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UNH- How Far West Do We Go?
- Thread starter norbert
- Start date
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
He is playing for your Idaho Steelheads, pride of the hockey hotbed that is Boise ID.Who is he playing for? Good for him!!
I'm sure the college hockey advisor/agent network has already taken note, and upgraded their assessment of MS7's developmental skills ...
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Here's the ultimate test of the college hockey "media" and their willingness to do some real hard-hitting investigative journalism ...
... which one of the "fearless" Connollys or McMahons or NESN hack fill-in-the-blank will write the story of how one formerly prominent HEA school banished one of its long-standing assistant coaches, an apparent heir to the throne of a college hockey semi-legend, and watched him improbably drag a small never-has-been program to the top of the league, while his former long-time employer was left behind to circle the drain with a failing nepotism hire (at least per one UConn hack)???
BONUS POINTS if they put the piece together and publish it in the midst of the NCAA tournament, when everyone is still paying semi-attention to college hockey ...
... which one of the "fearless" Connollys or McMahons or NESN hack fill-in-the-blank will write the story of how one formerly prominent HEA school banished one of its long-standing assistant coaches, an apparent heir to the throne of a college hockey semi-legend, and watched him improbably drag a small never-has-been program to the top of the league, while his former long-time employer was left behind to circle the drain with a failing nepotism hire (at least per one UConn hack)???
BONUS POINTS if they put the piece together and publish it in the midst of the NCAA tournament, when everyone is still paying semi-attention to college hockey ...
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HockeyRef
Well-known member
Welp ya gotta start somewhere...! Glad hes still skating.He is playing for your Idaho Steelheads, pride of the hockey hotbed that is Boise ID.
I'm sure the college hockey advisor/agent network has already taken note, and upgraded their assessment of MS7's developmental skills ...
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Lest we forget..getting to the NCAA's under Scotty B isnt their first rodeo. Two seasons ago they locked in 14th place...? Didn't Dennehy (former Mc coach) also make it at some point?
Regardless...MC has had UNH's number quite some time now..beating us soundly 3 out of 4 times this season alone. Speaks VOLUMES if you ask me.
Sad part? Who's listening?
2011 under Mark Dennehey they beat UNH in the HE semis, but lost to BC in the HE Final. IIRC, both UNH and 'Mack were in the the NCAA Regional in Manch-Vegas? Had Notre Dame on the ropes in OT, but a turnover and a quick strike by ND knocked them out.
In '23 under Borek they lost to BU in OT in the HE Final and then lost to eventual National Champs QU in the Bridgeport Regional.
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Nah...it's the coaching!! But rumor has it 'Mack boys love their filet mignon and lobster ...ha!
Go 'Mack Go!! #SurviveAndAdvance
Darius
Go 'cats!
Other than this thread but including many on it few care.
Echoing thoughts on many threads, congrats to 'mack. They or either going to keep this up to the championship or get smoked in the regionals.
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So after Merrimacks win last night (best of luck in the NCAAs) I’ve been trying to think about things that differentiate UNH from MC. We’ve talked extensively about HC, monetary support etc.
One person (can’t remember) brought up how MC had a couple new (young) assistants they brought on this year.
Looking at their assistants, I saw they have Dan Jewell (39 years old, been with MC since 22/23),
Ryan Durocher (38 years old, this is first year with MC),
and Ryan Woodruff (26 years old, this is first year with MC).
This compares with UNH who have Stewie (55 years old) and Guiliano (46 years old) who have both been with UNH for either longer than MS7 (Stewie) or basically the same amount of time (Guiliano).
It makes one think that maybe the young/hungrier assistants for Borek (who himself is over 60) played a pivotal role with their recruiting success this year. They particularly have had a strong showing in western/central Canada. I noticed a lot of names from the Saskatchewan area, and also a strong contingent from Europe.
The younger guys can probably relate with the players of today better than 40-50+ year old coaches… and I think that can make a huge difference (someone else mentioned this a few pages ago I think).
Anyways, long story short - perhaps if UNH goes with a third assistant, they should go younger? I’d recommend looking at old friend Liam Blackburn. He will be 30 later this year, and is currently the Associate coach/Director of Scouting for the Kelowna Warriors in BC. UNH used to have a very strong showing in BC during their hey day - maybe we should lean into this a bit more? He has familiarity with MS7 (he overlapped with Umile/MS7) and would likely be a huge help with recruiting, given his current scouting job.
I’d love to see it happen. I don’t have much hope that it will… but a guy can dream. Look at how big of an impact two assistants likely had for Borek?
One person (can’t remember) brought up how MC had a couple new (young) assistants they brought on this year.
Looking at their assistants, I saw they have Dan Jewell (39 years old, been with MC since 22/23),
Ryan Durocher (38 years old, this is first year with MC),
and Ryan Woodruff (26 years old, this is first year with MC).
This compares with UNH who have Stewie (55 years old) and Guiliano (46 years old) who have both been with UNH for either longer than MS7 (Stewie) or basically the same amount of time (Guiliano).
It makes one think that maybe the young/hungrier assistants for Borek (who himself is over 60) played a pivotal role with their recruiting success this year. They particularly have had a strong showing in western/central Canada. I noticed a lot of names from the Saskatchewan area, and also a strong contingent from Europe.
The younger guys can probably relate with the players of today better than 40-50+ year old coaches… and I think that can make a huge difference (someone else mentioned this a few pages ago I think).
Anyways, long story short - perhaps if UNH goes with a third assistant, they should go younger? I’d recommend looking at old friend Liam Blackburn. He will be 30 later this year, and is currently the Associate coach/Director of Scouting for the Kelowna Warriors in BC. UNH used to have a very strong showing in BC during their hey day - maybe we should lean into this a bit more? He has familiarity with MS7 (he overlapped with Umile/MS7) and would likely be a huge help with recruiting, given his current scouting job.
I’d love to see it happen. I don’t have much hope that it will… but a guy can dream. Look at how big of an impact two assistants likely had for Borek?
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Stewie looks like a Bible salesmen 15 years older than he actually is who may or may not have had a previous career working at a funeral home as a part time undertaker. Nothing about the man screams youth, energy or the future of UNH Hockey.
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
Nah...it's the coaching!! But rumor has it 'Mack boys love their filet mignon and lobster ...ha!
Protein is protein, lol
Very little. Merrimack is an 8th place team that went on a once every 30 year run to win the league tourney. Merrimack ordinarily is a bottom tier HE team. It’s a great 2 week story but that’s likely all it is.
It’s titillating stuff for Buford, Meathead Elwood and the other low hockey IQ crowd, but most know better.
If UNH actually is modeling itself on Merrimack Hockey then that’s it for UNH.
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
You're not wrong.
JB
Desk Chair Coach
Well you can say that and yet.
Merrimack went 16-5-2 since New Years, has been to 2 of the last 4 Hockey East Championship games, won 1 of them and went to OT in the other and has been to the NCAAs 2 times in 4 years.
Mean while UNH has gone a highly consistent 10th, 6th, 10th, 10th with no trips to Boston and no trips to the NCAA.
That UNH is spending less than MC on hockey is pathetic considering the UNH athletic budget is at least $6M+ on MC. However I don't see Borek constantly whining about MC. Instead if UNH had a 4 year run like MC, at this point we would all be over the moon.
TheGrouchyCat
Litter Box of Bad Ideas
This. Every single word of this.
And at the same time, I agree that UNH needs to aim higher than looking at Merrimack as ANY kind of standard (notwithstanding what JB posted).
Fans of every team have a different set of expectations/a different bar for their team. For BU, BC, PC, UMass,UConn (now) and maybe Maine, it is regular season titles, HE tournament titles, regular trips to the NCAA tournament, even NCAA Championships. For me for Merrimack, it is usually a 5th through 7th/8th place finish with an occasional foray into the top 4 if the stars align, and an occasional drop ino the 9th spot (I hope we never see 10th or 11th ever again).
What is a reasonable bar (at the moment) for UNH? Get relevant again! Be fighting at the very least for home ice in the MBPGEAM or whatever Chuck calls it. Be competing for 4th through 6th place in the league. Is that a rational bar? Get there and THEN raise the expectations.
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No, da “Committee” played it straight up in protecting the #1 seeds in the first semifinal games. But I think that they made up for it by some ridiculous match ups in the second semifinal games in each regional.So Mc gets rewarded for winning the Hockey East tournament and gets sent packing to Sioux Falls! That's freaking ridiculous
scoreboard
Registered User
If you are the best team you will win the matchups you are given. Don’t understand when there is concern about getting a tough bracket. That to me, says you are concerned about your teams ability to win.