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UNH Men's Hockey 2022 Off Season Thread- Goodbye Lake Whitt!

Gare was always good for a quote, back when media actually covered the team. He's the author of the infamous quip about "rather be stabbed in the streets of Lowell than be a Black Bear" or something to that effect. Now we have a robot coach with robot players going through their robotic motions, to see who can spout the most inane Belichikian adages, with the dystopian climate of academia that penalizes participants for any semblance of individual thought or character.

I'm not sure exactly where it all started, but I suspect it was right around the time that Blue Skies enforced the edict to have the Pep Band drown out the R-rated chants that used to accompany the introductions of the visitors' starting line-up, taking "Black Betty" off the playlist, etc. ad nauseum.

Gare would've likely been kicked off the team/out of school for his Lowell quip if he made it today ...
 
Certainly one of the all time greatest hockey quotes. "I would rather be stabbed on the streets of Lowell than be a Black Bear in Orono."

But closely dissect this for the obvious hate speech that it is and today, and Chuck you are 100% correct, not only does he get kicked off the team, but deported as well. Disparaging the good name of 2 communities, the obvious racist reference to the bear (and why no bear pronoun?), the broad brush fear mongering portrayal of minorities in Lowell, no stated equity agenda or nod to indigenous landowners (remember the former mascot?) AND how much you wanna bet that he didnt have a mask on during the interview? (Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, quiet. Dont let them hear this in the Cafe'.)
 
Whalers said:
Certainly one of the all time greatest hockey quotes. "I would rather be stabbed on the streets of Lowell than be a Black Bear in Orono."

But closely dissect this for the obvious hate speech that it is and today, and Chuck you are 100% correct, not only does he get kicked off the team, but deported as well. Disparaging the good name of 2 communities, the obvious racist reference to the bear (and why no bear pronoun?), the broad brush fear mongering portrayal of minorities in Lowell, no stated equity agenda or nod to indigenous landowners (remember the former mascot?) AND how much you wanna bet that he didnt have a mask on during the interview? (Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, quiet. Dont let them hear this in the Cafe'.)
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Fantastic deep dive on the "depths" of Gare's statement, Whalers. Upon further review, it appears Lanny has spent most of the last 15 years playing over in Germany, so there's a very real possibility he's already been deported by Fuhrer Trudeau? Can't help but recall this very famous introduction line used to describe Ogie Oglethorpe in the classic movie Slapshot:

This young man has had a very trying rookie season, what with the litigation, the notoriety, his subsequent deportation to Canada and that country's refusal to accept him...Well, I guess that's more than most 21-year-olds can handle.
 
Dan, you mentioned in an earlier post about picking up Will Calverley? Too late...he's going to Merrimack.

According to Mike McMahon: Between Calverley, Ottovile Leppanen and Ryan Leibold, Merrimack has committed 3 of the top-9 scorers (last year's totals) in the portal. Also added Tristian Crozier from Brown and Slava Demin (D) from UMass.

Sigh...
 
HockeyRef said:
Dan, you mentioned in an earlier post about picking up Will Calverley? Too late...he's going to Merrimack.

According to Mike McMahon: Between Calverley, Ottovile Leppanen and Ryan Leibold, Merrimack has committed 3 of the top-9 scorers (last year's totals) in the portal. Also added Tristian Crozier from Brown and Slava Demin (D) from UMass.

Sigh...
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No, that was someone responding to my list with a list of their own...

Who knows how he (and Leibold) makes the jump from AH to HE. Its not as easy as just translating the numbers - even a kid like Matt Barry (who went from Holy Cross to Miami) has only been good-ish, but not great in the scoring department. We'll see, Merrimack had a good season, maybe this group makes it two in a row or maybe its another Scott Borek recruiting pu pu platter...

Demin is the prize for me. He's a great skater and I loved watching him in Denver, but the staff there never seemed to view him as a top-four guy and he's on the move again after a season at UMass. Jandric must have enjoyed his season in North Andover and put in a good word to his former DU teammate.

I'd love to have seen Demin choose UNH, but its clear the two programs are looking for different things. UNH grabbed scholarship defenders DaVita and Babbage each with 3+ years of eligibility remaining (my money is on the Babson transfer getting a shot as a walk on), while MC jumped on five one-and-done graduate transfers. Different strokes, but I'll say one thing for Borek, at least he's aggressive...
 
Dan said:
No, that was someone responding to my list with a list of their own...

Who knows how he (and Leibold) makes the jump from AH to HE. Its not as easy as just translating the numbers - even a kid like Matt Barry (who went from Holy Cross to Miami) has only been good-ish, but not great in the scoring department. We'll see, Merrimack had a good season, maybe this group makes it two in a row or maybe its another Scott Borek recruiting pu pu platter...

Demin is the prize for me. He's a great skater and I loved watching him in Denver, but the staff there never seemed to view him as a top-four guy and he's on the move again after a season at UMass. Jandric must have enjoyed his season in North Andover and put in a good word to his former DU teammate.

I'd love to have seen Demin choose UNH, but its clear the two programs are looking for different things. UNH grabbed scholarship defenders DaVita and Babbage each with 3+ years of eligibility remaining (my money is on the Babson transfer getting a shot as a walk on), while MC jumped on five one-and-done graduate transfers. Different strokes, but I'll say one thing for Borek, at least he's aggressive...
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Oh gotcha well sorry bout that! Well every coach has to fill what they see as a need to be the most successful so that's what we have as you point out. Good points made about our picks. I'm thinking we will be ok...
 
Dan said:
I'd love to have seen Demin choose UNH, but its clear the two programs are looking for different things. UNH grabbed scholarship defenders DaVita and Babbage each with 3+ years of eligibility remaining (my money is on the Babson transfer getting a shot as a walk on), while MC jumped on five one-and-done graduate transfers. Different strokes, but I'll say one thing for Borek, at least he's aggressive...
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There's something to be said for going out aggressively and setting the tone. Borek seems to have settled into a strategy at MC these last couple of seasons, whereas the guy he was passed over for here at UNH really seems to lack any clarity in how he's going about his business. Seems as if Scotty B. wakes up every morning with a purpose as a result, and good for him. Sometimes the greatest motivator can be rejection, and a strong desire to show the rejector(s) they were wrong ...
 
HockeyRef said:
Oh gotcha well sorry bout that! Well every coach has to fill what they see as a need to be the most successful so that's what we have as you point out. Good points made about our picks. I'm thinking we will be ok...
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I'm thinking we will be in last place in HEA in 2022/2023, decent defensively but zero scoring punch.

At least that will ensure there's only the one remaining year left in the MS7 Era.
 
Chuck Murray said:
I'm thinking we will be in last place in HEA in 2022/2023, decent defensively but zero scoring punch.

At least that will ensure there's only the one remaining year left in the MS7 Era.
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I'm not so sure about that...haven't been, and won't believe it, until I see it. Not the UNH way of doing things. I know, I know...a new AD etc. Still, highly doubtful. Good point about our defensive capabilities; think that's true and can def get behind that thinking.
 
HockeyRef said:
I'm not so sure about that...haven't been, and won't believe it, until I see it. Not the UNH way of doing things. I know, I know...a new AD etc. Still, highly doubtful. Good point about our defensive capabilities; think that's true and can def get behind that thinking.
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I share your concerns about how coaching decisions at UNH have been taken so far this century, but that guy is headed to upstate NY, so yeah, I have to believe the new AD will make changes. And if he finds out the school doesn't operate that way, I wouldn't come here to work in the first place, with my hands tied to long-term chronic mediocrities running my programs. Unless my first name was Nigel ...

The next couple of years should be interesting, let's leave it at that ... :-)
 
HockeyRef said:
I'm not so sure about that...haven't been, and won't believe it, until I see it. Not the UNH way of doing things. I know, I know...a new AD etc. Still, highly doubtful...
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I'm with you 'Ref. I feel like many here are setting themselves up for disappointment and this thread going up in flames. lol
 
Looks like Luce pulled his own version of the "Umile Shuffle" with UConn, leveraging BC's "interest".

Heck, at least when Umile got his llfetime deal, he'd already made a couple of trips to the FF, a half-dozen or so NCAA bids, and won almost twice as much as he'd lost. Maybe Umile has been doing some specialized consulting work recently in his spare time???
 
Looks like old pal CDS peed in the B's punchbowl last night, 52 save shutout, now even at 99 points.

Thankfully he didn't taunt #67 with a "nice save, eh?" like his teammate, and start another fracas ...
 
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Version 8. Update for Babbage in, Babbage out.

So.Will Margel (18-1-3-4)--------Sr.Chase Stevenson-(33-4-1-5)-----So.Robert Cronin (30-7-5-12)
So.Liam Devlin-(34-9-7-16)-----Sr.Harrison Blaisdell-(25-2-6-8)-----Jr.Nick Cafarelli (15-3-4-7)
Fr.Cy Leclerc-(NA)-----------------Fr.Stiven Sardarian-(NA)-----------Pg.Ryan Black
Fr.Jake Dunlap-(NA)--------------Fr.Morgan Winters-(NA)-------------Fr.Kristap Skrastins (NA)
Fr.[Turner??]]/transfer------------Jr.Cam Gendron-(19-1-1-2)--------So.Conor Lovett
So.Connor Sweeney-(22-0-0-0)--Sr.Joe Hankinson (1-0-0-0)-------Fr./Transfer


Sr.Kalle Eriksson-(32-0-12-12)----So.Colton Huard (28-6-10-16)
So.Alex Gagne-(33-1-7-8)---------Jr.Luke Reid (34-3-5-8)
Fr.Damien Carfagna (NA)----------Jr.Nikolai Jenson-(30-1-5-6)
Fr.Brendan Fitzgerald-(NA)--------So.Nico DeVita (29-1-2-3)
So.Jack Babbage ------------------[Fr.Cade Penney (NA)]

Fr.Tyler Muszelik----------Sr.David Fessenden------------Jr.Jeremy Forman

The USHL season ended. Overall, the strength was on D, with the two best performances being from Carfagna and Fitzgerald.
Damien Carfagna on D finished 37th in USHL scoring, with 48 points (6 goals and 42 assists) in 61 games. 5th Best for defensemen
Fellow defenseman Fitzgerald was 103rd, with 31 points (5 goals 26 assists) in 59 games. 18th best for defensemen
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Both should see top 6 duty, which means a trade is likely where UNH can send a defenseman and receive a scoring forward, which they desperately need. (I kid, but maybe Eriksson can play forward like his father?)

For offense, Dunlap had a good season as a 20 year old, and should fit in on the 3rd/4th lines. He is comparable to Winters, another 20 year old. Lovett, another 20 year old with college experience should contend for 4th line duty. Sardarian is only 18 and has great skills, but struggled with injuries and production his first season. Turner also showed some potential, but was very inconsistent.
Short version - Dunlap/Winters/Lovett are higher floor, low ceiling players. Sardarian is high ceiling, lower floor. Turner is regular ceiling, OK floor.

Jake Dunlap finished just behind him in 42nd place, with 46 points (24 goals, 22 assists) in 57 games
Conor Lovett finished 95th, with 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) in 59 games
Morgan Winters finished 61st, with 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 52 games.
Sardarian finished 137th, with 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games
JP Turner finished 172nd, with 21 points (13 goals, 8 assists) in 56 games, but improved after his trade (16 points in 25 games).
Click to expand...

================
In the weaker NAHL, Leclerc was the 3rd best scorer as a 19 year old 77 points (31 goals, 46 assists), and Skrastins was 8th with 70 points (36 goals, 34 assists) in 58 games as a mature 20 year old.
Leclerc is creative offensively, and could step in right away. Skating will be the question for Skrastins. 27 of those points came on the powerplay.

================

Lots of spots to earn playing time up front. The legitimate question is whether UNH will have any scorer with more than 20 points, or 10 goals. And if not, can the deeper scoring of the remaining forwards contribute? Will the defense generate enough offense to help the meager returning scorers?

In sum, will UNH score 68 goals (two per game)?

21-22 76 in 34 games
20-21 60 in 23 games
19-20 91 in 34 games
18-19 90 in 36 games
17-18 88 in 36 games
16-17 124 in 40 games
15-16 112 in 37 games
14-15 119 in 40 games
13-14 126 in 41 games
12-13 122 in 39 games
11-12 108 in 37 games
10-11 131 in 39 games
 
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To interpret Watcher’s line suggestions in terms of combined DI collegiate points...

12-9–21
14-17–31
0-0–0
0-0–0
1-1–2
0-0–0

Thats 54 TOTAL returning points for UNH forwards - and it’s not unreasonable to think a few of those players may score LESS when asked to drive a line rather than ride shotgun to Pierson/Ward or even Engaras...
 
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