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UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Dan said:
Kinda buried the lede there, as JVR had a three point night, including his 16th goal of the season (the 20,000th goal in Leaf's history). He remains on pace for a 35-40 goal season...
Click to expand...

Indeed I did!!! I didn't have his stats (JvR) in front of me; glad he had a great afternoon. Awesome player! Sorry I missed him 'back in the day'. I know I did see him play back in 2008 the one game I went to while my son was a student at the U, but wasn't really into it. I do remember they beat CC that night, and, the 'sieve' cheer was an oddity I didn't get...
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Snively65 said:
Always fun when the van Riemsdyk brothers play against one another, kinda like when the Eiserman brothers played against one another two years ago at the Whitt, right, Chuck? :-)
Click to expand...

If you're not already on the Bentley payroll, you really oughta be on there, Snively65. I never cease to be amazed at how you find creative new ways to draw the outside world into the intersection of Beaver and Forest. This one was a stretch, even by your prodigious standards. But yeah, I don't remember too much "fun" on that occasion ...

HockeyRef said:
Indeed I did!!! I didn't have his stats (JvR) in front of me; glad he had a great afternoon. Awesome player! Sorry I missed him 'back in the day'. I know I did see him play back in 2008 the one game I went to while my son was a student at the U, but wasn't really into it. I do remember they beat CC that night, and, the 'sieve' cheer was an oddity I didn't get...
Click to expand...

Is this the right time/place to bemoan the departure of many of the more creative cheers from back in the day? I mean, the "Beat 'Em, Slash 'Em, Break His Face" cheer alone would probably have the snowflakes melting in the aisles. The Ex-Lax cheer, the "teamwork" cheer, even the universal obligatory "Warm Up the Bus" chant ... just a sampling of fun things that have gone away. And to think, it all started when BS35+5 had the band play over the usual "welcoming" chants the home fans used to shout out to the opposition's intros. All with the idea of making The Whitt a more "family friendly" place (or so we were told back then), when there was still a waiting list for STH's.

Well, he certainly solved that *problem*, didn't he? No more "hate cheers", no more STH wait list, no more sellouts, no more atmosphere, and even less families attending games at The Whitt now as opposed to then.

As those animated characters used to say in the Guinness ads ... BRILLIANT!!!!! :rolleyes:

Today's WIS "Git Off Ma Lawn" moment has been sponsored by the generous folks at AARP and Geritol
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Chuck Murray said:
If you're not already on the Bentley payroll, you really oughta be on there, Snively65. I never cease to be amazed at how you find creative new ways to draw the outside world into the intersection of Beaver and Forest. This one was a stretch, even by your prodigious standards. But yeah, I don't remember too much "fun" on that occasion ...



Is this the right time/place to bemoan the departure of many of the more creative cheers from back in the day? I mean, the "Beat 'Em, Slash 'Em, Break His Face" cheer alone would probably have the snowflakes melting in the aisles. The Ex-Lax cheer, the "teamwork" cheer, even the universal obligatory "Warm Up the Bus" chant ... just a sampling of fun things that have gone away. And to think, it all started when BS35+5 had the band play over the usual "welcoming" chants the home fans used to shout out to the opposition's intros. All with the idea of making The Whitt a more "family friendly" place (or so we were told back then), when there was still a waiting list for STH's.

Well, he certainly solved that *problem*, didn't he? No more "hate cheers", no more STH wait list, no more sellouts, no more atmosphere, and even less families attending games at The Whitt now as opposed to then.

As those animated characters used to say in the Guinness ads ... BRILLIANT!!!!! :rolleyes:

Today's WIS "Git Off Ma Lawn" moment has been sponsored by the generous folks at AARP and Geritol
Click to expand...

I do believe the 'team work' cheer is still in effect, and as for the sieve cheer, it's alive and well. I just didn't "get it" or understand what they were all saying, to be honest. Not to mention the 1000 other things I didn't understand at those few games I went to!

So far this year no "Black Betty" riffs, and I'd have to say there have been better student section cheers in the past few as compared to this season. Now it's all the bad things about the goalies mother type stuff.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Chuck Murray said:
Is this the right time/place to bemoan the departure of many of the more creative cheers from back in the day?
Click to expand...

And, IMO, the best one of all (at Snively where both benches were on the same side):
"This is the winning team (pointing to UNH bench)! This is the losing team (pointing to visiting bench)!
Winning team! Losing team! Winning team! Losing team!"

Great memories...
 
chickod said:
And, IMO, the best one of all (at Snively where both benches were on the same side):
"This is the winning team (pointing to UNH bench)! This is the losing team (pointing to visiting bench)!
Winning team! Losing team! Winning team! Losing team!"

Great memories...
Click to expand...

Like "Good goalie, bad goalie, good goalie, bad goalie" after wins.

Or, "Drive home safely!" when winning on road to home team fans.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Sadly, in keeping with the times, I'm afraid The Whitt has become just another "safe space" on campus ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXQkXXBqj_U

... but at least Reality (chair of the WIS Board of Directors) chimes in once in awhile to keep things real ... :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv2ZMN3T18E

... but looking ahead, we've got the Yale game on the horizon for next weekend, so let's get ready for battle!! :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8M2tg2RkIQ

WIS denies any perceived similarities between some USCHO board contributors and characters in the Yale skit :p ;)
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Snively65 said:
Good recap of season at the link. Maybe I will get back from Colorado in time for the Brown game, which was supposed to be my celebration for co-winning the NRN contest. Oh well.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is disappointing we didn't pull it off but we were ambitious, if not realistic. Going to be a cold one in the Upper Valley but am looking forward to getting back to the hockey and to be visiting a new arena. Enjoy the trip to Colorado; checking out any Denver games? Hope to see you at the Brown game....
 
HockeyRef said:
Yes, it is disappointing we didn't pull it off but we were ambitious, if not realistic. Going to be a cold one in the Upper Valley but am looking forward to getting back to the hockey and to be visiting a new arena. Enjoy the trip to Colorado; checking out any Denver games? Hope to see you at the Brown game....
Click to expand...

Thompson Arena is a really fine venue, even if they no longer serve chowdah. :-)

We are going to the DU-Mac game at Magness on Friday night, and one of the two games in the Springs on Saturday night, but two new venues for me no matter the choice. And, much, much warmer out here. :-)
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Chuck Murray said:
If you're not already on the Bentley payroll, you really oughta be on there, Snively65. I never cease to be amazed at how you find creative new ways to draw the outside world into the intersection of Beaver and Forest. This one was a stretch, even by your prodigious standards. But yeah, I don't remember too much "fun" on that occasion ...



Is this the right time/place to bemoan the departure of many of the more creative cheers from back in the day? I mean, the "Beat 'Em, Slash 'Em, Break His Face" cheer alone would probably have the snowflakes melting in the aisles. The Ex-Lax cheer, the "teamwork" cheer, even the universal obligatory "Warm Up the Bus" chant ... just a sampling of fun things that have gone away. And to think, it all started when BS35+5 had the band play over the usual "welcoming" chants the home fans used to shout out to the opposition's intros. All with the idea of making The Whitt a more "family friendly" place (or so we were told back then), when there was still a waiting list for STH's.

Well, he certainly solved that *problem*, didn't he? No more "hate cheers", no more STH wait list, no more sellouts, no more atmosphere, and even less families attending games at The Whitt now as opposed to then.

As those animated characters used to say in the Guinness ads ... BRILLIANT!!!!! :rolleyes:

Today's WIS "Git Off Ma Lawn" moment has been sponsored by the generous folks at AARP and Geritol
Click to expand...

Based on the interactions I've had with members of the Athletic Department, I think they're open to any ideas that would enliven the building. I imagine that their decision to start selling beer again (not enough people know about this, by the way) was informed by a desire to re-incorporate the rowdier fans. From what I've witnessed at games the staff is fairly liberal with regards to enforcing strict policies (i.e. it's easy to get into the student section without being a student) and I definitely have not gotten the sense that the lack of creative chants are a problem. If anything, I tend to think the less creative, the better. That isn't to say that there is no room for creativity, just that the main objective should be noise.

Something that I have run by them that I think is particularly doable concerns the penalty kill. It's one of the few times in a hockey game where there is a clear task that can be accomplished in a short amount of time that fits people's attention spans. To me, it's an ideal time to call on the crowd to invigorate the players and help change the momentum. I proposed to the higher-ups that they flash something on the scoreboard encouraging the fans to chant defense in chorus like they used to do at the Islanders games and they actually followed through. Traditionally that is not something that is done at hockey games but I definitely don't think it would hurt to inject a football type atmosphere into the Whit. The thought would be, 15-20 seconds of chanting followed by 10-15 seconds of yelling. Over time, the melody of chanting (after the puck has been cleared) and yelling (when the puck is in the defensive zone) could develop into a really cool tradition.

I don't know how many people on this board regularly attend games, but there's a really great core of posters here and these are things that are absolutely, 100% within your control. You can join twitter (if you aren't already), you can parrot all of my ramblings, and you can yell at games like nobody's watching. This is college hockey. All it takes is a handful of drunken maniacs dispersed throughout the arena to change the entire tenor of the atmosphere. Fun is contagious. The team will have to comply for it to grow into something truly special, but let's at least give ourselves a chance. We're sitting on something great right now (lowering ticket prices would help).
 
UNH_Puck533 said:
Based on the interactions I've had with members of the Athletic Department, I think they're open to any ideas that would enliven the building. I imagine that their decision to start selling beer again (not enough people know about this, by the way) was informed by a desire to re-incorporate the rowdier fans. From what I've witnessed at games the staff is fairly liberal with regards to enforcing strict policies (i.e. it's easy to get into the student section without being a student) and I definitely have not gotten the sense that the lack of creative chants are a problem. If anything, I tend to think the less creative, the better. That isn't to say that there is no room for creativity, just that the main objective should be noise.

Something that I have run by them that I think is particularly doable concerns the penalty kill. It's one of the few times in a hockey game where there is a clear task that can be accomplished in a short amount of time that fits people's attention spans. To me, it's an ideal time to call on the crowd to invigorate the players and help change the momentum. I proposed to the higher-ups that they flash something on the scoreboard encouraging the fans to chant defense in chorus like they used to do at the Islanders games and they actually followed through. Traditionally that is not something that is done at hockey games but I definitely don't think it would hurt to inject a football type atmosphere into the Whit. The thought would be, 15-20 seconds of chanting followed by 10-15 seconds of yelling. Over time, the melody of chanting (after the puck has been cleared) and yelling (when the puck is in the defensive zone) could develop into a really cool tradition.

I don't know how many people on this board regularly attend games, but there's a really great core of posters here and these are things that are absolutely, 100% within your control. You can join twitter (if you aren't already), you can parrot all of my ramblings, and you can yell at games like nobody's watching. This is college hockey. All it takes is a handful of drunken maniacs dispersed throughout the arena to change the entire tenor of the atmosphere. Fun is contagious. The team will have to comply for it to grow into something truly special, but let's at least give ourselves a chance. We're sitting on something great right now (lowering ticket prices would help).
Click to expand...

Great post! Go to any BC home game and their student section cheers the entire PK...we do have cheers for the PP (that "teamwork" one which I doubt most of the fans would do but your idea for the PK is a good one.

Most fans around us are fairly subdued (except us) and a lot depends on what's happening on the ice. Would love to see the 'Whitt come alive hopefully fans can buy into some new ideas! Here's hoping Go 'Cats!!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

It's been awhile since the last time we visited on this topic, but while the deep freeze has set in all across New England, and the holiday season turns its final corner before we get to full-bore winter, the college hockey season returns from its brief hibernation. And with that, so does the Quest or March or Whatever. We'll know in a little over 24 hours' time whether the midterm break did the trick for a UNH team that limped into the break while choking down hard on a pair of sugar-drenched cupcakes ... or if the clock has struck 12 on Coach Umile's hoped-for return to Boston and beyond during his Long Goodbye Tour. Without any further ado, WIS presents its latest prognostications in this long-awaited "Welcome (?) to 2018" edition of "Umile's Last Stand - The _____ for 600".

"Umile's Last Stand - The March to 600"

Coach Umile's current career wins total: 595
Wins Remaining to NRN (Next Round Number): 5
Games Remaining (plus 2 min. MBPBEGAM games): 19
Win Pct. Required to Hit Target: 26.3%
WIS Estimated Likelihood of Success: 87%
2017/2018 Cupcake Conversion Ratio (CCR): 5/9 (55.6%)

Looking back ... we left off after a promising win against Providence, and WIS correctly predicted that win would translate into a (rare) midweek win on the road at RPI. That set things up with a final pre-break weekend at home against cupcake twins Army and Merrimack, with visions of a Top Ten ranking dancing in the heads of players, fans, coaches and BS35+5 alike. But those dreams turned into a 'mare with back-to-back subpar performances that saw UNH fall behind, and fail to claw themselves back a win in either contest (WIS did see a non-win against the 'Mack) . And what was looking to be a stellar 11-5-1 record at the break turned into an adequate but sobering 9-7-1 record that chilled a lot of the optimism that was going on around the place about the program's chances of sending off its iconic coach in storybook fashion. Every team encounters some sort of adversity in any season, and hopefully UNH has gotten theirs out of the way, and with 3 eminently winnable games coming up to christen the 2018 calendar, UNH still has a terrific opportunity to kick start its season and get pointed back in the right direction.

Looking at the big picture ... WIS' panel of experts projected in the preseason that Coach Umile's Wildcats would amass at least 10 wins in the opening 19 game stretch of the season through completion of the Ledyard Bank Classic, before we turn the calendar into 2018. UNH slipped to #16 in the polls, and a couple more missteps this weekend - as unthinkable as those prospects might seem - would not only drop the team to .500, but likely see them falling out of the Top 20 ... AND in doing so, failing to meet the 10 wins before 2018 threshold that seemed a mere formality just two games ago. To get to WIS' subsequent projection of 12 wins by the time Brown depart Durham in their 2018 debut, UNH needs to sweep the next 3 games. The WIS panel's last meeting saw much burning of the midnight oil before we decided to keep the outlook for the NRN as a March instead of a Quest ... but March status is going to be in serious jeopardy of returning to a Quest if things don't turn around quickly. Here are the predictions for this coming weekend:

Predictions:

Friday: UNH 4 @ Dartmouth 1 :)
Saturday: UNH 3 Yale 2 :)

NEXT CUPCAKE ON THE SHELF: 1/6/18 v. Brown

WIS CONTEST - GUESS THE DATE COACH HITS THE NRN!!!

So here is the final qualifying list of the NRN predictions. Winner buys the first round at Libby's on date/time TBD. HR or another suitably qualified candidate will be inviting the GOH to the event (while WIS runs for cover :eek: ):

<s>1/06/18 vs. Brown @ home: Snively65, HockeyRef</s>
<s>1/12/18 vs. BU @ home: phb, e.cat</s>
---------------------------------------------------------------
1/19/18 vs. UMaine @ Alfond: Dan, deltabravo, Nifty16
1/20/18 vs. UMaine @ Alfond: After the Whistle, Scott, scoreboard, Darius
1/26/18 vs. UConn @ home: Aerman
2/03/18 vs. UMass @ home: WIS

So far, three of our contestants are off the hook for the *victory* in our NRN contest. The earliest date now for the magical event to be taking place is mid-January at Conte Forum, of all places (assuming 4 straight preceding wins out of the chute, including at home vs. BU). Realistically, the focus now settles on the group predicting the NRN will be accomplished during the UMaine weekend. I'm liking Aerman's prediction the best right now ... which might be worth the wait, if only so we can enjoy the plethora of empty platitudes that would no doubt be flowing from that <s>Eddie Haskell</s> Luce Canaan character behind the opposing bench on that occasion.

GO UNH - GOT TO GET THE GOODBYE TOUR TO THE GAHDEN!!!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Dave Lassond hanging out with Stewie and MS watching the Yale v UMD game...First time here st the Thompson nice place good view from our seats. Hoping for a good outcome Go 'Cats!!

Ps. Nice installment of the latest WIS March btw. We absolutely do not want to disappoint!!
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Grasso and Robinson don't appear to be dressing tonight?
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Oh my Yale can't score on the 5 on 3 and Snively65 they borrowed a play out of our book (behind the net).
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

HockeyRef said:
Grasso and Robinson don't appear to be dressing tonight?
Click to expand...

Grasso out for the rest of the season...torn labrum. :( Robinson out for the next few weeks with an ankle injury.
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Wow, here we go....already 2-0 Dartmouth on five shots. Wildcats playing like chit yet again. :rolleyes:

Rinse, lather, repeat.....rinse, lather, repeat....rinse, lather, repeat.....:mad: :mad:
 
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