2016-2017 Season

[Berkman]

Lost at BU tonight 2 - 1.

[Sharksrule04]

I will never understand how we've fallen this far. I don't care how bad coaching had been. In a top 2 conference (depending on the year), solid program in the early 2000's, players in the NHL.

It's just sad. I'm not expecting us to be a BC or a BU, but how do we lose a combined 11-2 to Arizona State and AIU? When I was still a student at UMass we had a proud hockey program trending up. It's hard to continually follow this team anymore.

The previous athletic director was incompetent, and he treated the hockey program like it didn't exist. You want to wonder why we're in this spot right now, look no further than John McCutcheon.

I'm not sure why people still find it a shock that the team is struggling this year, even with Carvel behind the bench. The "how are we this bad?" posts keep popping up, and it seems like the question has been answered a hundred times.

Carvel has to revamp the entire program's culture. That's an incredibly difficult thing to do, and at no point was it/should it have been expected that the team was going to all of a sudden start knocking off HEA powers this season.

Maybe it hasn't been expressed adequately how bad a state this program was in, and the Herculean task that Carvel was set with to turn it around. It has only just begun, but there are positive signs. It's not an overnight fix.

I expected us to be bad for a few years but there is a difference between bad and losing to Arizona State/AIU combined 11-2 at home bad. A team in Hockey East should never sink to that level.

I have faith Carvel can turn this around in 1-2 years to the point where we can at least be respectable but you can't deny this program has basically bottomed out. You really can't get any worse while remaining in D1.

[cox'n]

It bottomed out last year. It has started to rebuild this year.

[Marshmont_63]

UMass currently sits at 5-21-2 (2-13-1 HE) on the season. There is a legitimate chance that we don't win another game this season. After our road game with Northeastern tonight, we still have to play #12 (in the pairwise) UMass Lowell twice. We also have to play #7 Providence twice and unranked Merrimack. The Merrimack game is the only one I think we even have a decent chance to win. After the regular season concludes, we are going to play the #5 seed in Hockey East (assuming we finish dead last, which we will). The #5 seed currently is Notre Dame. Notre Dame, Vermont, and UMass Lowell are all vying for the four seed (and the bye that comes with it). I projected future points, and IMO Notre Dame will remain as the five seed. I think UVM will finish fourth and Lowell will finish sixth. Carvel and company have done a good job with recruiting, and this program is definitely trending upwards. That being said, the cupboard was left pretty bare by the last coaching staff. Hopefully we can pull off a couple wins before the season ends.

[78]

^^
Will be absolutely shocked if they sniff another win this year. It does appear they are on the rise, but this has been an absolutely miserable season. It's going to take at least two more before they can be considered competitive. The whole winter sports scene is just so depressing right now. If Bamford is able to ever turn around this athletic program, he will be getting a big job at a big school.

[transrapide]

It's just frustrating to be a bottom feeder in Hockey East for so long. It's all been said..need a rebuild and new coach needs time, which is true. But to see Lowell and PC and others improve so much, UMass should absolutely be more competitive and not the whipping boys of HE.