13-21-1 and you think they surpassed expectations? Wow, that’s an incredibly low bar. Lost their last 5 in a row, lost twice to Stonehill, lost to some bad ECAC teams (Brown and Harvard). Will they again lose their best players in the portal just like last year? I’m glad they have some pretty good young players, but are any of them difference makers? I’d say Coach Borek gets one more season, and if the can’t get close to .500, it might be time to consider a coaching change.
I have been openly skeptical of Coach Borek before, but at this point I actually don't think it's time to change coaches. He's clearly a very good recruiter. They have a lot of potential moving forward for the 1-4 years at least (and schools like BC are going to see a drop off next season with players going pro). Now, if every talented freshman/sophomore hits the transfer portal this spring, that would change my opinion for sure. Last year obviously did not go well - neither the season, nor the post season transfer portal. I assume there was a reasonable explanation we don't know.
We'll see what happens in the portal. I know some of that also comes down to facilities. Frank Djurasevic left for Maine not because he disliked Scott Borek as a coach. He left for Maine because he felt their facilities provided him a better opportunity to develop into a pro hockey player.
That's the reality.
Merrimack is making steps to help bridge that gap.
This is not meant as a knock on the previous staff, so please don't take it that way. But, throwing out their first two seasons (because they're rebuilding then)
Borek - .447
Dennehy - .414
That's in HEA games.
I don't think the program has taken a step back (last year notwithstanding, because 2023-24 was a disappointing season, 100%). The program has taken a step forward, and I believe, based on what they have here now and what's coming in recruiting, there is a good chance they'll continue to improve over the next 2-3 years.
Going back to when Chris Serino was hired in 1999, Merrimack has a .363 winning percentage in HEA. Merrimack under Borek is .447 -- almost 100 points higher -- over the last five seasons and even if you include the first two rebuilding seasons, they're .398, which is 30 points better than their historical average.
It's all about perspective and realistic expectations. I get it. People want to see them compete top-4 every year. That has never happened. It's never come close to happening. But comparing these results to historical results can tell us if the program is moving forward ... and it is.
I hear you. I was a Merrimack athlete, and I worked for the athletic department as a graduate assistant, all back in the day haha. I think some of the discontent you see happening is people are starting to WANT and even expect a super competitive team every year. This is a good thing and Coach Dennehy used to talk about wanting to build a culture like that. So we've got a "let's go get em" attitude instead of a "well they tried." It puts heat on the program but I see it as a positive overall.
Honest Mike, I think I have realistic expectations. 5th through 7th seems reasonable with an occasional “lightning in a bottle” jump into the Top 4 (like a couple years ago).
You explained Djurasevic’s reason for leaving, but there were couple other departures of players who would have been leaders and perhaps even Captains. That’s disconcerting.
Again, I will be interested in what happens in the portal. From a MC & MC guy (‘74 & ‘78) thanks for the excellent content.
In some cases, for untold reasons, players are also told to enter the portal. I'll just say ... I don't think everyone "left Merrimack" in the portal last year. I believe there were players who were told that Merrimack decided to move on for various reasons. ... Djurasevic was the only surprise loss in the portal last year. I'm pretty confident in that.
Just knowing what they're up against in Hockey East, I don't think expecting 5-7 every year is realistic. Not at Merrimack. They are behind what other programs around them are doing. Maine is investing millions into development facilities. UNH is spending $23 million on a new training and rehab center for hockey.
It's like expecting the Oakland A's to be competitive for a playoff spot every year with the lowest payroll in MLB. Maybe they strike gold a few years, but it's not going to happen consistently.
As far as expectations, in a four-year cycle (a standard player career) I'd break it down like this.
(1) Bottom 3 year - rebuilding with younger players
(2) Finish in home ice years. 6-8.
(1) Compete for a first-round bye. Make a run at the Garden.
You and I are not far off, but I don't think competing for a bye every year is realistic. Not when you're a "small market team" comparatively, going up against the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers every night in your league.
If you look back, the last move they made (2018) was the year that many (including myself) thought they were going to make a big move and compete for a top-5 spot. Seney, Hennig, Kolquist, Larsson, Biega, Titcomb, were all seniors. They went 12-21-4. This year's team was a team led by younger players. Now, if they get to be upperclassmen and win 10-12 games? I might agree. But not when your best players were younger players.
I think the portal plays a big role in that. You make a move, and kiss most of those guys goodbye in the portal. You're blowing it up and starting from scratch. A lot of this is about relationships and those players aren't going to stay here if those relationships get blown up. So why lose that momentum right now? That doesn't make sense to me.
Northern Michigan was set to have a pretty good year this year. They lost some guys in the portal but had a top-3 recruiting class. Grant Potulny left (wasn't promised an extension so he left) and that class blew up before they even arrived on campus, and a bunch of returners transferred. They finished the year 5-27-2. That's what I think would happen.
Yeah, I think that's surpassing expectations. They had the same record as last year, with all younger players, and they played in a tougher league (HEA was statistically harder this year than last year). Their HEA win% went from .275 to almost .400, and again, with mostly freshmen and sophomores in key roles.
I hate to keep beating this drum, but expectations need to be realistic. As a program, they've hit .500 or better in 4 out of almost 40 seasons. It's not the coach. It wasn't the coach with Mark Dennehy, either. Merrimack is systemically behind GIANTS in its league. It's an uphill climb, every year.
I'd argue a lot of this year's freshmen made an impact. Are they James Hagens or Ryan Leonard? No. But Merrimack is NEVER going to get those players.
Again, you look at every available power ranking and this year's team significantly out-performed last year's team, despite the record being the same. The strength of the league needs to be included. The CHN power ranking system would have expected this year's team to beat last year's team 2/3 times.
Last year was a disappointment, given the talent they returned from 2022-23. This year they underwent wholesale changes, lost a top-6 center (Hillier) before the season even began, and still outperformed last year's team.
Hats off to Coach Borak, measure what matters, team vs Stonehill and team tonight vsNortheastern - no comparison.
Borak and his crew of coaches recruited these talented young players, nurtured and brought them along - 3/4 of the team Fr/So returning, w/o portal transfers, Canadian hockey league eligibility, and a another great class of incoming freshman committed to Merrimack. The future is bright for this team and this coach if we can keep them all together. Go Warriors!
Trio of forwards in Pierre, Fitzpatrick and Cranston that should only get better. Fitzpatrick might be the 1st freshmen center I’ve seen in Hockey East that plays in all situations. There’s enough talent coming back that the team should at least be competitive. Hopefully they don’t lose any of them to the portal.
13-21-1 and you think they surpassed expectations? Wow, that’s an incredibly low bar. Lost their last 5 in a row, lost twice to Stonehill, lost to some bad ECAC teams (Brown and Harvard). Will they again lose their best players in the portal just like last year? I’m glad they have some pretty good young players, but are any of them difference makers? I’d say Coach Borek gets one more season, and if the can’t get close to .500, it might be time to consider a coaching change.
I have been openly skeptical of Coach Borek before, but at this point I actually don't think it's time to change coaches. He's clearly a very good recruiter. They have a lot of potential moving forward for the 1-4 years at least (and schools like BC are going to see a drop off next season with players going pro). Now, if every talented freshman/sophomore hits the transfer portal this spring, that would change my opinion for sure. Last year obviously did not go well - neither the season, nor the post season transfer portal. I assume there was a reasonable explanation we don't know.
We'll see what happens in the portal. I know some of that also comes down to facilities. Frank Djurasevic left for Maine not because he disliked Scott Borek as a coach. He left for Maine because he felt their facilities provided him a better opportunity to develop into a pro hockey player.
That's the reality.
Merrimack is making steps to help bridge that gap.
This is not meant as a knock on the previous staff, so please don't take it that way. But, throwing out their first two seasons (because they're rebuilding then)
Borek - .447
Dennehy - .414
That's in HEA games.
I don't think the program has taken a step back (last year notwithstanding, because 2023-24 was a disappointing season, 100%). The program has taken a step forward, and I believe, based on what they have here now and what's coming in recruiting, there is a good chance they'll continue to improve over the next 2-3 years.
Going back to when Chris Serino was hired in 1999, Merrimack has a .363 winning percentage in HEA. Merrimack under Borek is .447 -- almost 100 points higher -- over the last five seasons and even if you include the first two rebuilding seasons, they're .398, which is 30 points better than their historical average.
It's all about perspective and realistic expectations. I get it. People want to see them compete top-4 every year. That has never happened. It's never come close to happening. But comparing these results to historical results can tell us if the program is moving forward ... and it is.
I hear you. I was a Merrimack athlete, and I worked for the athletic department as a graduate assistant, all back in the day haha. I think some of the discontent you see happening is people are starting to WANT and even expect a super competitive team every year. This is a good thing and Coach Dennehy used to talk about wanting to build a culture like that. So we've got a "let's go get em" attitude instead of a "well they tried." It puts heat on the program but I see it as a positive overall.
It's not a bad thing to aspire to be great. I totally agree.
Honest Mike, I think I have realistic expectations. 5th through 7th seems reasonable with an occasional “lightning in a bottle” jump into the Top 4 (like a couple years ago).
You explained Djurasevic’s reason for leaving, but there were couple other departures of players who would have been leaders and perhaps even Captains. That’s disconcerting.
Again, I will be interested in what happens in the portal. From a MC & MC guy (‘74 & ‘78) thanks for the excellent content.
Double MC! Same here! haha
In some cases, for untold reasons, players are also told to enter the portal. I'll just say ... I don't think everyone "left Merrimack" in the portal last year. I believe there were players who were told that Merrimack decided to move on for various reasons. ... Djurasevic was the only surprise loss in the portal last year. I'm pretty confident in that.
Just knowing what they're up against in Hockey East, I don't think expecting 5-7 every year is realistic. Not at Merrimack. They are behind what other programs around them are doing. Maine is investing millions into development facilities. UNH is spending $23 million on a new training and rehab center for hockey.
It's like expecting the Oakland A's to be competitive for a playoff spot every year with the lowest payroll in MLB. Maybe they strike gold a few years, but it's not going to happen consistently.
As far as expectations, in a four-year cycle (a standard player career) I'd break it down like this.
(1) Bottom 3 year - rebuilding with younger players
(2) Finish in home ice years. 6-8.
(1) Compete for a first-round bye. Make a run at the Garden.
You and I are not far off, but I don't think competing for a bye every year is realistic. Not when you're a "small market team" comparatively, going up against the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers every night in your league.
If you look back, the last move they made (2018) was the year that many (including myself) thought they were going to make a big move and compete for a top-5 spot. Seney, Hennig, Kolquist, Larsson, Biega, Titcomb, were all seniors. They went 12-21-4. This year's team was a team led by younger players. Now, if they get to be upperclassmen and win 10-12 games? I might agree. But not when your best players were younger players.
I think the portal plays a big role in that. You make a move, and kiss most of those guys goodbye in the portal. You're blowing it up and starting from scratch. A lot of this is about relationships and those players aren't going to stay here if those relationships get blown up. So why lose that momentum right now? That doesn't make sense to me.
Northern Michigan was set to have a pretty good year this year. They lost some guys in the portal but had a top-3 recruiting class. Grant Potulny left (wasn't promised an extension so he left) and that class blew up before they even arrived on campus, and a bunch of returners transferred. They finished the year 5-27-2. That's what I think would happen.
Yeah, I think that's surpassing expectations. They had the same record as last year, with all younger players, and they played in a tougher league (HEA was statistically harder this year than last year). Their HEA win% went from .275 to almost .400, and again, with mostly freshmen and sophomores in key roles.
I hate to keep beating this drum, but expectations need to be realistic. As a program, they've hit .500 or better in 4 out of almost 40 seasons. It's not the coach. It wasn't the coach with Mark Dennehy, either. Merrimack is systemically behind GIANTS in its league. It's an uphill climb, every year.
I'd argue a lot of this year's freshmen made an impact. Are they James Hagens or Ryan Leonard? No. But Merrimack is NEVER going to get those players.
Again, you look at every available power ranking and this year's team significantly out-performed last year's team, despite the record being the same. The strength of the league needs to be included. The CHN power ranking system would have expected this year's team to beat last year's team 2/3 times.
Last year was a disappointment, given the talent they returned from 2022-23. This year they underwent wholesale changes, lost a top-6 center (Hillier) before the season even began, and still outperformed last year's team.
That's a big step forward.
Hats off to Coach Borak, measure what matters, team vs Stonehill and team tonight vsNortheastern - no comparison.
Borak and his crew of coaches recruited these talented young players, nurtured and brought them along - 3/4 of the team Fr/So returning, w/o portal transfers, Canadian hockey league eligibility, and a another great class of incoming freshman committed to Merrimack. The future is bright for this team and this coach if we can keep them all together. Go Warriors!
Trio of forwards in Pierre, Fitzpatrick and Cranston that should only get better. Fitzpatrick might be the 1st freshmen center I’ve seen in Hockey East that plays in all situations. There’s enough talent coming back that the team should at least be competitive. Hopefully they don’t lose any of them to the portal.