UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Interesting that UNH won the SOG on Friday and lost the game and lost the SOG tonight but won the game. Go figure!!! Of course UNH was up 4-0 when the shots were 18-14 in favor of UNH but I digress!

Beginning to believe that Chuck is onto to somethin'; he is laughin' all the way to the bank after this road trip.

But, seriously, this win must be their biggest of the season, and more than just a "nice bounce back win," e.cat. I think the win could be transformative for the Cats moving into the second half. The Cats only popped up from 44 to a tie for 42 in the PWR, but Omaha dropped from 4 to 10. A good showing over the next seven Hockey East games could allow the Cats to reel in NU, UConn, and maybe Notre Dame in the PWR, and make them contenders for home ice in the first round of the Hockey East post-season.

We just spent 6+ hours today breaking down all of our cargo into smaller pallets with the hope that we can deploy via Twin Otter or Bassler, as apparently C-130 may be out for us now.

 

[HockeyRef]

Beginning to believe that Chuck is onto to somethin'; he is laughin' all the way to the bank after this road trip.

But, seriously, this win must be their biggest of the season, and more than just a "nice bounce back win," e.cat. I think the win could be transformative for the Cats moving into the second half. The Cats only popped up from 44 to a tie for 42 in the PWR, but Omaha dropped from 4 to 10. A good showing over the next seven Hockey East games could allow the Cats to reel in NU, UConn, and maybe Notre Dame in the PWR, and make them contenders for home ice in the first round of the Hockey East post-season.

We just spent 6+ hours today breaking down all of our cargo into smaller pallets with the hope that we can deploy via Twin Otter or Bassler, as apparently C-130 may be out for us now.

Snively65 I like the way you think! It was a nice win for the boys regardless of where they are in the standings etc. Wonder where this leaves our goal tending situation although it's prob pre mature to have this convo. Another good nite for Tyler K, Downing got closer to his 100th point, Pesce gets one. All in all a good night for the boys and makes for a good ride home!

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Snively65 I like the way you think! It was a nice win for the boys regardless of where they are in the standings etc. Wonder where this leaves our goal tending situation although it's prob pre mature to have this convo. Another good nite for Tyler K, Downing got closer to his 100th point, Pesce gets one. All in all a good night for the boys and makes for a good ride home!

And, Cleland was +4 for the game, so fine performance by him, too. Having two hungry goalies and lots of young D-men who want ice time should help.

So, someone gave me copy of Dave Hanson's book down here, and of course there are references to Mike Ontkean in 'Slap Shot,' and Jamie Hislop in the WHA days.

 

[HockeyRef]

And, Cleland was +4 for the game, so fine performance by him, too. Having two hungry goalies and lots of young D-men who want ice time should help.

So, someone gave me copy of Dave Manson's book down here, and of course there are references to Mike Ontkean in 'Slap Shot,' and Jamie Hislop in the WHA days.

Sorry to leave out Cleland who I think is playing very well; he was quite feisty last night... Best to you all take care Snively see you when you come back!

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

The larger point after scrolling through the last few pages of comments is how much the conversation is reminiscent of the Maine thread the last couple of years. Just like them with Whitehead, I just don't see things getting appreciably better in the near future. I know the commits coming the next couple of years are supposed to be pretty good, but even if that is so, it reminds me of the mid-80's when Kullen was able to recruit the likes of Leach, Rossetti and Douris but did not have enough supporting pieces around them. Leach and Douris, of course, left when they saw the pretty grim future. Even if Stewart is able to bring in the equivalent of those three, in a much more competitive recruiting environment, I don't think it is going to be enough if the current regime stays in place.

As you all know, I have been a big defender of Umile over the years. Without his fierce commitment to the blue and white UNH would not have had the success in bringing in the folks they did through around 2004. Yes, McCloskey and Lassonde were good salesmen, but the thing they were selling was the aura of the coach, a graduate of the school, a fiery competitor both on and off the ice. The coach is now 66. As one who has reached that milestone i can tell you that it is very difficult to maintain that edge when competing. You get comfortable doing things the way you always did them because they were successful. Then all of a sudden it seems that there is more competition, new techniques for selling, and more roadblocks put up that prevent you from achieving the success you had in the past. Over the last few years I saw it in my business which I recently sold. My decision was based largely on being tired of the day-to-day bs that I felt was creating obstacles to my goal of continued success.

I can't say that Umile's head is in the same place as mine. Knowing him, I am sure he still feels the passion, still likes coaching and, most importantly, still likes creating the relationships with the kids that are brought in. And on top of all that, he is pretty loyal to his coaches and his players, past and present. Personally I think that is the biggest problem here and has been over the past several years. Even if he wanted to, I think at this point it is too late to reinvent himself. The wheels have already fallen off the wagon and, even if repairs get it moving again, it probably won't be moving fast enough or in the right direction.

As a fan of college sports for a long, long time, I have seen this situation play out several times. I think of guys like Woody Hayes who was forced to resign after he punched a Clemson player during a bowl game. I remember John Chaney, the basketball coach at Temple, who had a couple of meltdowns on the sideline before he realized it was time to call it quits. And in hockey we have Jack Parker, who had to resign because of institutional control issues in the latter years of his tenure. Now, Umile hasn't punched anyone, had a meltdown, or let the inmates run the asylum. But what he has done, almost unknowingly, is created a franchise in recent years that looks tired, unimaginative and lacking any luster. To top it off, hockey is now second banana at UNH to football, with outside resources being wooed to support it rather than hockey. To me it means Umile is on his own and unless he can recapture that fire he had 25 years ago, I don't see any sustained improvement sad to say.

This really is a terrific post, Greg. It certainly deserves more discussion in the down time between games.

In the interim, kudos to UNH for a solid W tonight on the road against a ranked opponent, and congrats to Danny Tirone for notching a win in his first D-1 appearance. Certainly appears Coach Umile will be taking a goalie platoon approach from here on out. Great to see Pesce (and Cleland) figuring on the scoresheet from the backline, and a very productive evening from Tyler Kelleher to kick-start the second half of his breakout sophomore season. Solid contributions from Captain Thrush and Grayson Downing as well. More, please.

 

[e.cat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Beginning to believe that Chuck is onto to somethin'; he is laughin' all the way to the bank after this road trip.

But, seriously, this win must be their biggest of the season, and more than just a "nice bounce back win," e.cat. I think the win could be transformative for the Cats moving into the second half. The Cats only popped up from 44 to a tie for 42 in the PWR, but Omaha dropped from 4 to 10. A good showing over the next seven Hockey East games could allow the Cats to reel in NU, UConn, and maybe Notre Dame in the PWR, and make them contenders for home ice in the first round of the Hockey East post-season.

We just spent 6+ hours today breaking down all of our cargo into smaller pallets with the hope that we can deploy via Twin Otter or Bassler, as apparently C-130 may be out for us now.

You're right about the win being more than a "bounce bàck" win I think. It should help their confidence a lot moving into the new year. I am more interested in this team now and would love to see them win some of those 1 goal games.

Happy New Year to all UNH fan nation!!

 

[skyraider0609]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Yes, a nice win on the road against a quality opponent yesterday in Omaha. It was nice to see. I hate to intrude on the playoff euphoria however, but I have seen nothing from this team to this point of the season that indicates they're poised to go on a tear that will rocket them back to contending for playoff home ice or anything close to it. I'd love to be wrong, but they've so consistently inconsistent this season that I'm going to need a lot of help with that idea. Of their next four, DC is about on par with UNH, PC, always a tough game for UNH and then it's the Battle of the HE Cellar Dwellers against Amherst. Win these next four, or atleast take three of them, and we're having a conversation. I have no expectations that this is anything other than a "bridge year" to borrow a term from Yawkey Way. If it is anything more than that, we're in the bonus.

 

[HockeyRef]

Yes, a nice win on the road against a quality opponent yesterday in Omaha. It was nice to see. I hate to intrude on the playoff euphoria however, but I have seen nothing from this team to this point of the season that indicates they're poised to go on a tear that will rocket them back to contending for playoff home ice or anything close to it. I'd love to be wrong, but they've so consistently inconsistent this season that I'm going to need a lot of help with that idea. Of their next four, DC is about on par with UNH, PC, always a tough game for UNH and then it's the Battle of the HE Cellar Dwellers against Amherst. Win these next four, or atleast take three of them, and we're having a conversation. I have no expectations that this is anything other than a "bridge year" to borrow a term from Yawkey Way. If it is anything more than that, we're in the bonus.

Consistency is something captain Casey Thrush spoke of in a recent newspaper post. The 'Cats struggled mightily with that last season as we all know and we were rewarded with a HE Finalist spot. Like many here it remains to be seen about our post season situation..we have a lot of hockey to play. For this observer it's strictly day to day and game to game. Keeping it real...

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

There's not enough smilies and cheerleading in this thread.

Happy New Year you grouches.

 

[HockeyRef]

There's not enough smilies and cheerleading in this thread.

Happy New Year you grouches.

Hahaha right back atcha !!!

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Congrats to our Tyler Kelleher who was named HE "Warrior of the Week" for his 4 point antics last night v UNO! Also newcomer Danny Tirone received a "Top Performer" mention for his first NCAA win! Woot!!

ps how's that for cheerleading FiveHole12?

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

You're right about the win being more than a "bounce bàck" win I think. It should help their confidence a lot moving into the new year. I am more interested in this team now and would love to see them win some of those 1 goal games.

Yup, winning "some" one goal games would be huge. Winning just one would be huge, actually, as all UNH's wins this season to date have been multi-goal wins. Only the win over Northeastern would have been a one-goal win, but for a late UNH ENG to pad the margin.

Beggars can't be choosers, so any win is a good win at this point. But until this team learns to compete in AND win close games, you can forget any chance of UNH winning even a single post-season game - regardless of round OR opponent.

Happy New Year to everyone at USCHO!!

 

[boblav1]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Omaha.com game recap with comments from Omaha coach Dean Blais.

“If you’re not mentally prepared, you’re not physically prepared. And that’s what happened,” he said. “Our whole team wasn’t mentally prepared. Is it my fault? Absolutely not. It’s their responsibility to get mentally prepared. In hockey, you don’t give a Vince Lombardi speech and turn the lights on. It’s up to them to come to the rink prepared. And they know it.”

 

[snively]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Hey, nice bounce back win for the Cats! Should be a nicer plane ride home Character win

ANY ride of Nesbraska is nice. One nice thing about Omaha is that you can literally walk to Iowa from there

Sorry about your C-130 Snively65. That ***ks

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Omaha.com game recap with comments from Omaha coach Dean Blais.

Ok so I deleted my original post regarding "preparedness" as I discovered I had my facts wrong: it was Casey Thrush (not coach U) who was quoted in a seacoast online article about their season that they can't use the "youth excuse" anymore for their outcomes. I thought a lot about the UNO coach's comments (first off, I love it he put it on them and second, it wasn't like his team ran us off the ice Tues night in OT...what, unprepared two nights in a row but somehow squeaked it out? Maybe looking past UNH?) Anyway...UNH has won AND lost games on this very thing, as my husband pointed out after reading the article. His thinking "you know, we've seen the 'Cats playing like they weren't prepared to compete" and in fact, he believes it's their number one problem. He also thinks that it's totally up to the "team on the ice" to do the work; after all, they are 'prepared' to play, are they not? Let's hope so...another thread I suppose!

So just thinking that UNH had a pretty decent couple of games despite the 2-1 OT loss against a nationally ranked team. Took a risk to play a newbie GK who fared pretty well. The key will be what will happen the next few games; can we play with sustained consistency (another thing pointed out by Thrush) and win those 1 point games (as Chuck alluded to)? Would love to see them string a few wins together (who wouldn't) and put it all together best they can...without any excuses about being young, etc. That will be the test of the team and the season. Don't think we will ever know until it's over, and I'm not rushing things! Go 'Cats!

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Congrats to our Tyler Kelleher who was named HE "Warrior of the Week" for his 4 point antics last night v UNO! Also newcomer Danny Tirone received a "Top Performer" mention for his first NCAA win! Woot!!����

ps how's that for cheerleading FiveHole12?��

Haha... good job Ref.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

There's not enough smilies and cheerleading in this thread.

Happy New Year you grouches.

Thanks, FiveHole. This whole smiley face thing started with a whine from our Ned Braden (aka Mike Ontkean's character in 'Slap Shot'), who I do not think has posted here since. Come on, Ned, and some of the rest of you, time to lighten up.

I just finished Dave Hanson's autobiography (2008, Triumph Books, Chicago, with help from Ross Bernstein, although it is not very well written), and in his two-page Afterword, I learned that Dave was at the Pepsi Center in Denver in April 2008 as was I, where our Cats should have been instead of his son Christian's Fighting Irish (most of you will recall that our Cats were soundly trounced by Notre Dame in the first game of the West regionals in Colorado Springs two weeks earlier). Neither last season nor this season for the Cats will be as disappointing to me as the 2007-2008 season, "that is for sure" (this expression appears over 300 times in Dave Hanson's book, I think). Also, Dave Hanson refers to Notre Dame's opponent in the NC game as the "Boston College Terriers" in his Afterward; touché!

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Also, Dave Hanson refers to Notre Dame's opponent in the NC game as the "Boston College Terriers" in his Afterward; touché!

Ummm, that's nothing to smilie about Snively. That man should be tarred and feathered.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Ummm, that's nothing to smilie about Snively. That man should be tarred and feathered.

Ahhh, you tell him that, to his face.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

"UNH Splits Series With #12 Nebraska-Omaha: Game 1 Goal-by-Goal"
Includes video highlights.