Mike writes on Friday:
>I see from today's paper that Bob Deraney has been named Asst. Coach at
>UMass to Joe Mallen.  Deraney was a goalie for BU in the mid 80s, and served
>as an assistant at Northeastern and most recently to Roger Demment at
>Dartmouth.  I also noticed that he spent a considerable amount of time here
>on HOCKEY-L (mostly lurking, although he did send one or two messages).
 
   Also in contention for this job was current UNH Asst. (and chief recruiter)
Brian McCloskey, who chose instead to stay at UNH after his compensation
package was "readjusted."  This is indeed good news for the UNH program, as it
keeps intact a proven coaching staff who have Big Things in mind for the 'Cats
in the future, not the least of which is a New Arena.  And speaking of which -
 
Mike continues with his synopsis of the Boston Globe sports pages:
>Today, the paper says that UNH authorized $40 million worth of work at the
>school including $18 million to convert Snively into a recreational sports
>center and build a new rink and convocation center.  Just as Jim Love told
>us :-)  Since rumor is that Lowell is going to announce construction of
>an on-campus rink this summer, this means that new rinks/renovations will
>have taken place since the late 80s at 5 of the 9 HE schools: UNH, Maine,
>Lowell, UMass, and BC.  Hopefully Merrimack will not be too far behind...
 
  There's good news, and not-so-good (not bad) news in this announcement.
Yes, $40 million worth of capital improvements have been approved by the
traditionally penurious NH legislature, of which a hefty chunk is ear-marked
for construction of a new Arena and renovation/conversion of aging Snively
Arena into a Student Recreational Sports Center.  Not all the money required
for this was simply allocated by the legislature, however; current UNH under-
graduates approved a ca. $100/semester increase in their Student Activities
Fee to partially fund the Student Recreational Center, and approval of a new
Arena was contingent on much of the expected cost(s) to be borne by private
fund-raising activities, rather than an out-right grant from the beleaguered
NH taxpayers.  All but $2 million of this money is now evidently in hand, and
fund-raising is continuing to make up the remainder.
 
  However, in a move prompted by ever-rising costs, it was recently decided
that the construction of the new Arena and Snively Arena renovation would take
place SIMULTANEOUSLY rather than in two phases (Phase I - build the new Arena;
Phase II - renovate Snively once the new Arena was complete).  Contractors
estimate that over $2 million dollars (does this number sound familiar?) could
be shaved from the overall project cost by undertaking construction in this
fashion, since expensive cranes and other heavy equipment would not have to
visit the site twice.  That's fiscally pretty responsible, but it leaves the
UNH Icemen in the lurch; with Snively under renovation and no new Arena in
place, where will the Wildcats play their home games ??
 
  The current timetable proposes that construction/renovation would begin
immediately following the end of the Wildcat's 1993-94 season (hopefully not
until April :-) meaning the UNH Faithful will have another year in nostalgic
Snively Arena.  Construction is expected to take until September, 1995 (the
notorious New England weather permitting), meaning that all of the 1994-5
"home" season will have to take place off-campus.  But where ??  Unlike BC
and Harvard who worked out arrangements to play their "home" games in nearby
Walter Brown (BU) or Matthews (N'Eastern) Arenas during construction of Conte
Forum and the Bright Center, there is no such convenient facility for UNH to
make use of.  Phillips Exeter Academy in nearby Exeter, NH has a fine twin-
rink Arena, but inadequate (ca. 500) seating, a problem common to municipal
rinks in both Concord and Manchester, the nearest cities with rinks even
*marginally* adequate.  UNH has frequently played exhibition matches in
Manchester (I saw them take on the 1984 Olympic squad there), but seating
capacity (including SRO) is only 1500 or so at best.  Municipal rinks in
Dover and Portsmouth have even less.  So what to do ??  At this writing it's
not clear what will happen, although one suggestion (evidently being
considered seriously by everyone except coach Umile) is for UNH to, in
effect, "lease" each opponent's rink for one night of each home/home series.
The 'Cats would travel to Walter Brown on Friday, for example, as the
visiting team, dress in the visitors locker room and wear their dark "road"
sweaters.  On Saturday, though they would continue to dress in the visitors
locker room, they would wear their white "home" sweaters and rent the building
from BU for use of the UNH season ticket-holders, who would presumably drive
themselves or utilize charter bus service to the games.  Other than the 4+ hr.
jaunt to Orono, each of UNH's other HE opponents are relatively quite close
by, so it's easy to see why this option might seem attractive to some.  But
UNH has never drawn more than several hundred fans to Boston for road matches
at BU/BC/NE/Harvard, etc., and I don't see how that would change just be-
cause it's now designated a "home" game; if the average fan won't drive that
far for a game, s/he won't, regardless what color sweater the UNH skaters
have on.  Playing a "home" game in cavernous Conte Forum in front of several
hundred UNH fans (plus however many BC fans would opt to buy tickets as a
"visiting" fan) is not a pleasant thought.  Some solution acceptable to all
concerned will eventually be worked out; my best guess at this juncture is
that UNH ends up playing their "home" games at some combination of the Port-
land Civic Center, Merrimack or Lowell, particularly if UNH were to return
the favor in another few years when the Warriors and Chiefs are displaced by
new rink construction on *their* respective campuses.  Time will tell ....
 
Egregious (but I can't resist :-) non-hockey content:
Mike writes:
>(Heather and I went to see the Albany-Colonie Yankees (AA) host the New
>Britain Red Sox Sat night...NB led 2-0 after 8 1/2 and then surrendered
>three in the last of the ninth to lose 3-2, including a two-out two-run
>hit...why do I bother...major league, AAA, AA, it's always the same.)
 
   As it should be - the fates decree it :-)
 
(Spoken by a now older, but still cocky fan who sat behind the 3rd base
    dugout wearing a Yankee Cap that fateful Fall afternoon in 1978 :-)
 
Jim Love
UNH '79, '85G