Re: UNH Wildcats 2011 - 2012
Post game thoughts from Coach Mac in his blog
And The End Becomes the Beginning
FEBRUARY 27, 2012 BY COACH MAC 0 COMMENTS
Yesterday’s playoff game at BU certainly won’t go down as memorable. But I have no doubt that it will stick with all of us for a while. Credit the opponent, BU looked solid. But it takes two to tango and unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot early and often. The outcome was never in doubt once BU capitalized four times in the last half of the opening stanza.
I was disappointed for our players. Collectively and individually this team has made some big gains this season. I’ve commented regularly over the course of the season about their growth. It was frustrating and painful to see their season come to an abrupt end yesterday without much to show for their efforts. But as we say in sports, sometimes you just don’t have it. You can analyze it five ways to Sunday, but in the end we just weren’t up to the task.
So on the first day of the ‘off season’ I find myself slowly turning the page. There are a lot of things to look forward to this spring. After a few weeks off, the lion's share of this team will spend the last two plus months of the school year hard at it laying the foundation for their summer training. We have some physically young athletes, many of whom need this off season to badly gain additional strength and fitness. Jamie, Steph and I are planning on being more involved than ever in their off season workouts. The off season has become as critical to our athletes as the playing season. The biggest challenge young teams face is developing the work habits that leverage their skill set, because at the college level the skill set isn’t nearly enough. The competition is just much bigger, faster & stronger than most have faced in their club and high school programs.
Our recruiting class for next fall will return some of the depth that we’ve been accustomed to during my years at UNH. Jamie and Stephanie have assembled one of the best classes that we’ve had in many years and that will go a long way to elevating our program's skill set. I’ve been frank about our challenges over the course of this season. More scoring and playmaking depth up front, more team speed, better puckhandling and passing skills on the back end and certainly more consistent play in net are all critical to moving back into national and league contention. The infusion of new talent will do more than just add additional players, it will simultaneously elevate those who have made big strides this year.
Lastly, I want to thank the many parents, boosters and supporters who have followed us closely this year and shared their own comments here. The support at UNH is always appreciated, but perhaps even more when times are challenging. For a young and thin team going through a challenging season, it was inspiring to see how our supporters and families handled themselves. While it is always easy to find fault, we experienced little of that and a great deal of encouragement from the many supporters, parents and boosters. Yes there were days when being a player, coach or fan this year came with some pain. However, having been through this process several times in my career, I can honestly say that this year was more about taking ownership and trying to find solutions than it was about laying blame at someone else’s feet.
As for my blogging experience, well what can I say? I have always enjoyed putting thoughts in writing. When the year began and I decided to venture forth and give this a whirl, there was some hesitation because even championship teams have issues and I knew our program had a ways to go before returning to form. And of course I was warned by a number of people to sanitize my comments and steer clear of telling the truth. Anyone who knows me well, most certainly feared the worst!
However I’ve always believed in one of Tom Peter’s ‘Good To Great’ adages: ”confront the brutal facts and never lose faith”. We live in a culture that seems bent on disguising, shading or couching the truth. The old fashioned parent in me however prefers just the facts; better to acknowledge what the obstacles really are than to pretend otherwise. That no doubt is a habit passed down by my father, a man who had little patience for beating around the bush.
I expect that I’ll continue to blog over the course of the spring and into the summer as things unfold. There are always a lot of interesting things taking place from the coaches convention, to new rule proposals, potential league and tournament expansion, etc. I will do my best to keep everyone current as topics come up.
I’m also a voracious reader and every off season I thoroughly enjoy lining up a new list of books. History and current affairs fascinate me and I’ll be sure to pass along any ‘must reads’ as they present themselves. First up is a book that I’ve been dying to read for the past month: “Power Hungry” by Robert Bryce. The subtitle reads: The Myths of “Green”Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future. Given the current spike in gasoline prices across the country and the resulting debate about alternative energy resources, I’m looking forward to diving in.
