On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 12:30 AM, John Forsyth <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

After the BU debacle in December and Tim's interview with WABI in which he
said attempts to remove him as coach were an attack on the program and
players, I wrote to some of those players and let them know it was not
necessarily true (I can't speak for the nuts at USCHO). One of the replies
I received made it plain that the players supported the coach and that they
were going to work hard to get better on the ice. There was more accountability in what he wrote than we've heard from the guy in charge.
What he said was worthy of a captain. There can be no doubt they have
worked much harder and the results have followed. I am incredibly proud of
this group of players.

As someone who's been watching the UMaine hockey program from afar (Virginia) for the last 10 years or so, I'm probably less connected to the program than most of the members of this list. That said, I think there's a better than 0% chance (which may only be a 5% chance) that all of the hand-wringing earlier this season actually had an effect on the team and/or coach. I honestly don't think it's a coincidence that some of the best performances of the season followed the rather public call-out of the program. I hope it's enough to get them through the rest of the season, but I do think that sometimes it's beneficial for a program to be reminded of the fact that people can be picky in how they give their allegiance.

Nothing would make me happier than to see the current coach/team make their way to the Frozen Four or beyond. I don't want to see Tim go anywhere unless he proves that he can't go anywhere...