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UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

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James Miller leaves UNH to head back to Penticton. Don't blame him. He's better than two regular defensemen and should be playing. He should not be passed over for Dawson when one of the regular D are out. What a waste...

Recruiting and Roster Management 101 - get good players, play best players. Effort far from UNHs biggest issues...

https://twitter.com/cawlidgehawkeyi/status/950442534291083264

I suppose he could return to UNH, but it seems doubtful he'd want to return to a staff that buried him beneath three inferior (upperclass!) players his entire FR year...

! - gotta play for those meanningless wins in 2018 over the future amirite?! To have that strategy and still make the wrong personnel decisions is maybe even a skill...??
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Dan said:
James Miller leaves UNH to head back to Penticton. Don't blame him. He's better than two regular defensemen and should be playing. He should not be passed over for Dawson when one of the regular D are out. What a waste...

Recruiting and Roster Management 101 - get good players, play best players. Effort far from UNHs biggest issues...

https://twitter.com/cawlidgehawkeyi/status/950442534291083264

I suppose he could return to UNH, but it seems doubtful he'd want to return to a staff that buried him beneath three inferior (upperclass!) players his entire FR year...

! - gotta play for those meanningless wins in 2018 over the future amirite?! To have that strategy and still make the wrong personnel decisions is maybe even a skill...??
Click to expand...

That is really, really too bad. Ugh. But if it's what he needs to do to further himself, I can certainly understand. Think we only got to see him in one game, Vermont if I have that right? Sad. I hope he returns...is that a possibility? :( (And we are no longer a ranked team. Maine took our spot. Good for them, bad for the 'Cats.)
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Dan said:
James Miller leaves UNH to head back to Penticton. Don't blame him. He's better than two regular defensemen and should be playing. He should not be passed over for Dawson when one of the regular D are out. What a waste...

Recruiting and Roster Management 101 - get good players, play best players. Effort far from UNHs biggest issues...
Click to expand...

Cripse, what is this, number three of "Souza" connected players who have pulled up stakes? Commesso, Miller, Gildon brother. Not that I thought Miller was an impactful recruit, but when you add him to the mosiac of holdover guys who left after seeing the transition (Foegele, Farabee, O'Neill, Ryczek), and the incredibly weak recruiting record (see below -- we seem to be recruiting exclusively against HE bottom six teams) I'm not sure we've hit bottom yet.
 
HockeyRef said:
That is really, really too bad. Ugh. But if it's what he needs to do to further himself, I can certainly understand. Think we only got to see him in one game, Vermont if I have that right? Sad. I hope he returns...is that a possibility? :(
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It's possible but unlikely - he played 2 games and the exhibition. So his FR year is blown. If he wanted to stay at UNH he'd likely just remain with the team and practice. Though it COULD be about getting playing time and coming back as a SO, that seems like a hopeful reach until confirmed...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ouEkAZzEJtrjz3jxMfJjFnGtnuz76RSQl90NmdE2KPI/htmlview#

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why Liam Darcy is crossed out on the Heisenberg spreadsheet??? Good grief...

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Gildon - Maass
Wyse - Dawson
Boyd (?) - Green
Darcy (?) - Nonis

LOL - that's not cutting it. And if Darcy is gone, too, Boyd moves on or Gildon departs early they currently can barely even field a D-corp for next year... .
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Dan said:
http://www.usphl.com/roster_players/20812856?subseason=393621

Commitment removed from Darcy's profile...
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Great...When it rains...wasn't he supposed to come next season? What does the coaching staff have up their sleeve? They don't need these players? The players don't want us?? What is it? Boyd's going to come back, so we don't need these Dmen? (If that is indeed true..)
 
HockeyRef said:
Great...When it rains...wasn't he supposed to come next season? What does the coaching staff have up their sleeve? They don't need these players? The players don't want us?? What is it? Boyd's going to come back, so we don't need these Dmen? (If that is indeed true..)
Click to expand...

Boyd has to be coming back now - if he wasn't planning on it they're begging him. Verrier comes early perhaps? Bahn maybe? Or the ol' Souza stand by - standing in the cancellation line hoping a 'Gildon' falls in his lap!!

NONE of the options past Wyse, Gildon, Maass are good. If Miller stayed at least they'd have a top-4. Green is still so raw - he'll join the majority of the roster in being required to play over his head. So they need to get really lucky or Souza's first year may be DOA. If Gildon leaves...
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Dan said:
Boyd has to be coming back now - if he wasn't planning on it they're begging him. Verrier comes early perhaps? Bahn maybe? Or the ol' Souza stand by - standing in the cancellation line hoping a 'Gildon' falls in his lap!!

NONE of the options past Wyse, Gildon, Maass are good. If Miller stayed at least they'd have a top-4. Green is still so raw - he'll join the majority of the roster in being required to play over his head. So they need to get really lucky or Souza's first year is DOA. If Gildon leaves...
Click to expand...

For God's sake there HAS TO BE something that is in the works. Haven't they learned the reason why we have struggled these past few years? Defense? Hate to sound like the sky is falling but right now, it sure feels like it. :eek:
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Also need a starting goalie in the next few weeks, and a top 3 line forward.

No pressure.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Taking a step back and looking at the D for next season - the most likely option now is that Boyd returns and Verrier joins Green as incoming freshmen. That would give UNH the following eight defensemen (assuming Gildon returns and no one else leaves or decommits)...

Gildon, Maass, Wyse, Boyd, Green, Verrier, Dawson, Nonis

That leaves a clear divide between the top three and the remaining five, with Green being the best option to jump into the top four. I think his pro-attention is scouts dreaming on his size and future potential more than who he is. He is raw, but they now need him to contribute immediately. Boyd and Dawson are exactly who we think they are and they've shown to be. Verrier will be a year ahead of schedule - should he win the sixth spot over the SR to be Dawson? Maybe? I hope so. Let the seniority rules line-up decisions die with Dick's retirement. Nonis will always be a depth guy...

Before we take a look at a potential line-up - let's review one laughable final issue. I've never been a huge fan of the idea that D MUST play on their shooting side - but we know it's important to Souza! Here is the breakdown of UNH defensemen for next year...

LHD - 7
RHD - 1

That is some great foresight towards a rule of thumb you supposedly value! Again, guys are capable of playing their off-side, but essentially having an entirely left-handed group is a real problem. BTW, both Miller and Darcy are LH, so this is entirely their own doing and not 'bad-luck' despite balance being important to Souza...

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So throw handedness away, and...

Gildon - Maass
Wyse - Green
Boyd - Verrier
Nonis - Dawson

The top pair could be great. A day one ready Green is unlikely but needed to keep the D producing at the same level they are this season. The third pair and depth leave a lot to be desired...

Whenever Gildon leaves the corp is in real trouble - both in terms of what remains and what's in the pipeline. Maass is definitely a candidate to leave after three (Wyse's senior year) so add recruiting D back on to the desperation pile along with Fs and Gs...
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

What I really wanna know is who will be Captain next season. :-)
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Speaking of players is UNH going to bring in another goalie?
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Greg Ambrose said:
Didn’t go last night. Have lost a lot of interest to be frank. Instead of improving, they have regressed. I need someone who watches the team game in and game out to tell me why.
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Greg,

These are my thoughts on why they have not been playing as well. Through the first seven games (5 wins, 1 OT loss and 1 OT Tie) of the season the defensemen were big contributors to the offense. It was mainly Maass (9 assists) and Gildon (6 goals and 2 assists). This does not include the exhibition game against St. Francis Xavier where Gildon had a goal and an assist. Now, let’s look at the last five games (0 wins, 4 losses and 1 OT tie). Maass only one goal and Gildon with only one assist in these five games.

This lack of offensive contribution from both Gildon and Maass is the big difference in the team’s performance of late in my opinion. Are these two players not playing as well as they were at the beginning of the season? Were they just lucky and now they are playing at their true skill level? Is the team (coaches and/or players) not using them as they did earlier in the season? I believe it is the later, but before I go into detail I would like to hear what others are thinking.
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017-2018 Season - The Quest Continues

Ray Dorn said:
Greg,

These are my thoughts on why they have not been playing as well. Through the first seven games (5 wins, 1 OT loss and 1 OT Tie) of the season the defensemen were big contributors to the offense. It was mainly Maass (9 assists) and Gildon (6 goals and 2 assists). This does not include the exhibition game against St. Francis Xavier where Gildon had a goal and an assist. Now, let’s look at the last five games (0 wins, 4 losses and 1 OT tie). Maass only one goal and Gildon with only one assist in these five games.

This lack of offensive contribution from both Gildon and Maass is the big difference in the team’s performance of late in my opinion. Are these two players not playing as well as they were at the beginning of the season? Were they just lucky and now they are playing at their true skill level? Is the team (coaches and/or players) not using them as they did earlier in the season? I believe it is the later, but before I go into detail I would like to hear what others are thinking.
Click to expand...

Ray, great post; and I like the direction of your thinking. Looking forward to other posters (and yours) perspectives on this topic...and on that vein it was good to see Maass get one the other night. More of that please.
 
I touched on this earlier - but, first of all, if you're counting on your true freshmen, eighteen year old defensemen to carry your offense you're asking for trouble. The issue is the lack of production from the upper class forwards - whose job it is to score...

The biggest issue is the PP. Like most defensemen both Gildon and Maass will get most of their points on the PP. The PP has all but disappeared over the last 12 games. The reason being because the upperclass forwards have not been good enough. When Gildon/Maass had such early success getting shots to the net opposing coaches adjusted. Look at opposing PK boxes - they've expanded and Fs are now on top of them to force them to move the puck rather than shoot. There's not much they can do but get the puck to the forwards on the wing having created space. The Fs are not taking advantage of the space...

UNH went 3-for-3 on the PP against RPI. In the six previous games they were 1-for-24 (4%). In the five games since they're 2-for-17 (12%). Over the last 12 games, excluding the one outlier the PP is 3-for-41 (7%). If the PP can't adjust - if the PP forwards can't help the cause - the offense is going to struggle the rest of the way.

McNicholas, Salvaggio, Grasso and Blackburn combined for 23 PP goals last year (TK had 13). This year they have six combined. All told UNH forwards have nine PP goals and the D have seven. Now that D shots or tip ins have been taken away the PP is impotent. It's not the two young defense men's fault they're not getting points (and really at 18 the early rate they were converting was always unsustainable)...

I've given Souza a lot of credit for the PP and creative adjustments - its long over due he makes an adjustment. My faith is being tested...

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The two D are playing the same game. Maass is playing a simple N-S game and getting pucks quickly to forwards. But they're not finishing at a high rate any longer. Gildon is still commanding the break out, often eschewing the simple play to make the stretch pass, breaking out through the middle or skating out of the zone on his own. But when he gets the puck to the forwards they're not finishing at a high rate any longer...

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And I watch them game in and game out on video - every home game plus at UVM, UM, BU, RPI and Dartmouth...

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C - Vela
A - Eiserman
A - Wyse
 
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