UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

[wildcatdc]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Talk about a front-loaded schedule this year.... After BC, we will have played 10 of our first 18 against top 10 teams (according to this week's poll, FWIW). Assuming a split v. BC, we'll have a 3-6-1 record in those matchups, including a scrapper of a 1-goal loss to #1 Minn, a tie with #3 Mich, and two overtime losses. Oh, and we can throw in NU to make us 5-6-1 vs. the Top 20 in the first 18, assuming a BC split.

So that got me to thinking, how does the 2nd half look? A bit easier? Well, with ranked teams such as Cornell, UNO and Notre Dame, on the docket, I wonder. And every HEA matchup has its own challenges.

Leads me to my question - can anyone think of a more challenging year, schedule-wise, in the Cats' recent history?

 

[Aerman]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Not off-hand. But I did note the other day that there are a whole lot of home games between now and the middle of Feb.

 

[ClOuD 9]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

My daughter was sitting in the student section when that happened..guess it was a derogatory sign made about the NU coach's wife..we were sitting off to the left and didn't see it. Incredibly it was one of my former high school kids. Don't know the outcome but I guess it wasn't pretty. NU had complaints about abusive fan comments when they came out of the visitor's tunnel from what we heard.

I saw the kid after the game and I asked him what it said and he claimed it only said: The Coach's name, (his hometown) sucks, and then How is (Coach's Wife's Name). He also said that he pointed at the coach to show him the sign while he was walking by.

I don't exactly trust the kid on what his sign said but it is completely unacceptable for any coach to go into the stands to single a fan. It is shameful and a disgrace to the program when he got into the fan's face and started screaming profanities at the kid. There is a reason there are security officers at the game and they could have easily handled it. There is no need for a grown man to stoop to that level no matter how bad the sign was. And if he really wanted a word with the kid he could have had security bring the kid over and not make a scene in the student section.

More than a little late to this one, but not sure whether to laugh or cry that it occurred against NU - The Doghouse used to pride themselves on this kind of stuff not too long ago. The names of player's girlfriends were chanted, a UNH goalie's phone number was blown up on to a huge sign, etc. Parker had a go at an NU student for shouting abuse through a megaphone as the players were leaving the tunnel, now Madigan is apparently "that guy".

 

[UNH1932]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Cloud
You are correct in your assertion that I used what I paid for tickets this year for away games (I did not buy tickets to VT or ND as we have no away games and used their web price VT was 20 last year). I neglected to include RPI ( I think it was $14) and I do not know what season ticket prices are at any of the schools listed. My point was based on paying 18 dollars per game for quite a few years and a quick jump in the not too distant past to 24-26 dollars based on opponent. I am very happy to be paying 19 dollars versus 25 dollars per ticket. I trust your numbers for single game tickets and admit I thought they dropped those as well. I have not bought additional home game tickets. I do realize we have had a decrease in ticket sales since the economic meltdown, but based on away game attendance we are doing better than most in New England area. Minnesota was probably 20% empty though it was a sellout and Colorado College was full at center ice but probably at least 50% empty overall.

I know there is only one seat available in my section at the Whit and it is the 108-114 sections that seem to be the toughest sell. I wish the place would sell out every night and be rocking but it happens rarely. I admit the corporate seats behind the penalty box area are sparsely attended other than for the prime games. I believe you missed my intent when it comes to January games and it is prudent for UNH to sell discounted tickets to the maximum during the winter break period. I do not buy the idea that all tickets should be 10-12 dollars including mine. Your attendance numbers are helpful and it would be great if someone could track attendance % changes at all hockey east schools as other than Merrimack when they had a short run of success and Providence over the past 2 semesters, I have seen a decline. Some of the decline can be attributed to less UNH fans traveling to away games. Lowell and the Mack were home games for many years. Lowell does have at least the capacity of UNH as well as they do not include standing room and I think they are close to 6500 without. BU has been mostly empty the past 5-6 times and other than BC games they rarely sell out.

I hope the naysayers who think I work in athletics can rest assured that is not the case at all. My goal was not to rile up the regulars, it was to realize our ticket costs are down and I hope they stay down and give kudos to the decision makers as it was a bold move that made me happy. I just do not want to hear the bashing this year as it might have been well deserved in the past, but not this year. My ticket prices are now only up 1/18 over what I paid for the earlier years at the Whit and that is better than most. Providence has increased from 8 to 12 dollars, BU went up dramatically after they moved to Agganis and the Mack goes without saying. I urge all to not bash when or if they reduce 108-114 seats and general admission during the winter break and state that all tickets should be $5 or $12.

Thanks again for showing the attendance numbers and clarifying that prices were not apples to oranges and I should have been clearer to my prices for hockey games versus what it cost non-season ticket holders now to attend games at the Whit.

I hope to see you all at BC on Friday and the Whit this Saturday. I hope this is the last post I ever make and thanks to all that keep us up to date especially C-H-C who has been the best thing that has happened to UNH hockey information in a long time. Thanks Mike for all you do for all of us.

 

[The Zlax45]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Cloud
You are correct in your assertion that I used what I paid for tickets this year for away games (I did not buy tickets to VT or ND as we have no away games and used their web price VT was 20 last year). I neglected to include RPI ( I think it was $14) and I do not know what season ticket prices are at any of the schools listed. My point was based on paying 18 dollars per game for quite a few years and a quick jump in the not too distant past to 24-26 dollars based on opponent. I am very happy to be paying 19 dollars versus 25 dollars per ticket. I trust your numbers for single game tickets and admit I thought they dropped those as well. I have not bought additional home game tickets. I do realize we have had a decrease in ticket sales since the economic meltdown, but based on away game attendance we are doing better than most in New England area. Minnesota was probably 20% empty though it was a sellout and Colorado College was full at center ice but probably at least 50% empty overall.

I know there is only one seat available in my section at the Whit and it is the 108-114 sections that seem to be the toughest sell. I wish the place would sell out every night and be rocking but it happens rarely. I admit the corporate seats behind the penalty box area are sparsely attended other than for the prime games. I believe you missed my intent when it comes to January games and it is prudent for UNH to sell discounted tickets to the maximum during the winter break period. I do not buy the idea that all tickets should be 10-12 dollars including mine. Your attendance numbers are helpful and it would be great if someone could track attendance % changes at all hockey east schools as other than Merrimack when they had a short run of success and Providence over the past 2 semesters, I have seen a decline. Some of the decline can be attributed to less UNH fans traveling to away games. Lowell and the Mack were home games for many years. Lowell does have at least the capacity of UNH as well as they do not include standing room and I think they are close to 6500 without. BU has been mostly empty the past 5-6 times and other than BC games they rarely sell out.

I hope the naysayers who think I work in athletics can rest assured that is not the case at all. My goal was not to rile up the regulars, it was to realize our ticket costs are down and I hope they stay down and give kudos to the decision makers as it was a bold move that made me happy. I just do not want to hear the bashing this year as it might have been well deserved in the past, but not this year. My ticket prices are now only up 1/18 over what I paid for the earlier years at the Whit and that is better than most. Providence has increased from 8 to 12 dollars, BU went up dramatically after they moved to Agganis and the Mack goes without saying. I urge all to not bash when or if they reduce 108-114 seats and general admission during the winter break and state that all tickets should be $5 or $12.

Thanks again for showing the attendance numbers and clarifying that prices were not apples to oranges and I should have been clearer to my prices for hockey games versus what it cost non-season ticket holders now to attend games at the Whit.

I hope to see you all at BC on Friday and the Whit this Saturday. I hope this is the last post I ever make and thanks to all that keep us up to date especially C-H-C who has been the best thing that has happened to UNH hockey information in a long time. Thanks Mike for all you do for all of us.

PC had been 10 dollars since my college days in the early 2000's...

 

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

I do not buy the idea that all tickets should be 10-12 dollars including mine.

Funny, I don't recall anybody saying that all tickets should be $10-12.

The point you missed in your zeal to attack me, was to illustrate the athletics department's often incompetent, and almost always ill advised decisions, especially as it pertains to how the fans are treated.

As a season ticket holder for 6 years since I graduated, I used to pay better than $430 for my tickets too. But sure, I took advantage of lower priced options when they were made available, especially since I don't actually occupy a seat. My preference, since my student days, is to watch from the concourse.

But it certainly doesn't build trust in the fan base to offer cheaper tickets one year, only to eliminate them the following year with no explanation, resulting in, yes, a price increase. Given the department's past, seemingly take it or leave attitude when times were good, makes it even more annoying.

I had a friend dump his season tickets, in part because he got tired of seeing other fans getting the same tickets as part of good deals, often including food vouchers. He didn't see the benefit in overpaying when he could wait and very likely get the same seats for less. But hey, I guess if it makes you feel so much better to pay more with a smile, then good luck to you. But I'd imagine that you're in the minority on that one.

The short sightedness of their decisions often appear to be a lack of concern or care for how it affects fans. When the end zone opposite the students was made reserved seating, they seemingly ignored the diehard fans who lined up early every game, in order to get seats on the glass in the previously GA section. These fans had no way of guaranteeing that they could get the seats that they sacrificed hours upon hours for in the past. It was only after a harsh backlash that athletics allowed these people to select their seats in advance. Is a couple extra bucks per ticket for reserved seats worth the negative public relations, especially when it could have easily been avoided?

 

[UNH1932]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

PC had been 10 dollars since my college days in the early 2000's...

Yes Zlax 45 I noticed immediately after hitting enter that I made a typo on Providence ticket prices. Thanks for fixing.

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Funny, I don't recall anybody saying that all tickets should be $10-12.

The point you missed in your zeal to attack me, was to illustrate the athletics department's often incompetent, and almost always ill advised decisions, especially as it pertains to how the fans are treated.

As a season ticket holder for 6 years since I graduated, I used to pay better than $430 for my tickets too. But sure, I took advantage of lower priced options when they were made available, especially since I don't actually occupy a seat. My preference, since my student days, is to watch from the concourse.

But it certainly doesn't build trust in the fan base to offer cheaper tickets one year, only to eliminate them the following year with no explanation, resulting in, yes, a price increase. Given the department's past, seemingly take it or leave attitude when times were good, makes it even more annoying.

I had a friend dump his season tickets, in part because he got tired of seeing other fans getting the same tickets as part of good deals, often including food vouchers. He didn't see the benefit in overpaying when he could wait and very likely get the same seats for less. But hey, I guess if it makes you feel so much better to pay more with a smile, then good luck to you. But I'd imagine that you're in the minority on that one.

The short sightedness of their decisions often appear to be a lack of concern or care for how it affects fans. When the end zone opposite the students was made reserved seating, they seemingly ignored the diehard fans who lined up early every game, in order to get seats on the glass in the previously GA section. These fans had no way of guaranteeing that they could get the seats that they sacrificed hours upon hours for in the past. It was only after a harsh backlash that athletics allowed these people to select their seats in advance. Is a couple extra bucks per ticket for reserved seats worth the negative public relations, especially when it could have easily been avoided?

Your last paragraph basically sums things up. Just about everybody on this board can think of instances over the past 10-15 years where the athletic department/ticket office was tone deaf when it comes to servicing the fans. We can all remember the instances where seats at the Verizon were better for the opposing team than they were for the home team. We all can remember our reactions when, having paid anywhere from $20-$25 for our seat, we sit in the john between periods and read flyers where they are offering tickets 2 for 1, with food vouchers etc. And, of course, we have all received calls from the ticket office offering the seats on either side of us for half price. One of my friends answered that he would gladly give up his full price seat and by the one next to him at the discount. Given this track record, is it any wonder that the most loyal fans have developed a healthy skepticism on what comes down from on high.

I really don't understand why the program's failure rate when it comes to the fans is so high. The little things that they could do to enhance the experience have, by and large, not been done. I'll give UNH some props for finally installing a display on the walls showing the history of the program. I hope folks appreciate it. But how about updates on out of town scores? I know everybody can check them on their phones, but most folks are there to watch the game in front of them. Why not update on the scoreboard, say, a couple of times a period? Why is that so hard? My other pet peeve is the music. Admittedly I'm an old fogie but I still like rock music. However it still miffs me that it seems to be played twice as much as the time allotted for the band. This is a problem not only at UNH but at most rinks I go to. To me a college pep band enhances the college experience, random music played at 130+ decibels (we confirmed that at Lowell earlier this year) just saps the life out of the building. And one last thing, it's past the time when the building needs to be cleaned up. A couple of weeks ago I ran into the parent of a former player, someone who attended just about every game when his kid played at UNH over 10 years ago. His first two comments to me were, where have all the fans gone and, second, this place needs a cleaning. Do you think the administration is aware of this?

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

My other pet peeve is the music. Admittedly I'm an old fogie but I still like rock music. However it still miffs me that it seems to be played twice as much as the time allotted for the band. This is a problem not only at UNH but at most rinks I go to. To me a college pep band enhances the college experience, random music played at 130+ decibels (we confirmed that at Lowell earlier this year) just saps the life out of the building.

Bring back the Safari's Wipe Out and Carlos Santana!

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Brett Pesce has made the 26-player preliminary roster for the World Junior Challenge:

http://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/315666?referrer_id=752796

He will participate in the U.S. National Junior Team's training camp (at the University of Minnesota) from Dec. 15-18. If he makes the final 23-player roster, which will be announced on Dec 23rd, then he'll be in Sweden from Dec 20 to Jan 5th. That would mean he'd miss the Florida College Classic (Dec 28-29) and the two home games against the University of Nebraska-Omaha (Jan 3-4).

 

[Scott]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Brett Pesce has made the 26-player preliminary roster for the World Junior Challenge:

http://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/315666?referrer_id=752796

He will participate in the U.S. National Junior Team's training camp (at the University of Minnesota) from Dec. 15-18. If he makes the final 23-player roster, which will be announced on Dec 23rd, then he'll be in Sweden from Dec 20 to Jan 5th. That would mean he'd miss the Florida College Classic (Dec 28-29) and the two home games against the University of Nebraska-Omaha (Jan 3-4).

Good luck to Pesce....although I hope he makes the cut, it's going to make our already thin D-man lineup even thinner for those four games. Does anyone know how soon we will see Maller on the ice?

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

I really don't understand why the program's failure rate when it comes to the fans is so high. The little things that they could do to enhance the experience have, by and large, not been done. I'll give UNH some props for finally installing a display on the walls showing the history of the program. I hope folks appreciate it. But how about updates on out of town scores? I know everybody can check them on their phones, but most folks are there to watch the game in front of them. Why not update on the scoreboard, say, a couple of times a period? Why is that so hard? My other pet peeve is the music. Admittedly I'm an old fogie but I still like rock music. However it still miffs me that it seems to be played twice as much as the time allotted for the band. This is a problem not only at UNH but at most rinks I go to. To me a college pep band enhances the college experience, random music played at 130+ decibels (we confirmed that at Lowell earlier this year) just saps the life out of the building. And one last thing, it's past the time when the building needs to be cleaned up. A couple of weeks ago I ran into the parent of a former player, someone who attended just about every game when his kid played at UNH over 10 years ago. His first two comments to me were, where have all the fans gone and, second, this place needs a cleaning. Do you think the administration is aware of this?

One word arguably summarizes pretty much everything you've outlined above, Greg (and I agree with virtually everything you've said).

Complacency.

And it's been that way for a LONG time now ... hardly surprising though, as the folks in charge on AND off the ice have been in their positions for over a decade (some way longer than that). I'm NOT advocating for anyone to be replaced, but this is what you expect sometimes when people are in their jobs with long tenure behind them - whether it's at UNH or elsewhere out there in the "real world".

Look at how the Whittemore Center transformed the UNH program back in the mid-'90's. The better part of the first decade in the new building was an unqualified success, on AND off the ice. Coach Umile was relatively new in his job when The Whitt opened, and already had things going in the right direction. AD Scarano arrived circa 2000 with the program at its zenith, where it remained for the better part of the next 5 plus seasons. But admin and everyone else got complacent, and just assumed it would continue unabated. Which of course ignores the reality that as wonderfully as things were going at the time, improvements on AND off the ice at other programs (BU, Merrimack, Lowell and now Providence) were/are happening. So what was once shiny and brand new is no longer new OR even shiny. To differing degrees, complacency has also bit UMaine and UVM in much the same way, and we may be seeing early stages of complacency down at BC (we can only hope, eh?). That 3 of those 4 schools (including UNH) are state schools may or may not be a coincidence.

The sad thing is that there are a TON of UNH Hockey fans sitting it out nowadays, and it really doesn't have to be that way ... and it's not necessarily about the on-ice results, or even the economy. We're not talking multi-thousand dollar season ticket packages here, as there would be with the cost of the product and longer schedules at the NHL level. While those issues have been and may continue to be valid issues, I think it all masks a deep-rooted sense of complacency, and unless the folks in charge ALL take a long hard look in the mirror, then we are probably not going to be seeing anything of significance changing at The Whitt anytime soon. JMHO.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

To differing degrees, complacency has also bit UMaine and UVM in much the same way, and we may be seeing early stages of complacency down at BC (we can only hope, eh?). That 3 of those 4 schools (including UNH) are state schools may or may not be a coincidence.

What makes you think we're seeing early stages of complacency in regards to how the administration treats the hockey fans at BC? We've seen improvements in the facility both as fans (insanely nice video boards on each end, new banners, air conditioning added, nice paint job in the concourse) and for the players (new lounge and recently renovated locker room). Ticket prices are reasonable, particularly for such a succesful club, and the crowds have been getting progressively much better as the football and hoops programs have tanked and hockey became the top dog on campus the past few years.

Just curious.

 

[claver2010]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

What makes you think we're seeing early stages of complacency in regards to how the administration treats the hockey fans at BC? We've seen improvements in the facility both as fans (insanely nice video boards on each end, new banners, air conditioning added, nice paint job in the concourse) and for the players (new lounge and recently renovated locker room). Ticket prices are reasonable, particularly for such a succesful club, and the crowds have been getting progressively much better as the football and hoops programs have tanked and hockey became the top dog on campus the past few years.

Just curious.

If anything the change in administration has only improved things for the hockey team

 

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

I assume Chuck is talking about the fact that BC's Head Coach has gone insane and is entrusting his program to two kids, one in his early 40s, and one in his mid-30s. If there's anything we've learned up here, never trust anyone less than 55 years old, because they don't know hockey or have the proper gravitas to deal with players age 16 to 24.

 

[Scott]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

I assume Chuck is talking about the fact that BC's Head Coach has gone insane and is entrusting his program to two kids, one in his early 40s, and one in his mid-30s. If there's anything we've learned up here, never trust anyone less than 55 years old, because they don't know hockey or have the proper gravitas to deal with players age 16 to 24.

As usual, 'Watcher nails it.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

What makes you think we're seeing early stages of complacency in regards to how the administration treats the hockey fans at BC? We've seen improvements in the facility both as fans (insanely nice video boards on each end, new banners, air conditioning added, nice paint job in the concourse) and for the players (new lounge and recently renovated locker room). Ticket prices are reasonable, particularly for such a succesful club, and the crowds have been getting progressively much better as the football and hoops programs have tanked and hockey became the top dog on campus the past few years.

Just curious.

Those are all fair points Nick, and most of those facility upgrade issues I wasn't aware of. Gotta give credit where credit is due. I've never been a big fan of the facility at BC, any more than I'm a fan of a very similar facility at UMass-Amherst. But compared to each other, there's no question BC has done a LOT more to make the fan experience a positive one than the folks in Amherst have.

And you gotta credit Yorkie too. Further on Watcher's comments, it just goes to prove there are ways to keep things fresh, and old dogs can indeed learn new tricks, IF they're willing to challenge themselves. Let's see now - the two longest-tenured coaches in HE, one has won 4 D-1 titles in the last dozen years, the other has won two HE tourneys, the last coming a decade ago ... which one has every right to be complacent, and which one has every motivation to change things up and figure out what the missing ingredient(s) might be? Hmmmmm ...

So I guess you can file my comments under "wishful thinking". Old habits die hard. Pretty interesting though that a brief throwaway line in my post drew the most attention. For what it's worth, I miss you folks too.

While on the subject of UMA ... it's hard to believe it's been 20+ years now, and the "sleeping giant" is still fast asleep. Gonna be a nasty kick to the groin once UConn joins up (next year, right?) and blows past the Minutemen in a year or two.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

While on the subject of UMA ... it's hard to believe it's been 20+ years now, and the "sleeping giant" is still fast asleep. Gonna be a nasty kick to the groin once UConn joins up (next year, right?) and blows past the Minutemen in a year or two.

UConn is not playing their last year in the AHA like a team destined for success in Hockey East next year.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

While on the subject of UMA ... it's hard to believe it's been 20+ years now, and the "sleeping giant" is still fast asleep. Gonna be a nasty kick to the groin once UConn joins up (next year, right?) and blows past the Minutemen in a year or two.

Not likely but Umass and Uconn do belong in the same sentence. Uconn is going to have a long-term hockey existence similar to that of Umass.

 

[Jon]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Not likely but Umass and Uconn do belong in the same sentence. Uconn is going to have a long-term hockey existence similar to that of Umass.

I hate crashing UNH's thread, but I'll bite... Everything I've ever heard about UCONN's building leads me to believe that they basically built walls around an outdoor rink. Now that could be a gross exaggeration, but with Merrimack and PC doing renovations on their buildings and Notre Dame in a brand new facility, I'm not sure how UCONN will fare in what is probably going to be the worst building in Hockey East. Again, never been there, but if UMASS is struggling in Mullins, UCONN might be screwed.