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UNH Men’s Hockey 22-23: the start of something new, or more of the same?
- Thread starter d.gerry
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HockeyRef
Well-known member
other than Grasso, others before your time.
Nope..Angus, Downing were in my time frame..and of course, Poturalski, Started following in the 2013-2014 season. You know, the last time we were in a Regional?
Nope..Angus, Downing were in my time frame..and of course, Poturalski, Started following in the 2013-2014 season. You know, the last time we were in a Regional?
That is what I meant, those three plus Grasso were in your time frame.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Don't forget the unrealized bonuses in MS7's contract, none of which he has attained during his tenure to date. I think it was 'Watcher who brought it up, and drawing upon my vastly underutilized accounting degree from our mutual fave non-UNH school, there were no doubt UNH line item budgeting entries over the last several years that at least conceptually be available to assist in the buy-out. Count me in with Nifty16 as one who refuses to give up hope that UNH will take some job action to end this worsening nightmare situation sooner rather than later.
Barring some miraculous turnaround in early 2023, we learn the answers to these questions this Spring:
(1) Does Coach Souza have the class & dignity to admit he's not up to the job, and resigns in UNH's best interests?
(2) If the answer to (1) is "no", then does the new AD have the intestinal fortitude to act decisively to replace him?
MS7 can't say with a straight face that he hasn't been given every opportunity to turn this program around. Yet here we are, a lead pipe cinch for last place in HEA, and embarrassingly the guy who was ditched from his long-term assistant's role at UNH has gone out and turned around a nothing program that shouldn't be able to proverbially sniff UNH's jock. It would be hard to imagine how a program could screw the pooch any worse than UNH has since 2015, and especially so since 2018. Leaving me to ask the obvious question ...
I think that in accounting terms the unrealized bonuses are now considered “sunk costs,” in that those funds have been long spent on who knows what.
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
I think that in accounting terms the unrealized bonuses are now considered “sunk costs,” in that those funds have been long spent on who knows what.
You may well be right, but then again, one would think other coaches on the UNH AD's budget (Herrion?) would also have unrealized bonuses in the current financial year. It's now time for UNH to "rob Peter to pay Paul" (MS7) ... and no offense but seemingly fitting for a school with a Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics, no?!?
You know it makes sense ... make it happen, AD Rich. Or else you become complicit in the destruction of Hockey ...
I certainly respect the view that it is time to go outside “the family” for a new head coach. But then I look at BU apparently getting it right this time with Jay Pandolfo. What I like about Bogie is his 178 games in the NHL despite being 5’8” and his 10 years as an AHL assistant coach.
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Thank you...interesting analysis. Only thing I'll add is Taylor Twellman's comment: "3 forwards on a 26-man roster." That tells me they were TRYING to play 1-0 games and then hold on because apparently they don't defend well enough to get into a shootout. And maybe that's justified because they know they DON'T have the skill that many other countries do. And I will agree (even though I've probably played soccer twice in my life), I would imagine that scoring a goal in soccer must be one of the most difficult things to do in sports.
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HockeyRef
Well-known member
Hey there Nifty! Like you always say to me, I love your optimism but... Agree with your sentiments in the issue...guess we will find out! Perhaps there will be an amicable 'parting of the ways' (buy out!)
Back when we were the Champions of November rather than the Champions of the First Weekend of the Season.
HockeyRef
Well-known member
Heady times around here I bet! UML had our HE tournament number the next couple of seasons. Sometimes I do a "what if" Kevin Goumas and Grayson Downing had played in that Regional Final...and if TvR wasnt injured the next season...etc...
Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
There are always going to be variations in depth of a country or region's talent pool at certain positions, especially if (as with the US) it's still a developing nation in the sport. Berhalter could have brought a half-dozen strikers with him to Qatar, and it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of a difference. It's all about quality, not quantity. And the US' most talented scorer (Pulisic) struggles to start at his club team Chelsea, so even he is limited.
Two other examples in this year's WC to consider ... first, a team like Japan or South Korea isn't all that far removed from where the US is in our development in the sport. They've had similar histories where (not being part of the British Empire or its colonies) they were late to the game, and had/still have other sports with deeper roots competing for the most talented athletes, often in better-paying domestic leagues. Both have pretty much arrived at the same station as the US after roughly similar long-term experiences. Lots of progress, yes, but still a way to go too.
In another scenario, you have a team/country like Belgium ... 10 million people wedged in between France and The Netherlands/Holland, they've always been around and fielded decent teams. However, a couple of WC cycles ago, someone determined that Belgium was experiencing what's been called a "Golden Generation" in world football, as they had somehow attained a critical mass of talented players spread across the pitch out of nowhere, and a lot of predictions were made about how they would win Euro and World Cup honors. After not even qualifying for the 2006 or the 2010 WC, they arrived in 2014 and surprised a lot of people when they made it to the quarterfinals. They finished top of their qualifying groups in 2014, 2018, and by 2022 they were ranked #2 in the world going into the Cup. Combined with the fact that in 2018, they advanced to the WC semis, lost by a goal, and then won the 3rd place game, the high ranking wasn't a surprise. But they got knocked out in the group stage last week. And with the blink of an eye, the Belgian "Golden Generation" is probably no more.
If anyone caught the Japan-Croatia round of 16 game today, you were treated to a very competitive game where either team could have won, and both teams had their chances in an entertaining game. The diving and gamesmanship was actually at a minimum, which was refreshing, and I've been pleased to see WC officials letting the boys play a lot more than in past tourneys (and adding a LOT more time when outbreaks of gamesmanship have happened). IMO soccer still has an end-game issue with the current need to go to PK's after 120 minutes of drawn play. I hate it in hockey, and although I understand why it's done in soccer, I dislike it in that game as well. There has to be a better way. Postseason hockey thrives in endless OT's because of open substitution, and while soccer is gradually expanding its substitution rules, the "problem" there continues to be that once you're off, you're out. And TBF, a lot of folks are okey-dokey with the PK thing, "for the drama" blah blah.
Anyway ... with my recent posts on world soccer only topped by cutting edge insights into accounting, this thread should be dead soon enough. Maybe this is how MS7 will keep his job, because I bored everyone to death?!?
Re: Souza's future at UNH, just my gut feelings here, but:
1. I don't see him resigning -- to do so would be an admission of defeat (despite being so clear to everyone else), and he'd leave money on the table. The first runs against the competitive spirit of an athlete, and the second against human nature. Doing what may be considered noble may be honorable but unlikely here.
2. I do see the possibility of him getting bought out by the end of the season. Am I naive? Perhaps, but to me it's couple things -- economics and a new AD. Ms. Rich has no familiar loyalty to Souza -- she didn't hire him, which makes it easier to cut ties (and losses) sooner rather than later. I must presume she wants to do what is best for the university and the program. Surely she can see that Souza has had ample opportunity to turn the program around and has failed to do so, and this failure comes at the end of a years-long fall from prominence due to his mentor/predecessor/anointer. Patience has run out among UNH fans; one can only hope that it has from the admin as well. AD Rich and UNH owe him nothing except what is contractually demanded.
As to the economics, others have already made the point that having more fans in seats would easily cover the costs of a buy out. Knowing that a program turnaround will be a multi-year process and is predicated on a dynamic new coach, why put it off a year? As they say in business, you have to spend money to make money.
Others have debated the merits of contacting AD Rich to express their feelings. I'm on the side of emailing her (which admittedly I haven't done yet,) and encourage others to do the same. I know any response will be little more than a polite "thank you for contacting me..." which I totally get. It's at least an acknowledgement of receipt. I hardly think there are (m)any fans writing her to express support for the coach. If she gets a significant amount of email traffic it could be persuasive.
I'm willing to promise that I'll purchase at least 2 season tickets next season if there is a change in leadership -- even though I'd probably have to give away tickets to at least half of the games because we RV for lengthy stretches. I definitely won't buy them if the status quo holds.
Hey, maybe I am naive (alrhough I'd prefer to call it reasonably hopeful) about institutional realities of contractual loyalty to an employee and short-sighted decisions made for fiscal reasons. Maybe the AD sees football as being the flagship sport and hockey is the poor step sister. I'd like to think that's not the case, and that UNH can support two successful programs.
Having a new AD makes it easier to make a change, even if she needs a sign-off from above. Cheers.
1. I don't see him resigning -- to do so would be an admission of defeat (despite being so clear to everyone else), and he'd leave money on the table. The first runs against the competitive spirit of an athlete, and the second against human nature. Doing what may be considered noble may be honorable but unlikely here.
2. I do see the possibility of him getting bought out by the end of the season. Am I naive? Perhaps, but to me it's couple things -- economics and a new AD. Ms. Rich has no familiar loyalty to Souza -- she didn't hire him, which makes it easier to cut ties (and losses) sooner rather than later. I must presume she wants to do what is best for the university and the program. Surely she can see that Souza has had ample opportunity to turn the program around and has failed to do so, and this failure comes at the end of a years-long fall from prominence due to his mentor/predecessor/anointer. Patience has run out among UNH fans; one can only hope that it has from the admin as well. AD Rich and UNH owe him nothing except what is contractually demanded.
As to the economics, others have already made the point that having more fans in seats would easily cover the costs of a buy out. Knowing that a program turnaround will be a multi-year process and is predicated on a dynamic new coach, why put it off a year? As they say in business, you have to spend money to make money.
Others have debated the merits of contacting AD Rich to express their feelings. I'm on the side of emailing her (which admittedly I haven't done yet,) and encourage others to do the same. I know any response will be little more than a polite "thank you for contacting me..." which I totally get. It's at least an acknowledgement of receipt. I hardly think there are (m)any fans writing her to express support for the coach. If she gets a significant amount of email traffic it could be persuasive.
I'm willing to promise that I'll purchase at least 2 season tickets next season if there is a change in leadership -- even though I'd probably have to give away tickets to at least half of the games because we RV for lengthy stretches. I definitely won't buy them if the status quo holds.
Hey, maybe I am naive (alrhough I'd prefer to call it reasonably hopeful) about institutional realities of contractual loyalty to an employee and short-sighted decisions made for fiscal reasons. Maybe the AD sees football as being the flagship sport and hockey is the poor step sister. I'd like to think that's not the case, and that UNH can support two successful programs.
Having a new AD makes it easier to make a change, even if she needs a sign-off from above. Cheers.
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Oh this is like putting a tanker truck of high octane fuel on a dumpster fire.
UNH Wildcats - Calling all Wildcats! Our Men’s Ice Hockey team... | Facebook
We can't even get a promotion correct. BRIGHAM
Not even the promotions department can correctly send something out....
UNH Wildcats - Calling all Wildcats! Our Men’s Ice Hockey team... | Facebook
We can't even get a promotion correct. BRIGHAM
Not even the promotions department can correctly send something out....
Again, I'm not soccer expert but I use the "eyeball test." If Pulisic is the USA's "most talented" scorer, we're in trouble. IMO, he's too small, can't create any separation and is always a split-second late with his decision-making. He doesn't get his shot off quickly enough (in general, the team doesn't move the ball quickly enough anyway - I just watched Spain/Morocco and the ball would move tic-tac-toe in a nanosecond) and he gets smothered. I'd put him on the outside and get someone quicker in the middle.
But back to hockey now...
Darius
Go 'cats!
There are eight on the roster. Maybe he omitted the Q word?
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Darius
Go 'cats!
1. Agree. 2. Unlikely as much/more for state legislature optics as money. Extending his contract and then paying him the extension money to not coach sends the message that UNH does not have its act together.
Didn’t giving him the extension already send that message?
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