UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

On the surface, Colin MacDonald is a curious choice as a captain. As Greg points out, by virtue of the "C" he immediately goes from spare part forward to someone taking a regular turn on one of the top three lines, every night.

And I'll echo Ned's thoughts ... this is the reason I'd prefer to see Coach picking the captains.

Having said that, I hope MacDonald has an Austin Block/Jay Camper senior-out-of-obscurity season.

 

[Greg A]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

On the surface, Colin MacDonald is a curious choice as a captain. As Greg points out, by virtue of the "C" he immediately goes from spare part forward to someone taking a regular turn on one of the top three lines, every night.

And I'll echo Ned's thoughts ... this is the reason I'd prefer to see Coach picking the captains.

Having said that, I hope MacDonald has an Austin Block/Jay Camper senior-out-of-obscurity season.

I don't think that players ever have the final say as to who the captains are. They have input, but this isn't Little League. If the player's choices were out in left field, I'm sure the coach would step in. But I doubt there is ever a need since the players and the coaches are pretty much on the same page when it comes to this stuff. That's why some years what seems to be an obvious choice doesn't happen, while in other years you get a choice like MacDonald. That leads me to believe that Umile has plans for MacDonald, like all seniors, to expand his role next season. As we all know, Umile is partial to his seniors so I fully expect that they all will be given ample opportunity to succeed or fail

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

I don't think that players ever have the final say as to who the captains are. They have input, but this isn't Little League. If the player's choices were out in left field, I'm sure the coach would step in. But I doubt there is ever a need since the players and the coaches are pretty much on the same page when it comes to this stuff. That's why some years what seems to be an obvious choice doesn't happen, while in other years you get a choice like MacDonald. That leads me to believe that Umile has plans for MacDonald, like all seniors, to expand his role next season. As we all know, Umile is partial to his seniors so I fully expect that they all will be given ample opportunity to succeed or fail

I can honestly say that in my many years of closely following the UNH Men's Hockey program, I've never been quite as surprised by their choice of captain as I am for this coming season. Suffice to say, the options were not compelling, given the low-profile nature of next year's senior class ... but to say MacDonald was a dark horse candidate would be an understatement. Quast or Hill would've been less surprising, at least to me. But I'm an outsider, so "surprises" are bound to happen when you don't know the "inner workings".

What I really hope this isn't about is the recovery from the broken leg "theme". While that's admirable, it shouldn't require some cause or special honor to be attached to it. As a society, we seem to have gravitated to honoring themes and concepts with campaigns to bestow honors on folks, as opposed to simply awarding those who achieve without the bells, whistles or "special causes". Although colleges seem to be at the front of that parade, as anyone who's recently gone through the college application process probably knows, so perhaps this approach is fitting, given the surroundings.

Just a very very curious selection ... and with that said, I hope MacDonald leads from the front and pops in a dozen goals next season while he's at it. JMHO

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

A bit of sleuthing revealed to me that Collin may have broken his leg in mid-February in 2014. But, he played in only 16 games that season, so about half of the games up to mid-February. This past season, he played in 20 games, nearly all during the first half of the season, when he scored his 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists). He did play in a couple of games during the second half, but I am wondering if he had a relapse with his leg injury? Or, were the 18 or so games that he missed during the second half healthy scratches? In any case, I agree that Collin is a most interesting selection to be captain this coming season. He does carry a 3.9 GPA, and I seem to recall that Busch and Foley were 4.0 GPA guys and captains or co-captains(?), usually toiling away on lower lines. So, here is my hypothesis (will never qualify as a theory): perhaps by having a fourth liner standing around on the ice waiting for video replays to be run by the refs, the front liners get more rest on the bench? Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

As for his potential as a scorer, this is what US Hockey Report said about him when he committed to UNH in August 2011:

Interesting USHR view of Collin MacDonald. It would seem a well reasoned view in 2011 looking into the future. Guy scored a pile of goals in high school, has nice size, seems to skate well. He then followed it up in EJHL at a goal every other game and a point a game pace in his first full year on a team with a bunch of players the same age. Therefore one year out the Aug 2011 report still looks good. However we now have 3 years at the college level to look back on and additionally look at the players from the 2011-2012 EJHL campaign in comparison.

I will admit looking back from today is sorta like telling you it is a great stock tip to buy a bunch of Berkshire Hathaway in March of 1980 at $260 a share and just hold it until today.

I hope that the broken femur has just stunted his development. That he is a classic late bloomer and the shot that a 300 plus goal scorer must have is still there. It would be great to see Collin pull together a 15-20 goal senior season. The last 3 years however indicate he is a 4th liner at best at the D1 level.

It is an interesting pick for captain regardless of scoring it is interesting simply because he has only once played (just) more than 50% of a season in 3 years.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

"UNH Captain Collin MacDonald Looks Forward to 2015-16 Season"
Includes an interview.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Holy crap, a junior coach making comparisons between JvR and MacDonald now???

Has MacDonald ever even dressed for a postseason game at UNH? If so, maybe 1-2?? Serious question ...

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

"UNH Captain Collin MacDonald Looks Forward to 2015-16 Season"
Includes an interview.

Nice interview. You didn't shy away from some harder questions at the end. Thanks for taking the time to do and post this stuff.

Collin did a nice job with the answers too.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Holy crap, a junior coach making comparisons between JvR and MacDonald now???

Has MacDonald ever even dressed for a postseason game at UNH? If so, maybe 1-2?? Serious question ...

Uno. After not playing in the three PC HE quarters games, nor the DU game in the NCAA regionals, he registered 1 SOG in the loss to UML in 2013.

Trivia quiz:
1) Who were the #2 and #3 stars of that 5-2 win over DU?
2) How many SOG did these two stars each register?
3) What were the final SOG totals for the two teams?

 

[HockeyRef]

Uno. After not playing in the three PC HE quarters games, nor the DU game in the NCAA regionals, he registered 1 SOG in the loss to UML in 2013.

Trivia quiz:
1) Who were the #2 and #3 stars of that 5-2 win over DU?
2) How many SOG did these two stars each register?
3) What were the final SOG totals for the two teams?

Will take a stab at q1: Thrush and TvR?

 

[C-H-C]

Uno. After not playing in the three PC HE quarters games, nor the DU game in the NCAA regionals, he registered 1 SOG in the loss to UML in 2013.

Trivia quiz:
1) Who were the #2 and #3 stars of that 5-2 win over DU?
2) How many SOG did these two stars each register?
3) What were the final SOG totals for the two teams?

I don't remember who got the official stars but I gave Casey Thrush the #1 star (2 goals, 4 SOG), John Henrion the #2 Star (1 goal), and Casey DeSmith the #3 Star:

"UNH Eliminates Denver 5-2"

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

I don't remember who got the official stars but I gave Casey Thrush the #1 star (2 goals, 4 SOG), John Henrion the #2 Star (1 goal), and Casey DeSmith the #3 Star

http://unhhockeyblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/unh-eliminates-denver-5-2.html?m=0

Two negatives for Ref, although I agree with both you and Mike about Thrush deserving a star. But, Mike matched the source for the box score on Henrion for second star. Quentin Shore got first star. The third star's name came up not far above in this thread. I put the SOG questions in there for Chuck, of course.

That was a fine game write up, Mike. And, as noted earlier, the DU goon tactics on Downing, and especially Nick Shore on Goumas, who did not play the next night against UML, probably was responsible for preventing another FF appearance by UNH.

 

[catsfan]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

I don't think that players ever have the final say as to who the captains are. They have input, but this isn't Little League. If the player's choices were out in left field, I'm sure the coach would step in. But I doubt there is ever a need since the players and the coaches are pretty much on the same page when it comes to this stuff. That's why some years what seems to be an obvious choice doesn't happen, while in other years you get a choice like MacDonald. That leads me to believe that Umile has plans for MacDonald, like all seniors, to expand his role next season. As we all know, Umile is partial to his seniors so I fully expect that they all will be given ample opportunity to succeed or fail

Agree that it is not just up to the players. This isn't a democracy. I asked coach about this once and he gave me far from a direct answer.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Uno. After not playing in the three PC HE quarters games, nor the DU game in the NCAA regionals, he registered 1 SOG in the loss to UML in 2013.

Great. One (1) career postseason game for your 2015/2016 UNH Men's Hockey Captain, Collin MacDonald.

Please, someone, tell me how this works, when your chosen leader lacks the gravitas as a player OR as a leader to get everyone in line and on the same page when the chips are down in the biggest games ... since said same chosen leader has virtually never been there in those settings before???

Really, honest to God, this is nucking futs. Pardon my French. And just when I thought the program was turning a corner, we get a Captain who's barely dressed 50% of his career, spent it entirely on the 4th line - AND with virtually zero postseason experience as the piece de resistance. Genius, I tellya. But screw that, he's wicked smaht, worked hard to come back from a serious injury, used to skate like JvR, and everyone likes him. Maybe he helps his teammates with their homework, too.

Back in the day, someone with those attributes would be chosen as honorary team manager. Now we stitch a "C" on their jersey. Wow. Simply wow. Only at UNH. And we wonder why the likes of UMaine, Union, Yale, Providence, etc. (you can probably add UMass Lowell to that list in the next 5 years) make the big jump, and UNH finds new and exciting ways to come up short.

At least when they made career back-up goalie Jeff Wyer an alternate captain two seasons back, it was only as an alternate. That was puzzling too, but maybe it was just foreshadowing for this latest beauty.

I guess making Kelleher a captain (even an alternate) a year "early" was just plain crazy thinking.

Somewhere down in the Carolinas, Brett Pesce is chuckling, knowing he made the right decision after all ...

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Great. One (1) career postseason game for your 2015/2016 UNH Men's Hockey Captain, Collin MacDonald.

Please, someone, tell me how this works, when your chosen leader lacks the gravitas as a player OR as a leader to get everyone in line and on the same page when the chips are down in the biggest games ... since said same chosen leader has virtually never been there in those settings before???

Really, honest to God, this is nucking futs. Pardon my French. And just when I thought the program was turning a corner, we get a Captain who's barely dressed 50% of his career, spent it entirely on the 4th line - AND with virtually zero postseason experience as the piece de resistance. Genius, I tellya. But screw that, he's wicked smaht, worked hard to come back from a serious injury, used to skate like JvR, and everyone likes him. Maybe he helps his teammates with their homework, too.

Back in the day, someone with those attributes would be chosen as honorary team manager. Now we stitch a "C" on their jersey. Wow. Simply wow. Only at UNH. And we wonder why the likes of UMaine, Union, Yale, Providence, etc. (you can probably add UMass Lowell to that list in the next 5 years) make the big jump, and UNH finds new and exciting ways to come up short.

At least when they made career back-up goalie Jeff Wyer an alternate captain two seasons back, it was only as an alternate. That was puzzling too, but maybe it was just foreshadowing for this latest beauty.

I guess making Kelleher a captain (even an alternate) a year "early" was just plain crazy thinking.

Somewhere down in the Carolinas, Brett Pesce is chuckling, knowing he made the right decision after all ...

My hypothesis in post #624 is gaining more and more ice cred, I think.

 

[Greg A]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Great. One (1) career postseason game for your 2015/2016 UNH Men's Hockey Captain, Collin MacDonald.

Please, someone, tell me how this works, when your chosen leader lacks the gravitas as a player OR as a leader to get everyone in line and on the same page when the chips are down in the biggest games ... since said same chosen leader has virtually never been there in those settings before???

Really, honest to God, this is nucking futs. Pardon my French. And just when I thought the program was turning a corner, we get a Captain who's barely dressed 50% of his career, spent it entirely on the 4th line - AND with virtually zero postseason experience as the piece de resistance. Genius, I tellya. But screw that, he's wicked smaht, worked hard to come back from a serious injury, used to skate like JvR, and everyone likes him. Maybe he helps his teammates with their homework, too.

Back in the day, someone with those attributes would be chosen as honorary team manager. Now we stitch a "C" on their jersey. Wow. Simply wow. Only at UNH. And we wonder why the likes of UMaine, Union, Yale, Providence, etc. (you can probably add UMass Lowell to that list in the next 5 years) make the big jump, and UNH finds new and exciting ways to come up short.

At least when they made career back-up goalie Jeff Wyer an alternate captain two seasons back, it was only as an alternate. That was puzzling too, but maybe it was just foreshadowing for this latest beauty.

I guess making Kelleher a captain (even an alternate) a year "early" was just plain crazy thinking.

Somewhere down in the Carolinas, Brett Pesce is chuckling, knowing he made the right decision after all ...

My initial reaction upon learning that MacDonald was chosen captain was that it was a very curioius choice. I have been following UNH Hockey since 1970 and, honestly, I can't think of a captain that they have had that I know so little about. Mike's interview with MacDonald cleared up some of the mystery but, honestly, I am still puzzled. I had known that MacDonald had broken his leg, had missed the better part of one season but came back the next. The interview seemed to imply that MacDonald was not at full capacity and that the lingering effects from the injury restricted what he could do this past season. And now, it seems, he is fully healthy and that there is hope that he will be able to fulfill the promise that many had predicted for him. And on the basis of his tenacity in recovering from his injury, he became an inspiration for his teammates, so much so that they decided to elect him captain. I can buy that. And I can buy the fact that Umile was in agreement because the same scenario played out when Patrick Foley was awarded an A in his second year of play (redshirt sophomore) and third, then was captain as a senior. As we all know, Foley overcame serious injury as well to get back onto the ice. But he was a two year A before he was named captain, and having played a considerable amount, came into his role with plenty of experience. I don't want to criticize the MacDonald choice because, after all, the players and the coaches know the player better than any of us. I just want to register that it is a head scratcher at some level.

 

[Snively65]

Two negatives for Ref, although I agree with both you and Mike about Thrush deserving a star. But, Mike matched the source for the box score on Henrion for second star. Quentin Shore got first star. The third star's name came up not far above in this thread. I put the SOG questions in there for Chuck, of course.

Ok, quiz time is up. The third official star of the 5-2 win over DU in the regionals was none other than Austin Block, he of coming from nowhere during senior year fame. Austin and John Henrion each notched nine SOG in that game, as noted by Mike in his write up. Also, UNH outshot DU 41-33, back in the day when SOG mattered, right e.cat?

 

[JB]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Ok, quiz time is up. The third official star of the 5-2 win over DU in the regionals was none other than Austin Block, he of coming from nowhere during senior year fame. Austin and John Henrion each notched nine SOG in that game, as noted by Mike in his write up. Also, UNH outshot DU 41-33, back in the day when SOG mattered, right e.cat?

You are killing me with the SOG nonsense. I know it is done tongue in cheek for Chuck but IMO it has gone on too long now.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Wildcats TD Garden and Beyond 2015

Ok, quiz time is up. The third official star of the 5-2 win over DU in the regionals was none other than Austin Block, he of coming from nowhere during senior year fame.

I'm going to be honest here, I feel like it is a Umile staple lately to get some seniors to really make a nice jump and have a nice season 40 point+ season. The good news is that kept them afloat for a long time when some folks (choo choo) predicted their demise to the bottom. The not so great news is that there just weren't enough impact type of guys in the lower classes to be able to put them in the serious contender category.

Doing some quick research on considerable junior to senior jumps of recent forwards:

Thompson 39 to 52
Butler 30 to 53
Goumas 42 to 52
Sorkin 17 to 41
Sislo 29 to 48

Not bad. All good progressions.

 

[HockeyRef]

You are killing me with the SOG nonsense. I know it is done tongue in cheek for Chuck but IMO it has gone on too long now.

Almost like the Collin MacD stuff.

Seriously guys totally get where you're coming from but believe he will make a great captain. Gotta support the kid I believe he's good for it...