John Duffill wrote:
 
>How do you figure Jack Semler gets credit for building this winning division
>program.  The team was not very good when he was there.  Shawn Walsh is the
>man who built this program into a force.  He deserves the credit.
 
Cathy Hart and Wayne Smith responded better than I could, especially from
the perspective that they were there from the beginning also, yet remain in
the Orono area, thereby closer to the team and program than I an now here
in Massachusetts.
 
Simply put, Jack Semler gave Maine hockey visibility and respect among
those already in college hockey.  There were few "new" programs being built
at the time Maine decided to create its program.  Odds against success were
immense.
 
No one "in the know" felt the program would succeed.  It was in Maine, for
God's sake.  What recruit would travel up 95 to the middle of nowhere for a
campus visit ?  What was Maine's "hockey tradition" ?  There were very few
rinks in Maine, it was a minor High School sport in the state; basketball
was king -- just consider "the tournament" each year.  Only a couple of
years before the Alfond was built, Sports Illustrated ran a story about
"the Pit" being one of the great venues in the country to watch college
hoops.
 
So, what DID Jack do ?  Building originally with a team of only freshmen
(OK, one wasn't), he got the program beyond the old Division II and brought
them into Division 1.  He made Orono a destination for young recruits.  The
Alfond (the arena AND the fans) made a significant impression upon
visitors.  In the pre-Grant Standbrook recruiting days, Jack got the New
England recruit not willing to play hockey in the "big city", read:Boston,
to consider instead coming to the country where they were going to be the
show, not share the sports page with the B's, the C's, etc.
 
Once the Alfond became the place to be for sports in Bangor, it was soon
noticed that basketball attendance was beginning to dwindle. It was great
for those of us from Massachusetts (the single largest out-of-state
contingent at Orono) who were brought up on hockey with #4 et. al. to see
hockey, albeit at first with not many W's.
 
Jack took a gamble with a young team and said, in effect, "stay with me,
great things will result".  And the team did, and the fans reaped the
reward.
 
As to Shawn, of course he built the national championship program.  More
accurately, I think he made one great move in Grant Standbrook being able
to attract recruits no one else did from western Canada.  Shawn had great
talent to work with as a result.
 
But, I will say this -- as with any new coach, he had someone else's
players first.  He could have failed miserably, but he is a fine coach and
did not.  He took that nucleus and built upon it to go to the final step.
 
Finally, it is a shame that Semler refuses invitations to return to Orono,
and that the University will not allow items up on the walls in the Alfond.
 
 
Enough philosophy.  Let's root for North Dakota to repeat.  I was talked
today out of giving up the final game tickets if BC met BU for the national
championship.
 
If the Bruins need a defenseman, let Beers suit up again !
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dan Doucette
UMaine 78 MPA 80
 
*** Beers may now be in the booth, but Jean-Yves Roy ***
***    should be kept with the big club in Boston     ***
***   Is there anyone better now with Providence ??  ***