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UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

To the seniors, I know this board and I have focused on your on-ice experience at UNH, much not kind. Tonight is a night to celebrate your UNH experience, and I hope you have all taken advantage of it beyond the ice, and have learned from it. Even if the on-ice results have not come, I hope you view your UNH experiences as positive, because those will outweigh the hockey in a couple of years. Tonight is your night.
 
e.cat said:
More specifically, UNH lacks senior talent. Other than McNick who has held his own under dire circumstances, Salvaggio and Eiserman are both busts!
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Those two are who they've always been - Salvaggio was a hard-skating third line guy his whole life until he played one season with TK. Put him on a line with an elite playmaker and he can score. Otherwise you need to put him in a role behind elite offense and convince him to check. Expecting him to carry the load has been unfair to him...

Eiserman has always been an elite role player capable of chipping in offense. That's what he was with the NTDP. It was thy role thy made him a highly sought after recruit. He's my sneaky candidate for a potential Winnik type NHL career if he can improve his skating and get more physical. He's never been utilized correctly by the coaches.

Neither has ever been surrounded by the right roster/linemates (aside from Salvaggios one season) to either get more out of them or allow them to flourish in their roles...

UNH teams of the past would have a top-six and then a third line of Salvaggio - Eiserman - X. If that was still the case today, both would be beloved...

The SR class lost AP and Foegele and subsequent recruiting has never replaced those two - which it should have been expected to do (and prepared to do). If they had, we might see the two seniors you mentioned in roles and with linemates allowing them to flourish as the types of players they truly are and have always truly been...

McNicholas was the third offensive kid in that class - as much as I like and appreciate him, asking him to be a #1 guy on an entire team is unfair. He should be a #2 center and would excel in that role. The fact that they haven't recruited elite offensive talents in subsequent classes to replace AP and WF is the real issue...
 
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Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

NCAA watcher said:
To the seniors, I know this board and I have focused on your on-ice experience at UNH, much not kind. Tonight is a night to celebrate your UNH experience, and I hope you have all taken advantage of it beyond the ice, and have learned from it. Even if the on-ice results have not come, I hope you view your UNH experiences as positive, because those will outweigh the hockey in a couple of years. Tonight is your night.
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If the could only have experienced it the way it was.
 
Dan said:
Those two are who they've always been - Salvaggio was a hard-skating third line guy his whole life until he played one season with TK. Put him on a line with an elite playmaker and he can score. Otherwise you need to put him in a role behind elite offense and convince him to check. Expecting him to carry the load has been unfair to him...

Eiserman has always been an elite role player capable of chipping in offense. That's what he was with the NTDP. It was thy role thy made him a highly sought after recruit. He's my sneaky candidate for a potential Winnik type NHL career if he can improve his skating and get more physical. He's never been utilized correctly by the coaches.

Neither has ever been surrounded by the right roster/linemates (aside from Salvaggios one season) to either get more out of them or allow them to flourish in their roles...

UNH teams of the past would have a top-six and then a third line of Salvaggio - Eiserman - X. If that was still the case today, both would be beloved...

The SR class lost AP and Foegele and subsequent recruiting has never replaced those two - which it should have been expected to do (and prepared to do). If they had, we might see the two seniors you mentioned in roles and with linemates allowing them to flourish as the types of players they truly are and have always truly been...

McNicholas was the third offensive kid in that class - as much as I like and appreciate him, asking him to be a #1 guy on an entire team is unfair. He should be a #2 center and would excel in that role. The fact that they haven't recruited elite offensive talents in subsequent classes to replace AP and WF is the real issue...
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True enough. Just furthers the argument that this team lacks the talent and depth to plug them into appropriate roles.
 
Does this forward group contend for a HE title and an NCAA Tournament bid? I think so...

Salvaggio - McNicholas - Poturalski (or talented JR)
Foegele (OTJ) - Blackburn - Grasso
Eiserman - Vela - Nazarian
BVR - MacAdams - Kelleher

Poturalski probably passes 80 points as a college senior with Foegele not far behind. I bet he brings out last season versions of his two linemates and Foegele does the same for Grasso, as well as maximizing Liam Blackburn's burgeoning talent.

A look at what might have been illustrates so clearly how players have been forced to play roles over their head and how costly the poor recruiting results have been. A few key scorers in the JR/SO classes (combined with maximized goaltending) and this is a different season...

Instead a few recruiting misses and things have really snowballed - both on the ice and in future recruiting...
 
Dan said:
Does this forward group contend for a HE title and an NCAA Tournament bid? I think so...

Salvaggio - McNicholas - Poturalski (or talented JR)
Foegele (OTJ) - Blackburn - Grasso
Eiserman - Vela - Nazarian
BVR - MacAdams - Kelleher

Poturalski probably passes 80 points as a college senior with Foegele not far behind. I bet he brings out last season versions of his two linemates and Foegele does the same for Grasso, as well as maximizing Liam Blackburn's burgeoning talent.

A look at what might have been illustrates so clearly how players have been forced to play roles over their head and how costly the poor recruiting results have been. A few key scorers in the JR/SO classes (combined with maximized goaltending) and this is a different season...

Instead a few recruiting misses and things have really snowballed - both on the ice and in future recruiting...
Click to expand...

I have been playing this very thing over and over again when it comes to still having Pots and Foegele; "what might have been". Man when I saw them in that AHL game at the XL Center was totally blown away with just what two years did for their game (of course totally different experiences than what they would've had at UNH not a slam). Still...

Given that they left (and were not replaced) we did miss Grasso there's no doubt. How much I am not able to say. Got into a discussion with another fan about stuff like the above and they said that what are you going to do if your best players leave all the time? My response? Recruit the next guy then to take their place. Pretty much the way to handle that? Here's hoping.

Sadly "what ifs" don't win league championships but it feels good to imagine!! 😉
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

Chuck Murray said:
Uhhhh ... next season, ALL of the players on the roster will have been there on Souza's watch. Frosh from his first season as "HC in training" will now be seniors. Walking out on a team that's largely of his own construction, even if some of the older players no doubt originated in the Borek pipeline ... in the end, it's Souza's call now on who stays, and who goes. Unfortunately, the volume AND quality of the incoming recruits isn't going to make any of that easier. But if Souza has been "set up" - and I think most of us agree, this "plan" has had its major flaws, no doubt - then you have to admit Souza has played an unwittingly major role in setting himself up for any failure.
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No disagreement here....if he has truly had any "hand" in trying to develop these players (which clearly has not shown up on the ice), then he's part of the problem. For his sake, I hope that he has an exit plan....
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

Things sure have gotten bad. I do not want to be too negative before the season comes to an end.

My quick thoughts on last night's game: 1. Poor goaltending and 2. 20 minutes of penalties on UNH and only 2 minutes of penalties on Northeastern. Well deserved or poor officiating could be debated.

It was really more like a 3 or 4 to 1 game territorially same as the 1 to 1 game a few weeks ago. Northeastern was the better team that night.

Did anybody notice the coaches changed up the defense pairings last night?
 
Ray Dorn said:
Things sure have gotten bad. I do not want to be too negative before the season comes to an end.

My quick thoughts on last night's game: 1. Poor goaltending and 2. 20 minutes of penalties on UNH and only 2 minutes of penalties on Northeastern. Well deserved or poor officiating could be debated.

It was really more like a 3 or 4 to 1 game territorially same as the 1 to 1 game a few weeks ago. Northeastern was the better team that night.

Did anybody notice the coaches changed up the defense pairings last night?
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Personally I didn't thought I saw Boyd out with Chanter at one point? What did you see Ray? Yeah a ton of penalties against my UNH....hmmm
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

Ray Dorn said:
Did anybody notice the coaches changed up the defense pairings last night?
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No, but on Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays I did notice Gildon get undressed by a guy who had scored 16 points in 64 career games...
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

Wonder what Clarke did?

Dressed for intros. However they dressed 4 goalies. He is odd man out not on the bench. Headed down the tunnel at the start of the game.
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

2-0 NU for anyone playing the home game (old Robin Williams joke)
 
Re: UNH Wildcats 2017/2018 - Umile's Last Stand - The Grand Finale

Really? The season's been a whole vanity show, and now the players finally get their senior night in front of parents. Game means nothing, and he pulls the captain in his last home game?
 
NCAA watcher said:
Really? The season's been a whole vanity show, and now the players finally get their senior night in front of parents. Game means nothing, and he pulls the captain in his last home game?
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They wait until senior weekend to worry about the future/freshmen goaltender. Tirone gets yanked twice (with a weekend .818 SPCT) and Clark isnt even dressed for a chance to play. That's a perfect microcosim for the UNH goaltending of the last four seasons. They honestly could not have mismanaged the position more if they tried - and in the process embarrass both seniors on senior night...
 
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dan said:
they wait until senior weekend to worry about the future/freshmen goaltender. Tirone gets yanked twice (with a weekend .818 spct) and clark isnt even dressed for a chance to play. That's a perfect microcosim for the unh goaltending of the last four seasons. They honestly could not have mismanaged the position more if they tried - and in the process embarrass both seniors on senior night...
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sad!! 🙄
 
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