I'm not (yet) a snowbird and haven't traveled to the FL tournament, so I
can't gauge its popularity in the form of attendance, but I assume it's not
very good, else it would be paying for itself.  With few exceptions, the
teams have been ECAC & HEA, so is this a showcase or a working vacation?
If I was a recruit, I'd find the FL trip attractive, but have the
successful recruits found this to be true?

It might be interesting to ask Red if he supported dropping the FL
tournament?

The article, or something else I've read recently, suggested that "in
exchange", an extra pair of UNH games will provide the cross-state game
that each team wants and the best chance of making money off the series.
If you believe the connection, it could be a good deal and what the program
needs to adjust to the increased costs both inherent to the times and with
the advent of a Notre Dame trip.

I don't know about "a hot mess", but it should help that the new AD will
reside in the area, especially if he is as good as everyone hopes.  (I'm
not complaining about Steve Abbott ... he fired two coaches and then hired
very good replacements (Women's B-ball and Men's ice Hockey) to turn around
programs, as well as dealing with apparently unforeseen difficulties in the
Memorial Gym upgrade.

On the other hand, I'm not sure that UMaine has ever operated a sport with
better funding than the most successful schools.

Cheers, Wayne

On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 2:07 PM, Deron Treadwell
<[log in to unmask]>wrote, in part:

> I'm concerned about this -- not about doing something different than the
> Florida tournament, that's fine -- but more about the implication that it
> is more for cost cutting measures than anything.
>
> My biggest fear is that "Maine hockey" has had its glory day and will
> never return.  I know we are all encouraged, but this is more than just
> having a top flight coach.  To be a premier program you also have to be
> able to fund and compete as such.  That takes a lot of money.  There are
> many, many hard working volunteers that are trying to do as much as they
> can, but you also need institutional support and resources too.  People are
> telling me the budget for the athletic department is a hot mess.  Is this
> true and is this Florida decision an outgrowth of that mess?
>