What's new
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

UNH Hockey Off Season Thread 2026

Barry Melrose was ... a great friend to college hockey. One of the good guys.

This is how I'll remember Barry Melrose: on the mic (along with John Buccigross) in Manchester, color man for the 2009 NCAA East Regional, UNH vs. NoDak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5THX7td0rU (skip ahead to the 6:00 min mark to get to the good stuff). I was in the Arena, of course, so only got to experience the ESPNU commentary of the game after-the-fact. But to this day watching and listening to that video never fails to cheer me up, a poignant reminder of just how fun and exciting UNH hockey used to be ...
 
This is how I'll remember Barry Melrose: on the mic (along with John Buccigross) in Manchester, color man for the 2009 NCAA East Regional, UNH vs. NoDak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5THX7td0rU (skip ahead to the 6:00 min mark to get to the good stuff). I was in the Arena, of course, so only got to experience the ESPNU commentary of the game after-the-fact. But to this day watching and listening to that video never fails to cheer me up, a poignant reminder of just how fun and exciting UNH hockey used to be ...
I did find another reminder of how fun and exciting it was for UNH fans…
 
I did find another reminder of how fun and exciting it was for UNH fans…
Sparkee is already in midseason form lol ... hopefully with this likely being MS7's final season, we can appoint a real D-1 coach and resurrect this rivalry where both teams were playing meaningful games against each other on a regular basis, like in the good ol' days. Seems like just yesterday, 25 years comes and goes quickly ...
 
Here's some fun news we were picked 9th in the HE poll. Whoop!!! 😆
Just saw that myself. Basically idle vs. last year. They have us only ahead of UML and UVM.

Also interesting they have Maine at 7. I would have thought they’d be predicted in the 4-5 range.

Also they clearly think Merrimacks title last year was a fluke with a predicted finish at 6.

At the end of the day though, predictions are predictions and it doesn’t need to play out that way. Hopefully the coaches use this to motivate them to finish better than 9th. If not, I’m almost certain this finish would spell the end for MS7.
 
Last edited:
Just saw that myself. Basically idle vs. last year. They have us only ahead of UML and UVM.

Also interesting they have Maine at 7. I would have thought they’d be predicted in the 4-5 range.

Also they clearly think Merrimacks title last year was a fluke with a predicted finish at 6.

At the end of the day though, predictions are predictions and it doesn’t need to play out that way. Hopefully the coaches use this to motivate them to finish better than 9th. If not, I’m almost certain this finish would spell the end for MS7.
The Hockey East preseason poll always smacks of pro-Boston bias AND recency bias, so no surprises here. FWIW Merrimack winning last year WAS a fluke.

MS7 is gonna be out of a job if he doesn't get the team to the Boston phase of the HEA Tourney. I mean, if Merrimack can do it (and win it), why not UNH?

Unused excuses remain thin on the ground, and getting thinner ...
 
Just read the latest in The Athletic on the ASU situation, which sounds grim and paints an ugly picture of their preseason training methods this past summer. Apologies if this is behind a paywall for readers here, I somehow got one of those "Free Trial" opportunities, hoping it carries forward here for others ...

 
Does MS7 vote for UNH to finish last in an effort to hopefully finish higher and use it as a bargaining mechanism for his next 3 year contract?


In other news, captains have not been picked yet. I can't see anyone else getting the nod over Marty, unsure why it is that much of a struggle to name them.
 
Does MS7 vote for UNH to finish last in an effort to hopefully finish higher and use it as a bargaining mechanism for his next 3 year contract?


In other news, captains have not been picked yet. I can't see anyone else getting the nod over Marty, unsure why it is that much of a struggle to name them.
It makes me wonder - MS7 supposedly has lots of friends in Hockey East (I think back to the BU announcers last year who were trying to prop up MS7 saying us fans should be thankful to have as good a coach as him). Well… why didn’t his friends rank him higher in the preseason poll? If he’s as good as they say he is that surely justifies a better than 9th place finish.

Maybe they like having him around to make their lives a bit easier in season… The more cupcakes the better perhaps…

Regarding captains, the only reason I can think for the delay is perhaps with the large(r) than usual turnover with many new faces (transfers and freshmen) maybe it’s taking a bit longer for everyone to get to know each other? I still think this is a bit of weak reason. With the season just about 2 weeks away, it’s gotta be soon.
 
Back
Top