UNH Hockey 2023 Off Season Thread Turn and Face the Strange

[HockeyRef]

Exactly, PC needs to win HEA and an auto bid, but wondering what it would take for Mac to hang in there at 14th. The AHA auto bid takes 16th, and I believe that Alaska is vulnerable at 15th should any team other than DU or St Clown wins NACHO, or if Colgate wins ECAC, or if Northern Michigan wins CCHA. If two of these three things happen, I think that Mac gets bounced from 14th. But there may be other PWR subtitles that I am missing. For example, would Northern Michigan knock Minn State out of 13th? Will know the other two teams in the NACHO final four after tonight.

How 'bout those Crusaders?? (Holy Cross)..dark horse team? And, of course, am well aware they aren't in HE Also well aware we lost to them this season. But, I do not wanna say anything bad about UNH. I'm on a new kick of not saying bad things about UNH. Blew out my torch and put the pitch fork away...We all just need to be happy 'round here and cheer on those other deserving teams, like Holy Cross for example. There's always next year!!

Chuck, I can't root for UML, I just can't, as they broke my heart in too many HE clashes. I'm totally on board for the Friars!! I will say that I respect the work Norm has done, but, seeing how Nate Leaman has yet to win a HE crown (to go along with his National title; this will seem minor in comparison..)

Back up? Merrimack. Can't wait for Friday! Psyched to go to the Garden but will be incognito...(might wear my UNH hat)

 

[HockeyRef]

Exactly, PC needs to win HEA and an auto bid, but wondering what it would take for Mac to hang in there at 14th. The AHA auto bid takes 16th, and I believe that Alaska is vulnerable at 15th should any team other than DU or St Clown wins NACHO, or if Colgate wins ECAC, or if Northern Michigan wins CCHA. If two of these three things happen, I think that Mac gets bounced from 14th. But there may be other PWR subtitles that I am missing. For example, would Northern Michigan knock Minn State out of 13th? Will know the other two teams in the NACHO final four after tonight.

More PWR insight from Mike McMahon:

Teams 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, all out of their conference tournaments. Makes figuring out the Pairwise a lot easier. The NCAA field comes down to whether or not enough “spoiler” teams can knock out teams 15, 14, 13, or even 12 by winning automatic bids from outside of the Top 15.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Chuck, I can't root for UML, I just can't, as they broke my heart in too many HE clashes. I'm totally on board for the Friars!! I will say that I respect the work Norm has done, but, seeing how Nate Leaman has yet to win a HE crown (to go along with his National title; this will seem minor in comparison..)

Nate Leaman is one of the luckiest guys in D-1 hockey. Not to say he isn't a very good coach, but his D-1 title happened when the opposing goalie literally threw the puck into his own net. But for that moment, he'd be just another Dick Umile or Norm Bazin, without the multiple HEA titles the other two guys have. I believe Leaman was also a volunteer assistant on one of Walshy's national title team(s*) so he's enjoyed a fair share of the rub 'o the green.

So, Norm Bazin beat UNH a few times in the postseason. Big whoop, so have a lot of other coaches. It's his job to beat UNH (and everyone else), and he's never ever been a total jackwagon when they did it. He gets none of the Boston-team home cooking that BU, BC and now NU seem to get in the Garden games. Let's put it this way ... whichever team wins the Merrimack Valley title (and I'm with Lowell), then I hope they take it all the way to the HEA Finals trophy, and go for a deep run in the national tourney. Bazin OR Borek, good luck to youze guys!!

 

[Fishman'81]

Wayne Shorter passed away this past week. With the passing of Jaco Pastorius in 1987 and Joe Zawinul in 2007 that leaves only the two percussionists Alex Acuna and Manolo Badvena alive from the fine album Heavy Weather by the great jazz/rock fusion band Weather Report in 1977.

I had that one on reel-to-reel, NS! A great album.

 

[walrus]

I had that one on reel-to-reel, NS! A great album.

I still have it on Vinyl and saw it for a few bucks on Amazon in CD format so I bought it just recently. Guess their are few old folks on here : ) Assuming like me you got Weather Report when you were young. High School days for me.

 

[HockeyRef]

Somehow, I think some sort of 'closure' to the season is necessary and important, and I'm talking about a presser/some kind of statement, from the HC about the season.
I was just sent the note that UMO's Coach Barr sent to the fans on their facebook page by a mutual friend who roots for both teams (UNH and Maine, although
they try to deny they still follow Maine lol)

The note from Barr was a re-cap of the season, the ups, downs, and hopes for the future. Importantly he spells out the culture the team has developed, and their
hopes for continued success for the future, etc. He expressed his heartbreak for their last game and how they let down the 'Alfond Faithful'...His honesty and
candid reflection lets his fans know he 'gets it' and is fully invested in moving forward to produce the best product on the ice that he can. (and off ice
was mentioned as well)

I would welcome such a note from Mike Souza...to this fan at least, it would go a long way (IMHO) to showing the fans
that he understands the frustration and his goals moving forward. No excuses...just something, which is better, than nothing. While most here might
disagree the team did make strides this season, and he could talk about those.

As I indicated I asked the UL sports writer if there were plans to do such an interview about the season, and was told that at this point, there wasn't.
To me when you are faced with adversity you should meet it head on. I'd have a lot more respect for him if he did...Sure, I saw some of his post
game interviews but I'm talking about alittle more here than just those.

Does it change the season's record? No. But when you are the HC of a program where many people spend alot of money to attend games, travel to games,
etc, I think you owe these fans something...Maybe such a thing is in the works?? Should coaches be accountable to their fans?? I think they should be, to
some degree.

Thoughts?

 

[Snively65]

How 'bout those Crusaders?? (Holy Cross)..dark horse team? And, of course, am well aware they aren't in HE Also well aware we lost to them this season. But, I do not wanna say anything bad about UNH. I'm on a new kick of not saying bad things about UNH. Blew out my torch and put the pitch fork away...We all just need to be happy 'round here and cheer on those other deserving teams, like Holy Cross for example. There's always next year!!

Chuck, I can't root for UML, I just can't, as they broke my heart in too many HE clashes. I'm totally on board for the Friars!! I will say that I respect the work Norm has done, but, seeing how Nate Leaman has yet to win a HE crown (to go along with his National title; this will seem minor in comparison..)

Back up? Merrimack. Can't wait for Friday! Psyched to go to the Garden but will be incognito...(might wear my UNH hat)

The singular funniest post that I have read on this Forum was in an UNH thread when the Crusaders were scheduled to visit the Whitt over a decade ago. The post was in response to someone’s questions “Who is Holy Cross and what kind of team will they bring to the Whitt?” The response began with “The question should not be ‘who is Holy Cross?’ but ‘what is the Holy Cross?’ and then went on for several paragraphs about the history of Christianity. To answer the second question, the poster simply replied that “Holy Cross would be most likely bringing an ice hockey team to play at the Whitt.”

A beer on me at our favorite downtown Durham pub to anyone who can find this post in the Forum archives.

The Crusaders still need to get past another AHA dark horse in Canisius, and then just maybe face the Gophers once gain in the West Regional semi’s.

Anyone here remember perhaps the greatest upset in Div 1 NCAA history when the Crusaders upset the Gophers in the West Regional semi’s in which Nodak fans far out-screamed Gopher fans in support of the Crusaders?

 

[Snively65]

I still have it on Vinyl and saw it for a few bucks on Amazon in CD format so I bought it just recently. Guess there are few old folks on here : ) Assuming like me you got Weather Report when you were young. High School days for me.

One of the best jazz concerts that I ever heard was the Dave Brubeck Quartet in the field house at U Maine when in grad school there 1972-1974, which hooked me on jazz forever.

 

[HockeyRef]

One of the best jazz concerts that I ever heard was the Dave Brubeck Quartet in the field house at U Maine when in grad school there 1972-1974, which hooked me on jazz forever.

Saw Dave Brubeck at an out door gig in northern NH years ago; prob 1979 ish. I had taken an "intro to Jazz' elective at PSU (sad they lost by the way) and funny I do not remember
Wayne Shorter...but learned all about the rest of the Jazz greats...Mr. HR really loves jazz..me, not so much :-}

 

[deltabravo62]

Somehow, I think some sort of 'closure' to the season is necessary and important, and I'm talking about a presser/some kind of statement, from the HC about the season.
I was just sent the note that UMO's Coach Barr sent to the fans on their facebook page by a mutual friend who roots for both teams (UNH and Maine, although
they try to deny they still follow Maine lol)

The note from Barr was a re-cap of the season, the ups, downs, and hopes for the future. Importantly he spells out the culture the team has developed, and their
hopes for continued success for the future, etc. He expressed his heartbreak for their last game and how they let down the 'Alfond Faithful'...His honesty and
candid reflection lets his fans know he 'gets it' and is fully invested in moving forward to produce the best product on the ice that he can. (and off ice
was mentioned as well)

I would welcome such a note from Mike Souza...to this fan at least, it would go a long way (IMHO) to showing the fans
that he understands the frustration and his goals moving forward. No excuses...just something, which is better, than nothing. While most here might
disagree the team did make strides this season, and he could talk about those.

As I indicated I asked the UL sports writer if there were plans to do such an interview about the season, and was told that at this point, there wasn't.
To me when you are faced with adversity you should meet it head on. I'd have a lot more respect for him if he did...Sure, I saw some of his post
game interviews but I'm talking about alittle more here than just those.

Does it change the season's record? No. But when you are the HC of a program where many people spend alot of money to attend games, travel to games,
etc, I think you owe these fans something...Maybe such a thing is in the works?? Should coaches be accountable to their fans?? I think they should be, to
some degree.

Thoughts?

All that comes to my mind is, good luck on getting that. Take a look at the UNH Athletics YouTube page. They used to post the weekly press conference highlighted points there with access to the full via Twitter link. Now you have be among the privileged few to access even the cherry picked points. Full press conference recordings are not available to anyone without a press credential. This is not UNH wide as football still posts some of their press stuff during their season.

Clearly he doesn't want to be on the public eye and is not being required to be by admin. With the level of dislike that he has garnered within the fan base for various reasons I understand not wanting to. However, this gives those of us against him more ammo when he is not visible. In our case though, an end of season letter or presser does nothing to change the reality. This is a program on a continued slide, no one in administration wants to face the problem and the head coach is not equipped to fix it. I would have more respect for him facing the music, but I wouldn't get the "feel good" that I would if I was a Maine fan reading Barr's letter. That team was on a run and ran out of gas, our team got a little glimmer of hope to then be snapped back to reality.

In closing, while the idea of a visible closure would at least be something. I wouldn't personally get any fuzzies in seeing it, but can understand how some would at least find value in it.

 

[HockeyRef]

All that comes to my mind is, good luck on getting that. Take a look at the UNH Athletics YouTube page. They used to post the weekly press conference highlighted points there with access to the full via Twitter link. Now you have be among the privileged few to access even the cherry picked points. Full press conference recordings are not available to anyone without a press credential. This is not UNH wide as football still posts some of their press stuff during their season.

Clearly he doesn't want to be on the public eye and is not being required to be by admin. With the level of dislike that he has garnered within the fan base for various reasons I understand not wanting to. However, this gives those of us against him more ammo when he is not visible. In our case though, an end of season letter or presser does nothing to change the reality. This is a program on a continued slide, no one in administration wants to face the problem and the head coach is not equipped to fix it. I would have more respect for him facing the music, but I wouldn't get the "feel good" that I would if I was a Maine fan reading Barr's letter. That team was on a run and ran out of gas, our team got a little glimmer of hope to then be snapped back to reality.

In closing, while the idea of a visible closure would at least be something. I wouldn't personally get any fuzzies in seeing it, but can understand how some would at least find value in it.

Good points here and agree; good luck with getting that. And yeah, it doesn't change the reality of the situation but I would personally welcome some kind of statement. And I have not forgotten his words at a FOH meeting "UNH will win the National Championship". Heck, if he's bold enough to say that...he's bold enough to address
his season.

At this point, am not looking for fuzzies..just acknowledgment and some kind of 'hope' for the future. Talk up your incoming
recruits, talk up your banquet award winners (don't get me going on that loss of fan opps). But, you are right...it's a pipe dream...

 

[Chuck Murray]

Somehow, I think some sort of 'closure' to the season is necessary and important, and I'm talking about a presser/some kind of statement, from the HC about the season.
I was just sent the note that UMO's Coach Barr sent to the fans on their facebook page by a mutual friend who roots for both teams (UNH and Maine, although
they try to deny they still follow Maine lol)

The note from Barr was a re-cap of the season, the ups, downs, and hopes for the future. Importantly he spells out the culture the team has developed, and their
hopes for continued success for the future, etc. He expressed his heartbreak for their last game and how they let down the 'Alfond Faithful'...His honesty and
candid reflection lets his fans know he 'gets it' and is fully invested in moving forward to produce the best product on the ice that he can. (and off ice
was mentioned as well)

I would welcome such a note from Mike Souza...to this fan at least, it would go a long way (IMHO) to showing the fans
that he understands the frustration and his goals moving forward. No excuses...just something, which is better, than nothing. While most here might
disagree the team did make strides this season, and he could talk about those.

As I indicated I asked the UL sports writer if there were plans to do such an interview about the season, and was told that at this point, there wasn't.
To me when you are faced with adversity you should meet it head on. I'd have a lot more respect for him if he did...Sure, I saw some of his post
game interviews but I'm talking about alittle more here than just those.

Does it change the season's record? No. But when you are the HC of a program where many people spend alot of money to attend games, travel to games,
etc, I think you owe these fans something...Maybe such a thing is in the works?? Should coaches be accountable to their fans?? I think they should be, to
some degree.

Thoughts?

The only "closure" I'm looking for right now is an end to the last decade or so of unacceptably mediocre hockey.

There are lots of things MS7 could have done differently, including the personal touches that Coach Barr has featured in his short time in charge at UMaine. Once upon a time, Coach Souza had a relatively clean slate, even if some prescient folks in corners of the UNH fandom were on red alert early due to the nature of his hire and his unimpressive resume up to that point. But those horses have left the barn, and in just one of the many ways MS7 seemed to assume all he needed to do was what his predecessor did, he did the bare minimum and solely did the coaching piece and the recruiting demands. Maybe Mrs. MS7 felt enough of her husband's life was already devoted to hockey, and discouraged him from doing more PR stuff that was "off the clock"? Or maybe MS7 felt he himself was already doing enough?? Not my business how someone lives their life.

One thing is for certain ... if I live long enough to see the next HC regime at UNH Hockey, that coach will have a wide array of things he could address to improve the program. Both with the team, and all around the program off the ice. Something that no UNH Hockey coach has ever done, now that I think of it (unless Kullen was doing things I don't remember him doing, before he took ill, which would have certainly put a major crimp in those efforts regardless). And that's the opportunity, right there. Get the job, have a vision, be bold and confident, and share your excitement and your vision with anyone who will listen to you. Be the frickin' Pied Piper of UNH Hockey, be "our" Walshy or "our" Barr, and if you can even come close to the results that Umile or Holt attained with the program, you will have restored a valuable community asset to the University, Seacoast NH, and the rest of the State of New Hampshire, all of whom which used to take great pride in our program's success.

The current guy is only going through the motions, and can't bring himself to be the dynamic leader needed to turn this thing around, both on and off the ice. It's a shame, but as the Big Tuna once famously said. "it is what it is".

 

[NCAA watcher]

The only "closure" I'm looking for right now is an end to the last decade or so of unacceptably mediocre hockey.

Ten years gone

 

[Fishman'81]

I still have it on Vinyl and saw it for a few bucks on Amazon in CD format so I bought it just recently. Guess their are few old folks on here : ) Assuming like me you got Weather Report when you were young. High School days for me.

Yeah, probably at 15-16. Discovered Mahavishnu then, too, and been wearing out "The Inner Mounting Flame" ever since.

(When The Warden isn't home, anyway... Says it makes her ears bleed.))

 

[ClOuD 9]

Nothing new to many posters here, but from the Concord Monitor
State Sunshine Week: Some N.H. college coaches make a lot unless you compare them to other ​states
https://www.concordmonitor.com/highe...shire-50183068

"We are one of 11 states, mostly northern ones, where the highest-paid person on the state payroll is neither a football coach nor a basketball coach.
Like Vermont, Montana, Delaware and Alaska, our list is topped by the head of the state university. That’s James Dean Jr., president of the University of New Hampshire, whose 2022 salary was $484,640 according to the university system. (You can see all their salaries at www.usnh.edu/sites/default/files/hr/resources/compensation/pdf/usnh-salary-book-2022.pdf)"

"New Hampshire’s best-paid college coach oversees football. Richard Santos makes $275,000, which isn’t small but is lower than the salary for the deans of several other schools in the state university system. The second best-paid coach is UNH men’s hockey coach Michael Souza at $240,000, while numbers three and four coach men’s basketball and soccer there, respectively.
UNH women’s hockey coach Hilary Witt at $133,000 and women’s basketball coach Kelsey Hogan at $117,000 are the only two women’s coaches in the six-figure category"

 

[HockeyRef]

Ten years gone

Well if we are going down that road...Such a long long time before the dawn...

 

[HockeyRef]

Yeah, probably at 15-16. Discovered Mahavishnu then, too, and been wearing out "The Inner Mounting Flame" ever since.

(When The Warden isn't home, anyway... Says it makes her ears bleed.))

haha love it!!

 

[ClOuD 9]

Anyone here remember perhaps the greatest upset in Div 1 NCAA history when the Crusaders upset the Gophers in the West Regional semi’s in which Nodak fans far out-screamed Gopher fans in support of the Crusaders?

True story, I was at Mariucci Arena for the UNH-Minnesota women's Frozen Four game as that Holy Cross game was taking place.
They were giving updates over the PA and jumbotron and the locals were distraught. We, of course, started winding them up with chants of "Holy Cross! Holy Cross!" and "Go Crusaders!" which the Wisconsin pep band and some Badger fans joined in on (Wisco had the early game vs St. Lawrence that day).

And I have not forgotten his words at a FOH meeting "UNH will win the National Championship". Heck, if he's bold enough to say that...he's bold enough to address his season.

To be fair, he didn't say WHEN UNH would win the national championship, or that it would be under him ;-)

 

[HockeyRef]

True story, I was at Mariucci Arena for the UNH-Minnesota women's Frozen Four game as that Holy Cross game was taking place.
They were giving updates over the PA and jumbotron and the locals were distraught. We, of course, started winding them up with chants of "Holy Cross! Holy Cross!" and "Go Crusaders!" much to the delight of the Wisconsin pep band and their fans (the Badgers had the early game vs St. Lawrence that day).


To be fair, he didn't say WHEN UNH would win the national championship, or that it would be under him ;-)

Fair point, fair point!!!

 

[ClOuD 9]

Also worth noting that anyone who has been around long enough to remember that Holy Cross - Minnesota game also probably remembers Niagara or RIT...