UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

SO, after losing to MC for the third time in a row, what are UNH's chances of getting into the NCAA playoffs? It seems to me that they should host the Manchester site.

They are in. Depending on what happens tonight, they're a 3 or a 4 seed in Manchester (they'll finish between 12-14 in the PWR)

 

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

But how many teams can compare to BC's depth, who have won 2/3 last national championships. The problem is, in my eyes, we consistently under Umile's watch field good times that consistently underachieve when it really matters. I've never found the time to look this up but I would bet they are the best team record-wise in D1 over the last 10 years iwithout a single national championship - no one underachieves as well as they do...

Michigan and North Dakota probably have better records without championships in the last 10 years (NoDak won 11 years ago, and Mich 12). Do they underachieve in the playoffs or do they overachieve in the regular season and get our hopes and expectations up unrealistically?

 

[mikevike35]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

coaching, coaching, coaching. Last night's power play was a complete joke. The 2nd or 3rd one where they never once established control in BC's end was absurd. If they do not improve it enough to at least avoid giving up SHG, they will be one and done in Manchester. With the POY, 2 players on the HE first team, a goaltender at the top of the stats...ah, smells like springtime UNH hockey...underwhelming.

 

[WNTKPROD]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

Well, they have one more chance to salvage the season. Who knows how far they'll go?

They are in. Depending on what happens tonight, they're a 3 or a 4 seed in Manchester (they'll finish between 12-14 in the PWR)

 

[mikevike35]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

To your point about ND and Mich, at least they've won at SOME point in their history. To your question about under/overachieving, I will say this - it is very frustrating to never see them be able to break through and win it all one year. Even ME, BU and BC (to the least extent) over the last dozen years or so have had an off year, but they've also won the NC. It can be debated which is better - never being in contention year after year, or being close quite often and never breaking through...and I do think they underachieve in the playoffs more than they overachieve because so often lots of observers and contributors on this board conclude that UNH looks "unmotivated" or "gets outworked". Those remarks are consistent and to me indicate an underachiever in the playoffs that played to their abilities during the regular season when the pressure to play/coach well isn't as high...

 

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

To your point about ND and Mich, at least they've won at SOME point in their history. To your question about under/overachieving, I will say this - it is very frustrating to never see them be able to break through and win it all one year. Even ME, BU and BC (to the least extent) over the last dozen years or so have had an off year, but they've also won the NC. It can be debated which is better - never being in contention year after year, or being close quite often and never breaking through...and I do think they underachieve in the playoffs more than they overachieve because so often lots of observers and contributors on this board conclude that UNH looks "unmotivated" or "gets outworked". Those remarks are consistent and to me indicate an underachiever in the playoffs that played to their abilities during the regular season when the pressure to play/coach well isn't as high...

I don't think its THAT debatable. I'd certainly take a few down years in exchange for a year or two of winning it all. No question about it.

 

[mikevike35]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

I don't think its THAT debatable. I'd certainly take a few down years in exchange for a year or two of winning it all. No question about it.

The debate is...which would you choose - following a team like UNH that is close quite a bit and has never won it, or a team that is in most seasons never in contention. I would take the latter...the consistent tease is much worse than expecting to suck

 

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

oh, my bad. You're saying you'd rather follow a team like, say, UMass-Lowell?

f that.

(though it sure would be cheaper never having to buy tickets to ANY playoff games )

 

[ClOuD 9]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

In honor of Gordie Clark being named to the ECAC 50th Anniversary Team,
and in recognition of the beginnings of UNH's Playoff Quest many years ago,
I have posted a video of Gordie Clark, Jamie Hislop and Cliff Cox scoring 3 goals in 1 minute and 45 seconds in the 1974 ECAC Quarterfinals against RPI:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUEHAUJsKDE

Thank you!

 

[mikevike35]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

oh, my bad. You're saying you'd rather follow a team like, say, UMass-Lowell?

f that.

(though it sure would be cheaper never having to buy tickets to ANY playoff games )

but if you followed umass-lowell you could get a seat

aren't you just tired of the same ol' same ol' with them. in hockey east at least is there a team that more resembles "choking" than UNH? maybe it's hard to be objective about the team you follow so closely, but honestly, it's the same story for them every year - play well in the regular season and look lost in the postseason. who looked more seasoned last night?????????????

 

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

but if you followed umass-lowell you could get a seat

aren't you just tired of the same ol' same ol' with them. in hockey east at least is there a team that more resembles "choking" than UNH? maybe it's hard to be objective about the team you follow so closely, but honestly, it's the same story for them every year - play well in the regular season and look lost in the postseason. who looked more seasoned last night?????????????

of course I'm tired of it, I'm not happy with how things have gone, and I think things need to change. Its easy to get a seat at UNH now, too, because of the indifference and apathy that has built up in the last 7 years or so of the same ol' song and dance. What I was talking about before with underachieving vs. overachieving is, if you look at this team for what it is, and the expectations coming in, they did a good job to finish where they did. If you look at a team like 2008, its much different. That team was (at least for what we've seen since 2003) loaded, and they earned the expectations that they'd make the frozen four, and they underperformed when it mattered. I think this team, this year, is what it is, and people saw them put up pretty numbers against bad teams.

 

[Jacques "Rabbit" Poriveau]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

Jan 1, 2008 - juste to pick a date

UNHs was on der way to a 25 win saison et der 8th?, 9th?, 10th? tournament d'NCAA in de row.

Merrimacks was on der way to 9 win, et no NCAAs pour d'evur year in de row.

In da 3 year et 4 munt since den up to laste night, who dun da betteur job wit his programme, Dicks Umile ou Dennehy?

Mes amies it not even close, et it a measurable fact you can see on de ice, like we all juste did.

Mais who ad EVURY advantage during dat time
Betteur rink (by zee miles et miles)
More fans
Biggeur budget
Way more naitonal awareness to recruit wif
Niceur campus
et, wait pour eet, biggeur salery by beacoup dollars

Dicks ad evury advantage et Dennehy kick e ahhss all ovure de plaice. Et dat not opinion, it on d'ice for all to see, eh.

 

[WildShawn]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

Jan 1, 2008 - juste to pick a date

UNHs was on der way to a 25 win saison et der 8th?, 9th?, 10th? tournament d'NCAA in de row.

Merrimacks was on der way to 9 win, et no NCAAs pour d'evur year in de row.

In da 3 year et 4 munt since den up to laste night, who dun da betteur job wit his programme, Dicks Umile ou Dennehy?

Mes amies it not even close, et it a measurable fact you can see on de ice, like we all juste did.

Mais who ad EVURY advantage during dat time
Betteur rink (by zee miles et miles)
More fans
Biggeur budget
Way more naitonal awareness to recruit wif
Niceur campus
et, wait pour eet, biggeur salery by beacoup dollars

Dicks ad evury advantage et Dennehy kick e ahhss all ovure de plaice. Et dat not opinion, it on d'ice for all to see, eh.

Hard to argue, what I understood (except it was 'only' their 7th NCAA in a row ). The interesting thing will be, however, will they be able to sustain it at MC (they have a LOT more pieces in place than many people gave them credit for, but its easy to be skeptical) because we KNOW what UNH will be year after year after year after year.

 

[sonar]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

Jacques question appears to be a query in search of an answer .... "Now I wondeur who dat pointe to, eh?

Hockey 101:

"leetle tings dat seperate wiining et losing".... at this level some of this can be attributed to coaching, especially in big games - over a span of many years
"give up da pucke at d'blue line, in March" .... at this level some of this can be attributed to coaching, especially in big games - over a span of many years
"dey really only ave da one forecheck" ......... at this level some of this can be attributed to coaching
"do da forwards no dey can go in da slote? ....at this level some of this can be attributed to coaching
"pour a Powure Play apres 6 months of working on it .... even at this level the power play efficiency is greatly influenced by the opposing team

.... and yes the Warriors were the betteur team last night ....

There are also times when the hockey gods take over and allow hard working UNH teams to win out (e.g.recently, UNH vs. North Dakota) .... and just maybe those same gods will provide UNH with another such oportunity by delivering ND to Manchester in 2011 .... looks like it could happen ..........

 

[i'zonprize]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

I respectfully have to disagree with you. He may be doing these things well in comparison to the guys he's been playing with, but he's not playing (or producing, obviously) as well as he did in the middle of the season. He may throw a nice hit or or get in on the forecheck once in a while, but he disappears for long stretches and sometimes for entire games. Henrion came to UNH with an offensive pedigree. Around the middle of the season he started to show signs of that. Right now they need him to do more than just skate around with the puck and throw a few checks. They need to be able to count on him to contribute offensively.

No beef with you dissagreing- that's quite alright! I would say this- they need to put someone with him that allows him to do that! Henrion is an offensive threat, but not a one man show. He needs a playmaker that is currently not present- if you look who he played with with the jr. B's - it was stevie moses. I don't think he's played 1 shift with Moses in the last 2 yrs. I know I've been waiting for it!

On that note- Coming to town next yr, are Downing(a scorer) and K. Smith who is showing to be a danm good set up guy and Willows who has come out of nowhere to lead the NJ Hitmen and the EJHL in scoring . I hope they all get to spend a lot of time together over the next 4 seasons.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

If the analysis by Priceless plays out, #4 Seed UNH will play #1 Seed Miami and #2 Seed Merrimack will play #3 Seed University of Nebraska-Omaha next Saturday in Manchester.
Not a horrible draw for UNH given that they have played Miami twice this season and won once.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

Snively65 -- we didn't meet up at BBW. I'll be back at the game tonight, and we're supposed to go to the Fours pregame.

Regarding next weekend, I'll be at the VC, but the games are Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th, not starting on Friday, as you wrote above.

I never made it to BBW on Friday afternoon, so sorry that I missed other UNH fans there. Thanks for the correction on Manchvegas regionals; will try to attend the UNH alum festivities at the hotel near the VC on Saturday afternoon, which I assume will happen before the first game, with presumably UNH playing Miami? How ironic facing the Red Hawks again, but with the seedings reversed from 2007. Perhaps the Cats can do what the #4 seed did in Albany last year to reach the FF.

 

[i'zonprize]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

If the analysis by Priceless plays out, #4 Seed UNH will play #1 Seed Miami and #2 Seed Merrimack will play #3 Seed University of Nebraska-Omaha next Saturday in Manchester.
Not a horrible draw for UNH given that they have played Miami twice this season and won once.

Redemption from '07?? And exact reversal for UNH & Miami--

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

Well lets see.

I believe MC is the far and away better team. I don't believe they are more (raw) talented. I believe they are far more discplined, they have more heart, and have a much higher hockey IQ.

I actually have come to believe UNH's problem is the regular season not the playoffs... strange but true.

See this teams 1st line has been picking up bad habits since the year turned 2011. It started with DeSimone tha Sislo. I think they both came back from break thinking they were better than they are. They stopped working as hard, stopped back checking (yes they did that at one time this year), stopped moving their feet, started taking bad penalties, etc. That eventually affect Thompson as you see his decline later than the other two. If I can see it from my seat they coaches should be able to see it too.

What have the coaches done. Those 3 started basically every game together. Those three get the lions share of ice time and PP time. They are rewarded for there play. Could have started to fix the problem by starting lines that were working, then cutting playing time and if it didn't get through a healthy scratch. Words work on some issue but if they aren't being consitently corrected on the ice, ice time gets the point across.

Then their is depth. How many shifts did the 4th line get Friday - more than 5? If by March you don't have confidence in your forth line to play a share of the shifts you haven't done your development job all year. They should be able to go out there and skate hard, mentally prepared not to be a total liability. But if you are focused on winning lots of regular season games you short shift those guys and they never develop. Without that depth you have a gassed team in the 3rd against solid competition, which also happened Friday.

During the regular season you try stuff out. Develop a bag of tricks. Different power play looks, different forechecks, different ways of breaking out of zone, methods of beating a trap etc. Well UNH is predictable they forecheck the same, power play the same, break out the same, panic and throw the puck around the boards the same, they can't dump and chase effectively the same, therefore the results are the same.

The power play is linked to one coach, Borek, although Umile should have fixed it by now. When Borek arrived the power play got much worse. The UNH power play problem is simple. It is always the same, 5 guys standing around the outside. If there is a guy screening a goalie - a raity at best - they don't shoot the puck.

Years and years of the same leads to the one constant... the coach. So UNH is what it is, Umile will leave when he wants and not before. Maybe we will get lucky with a new assistant that has different perspective but i don't think so. I am no longer shocked or disappointed, it just is, on the other hand at least we aren't living ground hog day of the mid 80's over and over. Before you wish for a change, look at those years, it could be much worse. Just realize what UNH now is, and hope Umile leaves before the cupboard is bare like it was after Holt. The disappointment happens to people who let it happen.

 

[sonar]

Re: UNH Wildcats - 2011 Playoff Quest

New Hampshire vs. Miami