UNH Hockey 2023 Off Season Thread Turn and Face the Strange

[Chuck Murray]

Gotcha! Of course if we had a schedule to actually look at....ha! Someone I know who was once a Maine fan/now UNH fan (which, I have my doubts that they've really given up their Maine affiliation but, hey, whatever) thinks Maine fans must be mad there's no game at Orono.

Agreed - your friend's newfound "allegiance" to UNH over UMaine is about to be put to the test this season (& beyond) ...

 

[DrewQU99]

Ok, if Quinnipiac is really coming to the Whitt for two on 21-22 October, those should be sell outs, I would think. Like the Gophs or the Sioux or the Wolverines coming to the Whitt back in the day. So, Rand will be extending MS7’s stay at UNH several more years?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this would be the first ever meeting between the Bobcats and Wildcats in men's ice hockey?

If QU does play UNH, which I hope we do, I'd expect the Wildcats to return the favor and play 2 games in Hamden in 2024-25.

 

[Snively65]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this would be the first ever meeting between the Bobcats and Wildcats in men's ice hockey?

If QU does play UNH, which I hope we do, I'd expect the Wildcats to return the favor and play 2 games in Hamden in 2024-25.

By gum, I think that you are correct, at least according to the CHN database search tool.

I watched a lot of Quinnipiac-Bentley games before the Bobcats moved to the ECAC, in Watertown, Milford, and Hamden (nice rink!). Maybe the Bobcats will visit Bentley’s on-campus arena at some point.

 

[d.gerry]

If true, do you not think that hosting the Quinnipiac Bobcats for two games at the Whitt a bold move? When was the last time that we played two OOC games against a reigning NC? Rather it seems the past decade or longer we have loaded up our OOC schedule with cupcakes (“if you cannot beat the cupcakes, you are the cupcake”).

If we now call scheduling competitive teams a "bold move" we are in a world of hurt. C'mon, playing the Q for a pair of games at home (most likely getting spanked in the process) is not the type of bold moves we need, but nice try. What is really bold about this? So now we can tell recruits, "Look! Look! We played the defending National Champions!" Yeah, that'll move the needle.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Whether it's "bold" or "foolhardy" I suppose depends on your perspective. MS7 has dug himself into the deepest hole imaginable at this point, and now he probably almost has to engage in attention-drawing behavior to save his bacon. Let's face it - it's UNH, it's two October home games, you know they'll find a way to win at least one of them. If you're MS7 and trying to impress your new boss, a win (and loss) against the Q is gonna make a better argument in your favor than a 3 point weekend against RPI or Brown or some Atlantic Hockey fill-in-the-blank program.

Putting aside my "story" a few posts ago, I'd call scheduling two at home against Q as a "calculated" move by MS7.

 

[NCAA watcher]

More up and coming coaches getting their feet wet. While he may be getting teed up to be a Jackson replacement down the road, he's replenishing the pool that got fished pretty hard the last four years with Barr, Keefe, Mayotte, Strand, Nightengale, Naurato.

Add some, lose some

12-01-2022, 07:52 AM Dan, a name to add to your list of replacements, Dan Muse, who took over Nightengale's job as HC of the USA U18 team. Won NCAA championship as assistant at Yale (and recruited well for an Ivy), won a USHL championship with Chicago, then was NHL assistant for Nashville past three years before taking over USA job. A Mass guy from Canton, and still only 40 years old
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/79096/dan-muse

Named assistant for NHL Rangers

 

[lindah]

The Dan Muse signed by the Rangers went to Yale, not UNH.

 

[HockeyRef]

Doubt anyone is following Andrew Poturalski's post season with the Firebirds but they lost in Game 7 (AhL) in OT...in a goal by Mike Vecchione
(who I thought was a Providence Bruin but must've gotten traded) Potsy came back from a pretty bad knee/leg injury to finish out
the season was really pulling for them!

Remember all the controversy about him going to Union? The hokydad posts?? And we all know how that went for them that season in 2014...not to mention that fateful game that when TvR was injured at the Whitt. Sometimes I wonder if he and Pesce had stayed through their Senior year...with Pots, and (gulp) Foegele, deSmith...
how the 'Cats might have fared. Oh well, water under the proverbial bridge.

Woulda coulda shoulda!

 

[msprice]

Poturalski would have won the Calder Cup three years in a row with three different teams. Benton Maase was a member of the winning team.

 

[Chuck Murray]

At this rate, no doubt Poturalski will see his name included with the other nearly-greats in the AHL Hall of Fame ...

AHL Hall of Fame announces Class of 2020 | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League

Darren Haydar, Robbie Ftorek, Denis Hamel and Freddie "The Fox" Thurier. Legends in their own (lunch)time.

Snives, this is where you ask the trivia question about what Ftorek said in the dying moments of the Mass HS title game to a semi-famous teammate ... ;-)

 

[lindah]

Benton Maas played 2 games for Hershey during the regular season. He did not play for them in the playoffs. He spent most of the seasonin Charlotte.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Benton Maas played 2 games for Hershey during the regular season. He did not play for them in the playoffs. He spent most of the seasonin Charlotte.

Linda, any chance we'll be seeing UNH Hockey again on NHPTV/CH 11? Has this even been discussed in recent years?

Just askin' out of a sincere interest ...

 

[Chuck Murray]

Saw an interesting and familiar name come up in potential DRW pre-draft trade discussions. Yzerman has a ton of room under the salary cap, and is mulling over a bunch of different options, including this one ...

Red Wings Linked to Four Possible Trade Scenarios (detroithockeynow.com)

The story: Pesce is a right-shot defenseman with one season left on his contract. The Hurricanes haven’t been able to re-sign him and they plan to trade him if they can’t reach an agreement. He is a critical defensive player on one of the NHL’s top defensive teams. The ‘Canes first choice is to sign him.

Why the Red Wings are interested: This is a effective defender making $4.025 million for one more season. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Negative to the deal: Pesce wants a long-term deal for more than $6 million per year. That’s problematic for the Red Wings and other teams. Pesce only reached 30 points for the first time this season.

The author considers Pesce-to-DRW a longshot, but confirms there is interest. Apparently, there is a lot of interest across the league in a guy who has become a top four defender on one of the NHL's best teams. As of this very moment - and arguably for at least the last two seasons - Pesce is clearly UNH's top NHL alum, and could hold that crown for a long, long time, considering the lack of top-end talents coming through UNH lately.

 

[lindah]

Linda, any chance we'll be seeing UNH Hockey again on NHPTV/CH 11? Has this even been discussed in recent years?

Just askin' out of a sincere interest ...

There have been no discussions. Livestreaming seems to be the Present and Future.

 

[grooverider]

Chuck Murray maybe Maine will come into UNH this year and sweep them and get your coach fired lol you can thank us later.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Chuck Murray maybe Maine will come into UNH this year and sweep them and get your coach fired lol you can thank us later.

I'm all in for some "short-term pain leading to long-term gain", groovy. Whatever it takes to get UNH (and UMaine) playing meaningful hockey games against each other again. A couple of 7-2 drubbings would do fine for me, but maybe sneaking in a super-painful 3-2 OT loss would be more historically fitting? Either way, I'm game.

Problem is, the scuzz-bucket clown running things in Storrs has figured this out, and tanked a pair to his protegee last winter, likely for the sole purpose of keeping MS7 in a job (or, maybe UConn just wasn't that good?). No doubt, as sure as the ink dries on a potential MS7 extension, Luce will return to dealing regular beatdowns to his former assistant. So if Ben Barr can balance that out next year, I'd take it as a personal favor.

I've always had much love for the UMaine-iacs, even in the "worst" of times, this just proves why ...

 

[Chuck Murray]

La Liga Strangiato - INTRODUCTION

It's a beautiful weekend morning on the shores of Bow Lake in rustic New Hampshire, as the former coach awoke early to greet his guest for an afternoon of fishing. Coach's guest on this date would be his successor to the job that had made Coach a legend in his adopted home state during a career that lasted almost 30 years at the other end of Route 4 - miles away both physically and politically from the community better known as "Antiques Alley" which he now called home. The men exchanged warm greetings, having lived in (and sometimes out) of each's social circles for the better part of Coach's career in Durham. The pair had grown closer over the last decade or so, as Coach's career wound down, and he tabbed his former player (and budding coach in his own right) as his successor, so the younger man viewed Coach as sort of a "father figure". It was a relationship mocked by many - including the younger man's most recent boss before returning to his alma mater - but one that both men valued as they grew into the next chapters of their respective lives. In a word, they were ... paisan.

After some small talk and the usual chit-chat about how family and other shared friends were doing, the older man led his former apprentice out to the dock, and they embarked on Coach's Boston Whaler Conquest cabin cruiser to the open waters of the lake do some fishing, sampling out of Coach's wine cellar, and chatting about the travails of the younger man's efforts to carry on Coach's legacy at the big school 30 minutes east of today's rest and relaxation. These had been moments to savor in past meetings of the pair, but on this occasion, the younger man seemed to have something on his mind, which his mentor quickly picked up on:

DU: So Mikey, you seem a little tense today. You haven't caught a friggin' thing. What's up?
MS7: Well ... it's mostly about the job ...
DU: Yeah, it can really wear you down if you let it. You gotta have guys working for you that you can trust ...
MS7: ... well, you see, that's kinda where I might have a problem.
DU: How's that?
MS7: Well ... it's with our new boss ... she's -
DU: ... yeah, she's not paisan. By the way, how's good ol' "Blue Skies" doing??
MS7: - no idea. Haven't chatted to him for years now, ever since the last extension. But ...
DU: No worries, Mikey. I'll tell him you said "hi". He's coming next week to repaint the dock.
MS7: ... no, the Princeton lady won't extend me. AND she wants me to fire one of my guys!
DU: So you fire one of your guys. I mean, Stewie's a nice guy, but Jeff is paisan ...
MS7: No, no - I get that, trust me. But I don't wanna fire anyone.
DU: So don't fire anyone. Don't let that broad tellya what to do with your staff ...
MS7: ... but if I don't fire one of the guys ...
DU: ... or you can fire that guy from Alaska. He's rich, plus that rebound in Anaheim, never forgave ...
MS7: ... then she is gonna fire ME!!

Coach slowly turned the boat and brought the engine down, found the middle of the lake, made sure no one else was within hearing distance, and dropped anchor.

DU: Mikey, listen to your Uncle Dick carefully. I read that stuff you sent me a coupla weeks ago, I mean, real weirdo stuff, makes me realize how happy I am to be outta the racket now. Are you SERIOUSLY thinkina doing that?!?
MS7: I dunno Coach ... it feels like the walls are closing in. Marty is gone ...
DU: I toldya I'd say "hi" to the little papah-pushah next weekend?
MS7: ... no, I mean as a rubber stamp boss, like you had most of your career. Someone who understood ...
DU: Yeah, the whole paisan thing, I follow ya ...
MS7: ... anyway, I gotta contract, it runs out in a year, and I got no guarantees.
DU: So go approach some otha school, get a betta offah, like I did with the palookas out in Amherst ...
MS7: But Uncle Dick ... you had leverage. I got none of that going for me.
DU: Y'know, kiddo ... ol' Uncle Dick still knows some people who know people, and they do contracts too ...
MS7: We can't do that. So I'm kinda desperate, and I'm running out of ideas, so ...
DU: Mikey ... I love ya, you are paisan, but you got the wrong guy. I don't know nothing about turf ...
MS7: ... I didn't expect you to understand, I just want your blessing ...
DU: ... I know lotsa stuff about ice, I even know guys who can put you on ice ...
MS7: ((( rolling eyes, understanding he's on his own now )))
DU: ... I'm a GD hockey coach. I can only do so much.
MS7: Brian Mac said you told him the same thing ...
DU: Just go out, win some games, get your boss drunk, take some snaps, and presto - extension!! ;-)

Coach lifted anchor, and reeled in another catch while eventually turning his Conquest back towards the dock. After finishing off a coupla more bottles while watching highlights of the '98 and '99 NCAA Tourneys, the younger man arose to bid his host goodbye. The older man watched his former apprentice leave, arms folded casually across his chest. Thinking to himself, he felt for the man, but knew the kid would have to deal with this on his own ...

NEXT UP ... MS7 TAKES A TRIP TO THE LOCAL DEPARTMENT STORE, A NEW IDEA TAKES ROOT ...

 

[Snively65]

If we now call scheduling competitive teams a "bold move" we are in a world of hurt. C'mon, playing the Q for a pair of games at home (most likely getting spanked in the process) is not the type of bold moves we need, but nice try. What is really bold about this? So now we can tell recruits, "Look! Look! We played the defending National Champions!" Yeah, that'll move the needle.

But, if we somehow get a split with the NC’s, this bold Hail Mary scheduling move by MS7 could earn him a contract extension, like it or not.

 

[grooverider]

I'm all in for some "short-term pain leading to long-term gain", groovy. Whatever it takes to get UNH (and UMaine) playing meaningful hockey games against each other again. A couple of 7-2 drubbings would do fine for me, but maybe sneaking in a super-painful 3-2 OT loss would be more historically fitting? Either way, I'm game.

Problem is, the scuzz-bucket clown running things in Storrs has figured this out, and tanked a pair to his protegee last winter, likely for the sole purpose of keeping MS7 in a job (or, maybe UConn just wasn't that good?). No doubt, as sure as the ink dries on a potential MS7 extension, Luce will return to dealing regular beatdowns to his former assistant. So if Ben Barr can balance that out next year, I'd take it as a personal favor.

I've always had much love for the UMaine-iacs, even in the "worst" of times, this just proves why ...

Chuck we can all agree that UNH and Maine being relevant is great for college Hockey and Hockey East. Cheers my friend it will turn around eventually.. I think we have the right guy now for the job up north.

Scott

 

[Snively65]

At this rate, no doubt Poturalski will see his name included with the other nearly-greats in the AHL Hall of Fame ...

AHL Hall of Fame announces Class of 2020 | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League

Darren Haydar, Robbie Ftorek, Denis Hamel and Freddie "The Fox" Thurier. Legends in their own (lunch)time.

Snives, this is where you ask the trivia question about what Ftorek said in the dying moments of the Mass HS title game to a semi-famous teammate ... ;-)

Probably best to limit that trivia question about Cap Raider to once per year? But what I have found surprising is Casey DeSmith moving up quickly on the Cats’ all-time NHL games played by goalie Ty Conklin. CDS also leads NH-native UNH alums in NHL games played by a widening margin, 134 to Paul Thompson’s 24.

Speaking of Bow Lake, name the UNH alum from Melrose who played in the most NHL games.