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UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

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Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Darius said:
... is the rink. Love the old school barns.
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Personally, I find it's the low ceilings at places like Merrimack, Schneider (a/k/a The Coffin) and even the old Walter Brown Arena at BU that makes me enjoy them less than (say) Mathews, Gutterson, old Snively, etc. Almost claustrophobic that way. Merrimack has done a nice job upgrading within the existing footprint, but I've often wondered why they didn't just start from scratch? I mean, you wanna play D-1 with the big boys of Hockey East ... why not just jump in with both feet, instead of continuing with a facility that doesn't reflect a D-1 commitment?
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

HockeyRef said:
Amazing post by Dan over at the NU board thanks for writing about the case for TyK; do get over there and read it!

Regardless of how/where UNH ends up this season his career puts him as one of the UNH greats. No one is going to tell me any different. ;) Again, thanks for writing that Dan....He is one special player and I wonder who will be the playmaker next season.
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Man what a great post by Dan. Eye opening for sure.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Yuppie Scum said:
Elm Square Oysters, Palmers, Grassfields all very good in Andover.

Maybe the best part of our 'rink' is the lack of ice surface malfunctions.
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IIRC from some older posts, our glass is really excellent too!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

HR's predictions for the weekend:

Friday UNH 3. MC 2
Sat. MC 4. UNH 2
Sun. UNH 3. MC 2

Go 'Cats!!!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Chuck Murray said:
why not just jump in with both feet, instead of continuing with a facility that doesn't reflect a D-1 commitment?
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You obviously aren't that familiar with our facilities. Weightroom, locker rooms, athletic training facility are all TOP notch. Some of the best in the country. Andover is a small community, we don't need more seating capacity. And as a smaller school that can't recruit against most HEA schools, the rink itself benefits our playing style, giving us the best chance of success. Not to mention that the school is also investing millions of dollars ($54 million, roughly) on new dorms, classrooms, and upgrades to other sports facilities to turn the whole department into a D1 institution.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

HockeyRef said:
ps next time you are in Dham be sure to try out Bella's which is right behind Libby's. Good food and the 'tenders there (as in bar) make a mean Absolut and cran. Just sayin ;)
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So you're saying they've mastered putting ice, vodka, and cranberry juice in a glass? Surprising that one of the big NYC outfits has scooped them up with ability like that, you don't find that skillset just walking in off the street every day.
 
E.J. Smith said:
So you're saying they've mastered putting ice, vodka, and cranberry juice in a glass? Surprising that one of the big NYC outfits has scooped them up with ability like that, you don't find that skillset just walking in off the street every day.
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Yep pretty much. Amazing isn't it?!? 🙄
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

MC Alumni said:
You obviously aren't that familiar with our facilities. Weightroom, locker rooms, athletic training facility are all TOP notch. Some of the best in the country. Andover is a small community, we don't need more seating capacity. And as a smaller school that can't recruit against most HEA schools, the rink itself benefits our playing style, giving us the best chance of success. Not to mention that the school is also investing millions of dollars ($54 million, roughly) on new dorms, classrooms, and upgrades to other sports facilities to turn the whole department into a D1 institution.
Click to expand...

I will take a smaller rink with 90% average attendance vs. a larger one with 66% any day.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Yuppie Scum said:
I will take a smaller rink with 90% average attendance vs. a larger one with 66% any day.
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About 100 tickets left for tonight. 200 or so still available for tomorrow. Looking forward to a good atmosphere. I think it'll go all 3 games.

Visitors to Andover, I recommend "Casa Blanca" (downtown) and "The Loft" in North Andover if you're looking for legit food, not chain restaurants. Both have good bars too. And of course Culpeppers for a good dive.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Wow. I wasn't expecting much to begin with, but UNH has fallen short of my modest expectations regardless.

Thankfully, we've got that lengthy tradition of 3rd period comebacks in postseason play to draw upon ...
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Chuck Murray said:
Personally, I find it's the low ceilings at places like Merrimack, Schneider (a/k/a The Coffin) and even the old Walter Brown Arena at BU that makes me enjoy them less than (say) Mathews, Gutterson, old Snively, etc. Almost claustrophobic that way. Merrimack has done a nice job upgrading within the existing footprint, but I've often wondered why they didn't just start from scratch? I mean, you wanna play D-1 with the big boys of Hockey East ... why not just jump in with both feet, instead of continuing with a facility that doesn't reflect a D-1 commitment?
Click to expand...

Well, obviously they don't have to do ANYTHING to compete with UHN...
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Enough of this. Umile's best days are behind him from a coaching/recruiting standpoint. UNH needs some fresh blood injected into the program, or there's no getting off the mediocrity treadmill. Umile must go.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

chickod said:
Well, obviously they don't have to do ANYTHING to compete with UHN...
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80% of Hockey East can say the same these days. :(

I've always liked the Merrimack program. I think they have a terrific coach who is getting the most out of his program, as it stands. But if you're going to be a D-2 or D-3 school competing in a legit D-1 conference (and that's a swipe at my alma mater in Waltham) ... shouldn't you at least try to set the program up to compete at the highest level possible? If not ... why even bother??

:confused:

It doesn't have to be Agganis or even The Whitt. And the locker room facilities might have the greatest carpeting known to man, and the weight room may be state of the art, while the audio system might even go all the way up to 11. But there have to be a significant number of potential recruits who have a negative visceral reaction to the rink, and decide they'd rather play at Lowell or Northeastern, or even UMaine or UNH.

Lowell used to have an even worse facility (Tully Forum). Sure, they got some help from Papa Tsongas, but look at where they are now. Lowell and MC Hockey both come from D-2 roots. One program has emerged as a legit title contender, the other has an effective ceiling right about halfway up the standings.

I really don't want this to come off as bagging on MC, but if you played a Hockey East-wide game of "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others" regarding their respective facilities, MC finishes last, and by a wide margin. That can be changed. And I really hope someday MC does something about it. Unless of course, the school and its fans are OK with being a habitual 7th/8th place finisher in your best seasons.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

dillon said:
Enough of this. Umile's best days are behind him from a coaching/recruiting standpoint. UNH needs some fresh blood injected into the program, or there's no getting off the mediocrity treadmill. Umile must go.
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Another 4 periods like the last two, and you just might get your wish.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Chuck Murray said:
80% of Hockey East can say the same these days. :(

I've always liked the Merrimack program. I think they have a terrific coach who is getting the most out of his program, as it stands. But if you're going to be a D-2 or D-3 school competing in a legit D-1 conference (and that's a swipe at my alma mater in Waltham) ... shouldn't you at least try to set the program up to compete at the highest level possible? If not ... why even bother??

:confused:

It doesn't have to be Agganis or even The Whitt. And the locker room facilities might have the greatest carpeting known to man, and the weight room may be state of the art, while the audio system might even go all the way up to 11. But there have to be a significant number of potential recruits who have a negative visceral reaction to the rink, and decide they'd rather play at Lowell or Northeastern, or even UMaine or UNH.

Lowell used to have an even worse facility (Tully Forum). Sure, they got some help from Papa Tsongas, but look at where they are now. Lowell and MC Hockey both come from D-2 roots. One program has emerged as a legit title contender, the other has an effective ceiling right about halfway up the standings.

I really don't want this to come off as bagging on MC, but if you played a Hockey East-wide game of "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others" regarding their respective facilities, MC finishes last, and by a wide margin. That can be changed. And I really hope someday MC does something about it. Unless of course, the school and its fans are OK with being a habitual 7th/8th place finisher in your best seasons.
Click to expand...

Just about everything you say is true. I guess I'm just a little disgusted as I sit here watching this (MP....whatever you called it round) where, at this moment (well into the 3rd period of all the games), the "losing" team hasn't even SCORED A GOAL IN ANY OF THE GAMES YET. Jeez... :)

EDIT: That I just paid 59 bucks for, by the way..
 
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