UNH Hockey Off Season Thread 2026

[Snively65]

Could we afford a Motzko type coach if MS7 would be let go? I'm sure he wouldn't leave the Minnesota area anyway but food for thought of who could right the ship when that time comes.

I doubt that we could afford him as Bob Motzko was making over three times MS7’s salary.

 

[JB]

I think the more important factor is that he was given due process and not kicked to the curb like DeSmith was by Umile. Guessing he might not be part of the 603 fundraising program.

Agreed due process is important. Accusations are easy, in the moment generally he who cries foul first gets the advantage, proof when the facts are all gathered and dispassionately considered is hard.

I will note, I am not a fan of "charge the felony first then down grade", those years when I spent some time wearing a uniform and badge I was a fan of deescalate first, arrest for what you had to at the time and then upgrade. You can always upgrade and then down grade working on plea deals. The big key for me in that google finding was "drop the felony charge but proceed with misdemeanor assault charges". You can basically get a misdemeanor assault charge for pushing somebody out of the way as you are trying to leave a bad situation. This is particularly true when the first charges included a felony, it can be hard to go from the news head line of felony to nothing without the jury doing it.

For anyone to truly judge this you need ALL the facts, which you don't get in a news report.

 

[Jellsville USA]

BTW, shouldn't we evaluate the quality of the hockey players Souza has brought in as people? Souza has consistenly recruited good people to play hockey at UNH. Sorry, but that's supposed to be part of college sports, no?

I like and respect Souza. I wish him well. He will have considerable success away from UNH when he leaves.

I had to weigh in on this as even Souza himself might fine this insulting-
Recruiting “good people” shouldn’t be treated as a differentiator — it’s the baseline expectation for every Division I hockey coach. Character, accountability, and fit are part of the job, not a special accomplishment. Saying this sets Souza apart inadvertently lowers the standard rather than raises it.

The real evaluation should be about outcomes: the quality of the hockey players brought in, how they develop, and whether they make UNH more competitive on the ice. Being good people matters, but it’s assumed. Coaches separate themselves by results, not by meeting the minimum requirement.

 

[Chuck Murray]

I had to weigh in on this as even Souza himself might fine this insulting-
Recruiting “good people” shouldn’t be treated as a differentiator — it’s the baseline expectation for every Division I hockey coach. Character, accountability, and fit are part of the job, not a special accomplishment. Saying this sets Souza apart inadvertently lowers the standard rather than raises it.

The real evaluation should be about outcomes: the quality of the hockey players brought in, how they develop, and whether they make UNH more competitive on the ice. Being good people matters, but it’s assumed. Coaches separate themselves by results, not by meeting the minimum requirement.

As I said earlier ... it's the faintest of faint praise, and I agree 100% it's the baseline for a D-1 head coach.

The "good citizenship" standard is more applicable to HS level coaches, who get the athletes in more of their formative years, and who usually get paid stipends that are usually in the four figure range, maybe (literally) a hundred times less that your typical D-1 hockey coach (or hoops or football, etc.).

To the poster who asked about prominent candidates to replace Souza, I would once again put forward Eric Boguniecki (UNH alum) and Andy Jones (Bentley).