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UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

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Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

I have an idea. Why don't they eliminate the freaking basketball team and use the funds to bring back the baseball team.:)

UHN doesn't have a baseball team? You must be chatting. What cretons you are :)
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Catching some of the ND v UAH game. Nice 'tron the Fighting Irish have! ;) Still seems weird to see the HE patch on their jerseys. And this coming from a newbie. :p
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

The women's hockey situation is fascinating and all but this is the men's board. Big game tonight that they must win. Go Cats, beat Dartmouth!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Catching some of the ND v UAH game. Nice 'tron the Fighting Irish have! ;) Still seems weird to see the HE patch on their jerseys. And this coming from a newbie. :p

Best part of that game was having UNH's own Dan Parkhurst doing the play by play!!!
 
Best part of that game was having UNH's own Dan Parkhurst doing the play by play!!!

I know right! Thought I recognized that voice! He couldn't get back for the Dmouth game as the Manch airport was fogged in.. Glad the 'Cats pulled it out tonight time to prepare for those Union boys!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Awesome win by the Cats today; would have been disastrous if we had lost.

but now we have a nice little 4 game winning streak to build off of. Next weekend will be really huge. Really could make or break UNH's OOC schedule this year
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

but now we have a nice little 4 game winning streak to build off of. Next weekend will be really huge. Really could make or break UNH's OOC schedule this year

Agreed, but I would be happy with a split against the Dutchmen, as they are really playing well again this season; they only have four losses, one to Quinnipiac 2-1 this past Friday night to break a ten-game unbeaten streak. I am more concerned about the two against Maine the following weekend, as Maine is a point up in HE standings with two games in hand. But, who do we root for next Friday night between Maine and UML, as UML is only two points behind with three games in hand? UNH needs to come about ahead of either Maine or UML for HE home ice in the post-season, I think.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Agreed, but I would be happy with a split against the Dutchmen, as they are really playing well again this season; they only have four losses, one to Quinnipiac 2-1 this past Friday night to break a ten-game unbeaten streak. I am more concerned about the two against Maine the following weekend, as Maine is a point up in HE standings with two games in hand. But, who do we root for next Friday night between Maine and UML, as UML is only two points behind with three games in hand? UNH needs to come about ahead of either Maine or UML for HE home ice in the post-season, I think.

I would say that probably it would be better to have Maine win because UNH still has games against them and can make up those points with a good weekend. Plus UNH has already lost the Head to Head matchup with UML so having Maine win the games also makes sense in terms of tiebreaking once the season ends.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Agreed, but I would be happy with a split against the Dutchmen, as they are really playing well again this season; they only have four losses, one to Quinnipiac 2-1 this past Friday night to break a ten-game unbeaten streak. I am more concerned about the two against Maine the following weekend, as Maine is a point up in HE standings with two games in hand. But, who do we root for next Friday night between Maine and UML, as UML is only two points behind with three games in hand? UNH needs to come about ahead of either Maine or UML for HE home ice in the post-season, I think.

Nice to see UNH get a late game-winner last night. That's two straight games the 'Cats have won with goals in the latter part of the third period. That's exactly the character-type victories any team needs to have to breed the kind of confidence that could carry into a successful post-season run. Lots of time between now and then, but after a somewhat predictable/traditional loss on their return to action after the break, winning the last four games - although somewhat expected - is a good sign going forwards.

Kudos to our cross-state rivals Dartmouth for taking the *all-important* SOG battle last night, though. :D :p

Good to see the discussion has already started about the next two weekends against Union and UMaine. I'd like to see UNH take at least 3 of those 4 games as a further statement of intentions. Both Union games are at home, and while that will be a challenge against the kind of ECAC opposition that too often causes UNH problems these days, now would be a good time to reverse that trend.

As for UMaine ... it's kinda difficult to figure just how good they really are, but next weekend will give us the best clue so far, as they travel to Lowell and BC. It would not be stunning to see them lose both of their HE "games in hand", and if that happens then a 3 point weekend for UNH the following weekend gets the 'Cats in front of the Bears in the HE standings. UNH-UMaine is a home-and-home, and the game in Orono is UNH's only real road game during this current 12 game stretch.

Looking at the current HE standings, a few observations:

* Those two wins over Northeastern are looking better and better every day for UNH;
* UNH's home-and-home against BU probably couldn't come at a better time, immediately after BU's Beanpot adventure;
* The regular season looks to be BC's to lose, and the Eagles look to be the only lock for HE first round home ice;
* The remaining three home ice slots look to be up for grabs between 7 teams - NU, PC, UMaine, UNH, UML, UVM and ND;
* My guess is that Lowell and Providence will rise to the task and earn two of those slots. I don't see NU maintaining their current pace, and I don't expect UVM or ND to be leapfrogging too many teams, and will (along with NU) finish at around .500.

So maybe that fourth and final home ice slot does indeed come down to UMaine vs. UNH? That reinforces Snively's point for sure, and could make for a lot of fun over the next couple of weeks. But first things first ... take care of business at home against Union, keep this second modest winning streak of the season alive, and continue building momentum and confidence against two tough opponents where this coming weekend brings big-time OOC record implications, before a potentially pivotal HE regular season seeding showdown.

Finally ... and I've been guilty more than most on this point :o :( ... for discussion of the emerging developments in the ongoing Coach McCloskey situation, I'd respectfully suggest that we try to direct those comments to the "Scarano" thread on this forum. I know Coach's situation is near and dear to many hearts on this thread, given his key role in the "Golden Era" of the UNH Men's program (arguably our "Standbrook" to make a comparison the UMaine-iacs who are following along here can understand :) ), but I think most on this thread would rather be discussing the on-ice fortunes of the UNH Men's team, no matter how interesting (even compelling) the other situation may be.

Wishing you all "Blue Skies" for the rest of the weekend. ;)
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

So maybe that fourth and final home ice slot does indeed come down to UMaine vs. UNH?

Just a quick correction here ('tho I suspect that absent a brain fart you probably already knew this), but in this season's 11-team set-up the top FIVE teams earn first-round byes, hosting the winners of the best-of-3 1st-round play-in series between teams 6-11 (6 hosts 11, 7 hosts 10, 8 hosts 9). If it's good enough for the ECACHL (and once upon time in the late, great CupCake Hockey Assoc.), it must be good enough for Hockey East too. But it's just a one-off format, of course, since with the addition of UConn next season the post-season play-off format will morph yet again ...
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Just a quick correction here ('tho I suspect that absent a brain fart you probably already knew this), but in this season's 11-team set-up the top FIVE teams earn first-round byes, hosting the winners of the best-of-3 1st-round play-in series between teams 6-11 (6 hosts 11, 7 hosts 10, 8 hosts 9). If it's good enough for the ECACHL (and once upon time in the late, great CupCake Hockey Assoc.), it must be good enough for Hockey East too. But it's just a one-off format, of course, since with the addition of UConn next season the post-season play-off format will morph yet again ...


You're right that the top 5 teams get a bye. But then after the first round only the top 4 get home ice. Because there's 1-5 (5 teams) get byes then 6-11, so 6 teams, play for the final spots (3 spots). That's a total of 8 teams that make the second round so only the top 4 get home ice.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

You're right that the top 5 teams get a bye. But then after the first round only the top 4 get home ice. Because there's 1-5 (5 teams) get byes then 6-11, so 6 teams, play for the final spots (3 spots). That's a total of 8 teams that make the second round so only the top 4 get home ice.

This. :)

Failing a top 4 finish and home ice, a 5th place bye against a close 4th place rival beats "running the gauntlet" (i.e. the play-in round).
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread


Can we all agree now that the Riverstone Cup game with Dartmouth is a waste of time? Last night was a dispassionate game played before a very sparse crowd, the majority of which were hoping to get out of there at a reasonable enough time so that they could watch the Pats game. Let's face it, no hockey fan at UNH really thinks that Dartmouth is a big rival and, I would guess that no one in the Upper Valley gives a hoot about UNH and how they do vs. the Big Green.

The long stated reason by AD Scarano is that we play this game in Manchester so that we can show the NCAA that we are worthy of hosting the NCAA regionals. Well that rationale might have been plausible 10 years ago but it is not now. UNH routinely hosts every other year and is obviously one of the NCAA's preferred regional venues. We don't need to have a game vs. Dartmouth at Manchester to prove anything. So why not get rid of this sham and let the schools play at each other's place every year or two. Seems logical to me.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Can we all agree now that the Riverstone Cup game with Dartmouth is a waste of time? Last night was a dispassionate game played before a very sparse crowd, the majority of which were hoping to get out of there at a reasonable enough time so that they could watch the Pats game. Let's face it, no hockey fan at UNH really thinks that Dartmouth is a big rival and, I would guess that no one in the Upper Valley gives a hoot about UNH and how they do vs. the Big Green.

The long stated reason by AD Scarano is that we play this game in Manchester so that we can show the NCAA that we are worthy of hosting the NCAA regionals. Well that rationale might have been plausible 10 years ago but it is not now. UNH routinely hosts every other year and is obviously one of the NCAA's preferred regional venues. We don't need to have a game vs. Dartmouth at Manchester to prove anything. So why not get rid of this sham and let the schools play at each other's place every year or two. Seems logical to me.

Kind of agree with almost all of this, Greg. Certainly the novelty of this event for the first few years has worn off, and I doubt the NCAA needs any further proof than the regularly strong Regionals attendance to justify the site selection any longer.

I guess I still would like to see something akin to a "Northern Beanpot" emerge from this at some point. Seems like a pipe dream to some degree, especially given that the concept was given a run-out in the late '90's with the long-forgotten "Governor's Cup" series between UML, UNH, UVM and UMaine. I think that was based in Lowell, shortly after Tsongas Arena first opened? The problem then as now is that 3 of the 4 would-be participants (IF we were to substitute Dartmouth for Lowell in a Manchester-based event) would still be Hockey East teams, with UVM's subsequent HE migration. Plus the lack of proximity of the schools - one of the great things about the Boston event - really cuts against the heavy student participation, even if there are some rivalries in that group.

Or they could just bring in Plymouth State and St. Anselm's and make it a NH-only event. Just think - UNH vs. Dartmouth in the Finals two out of every three years, just like the BC vs. BU thing has dominated the Beanpot in recent years, with a Cinderella smaller school enjoying a rare moment in the (local) spotlight every three years at least guaranteed ... :confused:
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread

Can we all agree now that the Riverstone Cup game with Dartmouth is a waste of time? Last night was a dispassionate game played before a very sparse crowd, the majority of which were hoping to get out of there at a reasonable enough time so that they could watch the Pats game. Let's face it, no hockey fan at UNH really thinks that Dartmouth is a big rival and, I would guess that no one in the Upper Valley gives a hoot about UNH and how they do vs. the Big Green.
It looks like a large chunk of the fan base has grown tired of traveling to Manchester games, and there seems to be no interest in adjusting prices to maximize attendance. Ideally the Manchester games could be used to draw new fans in and grow the brand, but if you're a local and can go to a Monarchs game for $18 upper bowl or $20-$26 lower bowl why would you pay more ($24 upper bowl, $26 lower bowl) to go the one time a year UNH comes around? $26 gets you front row against the glass or at center ice (sections 107 & 108) for a Monarchs game, it only guarantees that you're in the lower bowl for UNH. Even the "Meal Deal" $15 upper bowl (in my experience usually near last row) is undercut by the Monarchs $8 ticket for the last row of the balcony, and I think it may be a Whitt Box Office exclusive.

Yay for scheduling non-conference games against Maine there for the next two seasons... Hopefully those will at least be while the students are in-session, unlike the majority of these Dartmouth games - including last weekend's.

Riverstone Cup
12-13-01 UNH 6 Dartmouth 3 Attendance: 10,053
1-15-03 UNH 1 Dartmouth 1 Attendance: 10,104
1-13-04 UNH 5 Dartmouth 0 Attendance: 10,104
1-12-05 Dartmouth 9 UNH 8 Attendance: 9,405
1-14-06 UNH 5 Dartmouth 4 Attendance: 7,018
1-13-07 UNH 4 Dartmouth 2 Attendance: 9,640
1-19-08 Dartmouth 5 UNH 3 Attendance: 8,654
1-17-09 UNH 6 Dartmouth 4 Attendance: 8,001
1-16-10 UNH 5 Dartmouth 2 Attendance: 7,573
1-15-11 Dartmouth 5 UNH 4 Attendance: 7,704
1-14-12 UNH 4 Dartmouth 1 Attendance: 5,301
1-26-13 UNH 6 Merrimack 2 Attendance: 6,605
1-11-14 UNH 4 Dartmouth 1 Attendance: 4,006
 
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