BC's Associate Head Coach?
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"You can't spell "playoff chokers without...."

I find it ironic that Mike Ayers played four years at UNH and reached an NCAA Championship Game, but has been unable to do so in nine opportunities as a coach at the Heights.

I fully expect that to change this season. But if it doesn't, just as with Benton Maass tanking MSU's title bid a couple years ago, maybe it is further evidence of a UNH jinx.
 
d.gerry said:
Ha ha! I don’t hold MS7 blameless, but the difference in the level of talent between UNH and BC/BU is glaring. It’s not a development issue, it’s a lack of talent being brought in that’s the issue. Don’t bother trying to convince me our drafted players are anywhere close to BC’s. If you want to blame MS7 for recruiting, sure, that’s valid.
Click to expand...

I think that our problems lie with both recruiting and player development. Obviously our recruiting dropped off dramatically after McCloskey left Umile’s coaching team to become head coach of the UNH women’s team. But even when some decent talent did arrive in Durham over the past decade-plus, there are many examples of players having their best seasons statistically their first year, which tells me that the coaching is simply not good.
 
Still on the outside looking in with the updated Bracketology. The teams that we can pass at this point are the usual suspects; Michigan, Umass, Western Michigan, St. Cloud. Cornell dropped hard and is out of the bracket in result from losing to Clarkson and going to OT with St. Lawerence last weekend. Still an upward climb but hopefully one of these teams falls apart down the stretch here. Of course we have to hold our own end of the deal.
 
Ferrrao1994 said:
Still on the outside looking in with the updated Bracketology. The teams that we can pass at this point are the usual suspects; Michigan, Umass, Western Michigan, St. Cloud. Cornell dropped hard and is out of the bracket in result from losing to Clarkson and going to OT with St. Lawerence last weekend. Still an upward climb but hopefully one of these teams falls apart down the stretch here. Of course we have to hold our own end of the deal.
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....if only we had taken care of business with UMass this past weekend? But love your optimism. There's this thing tho...two games with BC looming.

Sure would be the 'Cinderella Story" of the year!
 
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