UNH Offseason Contract Edition.

[Chuck Murray]

Excellent video! One of my fondest memories of special events attended at the Boston Museum of Science was one that featured Bill James as the honored guest a couple of decades ago. Must have been a precursor for the cyber metrics that inspired the film Moneyball?

Unquestionably, Bill James is the godfather of all things that have come to fruition over the last decade-plus of MLB baseball. Personally, I'm a fan of old school baseball, but it would be silly to deny the influence James and his disciples have had on the game. "Sabermetrics" is actually taken from SABR, which is the Society for American Baseball Research, and James was an early leader in what would culminate as "Moneyball" a generation later. I doubt even James anticipated his research would have the wide-ranging results they have, not only in baseball, but also on a lot of other team sports as well. Like I said, not a fan of the outcome(s), but undeniably a huge force in his trade.

 

[Snively65]

Unquestionably, Bill James is the godfather of all things that have come to fruition over the last decade-plus of MLB baseball. Personally, I'm a fan of old school baseball, but it would be silly to deny the influence James and his disciples have had on the game. "Sabermetrics" is actually taken from SABR, which is the Society for American Baseball Research, and James was an early leader in what would culminate as "Moneyball" a generation later. I doubt even James anticipated his research would have the wide-ranging results they have, not only in baseball, but also on a lot of other team sports as well. Like I said, not a fan of the outcome(s), but undeniably a huge force in his trade.

Heh, heh, heh, yes, Sabermetrics, not cyber metrics, which I blame on my iPad.

But, I am already looking back to the Bruins-Leafs series, which culminated with the dismissal of the Toronto head coach Keefe today. And now the Canes are on the verge of being swept by the Rangers and the Avs look very beatable in their series also. Gotta love postseason hockey at all levels as surprises are the expectation.

 

[Chuck Murray]

But, I am already looking back to the Bruins-Leafs series, which culminated with the dismissal of the Toronto head coach Keefe today. And now the Canes are on the verge of being swept by the Rangers and the Avs look very beatable in their series also. Gotta love postseason hockey at all levels as surprises are the expectation.

I suspect Colorado will sneak past the Stars in their series out West, and I think the winner of that series beats the Canucks or Oilers to make it to the Finals. I'm surprised that Carolina is down 3-0, though - like you said, surprises happen every year, and with Florida now emerging with two straight dominant wins over the B's (who may now be without Marchand), the Canes were always going to be faced with a tough road, with the Rangers being the President's Cup winners this season, and with Florida having eliminated the Canes in last year's semis. If there is a silver lining to the problems down in Carolina, it could be that Coach Brind'Amour's (suspended) contract negotiations could make him available if the folks he reports to lose their patience. In which case, I hope a certain Mr. Yzerman gets him on speed dial, especially if the Wings don't get off to a quick start next season. Whether he is available that long is another issue ...

... and speaking of Yzerman, it looks like Cole Eiserman is projected as a mid-first round pick in this year's draft. His "namesake" has the #15 pick this time around, and could use a top six forward type in the future, having already stocked up on defense and goalie prospects. Fingers crossed, it's meant to be lol.

Today's NHL Original Six quiz. All six of the so-called Original Six have moved out of their historic venues since the start of the NHL expansion era in 1967. How many of these can you answer off the top of your head?

(1) Name the six teams, in order of who moved out of their pre-1967 digs, first to last (oldest to most recent)?
(2) One of the Original Six teams has inhabited two (2) new arenas post-1967. Name the team and both arenas?
(3) Two of the deserted Original Six home venues are still standing. Which ones, and name their current uses?
(4) Which two current Original Six venues were built closest to their immediate predecessor venues?
(5) Which post-1967 Original Six home venue has played host to the most Stanley Cup winning teams?
(6) Which 3 post-1967 Original Six home venues have never played host to a Stanley Cup winning team?

Enjoy!!

 

[Drew S.]

I suspect Colorado will sneak past the Stars in their series out West, and I think the winner of that series beats the Canucks or Oilers to make it to the Finals. I'm surprised that Carolina is down 3-0, though - like you said, surprises happen every year, and with Florida now emerging with two straight dominant wins over the B's (who may now be without Marchand), the Canes were always going to be faced with a tough road, with the Rangers being the President's Cup winners this season, and with Florida having eliminated the Canes in last year's semis. If there is a silver lining to the problems down in Carolina, it could be that Coach Brind'Amour's (suspended) contract negotiations could make him available if the folks he reports to lose their patience. In which case, I hope a certain Mr. Yzerman gets him on speed dial, especially if the Wings don't get off to a quick start next season. Whether he is available that long is another issue ...

... and speaking of Yzerman, it looks like Cole Eiserman is projected as a mid-first round pick in this year's draft. His "namesake" has the #15 pick this time around, and could use a top six forward type in the future, having already stocked up on defense and goalie prospects. Fingers crossed, it's meant to be lol.

Today's NHL Original Six quiz. All six of the so-called Original Six have moved out of their historic venues since the start of the NHL expansion era in 1967. How many of these can you answer off the top of your head?

(1) Name the six teams, in order of who moved out of their pre-1967 digs, first to last (oldest to most recent)?
(2) One of the Original Six teams has inhabited two (2) new arenas post-1967. Name the team and both arenas?
(3) Two of the deserted Original Six home venues are still standing. Which ones, and name their current uses?
(4) Which two current Original Six venues were built closest to their immediate predecessor venues?
(5) Which post-1967 Original Six home venue has played host to the most Stanley Cup winning teams?
(6) Which 3 post-1967 Original Six home venues have never played host to a Stanley Cup winning team?

Enjoy!!

1. Rangers, Wings, Bruins, Blackhawks, Canadiens, Leafs, Wings

2. Wings playing in JLA and LCA

3. Montreal(believe it’s a mall) and Toronto(not sure.)

4. Rangers and Bruins

5. JLA!

6. LCA, Bell Centre, Scotiabank Arena

 

[Snively65]

1. Rangers, Wings, Bruins, Blackhawks, Canadiens, Leafs, Wings

2. Wings playing in JLA and LCA

3. Montreal(believe it’s a mall) and Toronto(not sure.)

4. Rangers and Bruins

5. JLA!

6. LCA, Bell Centre, Scotiabank Arena

Nice work, Drew. But what am I misreading in question 5, as the Canadians won 10 Cups in the Forum whereas the Wings won only four Cups in Joe Louis?

Back in the day I earned a lot of beers at Libby’s in Durham from Chuck’s trivia quizzes, but then gave them all back on some of my own quizzes before I had a chance cash out.

 

[Drew S.]

Nice work, Drew. But what am I misreading in question 5, as the Canadians won 10 Cups in the Forum whereas the Wings won only four Cups in Joe Louis?

Back in the day I earned a lot of beers at Libby’s in Durham from Chuck’s trivia quizzes, but then gave them all back on some of my own quizzes before I had a chance cash out.

I read it as cups in the new arena but obviously could be mistaken.

 

[Snively65]

I read it as cups in the new arena but obviously could be mistaken.

But neither the Forum nor the JLA are the newest arenas, right?

 

[Chuck Murray]

Apologies for botching Question 5, guys. The Forum (10 Cups) was obviously still an active arena post-expansion, while Joe Louis (4 Cups) was constructed post-expansion. We'll lay that boo-boo on my doorstep.

Question 4 though is (I believe) the only wrong answer. The Bruins built their new arena literally a few feet removed from the Original Gardens, so they're #1, and I believe Chicago built their new arena across the street from old Chicago Stadium, which I believe is now a parking lot.

Despite sharing the same exact name in NYC, the current MSG is actually a few blocks away from the old MSG.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Oh ... and to clarify on Question 3 ... Drew is correct about the Forum's current use.

In Toronto, the old Maple Leaf Garden site - still standing, and like the Forum designated as a national historical site in Canada - currently hosts a Loblaw's grocery store. Been there, had to see it to believe it ... yup. Wish I'd taken photos (ditto with what's left of the Forum, which I last saw in 2004) when we last visited Toronto almost 10 years ago now.

If you think the old MLG site is unusual ... it's only slightly more unusual than the site of the Hockey Hall of Fame ... but we'll cover that another time, though ...

 

[Snively65]

Apologies for botching Question 5, guys. The Forum (10 Cups) was obviously still an active arena post-expansion, while Joe Louis (4 Cups) was constructed post-expansion. We'll lay that boo-boo on my doorstep.

Question 4 though is (I believe) the only wrong answer. The Bruins built their new arena literally a few feet removed from the Original Gardens, so they're #1, and I believe Chicago built their new arena across the street from old Chicago Stadium, which I believe is now a parking lot.

Despite sharing the same exact name in NYC, the current MSG is actually a few blocks away from the old MSG.

Good stuff, Chuck! I love this history!

In fact, the exterior walls of the new Garden (Fleet Center) and the old Boston Garden were just 9 inches apart. I bought a commemorative brick from the Old Garden for $50, which are now selling on eBay for $300+.

Growing up in Durham, my family of four commonly took the train into Boston for games at the Old Garden in the 1950s/1960s, staying over at my grandfather’s efficiency apartment in the Hotel Mangor/Madison, which was demolished in 1983 when the new Garden was originally scheduled to be built on the hotel’s footprint. But the economy and politics delayed the construction until 1993-1995, with the Fleet Center opening on 30 September, a couple months before the Whitt opened.

I always have been impressed by the engineering involved for imploding structures with such precise use of dynamite, and the demolition of the Old Garden was no exception.

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

After not playing in the first two games, JvR earned his playing time the last five games.

In tracking the portal, I see that about half of the 300+ entries have found new homes, but not Cafarelli or Gendron. Either they are being more selective or they are not hot commodities, probably the latter?

They have hired agents are looking at professional opportunities in Europe.

 

[Chuck Murray]

They have hired agents are looking at professional opportunities in Europe.

Sign of the times ... used to be UNH players would get a start in the AHL (or the late IHL) and then either matriculate to the NHL or drop down to the Coast league on their way to Europe (see MS7 for example of the latter). Nowadays, they can't even land tryout gigs in the Coast, it's direct to the low level Euro leagues. Poor Snives is gonna run out of UNH players to track for their NHL length of service, in about five years' time, it's gonna be down to Brett Pesce, and whether the likes of CDS, TvR and Foegele can eke out a few more NHL paychecks.

Poor CDS seemed to catch a break when Vancouver's Thatcher Demko went down with an injury in the first round, but then CDS got injured, and now he's riding the pine (again) behind a Latvian rookie named Arturs Silovs (SHE-lovs). I believe CDS is on an expiring 2 year deal; maybe he's a candidate to back up Swayman in Boston next season if the B's finally trade Ullmark in an attempt to capture some draft capital and carve out some much-needed cap space?

 

[Chuck Murray]

Good stuff, Chuck! I love this history!

In fact, the exterior walls of the new Garden (Fleet Center) and the old Boston Garden were just 9 inches apart. I bought a commemorative brick from the Old Garden for $50, which are now selling on eBay for $300+.

Growing up in Durham, my family of four commonly took the train into Boston for games at the Old Garden in the 1950s/1960s, staying over at my grandfather’s efficiency apartment in the Hotel Mangor/Madison, which was demolished in 1983 when the new Garden was originally scheduled to be built on the hotel's footprint. But the economy and politics delayed the construction until 1993-1995, with the Fleet Center opening on 30 September, a couple months before the Whitt opened.

I always have been impressed by the engineering involved for imploding structures with such precise use of dynamite, and the demolition of the Old Garden was no exception.

Cool story. Didn't the B's AND C's both have their offices in that adjacent hotel building until it was razed, Snives?

Going back to the Original Six quiz, Question 1 ... I believe Chicago Stadium was closed a year before Boston.

One of the saddest sights I can remember was driving by the North Station area on the old elevated expressway circa 1996, sitting in traffic and looking over to see the old and new arenas, side by side, with the east side of the original building partially demolished, allowing you to see thru to the still-erect west side. So many memories, and still the best place I've ever seen in person for hockey. IIRC because the two buildings were SO close to each other, there was no implosion (or very little) involved in the demo work (see photo below).

Last bit of history on the subject, at least for now ... I've always regretted not having the chance to see my Red Wings in Olympia Stadium (although I did catch one game in the early 2000's in JLA during a business trip), and reading about it, you realize that the main reason they replaced it was because the Old Red Barn was slowly drifting into decaying neighborhoods too far removed from downtown. People who were able to see games in both Olympia and JLA will tell you to a person that Olympia's facilities and design were superior in every way to the JLA, even to the day they razed it. Ironically, given Snives' earlier comments ... they originally tried to implode Olympia, but it was built so solidly that implosion didn't work, so they had to take the long hard conventional route to its demolition as well. Interesting article below confirms ... and kudos to the Fords and Ilitches who have built a new stadium district!

Olympia Stadium — Historic Detroit

 

[Snively65]

Cool story. Didn't the B's AND C's both have their offices in that adjacent hotel building until it was razed, Snives?

Going back to the Original Six quiz, Question 1 ... I believe Chicago Stadium was closed a year before Boston.

One of the saddest sights I can remember was driving by the North Station area on the old elevated expressway circa 1996, sitting in traffic and looking over to see the old and new arenas, side by side, with the east side of the original building partially demolished, allowing you to see thru to the still-erect west side. So many memories, and still the best place I've ever seen in person for hockey. IIRC because the two buildings were SO close to each other, there was no implosion (or very little) involved in the demo work (see photo below).

Last bit of history on the subject, at least for now ... I've always regretted not having the chance to see my Red Wings in Olympia Stadium (although I did catch one game in the early 2000's in JLA during a business trip), and reading about it, you realize that the main reason they replaced it was because the Old Red Barn was slowly drifting into decaying neighborhoods too far removed from downtown. People who were able to see games in both Olympia and JLA will tell you to a person that Olympia's facilities and design were superior in every way to the JLA, even to the day they razed it. Ironically, given Snives' earlier comments ... they originally tried to implode Olympia, but it was built so solidly that implosion didn't work, so they had to take the long hard conventional route to its demolition as well. Interesting article below confirms ... and kudos to the Fords and Ilitches who have built a new stadium district!

Olympia Stadium — Historic Detroit

bout

Yes, I think that you are correct, the Old Garden was brought down by wrecking balls on tall cranes. I must have been projecting other building implosions upon the Old Garden, I guess. And considering that 9-inch separation between the two buildings, even the best dynamite engineering could not pull off that kind of demolition safely.

Dunno about the Bruins and Celtics having offices in the old Hotel Mangor/Madison, but that would make sense. My grandfather worked weekdays as president for a non-profit in Scully Square, which was eventually leveled to be transformed into Government Center. So he was likely taking the train north to Durham on Friday nights at the same time that we were heading south on the train to North Station. As great as the seating’s proximity to the ice and parquet was in the Old Garden, the downside that I remember about the balcony was the thick haze of cigarette smoke that ev n impaired viewing. We did not sit with the “Gallery Gods” very often.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Off topic college hockey-wise, but a sad anniversary for local yokels like me, hard to believe it's been 10 years ...

Chuck Murray (@fcexeter1) / X (twitter.com)

Officers honor Steve Arkell during procession (youtube.com)

Thousands honor Officer Stephen Arkell (youtube.com)

 

[lindah]

They have hired agents are looking at professional opportunities in Europe.

Check out Jason Krog's and Derek Bekar's company www.higherhockey.com

 

[HockeyRef]

Off topic college hockey-wise, but a sad anniversary for local yokels like me, hard to believe it's been 10 years ...

Chuck Murray (@fcexeter1) / X (twitter.com)

Officers honor Steve Arkell during procession (youtube.com)

Thousands honor Officer Stephen Arkell (youtube.com)

I had officiated a girls lax game at Hanover HS v Exeter and he was an assistant coach...was killed in action a couple of weeks later...very sad.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Check out Jason Krog's and Derek Bekar's company www.higherhockey.com

Thanks for sharing, Linda. Good to see those two guys working together in the "real world" now. Didn't realize Kroggie was playing until age 41 across the pond. Looked at their list of current clients and placements across Europe, and the list is dotted with a lot of names that will be quite familiar to recent fans of UNH Hockey ... including one "got away" kid who went on to bigger and better things elsewhere in D-1. Fun read.

 

[Chuck Murray]

I had officiated a girls lax game at Hanover HS v Exeter and he was an assistant coach...was killed in action a couple of weeks later...very sad.

Steve was on the sidelines the previous weekend, two days before the incident. His youngest daughter was a new addition to our team that Spring, and she'd played her best game of the season to date that afternoon at Mines Falls Field in Nashua. My daughter (her teammate) had mentioned to me on the way home how excited Steve was to watch how well Lauren played, and he had snuck in a few photos during the game.

Two afternoons later, I'm working in my home office, with the TV on in the background, and I hear a breaking news item on WMUR sometime in the late afternoon about some developing story in Brentwood (not too far from Effingwoods) involving a police officer down. Not too long after, I'm getting texts from two families with kids on both our travel soccer team and the EHS Varsity Lacrosse team at their usual practice, and they are telling me Steve (an assistant coach there too) wasn't at practice, and it was their impression he was covering for someone else's shift at the BPD. I immediately tried to call and text Steve from my cell to his, and when there was no answer to either, I just got this crushing feeling that would be officially confirmed a couple hours later. In the meantime, they had shown the explosion from the site on TV from a helicopter IIRC, so it was abundantly clear what the gravity of the situation was by then. To say the whole situation was surreal would be a drastic understatement ...

 

[Snively65]

Thanks for sharing, Linda. Good to see those two guys working together in the "real world" now. Didn't realize Kroggie was playing until age 41 across the pond. Looked at their list of current clients and placements across Europe, and the list is dotted with a lot of names that will be quite familiar to recent fans of UNH Hockey ... including one "got away" kid who went on to bigger and better things elsewhere in D-1. Fun read.

Heh, heh, at least we got even with the “one ‘got away’ kid” at the Manchvegas regional in March 2013.

Of course, getting even with Joey came with the price of losing Goumas and Downing for the next night’s game against UMass-Lowell, thanks to Nick Shore.