UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

[UNHhockey29]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

Good solid core coming back- experienced D- NCAA's in Mach next yr.. I hope we can replicate a Student section like the one RIT had.. That was Impressive- and although a UNH fan.. great college atmosphere.

That would mean UNH fans would have to be ok with us standing at games not at the Whitt. Never gonna happen. We would also have to have students interested in going to games that aren't at the Whitt.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

Umile shouldn't resign, but he probably should Retire.

There was once a man named dropthatpuck,
His Mildcats in March always lacked some luck,
The school with which he's affilated,
Kept on getting Umiliated,
Their coach is the reason they suck.

Anudder choking, nice job Dicks Umile.

What make dis one speciale I tink is dat it he furst 1 against 8 choking. I don't tink he done dat before et I noing e want to get dat one in before e call it a career. Da resume she is really complete maintenant, non, .

For those who haven't noticed:

"Carmine Scarpaglia" from "Southie"
"Nick Papagiorgio" from "Yuma, AZ" and
"Jacques 'Rabbit' Poriveau" from "Moncton & Paris"

are all the same person who is allegedly a BC "fan".

Whenever you read one of his posts in the future (whichever name he uses), you'll know it's from one diminutive fellow who:
(1) Despises Coach Umile
(2) Derides UNH Hockey and any other program which challenges his sense of BC superiority and
(3) Sadly, can not simply enjoy BC hockey or college hockey in general.
__________________

 

[theprofromdover]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

For those who haven't noticed:

"Carmine Scarpaglia" from "Southie"
"Nick Papagiorgio" from "Yuma, AZ" and
"Jacques 'Rabbit' Poriveau" from "Moncton & Paris"

are all the same person who is allegedly a BC "fan".

Whenever you read one of his posts in the future (whichever name he uses), you'll know it's from one diminutive fellow who:
(1) Despises Coach Umile
(2) Derides UNH Hockey and any other program which challenges his sense of BC superiority and
(3) Sadly, can not simply enjoy BC hockey or college hockey in general.
__________________

Lighten up Frances.

 

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

Good solid core coming back- experienced D- NCAA's in Mach next yr.. I hope we can replicate a Student section like the one RIT had.. That was Impressive- and although a UNH fan.. great college atmosphere.

UNH is the same distance from Albany as RIT, yet they sent buses of students, while most UNH students had no idea the team was even playing this week. The athletic department makes absolutely no effort to even let the students know that tickets to away/tournament games are available for purchase, nevermind send a bus for them. How about a facebook group or email list or something? I talked to a few guys on the team, and they were wondering the same thing. Sadly, it will not be any different next year if UNH makes the regional just down the road in Manchester.

 

[Chris_NH]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

He made a good point. BC did not play well against Alaska. Plenty of BC fans on their thread have voiced the same opinion. When a team like BC is tied against Alaska 1-1 going into the third, something is wrong. BC managed the win because in the end they have more talent and are just good at winning in the post season. They will do the same against Yale only this time I expect them to embarrass Yale since I'm sure York has had a talking to them about their Alaska game performance.

I made the point elsewhere that Alaska played BC the way UMass Lowell played BC...a team that had better success against the Eagles than one might have expected. I also expect (on a hunch, admittedly) that BC will have an easier time versus Yale than they did against the Nanooks. The wild card is the ice at DCU Center...which has been rightly ridiculed for its poor quality. This isn't very conducive to a speed game. Hence, BC looked 'somewhat fast' yesterday rather than 'really fast.'

 

[acs64]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

I made the point elsewhere that Alaska played BC the way UMass Lowell played BC...a team that had better success against the Eagles than one might have expected. I also expect (on a hunch, admittedly) that BC will have an easier time versus Yale than they did against the Nanooks. The wild card is the ice at DCU Center...which has been rightly ridiculed for its poor quality. This isn't very conducive to a speed game. Hence, BC looked 'somewhat fast' yesterday rather than 'really fast.'

Your last statement is interesting because I thot Alaska looked as fast as BC yesterday, which I guess surprised me. Are they known for speed? Maybe bad ice affects the passing part of the game with bouncing pucks, but skating speed?

 

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

UNH is the same distance from Albany as RIT, yet they sent buses of students, while most UNH students had no idea the team was even playing this week. The athletic department makes absolutely no effort to even let the students know that tickets to away/tournament games are available for purchase, nevermind send a bus for them. How about a facebook group or email list or something? I talked to a few guys on the team, and they were wondering the same thing. Sadly, it will not be any different next year if UNH makes the regional just down the road in Manchester.

I'm sorry Rock, I've give you the bus option, but most UNH students not knowing is just crazy. Are they incapable of going to the UNH web site or reading TNH either print or online? When did any UNH student who cared even a little not know about when the team played? And I live in CT but I knew all about the game and how to buy tickets. I read the web site. I signed up before the season started and got on an email distribution for game broadcasts and ticket information. I got multiple emails telling me about the tickets and the pre-game function Friday night.

Even though it was a long, long time ago, I recall loading up my old bucket of bolts with friends and heading to St. Botolph St. to watch UNH play in its first ever ECAC playoff game against BU at the old Boston Arena. It was a huge deal because it was the first time. You've got to give RIT some credit for being excited about their first trip to the NCAAs. And acknowledge that it has become routine for UNH to make the NCAAs.

Having a couple of buses would have been nice, but UNH students today have more cars and disposable income then in my day. The gas and toll cost divided by five would be no big deal. If they really cared, they would have found a way to get there.

 

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

I'm a UNH student and I went to every road game this season, so I do understand the concepts. However, I feel like there are a lot of more casual student fans who might be persuaded by a little bit of marketing. I'm sure most that follow the team knew they were playing in Albany, but not many even thought about making the trip down. If there was a facebook group where people could arrange car pools or even a bus, I think that could go a long way.

 

[snively]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

this is not what we, as Eagles, act like (or think for that matter). Your sarcasm is an embarrassment to all of us...............Good luck next year and don't give up UNH, you will eventually get what you guys deserve, a NC.You carry the banner for Hockey East in a very classy way. We as BC fans felt the same way as you until 2001. we waited a long, long time too......

Thank you -- very classy post. Will absolutely be pulling for you guys the rest of the way.

 

[dover4345]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

The lack of talent has nothing to do with the "coaching" aspect that manage to kill the team on the occasions that it has greter talent than the opponents. The more this happens, the harder it is to recruit out of this death spiral. It happens to every legendary coach, even Charlie Holt. For an unimaginative coaching staff like this, it will be even harder. The lack of any imagination comes through in the lack of in-game adjustments, the lack of quickness in filling roster holes, the lack of staff shakeups. They're happy to keep banging their head against the wall, expecting different results.

Edit 2: I've said my piece for the off-season. I'm not sure why I should be more passionate about the program than the coaching and admin. As Snively 65 said after the Vermont debacle, each year the passion grows a bit weaker, we still follow but if there's something better to do on a Friday night, UNH hockey is no longer "must see." Unless something fundamental changes in this off-season, there's nothing more for me to add about the direction of the program, so I'm done til October.

Watcher, here is what disturbs me about you. You post very inside information on this board. You know who has been on visits, who UNH is recruiting, etc. What this tells me is that your close to the coaching staff. The things you post is not public information, you have a relationship with these guys and you come on here and hide behind a handle and say they should be fired, its just gutless, if you attached your name to your threads it would be another thing entirely.

As for coaching adjustments during the game, you seem to be keen on the fact that success is all dependent on making it to the FF. I ask you, what adjustment would you have made last year, when UNH was tied 2-2 with BU, a team that has had 4 players in NHL already? UNH had no business being in that game, yet because of coaching and developing less talented players they took the best team to the wire. How about in yrs past when they lost NCAA games to teams that clearly had more talent, look at my previous post.

Borek has done a great job. Mcloskey had a brand new building to sell and was in a much different situation than Borek. Also, as far as recuiting talent goes, Mcloskey didnt do any better. I just dont see how you can say Borek is awful and the only thing you refer to is FF appearances, sure UNH has not been there in awhile, but do you think its boreks fault? Clearly hes doing the best he can with what he has, in 05 they were leading a far more talented DU team in the third, in 08 it took BU scoring with 15 seconds left to eliminate them, and this year they played a poor game against a hit team. Your saying if they win one of those games Borek is fine because they made the FF? Just stupid... 9 NCAA appearance tells me they are consistently competing, Borek has not put together a team that has missed the NCAA's once and your complaining, unreal...

 

[snively]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

This post is mostly for JohnB and watcher who seem to say that yr after yr Umile underachieves and chokes. I personally believe that he has talent most years and does the best with what he has. We can argue this, but UNH does not have the facilities and academics to keep pace recruiting with the likes of BC, BU, Michigan, MSU, Denver, Minnesota, etc. To illustrate my point, I think NHL scouts know talent better than anyone of this board, even NCAA watcher... Here are the teams UNH has lost to in the NCAA's since 04.

Michigan 03/04- players who signed NHL contracts- 12- Hensick, Ebbet, Helminen, Tambellini, Nystrom, Rogers, Moss, Ryzner, Hunwick, Brown, Rohlfs, Montoya

UNH 03/04- players who signed NHL deals- 2- Winnik and Caron (being generous with that one)

Denver 04/05- players who signed deals- 9- Gauthier, Stastny, Carle, Skinner, Paukovich, Corbin, Dingle, Fisher, Mannino

UNH 04/05- players signed- 2- Winnik, Regan

Mich State 05/06- players signed- 8- Miller, lerg, booth, fretter, Mckenzie, Abdelkader, Potter, Kennedey

UNH 05/06- players signed- 3- Smith, Winnik, Regan

Miami 06/07- players signed- 7- Davis, Jones, Mercier, Martinez, Zatkoff, Christie, Palmer*(likely to sign)

UNH 06/07- players signed- 3- Smith, Regan, Butler*(likely to sign)

Notre Dame 07/08- players signed- 6- Condra, Thang, Hanson, Cole, Pearce, Lawson

UNH 07/08- players signed- 3- JVR, Butler, Regan


Every yr, probably with the exception of this year, talent wise UNH is outmatched yet still is in the mix, this is because of great coaching and great recruiting. Borek knows he can not get players over many of the teams listed above and instead gets players than turn into grade A college guys, like Micflikier, Radja, Fornataro, Butler, etc. Every year UNH has far less talent than many teams, yet Umile gets them to the NCAA's every yr over teams with more talent--See BU this year​

Bingo. No further questions, Your Honor.

 

[Maine fan at UNH]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

Bingo. No further questions, Your Honor.

First off, my condolences on the loss, and congratulations on another strong season from UNH.

I understand your argument and it has merit. However, the losses that have marked the conclusion of the season for the Wildcats are still disappointing to me because all season long UNH shows they can compete with anyone in the country. Recruiting and facilities are not good enough reasons for me to believe they shouldn't have won a NC yet. I think UNH will eventually.

I don't check the UNH threads very often so my post may be a broken record. My apologies if that is the case.

 

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

I'm a UNH student and I went to every road game this season, so I do understand the concepts. However, I feel like there are a lot of more casual student fans who might be persuaded by a little bit of marketing. I'm sure most that follow the team knew they were playing in Albany, but not many even thought about making the trip down. If there was a facebook group where people could arrange car pools or even a bus, I think that could go a long way.

Don't kids living on the same floor of a dorm talk to each other any more? I never had to look far to find compadres for a road trip! If you had a car, even if it was a bucket of bolts, people found you.

And your generation is the king of all this social networking stuff. Why do you need the university to drive this stuff? Usually a student would get something up and running long before the staff would arrive at work.

I applaud you for attending every game!! Hope you attend the football games and maybe a hoop game or two as well.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, but was there a student priced ticket? If not, then that would be the root of the problem. If I did the inflation computations and converted today's ticket prices back into 1970 money, I probably wouldn't have attended either unless there were reduced price student tickets. $45 for one game on a student's budget? Darn, it's not in my budget after I've been to multiple road football games, multiple trips up to Durham and attending the AE Basketball Tournament!!

 

[btb91]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

Don't kids living on the same floor of a dorm talk to each other any more? I never had to look far to find compadres for a road trip! If you had a car, even if it was a bucket of bolts, people found you.

How about a sign in the lobby of your dorm?

 

[zoofer]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

I went back 3 pages and read some interesting posts...many good points made on the positive side...I think that dover4345 did the homework that proves the naysayers totally wrong....yes I'm close to the staff and have been a part of UNH hockey but to spit vitriol because another team explodes for 94 seconds doesn't negate acheiving the NCAA's for 9 years straight! How many programs are out there that have the resume that UNH does? Why do you only see attaining the NC trophy as having a successful year? I've said it before and I know I tire some people who are Type A's but it's always about the journey...ALWAYS! If NCAA watcher and Carmine, and whomever aren't happy, c'est la vie! But when BC Alum give back at a rate of 26% compared to UNH Alum at 1%, and yes, the Field House battles T-Hall about admissions, and NH as a state is 50th in ranking of financial support to it's own state universities, I am **** proud to bleed blue and white, and will always be there to support whichever team hits the ice, because family means more than trophies....

 

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, but was there a student priced ticket? If not, then that would be the root of the problem. If I did the inflation computations and converted today's ticket prices back into 1970 money, I probably wouldn't have attended either unless there were reduced price student tickets. $45 for one game on a student's budget? Darn, it's not in my budget after I've been to multiple road football games, multiple trips up to Durham and attending the AE Basketball Tournament!!

There are no student discounts for road or tournament tickets at UNH. Luckily, I was able to save a bit this season from some complimentary player tickets and carpools. One step in the right direction from the athletic department promoting these trips actually did come this week, as they sent out an email to season ticket holders (but not students) letting them know about a hotel group rate.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

I went back 3 pages and read some interesting posts...many good points made on the positive side...I think that dover4345 did the homework that proves the naysayers totally wrong....yes I'm close to the staff and have been a part of UNH hockey but to spit vitriol because another team explodes for 94 seconds doesn't negate acheiving the NCAA's for 9 years straight! How many programs are out there that have the resume that UNH does? Why do you only see attaining the NC trophy as having a successful year? I've said it before and I know I tire some people who are Type A's but it's always about the journey...ALWAYS! If NCAA watcher and Carmine, and whomever aren't happy, c'est la vie! But when BC Alum give back at a rate of 26% compared to UNH Alum at 1%, and yes, the Field House battles T-Hall about admissions, and NH as a state is 50th in ranking of financial support to it's own state universities, I am **** proud to bleed blue and white, and will always be there to support whichever team hits the ice, because family means more than trophies....

He undoubtedly "gets it"

 

[Jason A]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

RTW, I'm not disagreeing with you and your point's very well-taken, but I suspect the issue has less to do with organization/getting the word out and more to do with NCAA Watcher's point about UNH hockey not being "must-see" any longer.

RIT was experiencing the high point in the history of their program. When was the last time UNH entered the NCAAs with anything resembling momentum? 2005? 2003? They'd secured one point in the final weekend vs. BC and lost 1-0 decisions two straight nights at home vs. Vermont.

The way the UNH program performs is that they put together very solid regular seasons, which build expectations that are then dashed in the HE playoffs. (Note that there were more rival HE fans on this board who expected a UNH FF appearance than there were UNH fans this past week.)

And this is the problem with the "UNH has made the last XX NCAAs" argument in defending the status quo. It's true, and it's valid, and I applaud them for it, but fandom isn't about stats -- it's about that gut-level enthusiasm that hasn't existed for the UNH program in many years because hardly anyone who follows the team really believes it's building toward something better.

So they enter the NCAAs on a down note every year, usually losing to a lower-ranked team in the HE playoffs, which leaves fans frustrated. So the enthusiasm isn't there for the regionals. Then they lose in the regionals, as they have for the last eight years, and fans' feelings are confirmed. And then the cycle repeats itself the following year. Fewer and fewer fans are willing to spend the time to see the same play they've seen over and over. They know Hamlet always dies in the end and they'll catch it on ESPNU rather than invest the time to see it in person.

(BTW, Dover4345: I think your criticism of Watcher is really unfair. I may be out of the loop, but I don't think he's friends with the staff. He just diligently follows recruiting in the news. And his criticisms of the program have been consistent and logical at least going back as far as 2002, when he was one of the first to lament UNH's failure to turn a Frozen Four, Hockey East tourney-winning season into big recruiting successes -- a failure that has contributed to UNH's decline over the past 6-7 seasons. He was right then and I think he's right now.)

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

Two and done is better than one and done - and a heck of a lot better than none and done. Thanks to the Wildcats and the UNH Fan Forum for combating the doldrums of winter.

Well stated

It's more disappointing to see how the Cats lost than the simple fact that they got beat.

Against RIT we reverted to our Vermont game 2 and 3 mode. This loss will be added to the list of dissapointing no show/semi show losses discussed earlier in the week on this thread. After the unexpected (by me) win Cornell win, it is the way we lost that hurts. After a decent start it seemed we didn't have much left after the emotional effort against Cornell. As RIT gained confidence, the looks on the UNH players' faces followed by an incredible lack of effort just before RIT's 5th goal, I have to say we pretty much quit. I suspect that was what Butler was thinking when ESPNU showed him on the bench with a few minutes left.

 

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH Wildcats - '10 Playoff Edition

You make excellent points there, JasonA. I have not been around the program long enough to have an opinion on the declining fan passion, but what you say makes a lot of sense. Of course we all know how to turn that around, and the team squandered a huge opportunity last night.