Greg Ambrose wrote:
> As I recall, the only rookie mentioned in preseason reviews of UNH was
> Matile.  Parker and Grant Standbrook both cited him when commenting on UNH.
> As for the rest of the frosh who are playing - Souza, Shipulski, Sadowski,
> Enders and Filipowicz - I do not recall them be regarded as impact players.
 
Actually, I had Enders and Filipowicz on my preseason All-Rookie team along
with Matile (http://uscollegehockey.com/news/hea/101596.html).  Based on
their high degree of success in the USHL, both defensemen looked like
impact players.  I thought Souza would eventually be a pretty good player too,
but thought he'd have a tougher time making the adjustment to D-I coming
direct from a Mass. public high school.
 
> The ability to recruit, for the most part, is based on the perception the
> recruit has of the school (both academically and athletically), the quality
> of the program and the perceived ability of the coach.  I think you would
> agree that success breeds success and, I guess, failure breeds failure.
> Ron Anderson has been Merrimack's coach for 10+ years, this will be the
> first time he has achieved home ice in the playoffs.
 
Even if Anderson finished second in the league and had some success in
the NCAAs two of the last three years and won Coach of the Year those two
years, he'd still have a tough time recruiting.
 
How can I be sure of that?  Just look at Lowell.  That's exactly what happened
to that program and Bruce Crowder.  Even with all of Crowder's awards and
success, recruiting was still an uphill climb.
 
Just look at the recruiting classes they have after all that success.
There are some hard-work successes, but for the most part that school
remains in a we've-got-to-develop-them mode because they lose when
recruiting against the top schools.  Year after year, the most-highly
sought after recruits go elsewhere.
 
The UMass-Lowell campus, like their counterpart at Merrimack, does not have
the draw that others from BC to UNH do throughout the league.
 
And the rink situation makes things worse.  Lowell has had a rink six miles
from the campus, and with primarily commuter students, had none of the
excitement of a raucous, student-based crowd.  And of course, Merrimack's
facilities are so pathetic they make Lowell's look like the Taj Mahal.
 
If you were a potential recruit, which would appeal most to you?  UNH and
its wonderful Whittemore Center and its loud and enthusiastic 5,000+ fans,
or Maine or BU with their great fans, or BC with their facilities?  Or
would you prefer the 1,000 or so fans often at Merrimack games huddled in
front of the heaters that don't work in The Armpit of Hockey East?  Or the
six mile drive to practice each day at Lowell, playing in front of primarily
a family audience totaling 2,000 or so.
 
I've talked to a LOT of high school kids and it's clear that Merrimack and
UMass-Lowell are at the very bottom of their lists.
 
I have great respect for Coach Umile and consider the Coach of the Year
race very close between him and Ron Anderson.  I love watching UNH play,
and hope they do well in the playoffs.
 
But Umile has an enviable recruiting situation at a great school, while
Anderson is in a pitiable one.  To suggest that factors under Anderson's
control will change that just isn't right.
 
-------------------------------------------------
Dave Hendrickson     [log in to unmask]
Hockey East writer for U.S. College Hockey Online
         http://www.uscollegehockey.com
 
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