UMassHoops.com

Mark me down as one who would prefer Dennehy over Pearl. During the last coaching search, Rocks laid out nicely why he didn't think Pearl was the right guy at that time. I agreed with his views on that back then, and think I still agree with them. However, I've seen some tweets suggesting how important Pearl is to Harvard, which makes me wonder how big the addition of Pearl was for the Crimson in terms of returning to the national prominence that they have now realized. My sense is he's been a pretty big part of it. So that could sway me on Pearl.

However, Mark Dennehy had Merrimack as the #1 team in the country at one point, and turned them from bottom-feeder into a very respectable Hockey East program. Articles I've read by folks with a lot more college hockey knowledge than me also suggest that Merrimack is on the rise again and are expecting a good bump up the Hockey East standings next season. I also give him a check mark in that he has already coached here under Toot (though not a huge check mark). The biggest reason for me favoring Dennehy over Pearl is that he has proven he can recruit and coach in Hockey East. Also keep in mind that Buccigross tweeted yesterday that his sources say Bamford is being very thorough and is still looking at candidates. Haven't seen any updates today, unless I missed one somewhere.

Just now:

Ryan Bamford ‏@UMassADBamford 46 seconds ago
#UMassNation are you ready for us to hire a new @UMassHockey head coach or what?!?
I feel like this is the week. Stay tuned!
#UniteTheMasses

He must feel pretty confident he has someone locked up, maybe just working out some minor details. Would it be a shock if it were someone other than Dennehy or Pearl?

I hope Bamford knows what he is doing, he can't afford a miss here.

Bamford tweeted this last night... kinda surprised it didn't get posted:


https://twitter.com/UMassADBamford/stat ... 4710239232

@UMassADBamford

#UMassNation are you ready for us to hire a new @UMassHockey head coach or what?!?
I feel like this is the week. Stay tuned!
#UniteTheMasses

IV, look 4 posts up

^

Ugh, sorry. I looked at gosox's post and somehow completely missed OC's.

Happens when u get old

Fear The Triangle ‏@FearTheTriangle 11m11 minutes ago

Fear The Triangle Retweeted John Buccigross

Carvel to UMass!

Fear The Triangle added,
John Buccigross @Buccigross
Sources tell me UMass AD Ryan Bamford has worked out a 5-yr deal with Greg Carvel. A release could be coming as soon as this afternoon.
3 retweets 3 likes

^
Wow! Nice hire, but he just signed a 2 year extension with St. Lawrence. I assume UMass will pay that too?

Big hire. Hopefully he can make it happen here.

MajBugman wrote:^
Wow! Nice hire, but he just signed a 2 year extension with St. Lawrence. I assume UMass will pay that too?

Given the tweet implying this could double Carvel's pay, that buyout clearly wasn't a blocker.

^

He might not have seen that if he doesn't have twitter.



Sounds like the news broke a bit too quickly... one of the USCHO reporters broke the news to some of the SLU players.

Can the guy win in Hockey East? How many NCAA Tournaments has he been to? These are the things I care about most.

A little disappointed we went outside Hockey East for the hire, but hopefully he is legit and can recruit and win here.