UNH Hockey Off Season Thread 2026

[Potluck]

If true, how do you explain the massive growth in football and basketball budgets at public schools over the last few decades?

For state schools it's driven by alumni/state resident interest. It's for school development for the most part. But show me a school that's positive revenue and I'll show you once that it's a huge money loser. Of course, there's also that matter of who is doing the books.....

Do we even need to talk about the financial disaster that is subdivision (1AA) football?

 

[Snively65]

Looks like Alex Gagne's dim chances of getting his name on the Stanley Cup this Spring just ended. But he should have a solid Plan B, as the Colorado Eagles have advanced to the Calder Cup semifinals in the AHL, so getting his name on a storied Cup this season are still very much alive.

AG could join some other notable UNH alums with their names on the Calder Cup. No shame in that.

 

[Dan]

Many of you might be aware that educational funding is hot topic not just in New Hampshire, but in several states. In Ohio, for example, one gubernatorial candidate thinks spending is in such a crisis he proposes to eliminate or merge several state universities.

Nevertheless, one such, cash-strapped school has seen fit to extend their MBB coach with a 450K raise (850K base) and an annual 150K retention bonus. They will also significantly invest in all aspects of the basketball program and facilities. They’ve identified their reasons for doing so as winning games/championships, post-season appearances, fan engagement/attendance, earned media attention and profi…err…successful revenue generation…

Apparently for one mid-major university, winning games HAS made possible what was, for so long, deemed impossible.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Many of you might be aware that educational funding is hot topic not just in New Hampshire, but in several states. In Ohio, for example, one gubernatorial candidate thinks spending is in such a crisis he proposes to eliminate or merge several state universities.

Nevertheless, one such, cash-strapped school has seen fit to extend their MBB coach with a 450K raise (850K base) and an annual 150K retention bonus. They will also significantly invest in all aspects of the basketball program and facilities. They’ve identified their reasons for doing so as winning games/championships, post-season appearances, fan engagement/attendance, earned media attention and profi…err…successful revenue generation…

Apparently for one mid-major university, winning games HAS made possible what was, for so long, deemed impossible.

I'd love to see the overall impact on the formerly moribund Big Ten+ school in Bloomington IN, with their newfound success on the gridiron.

Putting that aside ... I'll share the following state rankings (not by school) and point out how well NH performs in them vs. other New England states.

States Overview - Rich States, Poor States

A comprehensive resource that ranks the economic competitiveness of states using fifteen equally weighted policy variables

www.richstatespoorstates.org

 

[Jellsville USA]

Early predictions- https://x.com/CollegePuckNXT/status/2059995234319093912/photo/1

 

[Snively65]

I'd love to see the overall impact on the formerly moribund Big Ten+ school in Bloomington IN, with their newfound success on the gridiron.

Putting that aside ... I'll share the following state rankings (not by school) and point out how well NH performs in them vs. other New England states.

States Overview - Rich States, Poor States

A comprehensive resource that ranks the economic competitiveness of states using fifteen equally weighted policy variables

www.richstatespoorstates.org

I think that ALEC and Arthur Laffer are evil.

 

[Chuck Murray]

I think that ALEC and Arthur Laffer are evil.

Fair enough. I'm not a huge fan of Greenpeace. Yet we still manage to get along, and tolerate differences of opinion. It's the American way.

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

That cliff is actually timed around the 2008 financial crisis, there were a LOT fewer babies born 2008 to 2012. The 2008 financial crisis actually started in August of 2007 and reached calamity in Sept 2008, for those that don't remember. For New England public school enrollment forecast is a 13% drop in students from 2024-2028 and as of 2026 that forecast, last updated 2022, has been accurate. (Demographics is destiny)

There was a really interesting tweet about this in response to another interesting tweet about finances for some notable schools:

Universities had 17 years of warning. They responded by doing the opposite of what the math demanded.

In 2008, American birth rates fell off a cliff. The Great Recession made people stop having kids. Those never-born children would be turning 18 right now. The number of U.S. high school graduates peaked at roughly 3.9 million in 2025. By 2029, that number drops 15%. By 2041, it drops by nearly half a million students per year.

Every school in this tweet had access to the same Census data. They all saw the same curve.

Administrative positions at U.S. colleges grew 60% between 1993 and 2009, ten times the rate of tenured faculty growth. Non-instructional spending (student services, administration) grew 29% from 2010 to 2018. Instructional spending grew 17%. Average tuition at public four-year schools went from $3,500 in 2000 to $10,560 in 2023. Yale now has more administrators than undergraduate students. 5,460 administrators for fewer than 5,000 undergrads.

They built the cost structure of a growth company on top of a customer base that was mathematically guaranteed to shrink.

The split in this data tells you everything. Clemson, Syracuse, Duke, UNC, and Indiana are all cutting because the model broke. Alabama, Ole Miss, and the University of Florida are turning away more applicants than ever. Harvard gets five applications for every spot. The middle is where the cliff hits. Elite schools absorb demand. Everyone between elite and community college fights over a shrinking pool. The Fed published a study in December 2024 predicting 80 colleges will close in the next five years. Since 2016, over 100 already have. In 2024 alone, 28 shut down. One per week.

These program cuts and layoffs are a decade late. The birth rate data was sitting in Census spreadsheets the entire time. Everyone in higher education administration saw the enrollment cliff coming. They hired more administrators anyway.

Not sure if this direct link will work:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Universities had 17 years of warning. They responded by doing the opposite of what the math demanded.<br><br>In 2008, American birth rates fell off a cliff. The Great Recession made people stop having kids. Those never-born children would be turning 18 right now. The number of U.S.… <a href="https://t.co/0tI8qYNR94">https://t.co/0tI8qYNR94</a></p>&mdash; Aakash Gupta (@aakashgupta) <a href="https://x.com/aakashgupta/status/2056599739949568113?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">May 19, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[JB]

There was a really interesting tweet about this in response to another interesting tweet about finances for some notable schools:

Demographics is destiny

To UNHs credit they have been discussing and thinking about this for about a decade. Now, did they make the right moves, I don't know, certainly debatable. They have a couple reports they follow. The budget cuts are painful and only publicly discussed at the time. However, there has been thinking about it behind the scenes because they hope they wont need to while understanding "hope is not a plan".

From 2008 to 2017 increased in Admin from 1,710 to 2,282 (33% increase) however it peaked in 2017 around the compliance items Title IX and student health admin
From 2017 to 2021 there was a dip and then a rise settling at 2,150 (-6%) around Covid response
2021 to present an accelerating decline in admin -40, -65, -65, -70, planned -60... to 2026 est 1850 (-14%)

While I know educational staff cuts get all the press there have been significant Admin cuts. Additionally you can look back and see some of the staff growth has been around strategic initiatives with restructuring happening starting in 2017 long before the significant budget cuts and layoffs in 2024.

 

[Robert Balin]

It looks like Emile Guite will be coming in 2027 instead of this year. I thought he'd make some impact this year . On the brighter side they have Guite and Kolmakov coming in 2027 a very good foundation for next years class.

 

[Dan]

It looks like Emile Guite will be coming in 2027 instead of this year. I thought he'd make some impact this year . On the brighter side they have Guite and Kolmakov coming in 2027 a very good foundation for next years class.

That would be a disappointing decision/outcome. One that would temper my expectation for both UNH this season, and for Guité actually matriculating to Durham...

 

[Chuck Murray]

That would be a disappointing decision/outcome. One that would temper my expectation for both UNH this season, and for Guité actually matriculating to Durham...

Maybe the new UNH HC will be able to get him to reconsider before Guite's Plan B gets too far developed? Doubtful but hopeful ...

 

[Robert Balin]

That would be a disappointing decision/outcome. One that would temper my expectation for both UNH this season, and for Guité actually matriculating to Durham.

That would be a disappointing decision/outcome. One that would temper my expectation for both UNH this season, and for Guité actually matriculating to Durham...

100% agreed...another bone head decision that will more than likely backfire....

 

[bakchk20]

i would like to see Lavins at Providence, BU, or BC so he could play big games and in the NCAA tourney. Other than Fitzgerald, Lavins and Philbrick and perhaps Newcombe (I doubt it) I doubt any other schools are serious about UNH transfer candidates.

UNH would love some goal scorers since this years team couldn't score. Scoring cost NIL money so there's little real help that is likely coming.

Seems I'm always in catch-up mode...

I know this is well after-the-fact, but Fitzgerald has nowhere to go. I'll always be 50/50 on him.

However, just caught that Alex Carr got the Langway Best D award. (Apologies if some one of you also posted this...didn't look back.) So I think we can add Carr to next year's flight-risk list.

AND, for the record, this is what I posted back around Thanksgiving... I should have added "You heard it here first..."

"And I'll say it again, Alex Carr is going to be one of the best D we've seen in a while. His reliability (small sample) reminds me some of how Garrett Stafford played...always in position marking a man, nice outlet passes. Stable"​

Now, I'm listening for the requisite golf-clap from you all in recognition of my exquisite talent evaluation skill ! Doesn't need to be much; think 2-footer, not some multi-break, downhill 20-footer for birdie... Ha!

 

[2013hockeyfan]

https://csasearch.consulting/?opportunity=director-of-athletics-the-university-of-new-hampshire-2
Originally listed UNH as a member of CAA if you're curious about the level of professionalism in the AD search. Has since been updated.

 

[FlagUp17]

https://csasearch.consulting/?opportunity=director-of-athletics-the-university-of-new-hampshire-2
Originally listed UNH as a member of CAA if you're curious about the level of professionalism in the AD search. Has since been updated.

Thanks for sharing!

They mention the last day to submit an application is June 12th. I’d be curious how many applicants they get, and how many are internal vs. external.

My guess is they take about a month to get a set of finalist (perhaps 3) and then another 3-4 weeks to officially hire the replacement. I bet we hear an announcement by 07/31 (a Friday). If not the week earlier. They will have a short term interim the month of July once Rich’s tenure closes at the end of this month.

Out of curiosity - has anyone heard anything where Rich goes next? From a quick look at her LinkedIn, it seems she has (had?) an athletics consulting company in her name (Allison Rich Consulting) based in Tallahassee FL. Or maybe she ends up at another school.

I wish her all the best.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Lots of TDL activity hitting the news of late ... in addition to his role in funding the renovations at the Key Group/Whittemore Center, and his commercials for his NH CD-1 congressional run on increasingly heavy rotation in local media ... in the last few days, new details of a $200 million "Linden Square" project proposal for his McIntyre property in downtown Portsmouth were revealed in Fosters and on Seacoastonline.com. Busy guy with seemingly boundless ambition and energy, not a bad combination of characteristics to offset the seemingly endless lethargy that's been oozing out of Titletown in recent years.

Also, for fans of the former Fox Run Mall in Newington ... the $500 million remake into "Seacoast Landing" was just cleared for tax and financing purposes by the Town of Newington, so demolition of the old retail magnet of the region will likely begin this month, and the construction/development will take two plus years.

FWIW ... if you haven't been to the former Pease AFB for awhile ... the Pease International Tradeport is the new engine of the Seacoast, has been for a while now. It's crazy how what seemed to be a death knell for the region 35 years ago has so dramatically taken things in a way more positive direction.

There's a lot to be excited about in New Hampshire these days ... and hopefully UNH Hockey will be one of those things if they get the next 12 months right ...

 

[Snively65]

Who is going to Gutterson for two in Cats vs Cats on October 30th and 31st? Maybe clog up the arteries with a side trip to Al’s French Fries?

 

[bakchk20]

Who is going to Gutterson for two in Cats vs Cats on October 30th and 31st? Maybe clog up the arteries with a side trip to Al’s French Fries?

The last time I sat in that dump it was raining outside...and inside as I was sitting under one of the many roof leaks.

And FWIW, Burlington - as an entertainment/dining destination - isn't what it once was...20+ years ago. You need to be careful walking around Church St at night now. My business friends living/working in the region don't go near downtown anymore, especially at night. And they never use the parking garages. Too bad; used to be very cool... Winooski is on the rise tho!

So, on the whole, pass...

 

[Whalers]

And FWIW, Burlington - as an entertainment/dining destination - isn't what it once was...20+ years ago. You need to be careful walking around Church St at night now. My business friends living/working in the region don't go near downtown anymore, especially at night. And they never use the parking garages. Too bad; used to be very cool... Winooski is on the rise tho!

This is a perplexing development for Burlington. Are you telling us that Bernie, wokeness, DEI and other hear no evil/see no evil policies haven't resulted in a friendlier and safer utopia? Makes no sense. The Politburo, er I mean city government, even raised taxes, lowered bail and hand out free compassion needles. And the problem persists? Sounds pretty racist if you ask me. And commenting about going to Al's French Fries, please stop the micro aggressions. Next thing you know, people will want to read a long winded 250 year old twitter posting on the 4th day in July to celebrate some long ago insurrection, further reinforcing their whiteness.