UNH Wildcats 2021/2022 - Return of the Champions of October?

[HockeyRef]

I guess that completes the MacKinnon-Souza disconnect, although I think Dan had a fair take on why players and coaches are wired differently to see the talent deltas differently.

Putting that aside, I thought it was actually a pretty decent interview, but after reading it a couple of times, I really don't have a sense of any guiding light or focused philosophy in place with MS7. He's still relatively new at the job, and I don't think he's alone in picking out certain quotes or theories from guys like Cassidy and Bazin. I know I hunted & pecked around for awhile for concepts and inspirations for what I did/do in coaching, so that's part of the process.

If MS7 is eventually going to make his mark in this profession, he's going to have to settle on his own style and how to sell it best, and hopefully sooner than later. A lot of folks get their first shot at being in charge before they get to this level, so it's something other folks might have a head start on by the time they get to this point. But if you read this interview, and you compare it to post-hire interviews with Coach Barr up at UMaine, if you're like me, you come away with a clearer picture of expectations and vision from Barr, and (despite enjoying a several year head start) not so much of either from Souza.

I want UNH to win. So does MS7 (loved his quote about analytics). It would be great if UNH could win under Coach Souza, but unless he has a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish, and an understanding of how to get there from here, then he's probably just going to be "spinning his wheels" with UNH in neutral, while we all get older and grayer (MS7 included).

Time is not on his side. Eventually, you are what your record says you are. That's not good ...

Interesting look at the interview Chuck and your feeling that Mike Souza just need to find HIS way and do it. I can see that. He has to take his stand away from the mentors (not that he did not learn from any of his former HC's) and strike his own chord. And be sure of it. Hopefully, he grows into that soon and feels good about it. He deserves it; as a former elite player and now a HC of a DI program who's fans are looking for a definite shift of things.

I personally think he has a lot of give and wants to win. I heard the man say 'Unh will win the National Championship' at a FOH meeting. That is not in question. I'm just looking for less of "I need to coach that better" (although I have always valued honesty in a person) and more of an assertive path that has direction and utilizes the talent he does have. Am pulling for him and his staff!

 

[Dan]

Its the transition questions and answers in that article for me - Nothing says unbroken and on the path to success like a .361 winning-percentage...

CHN: Let me ask you about how you became head coach because UNH did something that I can never understand why more teams don’t do — they promoted from within. It makes your transition as head coach so much easier. Why don’t more teams do that? I can see where you have a broken program and they need to clean house but often that is not the case.

 

[HockeyRef]

College kids take on UNH Hockey on "Inside the 'Whitt" podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lf9bHz6zxZ7TJvz8yvn0R

 

[Felger]

Its the transition questions and answers in that article for me - Nothing says unbroken and on the path to success like a .361 winning-percentage...

I thought Chuck would be all over the answer to that question.

 

[Snively65]

...and that was? I remember hockydad; not a fan of the U. Connected (father was speculated ???) to the phenom we missed out on Mike V; the past is the past but oh, what might have been. It's time UNH gets a break...we knew Stutzle wasn't going to come but gee some of these other players who get recruited and do not play for us...sigh.

Yup, “why cannot we get players like dat? Oh …………. Wait………..”

UNH six-season record 2009/10 - 2014/15: 116-93-26

UNH six-season record 2015/16 - 2020/21: 79-104-33

What happened to begin the 2015/16 season that was coincident with a stepwise inflection point in the long downward slide that began after Thomas Vanek broke open that fateful April 2003 loss in Buffalo?

Answer: Installation of the high-definition, center-hung scoreboard (aka Jumbotron) at the Whitt, which was supposed to seal the deal with high-end recruits. Instead, apparently the Jumbotron scares high-end recruits away.

Disclaimer: I was for the Jumbotron before I was against the Jumbotron.

 

[Chuck Murray]

UNH six-season record 2009/10 - 2014/15: 116-93-26

UNH six-season record 2015/16 - 2020/21: 79-104-33

What happened to begin the 2015/16 season that was coincident with a stepwise inflection point in the long downward slide that began after Thomas Vanek broke open that fateful April 2003 loss in Buffalo?

Answer: Installation of the high-definition, center-hung scoreboard (aka Jumbotron) at the Whitt, which was supposed to seal the deal with high-end recruits. Instead, apparently the Jumbotron scares high-end recruits away.

Disclaimer: I was for the Jumbotron before I was against the Jumbotron.

Finally, it comes down to Snives unearthing the "inflection point" of the program's recent history. ;-)

Its the transition questions and answers in that article for me - Nothing says unbroken and on the path to success like a .361 winning-percentage...

You didn't really expect the interviewer to lob that grenade into Chez Souza, did you Dan?!?

I love college hockey, but witheringly objective interviews aren't a strong suit in this universe.

If not for the USCHO Fan Forums, there would rarely be any print criticism of any HEA HC.

Ultimately, it's still not much more than a niche sport, so not only are programs grateful for whatever coverage they get, the few folks that provide that coverage are equally (if not more) grateful they get to do this stuff. So the media ask softballs so they don't alienate themselves from their subjects, and it's all buddy-buddy to provide fluffy low-calorie media content - not hardball stuff that might get a coach/pal fired, or (more importantly) some low level media slug ostracized.

You are what your record says you are, and .361 speaks volumes. As I said, time is not on MS7's side.

 

[Snively65]

Why cannot we have a team with a 14-0-2 record? Oh ……. Wait ……..

 

[Chuck Murray]

Why cannot we have a team with a 14-0-2 record? Oh ……. Wait ……..

It's practically the "Golden Age of Soccer" here in the Northeast. In the ever-improving MLS, your New England Revolution just set league records for regular season wins and points, whilst your UNH Wildcats remain firmly in the top ten of the NCAA D-1 Men's coaches' poll.

DI Men's Soccer Rankings - United Soccer Coaches | NCAA.com

UNH wraps up their regular season on Monday night in Lowell, and then gets a bye into the America East semifinals with a home date the Wednesday after next (11/10/21) against the always-formidable TBD program. UNH has outscored its opponents 38-7 over the course of the 16 game season to date, and has not allowed more than a single goal in a game.

UNH Head Coach Marc Hubbard has also won an NCAA D-2 national title at SNHU in 2013. His UNH bio page just reeks of success after success, whether it be in his current capacity, at SNHU, his previous UNH stint as an assistant coach, and as a player with his HS and club teams.

Marc Hubbard - Head Coach - Men's Soccer Coaches - University of New Hampshire Athletics (unhwildcats.com)

He is a few years younger than our MS7, but the difference in their respective accomplishments is stark. I will also share a brief example of what can make the difference for a guy like Hubbard, who when he was at SNHU would amass a prodigious e-mail listing of local soccer coaches, and act pretty much as his own Sports Information Director in pumping out updates on his Hooksett-based program, setting up scads of special events to draw fans (and potential future players) to their games. They even had a few times where they hosted some prominent national club teams during the summer, where you could see some pretty prominent talent from the US Women's National Team (at the time) performing far away from the bright lights of ESPN. Folks like me would gather up some of our budding young players to go check this stuff out, and it made quite an impression on the kids AND their parents.

This is a guy who lives soccer, has been a winner his whole life, and is just now beginning to reap the rewards of his efforts with thousands of folks as witnesses - not just the hundreds (SNHU) or dozens (HS/club) who would have witnessed those at his past stops up the ladder. He's a Durham guy, too, so there's a very good chance he's not going anywhere, since a D-1 head coaching paycheck is still better than most paygrade options he might have here in the US (save a couple dozen MLS top jobs, with a fraction of the job security).

So when you hear the endless litany of lame a$$ excuses trotted out by UNH Men's Hockey about why they can't compete at the top levels of a (much smaller) national D-1 line-up ... just remember what Coach Hubbard is doing across the street, and understand the utter BS being shoveled your way ...

 

[Chuck Murray]

Small detail I just noticed ... if you go to their respective UNH team pages, you will notice that Coach Hubbard provides both his phone number (TBF it's probably a general menu number in the UNH Athletics Department) and his work e-mail address. Coach Souza only provides the phone number, and NOT his e-mail address (he leaves that for his assistants to do). Is that something he decided all on his own, or do we have his mentors (Umile and Luce) to thank for this standoffish approach?

Not saying it's a huge issue, but as they say, sometimes the devil is in the details ...

 

[HockeyRef]

Heard there were 5k at the last home (Men's soccer) game...think I've been in the 'Whitt maybe a handful of times with that many people present and one was a political event..... Regardless, it must have been something night after night in the hockey hey day to be there with that many (plus 1500 more) each and every game...just, wow.

 

[Jon]

Suspect your Friars will grab at least 3 out of the 4 points on the table next weekend, Jon.

Didn't look like PC had to break a sweat tonight, very methodical performance all they needed.

That seems to be the consensus on this thread, but I've seen better PC teams lose to worse UNH teams. I think they recruit goalies specifically for their ability to steal games against PC (the 2015 Hockey east quarterfinals come to mind).
PC having an "easy" game against UNH is not a sentence I would have expected to read a decade ago, but anything would be "easy" after what PC had to do to get any result against Denver last Friday.
I totally expect PC to drop some points somewhere this weekend. Hockey East might be in the midst of a down year, but winning three teams in a row against any team in this league is probably not going to happen.

 

[Snively65]

Nice local soccer summary, Chuck. I will add that boy’s soccer always has been a strong sport at my alma mater Oyster River High, with 13 state championships between 1967 and 2020 (Hubbard played on the 1997 and 1998 teams), second only to boy’s swimming (15 state championships).

 

[HockeyRef]

Looking forward to the games this weekend. Would agree Jon anything is possible. Looking for another great PC vWildcats match up! Go 'Cats!

 

[Dan]

Nice local soccer summary, Chuck. I will add that boy’s soccer always has been a strong sport at my alma mater Oyster River High, with 13 state championships between 1967 and 2020 (Hubbard played on the 1997 and 1998 teams), second only to boy’s swimming (15 state championships).

When they came to Coe-Brown we used to try to 'bully' Mark Hubbard - sometimes we won and sometimes we lost, but he wasn't going to beat us. Probably sharpened him up and a big part of his coaching success, lol...

 

[Dan]

You didn't really expect the interviewer to lob that grenade into Chez Souza, did you Dan?!?

Of course not, but I didn't expect them to tell us the sky was green. Also loved the part about how having a three-year recruiting head start "must have" been a huge advantage. Perhaps it "should have" been an advantage - but - here we are...

 

[Chuck Murray]

That seems to be the consensus on this thread, but I've seen better PC teams lose to worse UNH teams. I think they recruit goalies specifically for their ability to steal games against PC (the 2015 Hockey east quarterfinals come to mind).
PC having an "easy" game against UNH is not a sentence I would have expected to read a decade ago, but anything would be "easy" after what PC had to do to get any result against Denver last Friday.
I totally expect PC to drop some points somewhere this weekend. Hockey East might be in the midst of a down year, but winning three teams in a row against any team in this league is probably not going to happen.

I suspect you will be hard-pressed to identify a "worse UNH team" once this season gets underway in earnest, Jon. Expectations are low, and drifting even lower.

But the days of UNH goalies "stealing" games also appears to be long gone, at least in the post-Tirone era. DT was never consistent enough to be viewed as an upper echelon guy, but according to PC and UMaine fans, when he was on his game, he was one of the best out there. I understand, it was frustrating as a UNH fan that you never really knew, weekend to weekend or even game to game which DT was going to show up. But he was very athletic and when he was in the zone, he was very good at the D-1 level. You don't see too many more like him these days, there's way too many Blob Ben Bishop net-filling knock-offs proliferating the hockey world.

Just another casualty of the Analytics Era ...

 

[Chuck Murray]

Of course not, but I didn't expect them to tell us the sky was green. Also loved the part about how having a three-year recruiting head start "must have" been a huge advantage. Perhaps it "should have" been an advantage - but - here we are...

Definitely another case of a missed opportunity. They seem to be stacking up quickly, aren't they?

Cool first-hand account of your days competing against Hubbard out on the pitch BTW.

 

[wildcatdc]

Good lord, Luke Reid. What the he\_\_ was THAT??

 

[GrouchyUNHer]

JUMPIN' JEHOSAPHATS!! Can someone please explain to me why, for the love of Jesus, is Robin-sieve still in net for UNH?????

 

[norbert]

You beat me to it. Can we pleeeeeeease have anyone else. I’d play 6 people and no goalie instead of 5th year