Re: UNH Wildcats 2017 Off-season: The Clash Question
Just read on the PC thread that the AD says Leaman has what amounts to a "lifetime contract." Ouch....we know how that goes...
Yeah, no kidding. Good news for the rest of HE. Leaman can now afford to kick back, spend some quality time in East Greenwich or Newport off-hours, and let Borek do all the dirty work for him. Worked a charm at UNH.
Their last was in the regional final at Albany in 1994, against UNH. Back then the top seed, Harvard, got a first round bye. UNH played RPI the previous night and shut them out. In the final, they stayed with Harvard for two periods, were gassed in the third and got blown out.
Just another in the long line of post-season "Umiliations", I'm afraid.

Was Denver a year earlier or a year later?
Having been in sales my entire professional career, I can tell you that the biggest mistake you can make is not finding out why a long time client has left you. On the flip side, I can't tell you how many clients I picked up because their former agent wouldn't return their calls. UNH ticket office in the business of selling season tickets. If you don't find out why they are not buying, how can you improve your selling?
I've always believed the UNH ticket office works by the "Field of Dreams" ethos ... build it and they will come.

I've never ceased to be amazed at how little UNH does to market their athletics programs (in a market where they face very little competition) and how poorly they've done it when they do try. The overall apathy and complacency of UNH Athletics just permeates the place, from top to bottom.
Saviano did come a year before Collins but, from what I was told, Collins got off the fence only after Eddie Caron signed with UNH. Hard to believe now but Caron was a top recruit that year. The other thing that Reading people told me was that, although Saviano and Collins had played together forever, they went their separate ways off the ice. So not sure one was definite to follow the other.
I'm a little surprised at that, but I'm sure it's possible. I do vividly recall a road game at North Andover HS Rink - oops, Lawler Arena, f/k/a Volpe Complex at Merrimack - during Collins' frosh season, where we ended up sitting a row directly behind the Collins and Saviano families. It was pretty early in the season, and the Collins family was pretty psyched that Sean was playing such a prominent role, and the Savianos were thrilled that Steve was getting a regular shift with Sean, and was seeing a lot more ice time than he did the previous season. It was just one of those nice moments, you could kind of relate to their shared joy, and it was a fun thing to see.
Those guys spent a ton of time on the same line in their 3 years together at UNH. Seemed to have different personalities, but they were magic together out there. I find it fascinating that Saviano - who was by far the less touted of the two - is still playing pro hockey, and has enjoyed the better of the two careers after they left UNH. Collins really never got any traction in a couple of brief shots in the AHL, and has been out of pro hockey now for almost a decade. Not a lot of folks (myself included) would have predicted that at the time, but there you go, FWIW.