Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Serious question here: is MS7 trying to lead his team through a fiercely competitive field into the fringes of the HEA playoffs, or is he stumping for the HEA Officials' Benevolent Association's "Hip-Hip-Hurrah, May I Have Another, What a Swell Understanding Guy" award?
I mean … can any of you imagine Jack Parker - heck, Dick Umile - slumping all hangdog in to a pre-game or post-game presser, lamenting about how the refs not only nailed it on the two majors they called against your guys, but complimenting them on not calling a 3rd, and not saying a GD word about Verrier getting mugged, or the slew-foot incident last night?!?
If that happens up in Orono ME to Walshy and his boys circa 1991, match officials' car tires would be mysteriously slashed for their long ride back to <s>Everett</s> civilization. Or worse …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC1_tdnZq1A
Instead, we get the despondent, beaten, self-pitying "we didn't deserve it" after last night?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idP5-vtkhBE
Man up, MS7. Sure, Friday night was a poor showing, BU wanted it more, your guys weren't ready, and that's on YOU and on them as well. But by all indications, your guys were ready and up for it last night, grabbed an early lead, got sandbagged by the one you insisted the refs "owed" you from being swell understanding nice guys to Wyse the night before, costing you your most dangerous attacking player (and the equalizer), then took away a go-ahead goal, saw you fall behind shortly after, and then predictably swallowed their whistles when it was convenient for them (and inconvenient for you and your team) to do so.
Even if in your heart of hearts you think the refs got mostly everything right, you've got to be the leader, and you've got to let the players know you have their backs. It's not "clever" to figure you're amassing referee "brownie points" by going nice when (right or wrong) their calls have contributed to you losing the most important game of the season. Look at what happened to BU after Monday night. EVERYONE in the building - including the same officiating crew, both nights - had heard all week about just how hard-done-by BU was with the call in double OT. So guess what - things "evened up" a little bit for BU this weekend.
Unfortunately, it came at the expense of your team and your program numb-nuts. So you go out and blow a gasket, and maybe - just maybe - some of that comes back to you next weekend against Lowell? Instead, it's another "well, my guys played better, but not good enough, and BTW yeah, they deservedly got Angus. No, I don't remember no slew-foot?!?"
Say what you will about Coach Umile, but he never would have thrown any of his guys (including Wyse) under the bus, and he ****ed sure would never have let the officials off the hook. Then it would be set up for an "us against the world" thing for the next two weekends - and I think we all agree 5-6 points out of 8 is the minimum required - and you'd like to think you'd have your guys breathing fire next weekend - which they're most assuredly going to need.
Back before Walshy was Walshy, and Grant was drawing in the more talented classes that got them over the top, Walshy was the master motivator, and he gradually brought his program up to the level where they could realistically start to chase top talent to get them to come to Orono to do something special. MS7 has gotten his program out of the competitive ditch his predecessor had left it in, yes, but as folks like 'Watcher and others have pointed out, it's not there where you can point to top-half of HEA finishes or regular trips to the Garden yet to top-end recruits. So, unless you're incredibly good at coaching players up, then you've got to scratch and claw for every last bit you can get out of your current guys, and grow incrementally through getting improved recruits, continue to coach them up, repeat, etc. etc. etc.
BU is a more talented program than UNH right now, FACT. BU won deservedly and easily on Friday night. UNH had a shot to win last night. UNH needed that win - or at least a tie - and it should have looked that way and felt that way. And it didn't.
If I'm grading MS7 on this past weekend, he gets a straight D. It's only not an F, since his guys showed up and competed hard last night after a disheartening loss on Friday. To be clear, I like MS7 and I want him to do well. But this weekend was proof to me that there is still a long way to go, and in answering the question at the top of this thread, right now, UNH is treading water.
JMHO.
Serious question here: is MS7 trying to lead his team through a fiercely competitive field into the fringes of the HEA playoffs, or is he stumping for the HEA Officials' Benevolent Association's "Hip-Hip-Hurrah, May I Have Another, What a Swell Understanding Guy" award?
I mean … can any of you imagine Jack Parker - heck, Dick Umile - slumping all hangdog in to a pre-game or post-game presser, lamenting about how the refs not only nailed it on the two majors they called against your guys, but complimenting them on not calling a 3rd, and not saying a GD word about Verrier getting mugged, or the slew-foot incident last night?!?
If that happens up in Orono ME to Walshy and his boys circa 1991, match officials' car tires would be mysteriously slashed for their long ride back to <s>Everett</s> civilization. Or worse …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC1_tdnZq1A
Instead, we get the despondent, beaten, self-pitying "we didn't deserve it" after last night?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idP5-vtkhBE
Man up, MS7. Sure, Friday night was a poor showing, BU wanted it more, your guys weren't ready, and that's on YOU and on them as well. But by all indications, your guys were ready and up for it last night, grabbed an early lead, got sandbagged by the one you insisted the refs "owed" you from being swell understanding nice guys to Wyse the night before, costing you your most dangerous attacking player (and the equalizer), then took away a go-ahead goal, saw you fall behind shortly after, and then predictably swallowed their whistles when it was convenient for them (and inconvenient for you and your team) to do so.
Even if in your heart of hearts you think the refs got mostly everything right, you've got to be the leader, and you've got to let the players know you have their backs. It's not "clever" to figure you're amassing referee "brownie points" by going nice when (right or wrong) their calls have contributed to you losing the most important game of the season. Look at what happened to BU after Monday night. EVERYONE in the building - including the same officiating crew, both nights - had heard all week about just how hard-done-by BU was with the call in double OT. So guess what - things "evened up" a little bit for BU this weekend.
Unfortunately, it came at the expense of your team and your program numb-nuts. So you go out and blow a gasket, and maybe - just maybe - some of that comes back to you next weekend against Lowell? Instead, it's another "well, my guys played better, but not good enough, and BTW yeah, they deservedly got Angus. No, I don't remember no slew-foot?!?"
Say what you will about Coach Umile, but he never would have thrown any of his guys (including Wyse) under the bus, and he ****ed sure would never have let the officials off the hook. Then it would be set up for an "us against the world" thing for the next two weekends - and I think we all agree 5-6 points out of 8 is the minimum required - and you'd like to think you'd have your guys breathing fire next weekend - which they're most assuredly going to need.
Back before Walshy was Walshy, and Grant was drawing in the more talented classes that got them over the top, Walshy was the master motivator, and he gradually brought his program up to the level where they could realistically start to chase top talent to get them to come to Orono to do something special. MS7 has gotten his program out of the competitive ditch his predecessor had left it in, yes, but as folks like 'Watcher and others have pointed out, it's not there where you can point to top-half of HEA finishes or regular trips to the Garden yet to top-end recruits. So, unless you're incredibly good at coaching players up, then you've got to scratch and claw for every last bit you can get out of your current guys, and grow incrementally through getting improved recruits, continue to coach them up, repeat, etc. etc. etc.
BU is a more talented program than UNH right now, FACT. BU won deservedly and easily on Friday night. UNH had a shot to win last night. UNH needed that win - or at least a tie - and it should have looked that way and felt that way. And it didn't.
If I'm grading MS7 on this past weekend, he gets a straight D. It's only not an F, since his guys showed up and competed hard last night after a disheartening loss on Friday. To be clear, I like MS7 and I want him to do well. But this weekend was proof to me that there is still a long way to go, and in answering the question at the top of this thread, right now, UNH is treading water.
JMHO.