UNH- How Far West Do We Go?

[2013hockeyfan]

Question: maybe I'm missing a key piece of info here ... but how would the organizers of the UNH Hockey golf fundraiser know The Grouch's identity, so they could in turn deny him access to volunteering for their event on that basis??

I mean, with some sleuthing, you can eventually figure things out (take note of our suddenly reticent mole), but knowing The Grouch pretty well, I know he's not airing personal opinions or inside info to every Tom, Dick and Kevin he encounters. So, what gives??

I don't know anything about the guy but I've seen so much grief given to Potluck about maintaining anonymity I assumed most personas here were well known both within and outside the board. Especially for someone like Grouchy Cat who speaks repeatedly about being well connected within the hockey community.

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

I don't know anything about the guy but I've seen so much grief given to Potluck about maintaining anonymity I assumed most personas here were well known both within and outside the board. Especially for someone like Grouchy Cat who speaks repeatedly about being well connected within the hockey community.

The hockey community is small. Lot's of people are connected, not just me.

However, when you follow local teams, select teams, juniors and college, you see the same people week after week and build relationships/friendships and information and intelligence gets shared. This includes players, coaches, scouts and even people working in athletic departments.

 

[Darius]

Question: maybe I'm missing a key piece of info here ... but how would the organizers of the UNH Hockey golf fundraiser know The Grouch's identity, so they could in turn deny him access to volunteering for their event on that basis??

They wouldn’t need to. Typically volunteers for anything are vetted into a ramp up process. For instance, several months ago I responded to a volunteer request. Not hockey not UNH. A little emailing led to some texting. They must have figured I might be a fit so I was told to arrive 30 minutes prior to being needed so that I could receive training. The day went well, led to another volunteer opportunity and another and my level of responsibility increased as they become comfortable with me. If at any point they thought my approach, attitude, opinions, values etc. were not consistent with theirs they’d have said “thanks, but no thanks”.

 

[Chuck Murray]

I don't know anything about the guy but I've seen so much grief given to Potluck about maintaining anonymity I assumed most personas here were well known both within and outside the board. Especially for someone like Grouchy Cat who speaks repeatedly about being well connected within the hockey community.

potty gets grief on here for a lot of reasons, too numerous to list here, but it has little to do with "maintaining anonymity".

Although now that potty's hopes for anonymity are a thing of the past, it's kind of become a moot issue.

The availability of/accessibility to information around a small program in a small town should never be underestimated ...

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

The availability of/accessibility to information around a small program in a small town should never be underestimated ...

And, that goes for more than just hockey.

 

[Whalers]

potty gets grief on here for a lot of reasons, too numerous to list here, but it has little to do with "maintaining anonymity".

Although now that potty's hopes for anonymity are a thing of the past, it's kind of become a moot issue.

The availability of/accessibility to information around a small program in a small town should never be underestimated ...

I missed something. What page do I navigate too?

 

[norbert]

I missed something. What page do I navigate too?

There is nothing you are missing. Potty and 2013hockeyfan are probably the same or tied to UNH so they are towing the line. No sane person can see this MS7 experiment as a success.

 

[Chuck Murray]

I missed something. What page do I navigate too?

There are some obscure clues strewn about this thread over the last couple of weeks or so. Mostly mine, but others from fellow posters, here and there.

I hate to be vague, but I really don't want to totally bust his cover at this point ... every village does need a good idiot to (using his words) "smack around" once in awhile. Most folks on here are operating under some degree of a cover anyway, and unmasking is not the goal, it's always been to level the playing field, since our hero (lol) has certainly taken more than his fair share of liberties at lots of people's expense. But The Fluffer's cover has indeed been compromised ...

 

[2013hockeyfan]

There is nothing you are missing. Potty and 2013hockeyfan are probably the same or tied to UNH so they are towing the line. No sane person can see this MS7 experiment as a success.

The term is "toeing" the line, FYI.

I have no connection to UNH (edit: besides being a 2013 alum ) and have never claimed anything close to success in the Souza era. I just prefer to lay blame at the feet of Souza and Rich than question the athletes scholarships or talk shit about a kid after he leaves the school.

 

[2013hockeyfan]

potty gets grief on here for a lot of reasons, too numerous to list here, but it has little to do with "maintaining anonymity".

Of course that's not the primary point of contention but there was a several page back-and-forth about anonymity.

 

[JB]

... I just prefer to lay blame at the feet of Souza and Rich than question the athletes ...

This is the thing that gets me. I look at the potential on the ice and I see a team that has the potential to be fighting for 5th place or higher. I just don't see the coaching to get them there.

 

[2013hockeyfan]

This is the thing that gets me. I look at the potential on the ice and I see a team that has the potential to be fighting for 5th place or higher. I just don't see the coaching to get them there.

100%

I come back to it a lot but the most damning results, among a body of work full of them, was the finish last season. That team had a roster and experience to be competitive with every team in the league and should have finished in the top 5 competing for a spot at the garden, which, sadly, is the highest attainable goal this program should aim for in the foreseeable future.

The regression (or lack of progression, take your pick) from the upperclass core of that team and results on the ice would have any competent athletic department leadership scrambling to correct the mistake they'd made in extending this coach and staff.

The reality is that Souza, or any one coaching at UNH, is not dealt a great hand. The resources are limited and particularly in hockey are going to dramatically trail your opponents. Last season, though, all the pieces were in place for UNH to outperform the investment and, instead, they performed even worse than the teams that have invested less.

Some may say that it was goaltending that produced the aberration result in 2024 but I think the D core's performance doesn't get enough credit for their results that season and that group was not able to replicate that result last season, which I put squarely on the coaching staff.

 

[Robert Balin]

This is the thing that gets me. I look at the potential on the ice and I see a team that has the potential to be fighting for 5th place or higher. I just don't see the coaching to get them there.

Go back and look at Souza's recruiting on Heisenberg for the 2018 and 2019 seasons and you'll get the picture why UNH is still very bad. Those two years set the program back ten years JMHO.

 

[Snively65]

Where the he11 did this all come from?!? I wouldn't go near a live mic, in any setting. It's not modesty, it's knowing my limitations lol. Could qualify me for a "crimes against humanity" charge, even.

You do give away your lack of local knowledge, putting "Jade Palace" on 1A though. It used to be on 108 in Stratham, until they changed the name a couple of years ago, apparently due to a dram shop lawsuit. And not to be confused with "Jade Garden" further up 108 towards Titletown, in lovely downtown Newmarket.

Musically, I'm Just happy to work through the back catalogues of ELP, Rush, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Sabbath (Dio version) and the like. Letting the pros do it!

After listening to Greg Lake’s (1947-2016) “Lucky Man” (written by Greg when he was 12 years old) on my Sirius Classical Vinyl station yesterday, I got to thinking how I hope that MS7 fares better than Greg’s Lucky Man.

 

[Chuck Murray]

After listening to Greg Lake’s (1947-2016) “Lucky Man” (written by Greg when he was 12 years old) on my Sirius Classical Vinyl station yesterday, I got to thinking how I hope that MS7 fares better than Greg’s Lucky Man.

As you well know Snives, Lake's protagonist eventually ran out of luck, and in a very catastrophic way.

So we agree, no one wants to see it turn out that way for MS7. Nor did we want it to turn out that way for Walshy. Nor for Red, nor for Kullen either.

It's not an easy job, that's for sure. I've always suspected MS7 never really considered the amount work required to do the job properly, not at the outset.

And by the time he may have figured that out (?) along the way, he's dug himself a hole that he simply isn't able to escape.

Lake's protagonist met his fate in an utterly honorable way, fighting for king and country. MS7's only honorable escape route now is resignation.

Never ever imagined I'd be analyzing the issue this way, but Snives has a way of knowing how to push my buttons. Kudos to you, sir!!

 

[Snively65]

100%

I come back to it a lot but the most damning results, among a body of work full of them, was the finish last season. That team had a roster and experience to be competitive with every team in the league and should have finished in the top 5 competing for a spot at the garden, which, sadly, is the highest attainable goal this program should aim for in the foreseeable future.

The regression (or lack of progression, take your pick) from the upperclass core of that team and results on the ice would have any competent athletic department leadership scrambling to correct the mistake they'd made in extending this coach and staff.

The reality is that Souza, or any one coaching at UNH, is not dealt a great hand. The resources are limited and particularly in hockey are going to dramatically trail your opponents. Last season, though, all the pieces were in place for UNH to outperform the investment and, instead, they performed even worse than the teams that have invested less.

Some may say that it was goaltending that produced the aberration result in 2024 but I think the D core's performance doesn't get enough credit for their results that season and that group was not able to replicate that result last season, which I put squarely on the coaching staff.

But everything was roughly the same for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 teams, mediocre scoring by the forwards, experienced depth on the blue line, and the same coaching staff. The only substantial difference was in the net. I still think that coaching is a major problem, but the 2023/24 team still looks like the aberration to me. I think that Hellsten really was that good to cover up coaching deficiencies. I think that we have a good goalie this season, but he is not good enough to cover up coaching deficiencies AND SUB-mediocre scoring by the forwards AND a less an experienced blue line.

 

[2013hockeyfan]

But everything was roughly the same for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 teams, mediocre scoring by the forwards, experienced depth on the blue line, and the same coaching staff. The only substantial difference was in the net. I still think that coaching is a major problem, but the 2023/24 team still looks like the aberration to me. I think that Hellsten really was that good to cover up coaching deficiencies. I think that we have a good goalie this season, but he is not good enough to cover up coaching deficiencies AND SUB-mediocre scoring by the forwards AND a less an experienced blue line.

Sorry, that is the season I was referring to with the aberration remark. The lone winning season of this era.

Hellsten was absolutely a difference between the those two seasons but I'm only attempting to highlight the lack of growth (and I would also say fall off, based on the eye test) between the defensive core between those two seasons, because you're right the personnel was mostly the same. Maybe that is attributable to the way they had to change their playing style with a goalie they could rely on less behind them, though.