Re: UNH Wildcats Official Wait til Next Year...14/15 thread
Not picking on you Chuck, as I have seen similar comments many times over the years from others. But the Eagles have been placed in the pressure cooker many times in Jerry York's tenure and have been quite successful in that time.
PRESSURE is a mind set, nothing more, nothing less. It can kill some teams and some teams thrive on it. The team that is able to thrive on it, they don't actually feel 'pressure'. They are able to channel negative energy (pressure) into positive energy (inspiration). This channeling is not by accident. It starts at the top. Whether it be a team captain, a teammate, a coach, or a combination of those, it takes leadership to keep the team's head in the right place.
We've had one 'constant' over the years at BC. He's still here. No Pressure.
Edit: Not saying UNH or anyone else can't beat BC. We're very beatable this season. Just saying that 'pressure', on BC's end, will have nothing to do with it. They'll be prepared to play and be as confident as they always are for the games. You just have to out play them.
No, actually I agree with you more than you might think. You're looking at it from the BC perspective, and I couldn't agree with you more. I've been fortunate enough to have seen this scenario first-hand (first person) a few times in the last decade, and "pressure" really is what you make of it. You can view it as a great opportunity, or you can go negative and create a burden that needs not be created. Winning breeds winning, losing breeds losing, and coming up short in the big games usually begets more of the same. I'm not talking about buzzard's luck or puck luck, where an even game turns against you at the last turn (see BC vs. Michigan '98 Finals or UNH vs. UMaine '99 Finals). I'm talking about not being ready for big games, overlooking low profile tourney qualifiers, getting blown out, or not being able to close out a game with a late and/or multi-goal lead. We've seen many a talented UNH squad fall into those various potholes over the last 15+ seasons, and as much as I'd like to deny it ... that's unfortunately not been a coincidence. "Bad Umile" has to take the blame for some (if not most) of that. Of course, "Good Umile" gets them into position to compete in those games in the first place, and has managed to win some hardware (obviously not the big one yet) here and there. And "Good Umile" got this nothing team to advance (and back to .500) last night when people like myself were shoveling dirt over this year's team only a few weeks ago.
From the UNH perspective ... this IS a little different. This is NOT the typical "Champions of November" or "Regular Season Champions" UNH team, which has then more often than not felt the added pressure of expectations (admittedly self-imposed) and have then let that affect their postseason performances. This is a UNH team that had low expectations coming in, and for large chunks of the season didn't even meet those low expectations. But uncharacteristically, they've ripped off a winning streak out of nowhere at a time of the season when we've not been accustomed to seeing it happen. It's fun, and it's exciting ... and maybe most importantly, it comes with no baggage. It hasn't been since UNH was a program on the rise throughout the early and mid-'90's when they got to the postseason with next to no expectations. And not surprisingly, that's the last times they've beaten BC at this time of the season (even if once was pre-York, and the other was early York era before BC emerged from the ashes of Cedorchuk's all-too-brief tenure).
It was fun in the early Umile era to see UNH gradually climbing up the competitive pyramid (and before folks like myself began to note certain post-season *patterns*, shall we say?), and with a little bit of that underdog attitude to press them ahead further. It was only when they started getting closer and closer to the top - and in doing so creating expectations - and began regularly encountering some of the "potholes" noted above, that some of us (myself included) got demanding and/or spoiled, and that arguably began to feed upon itself. But before that all unfolded, the early "underdog" and "rising force" years of Umile's tenure were really enjoyable times for us.
For what it's worth ... at least to me, this season feels a lot like the first few seasons after Coach Umile took the helm after Coach Kullen's passing. UNH teams since the late '90's have had to deal with the collective post-season carnage of their successors, with each passing postseason seemingly adding yet another chapter of pain and disappointment. Last year's team underachieved in the regular season, but unchacteristically found their best form in the HE Tourney, where they advanced to the Finals. This year's team emerged from non-existent expectations after decimation of their talented blue line crew (and starting goalie) to again play their best hockey at what is a very un-UNH time of the season.
The optimist in me wants to think that *maybe* Coach Umile is the rare old dog that is finally beginning to learn some new tricks. The cynical me that Darius is about to post an APB on
won't believe it until Coach gets his charges into another HE title game and/or the NCAA's, and either wins hardware or comes up just short without "spitting the bit" and emerging with dignity intact.
The beautiful thing about this moment in time is that NO ONE - including myself - thinks any of this is going to happen this season, and in all likelihood not next season either. So Coach Umile has an opportunity to relish and embrace the underdog role, play without fear of failure and without the weight of expectation and/or past shortcomings, and just let his troops play with gusto and let it all hang out.
So just like I wanted UNH to play UMaine in the first round ... I REALLY want UNH to play BC in the quarters. If you want to get the attention of the disaffected UNH college hockey faithful (and NH hockey fans in general) you probably aren't going to get that by beating Providence or UMass-Lowell - even with the latter being the two-time defending HE Tourney champs. That's nothing against Providence or Lowell, mind you. You are only (potentially) going to get that buzz going in advance of next season by taking down someone like BC.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Wished I had caught that but glad I filmed the boards parade. A great bunch of guys to be sure! Go 'Cats!!
