Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale
To the absolute surprise of no one - not even the WIS panel - the UNH Hockey program crawled through another winless week of hockey in what were two very winnable games. "Groundhog Day Chapter 3" arrived cleverly disguised as "White Out The Whitt" at midweek, and the boys found a way to gack up another multi-goal, 3rd period lead on their way to a pathetic OT loss to UMaine. And after that, there was never going to be a question that Merrimack would come up with the win on Friday night, was there? So two more precious chances to re-ignite the flame under the former
Quest have now come and gone, and the outlook for a somewhat happy ending for our hero seems downright bleak at this point, as this epic Shakespearian tragedy in the making staggers out of the turn and trailing badly, leaking oil down the home stretch, as WIS presents our latest prognostications in this probable penultimate "I Can't Help But Slow Down to Gawk at the Car Crash on the Other Side of the Spaulding Turnpike" edition of "Umile's Last Stand - The _____ for 600".
"Umile's Last Stand - The <s>Chase</s> Desperate Scramble for 600"
Coach Umile's current career wins total: 59
6
Wins Remaining to NRN (Next Round Number):
4
Games Remaining (plus 2 min. MBPBEGAM games): 4
Win Pct. Required to Hit Target: 80%-ish*
WIS Estimated Likelihood of Success: 10%
2017/2018 Cupcake Conversion Ratio (CCR): 6/18 (33.3%)
With another winless week behind them, and UNH sliding in the direction of the cellar and a lock on the #11 seed, to say Coach's chances of getting to the NRN are looking increasingly slim would be a massive understatement. We now know that even with an improbable two game sweep over the Huntington Hounds this coming weekend, UNH will need to win the MBPBEGAM round of the HE Tourney to have a chance to get to that lofty goal. And as the WIS panel scans the horizon for the possible "path to victory", it seems that just a single win against the Huskies - who couldn't be blamed if they were overconfident OR under-motivated, with only an improbable shot at winning a HE regular season title depending on UMaine also sweeping BC on the road - keeps the <s>nightmare</s> dream alive for another week for Coach Umile. Another winless weekend means UNH would have to somehow find 4 wins over two weekends of postseason play, and after winning all of one (1) game since the Providence/RPI streak in late 2017, one might say that's a bit unlikely. Surprisingly, the WIS panel will be swimming against the tide with our predictions, as this
Desperate Scramble gets a little bit more interesting when ...
Predictions:
Friday: @ Northeastern 3 UNH 1

Saturday: @ UNH 4 Northeastern 2
NEXT (LAST?) CUPCAKE ON THE SHELF: TBD in the MBPBEGAM round of the "playoffs"
COMING ATTRACTIONS - THE GRASSO REDSHIRT NUMBER (GRSN)
Soon to be done with the regular season, we'll shortly turn our attention to the MBPBEGAM round of the HE "playoffs", and the GRSN - not to be confused with the NRN. This was brought to the fore by Dan regarding the prospects of Patrick Grasso's potentially lost season, and the chances he'll be allowed a "medical redshirt". A minimum of six (6) post-season games will be necessary for Grasso's 2017/2018 season not to become a total loss. So the
Grasso Red Shirt Number sits at a 40 game UNH slate. The WIS panel has held firm on Grasso's chances of following in the career path of the great Tommy Nolan to be
Slim to None, and Slim Just Hopped on His Horse After Friday Night's Loss at North Andover HS. We'll revisit this assessment if UNH shows any signs of life this coming weekend.
FOXHOLE CHALLENGE - US AGAINST THE WORLD (in honor of Felger's dopey penguin)
Us 1
The World 12
In honor of Coach Umile's legacy, we'll close with this excerpt from the Led Zep epic, "Achilles' Last Stand" ...
To seek the man whose pointing hand
The giant step unfolds
With guidance from the curving path
That churns up into stone
If one bell should ring
In celebration for a king
So fast the heart should beat
As proud the head with heavy feet