RPI 2021-22: Picking Up Where We Left Off

[DrDemento]

RPI football remains undefeated with a win today 24-16. Not in doubt at all after the half and only this close as Buffalo scored a final TD with no time left. RPI spent most of the fourth just running out the clock. Now we are 6-0 heading into the most difficult part of the schedule and will have our hands full trying to win another game against Hobart, Union, Ithaca and St Lawrence.

[sezenack]

How was the attendance?

Student attendance was excellent and the student sections were mostly full. Great atmosphere

[sezenack]

This team is going to be outstanding when they fully gel and get rid of the sloppy play. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. Also I miss Babichuk

[Ralph Baer]

Post game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDGXvP-yEQo

I wish they would have the names of the players on the screen. There are so many players whom I cannot isentify.

[DrDemento]

This team is going to be outstanding when they fully gel and get rid of the sloppy play. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. Also I miss Babichuk

There is considerable work to be done but you can that this team has a lot of talent and desire. They are in a process of getting enough ice time together and getting to know where each other will be during play. i agree totally. They will be just fine. BG is a good team and perhaps a very good team. We had some sloppy and lazy play at times but we stayed pretty close at all times. Goal tending may turn out to be the key. If Linden can make the big stops more often (he has shown conclusively that he can make them much of the time already), then most games will be low scoring close affairs.

P.S.- I despise this 3 on 3 crap. it is just a disguised form of a shootout. Just utilizing 3 men instead of one. Why must the powers that be screw with the way the best sport on earth is played? How about if a football game is tied they simply have players attempt field goals from increasing distances to determine a winner? make everything like the penalty kicks in soccer which the American public loves so much. Hockey es a great team sport and should be left as a 5 on 5 (unless you take penalty in OT) contest for as long as it takes. This is why the Stanley Cup is so exciting and also why it is the most difficult Sports Trophy to win. (Rant over).

[DrDemento]

Post game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDGXvP-yEQo

I wish they would have the names of the players on the screen. There are so many players whom I cannot isentify.

Nice interviews - Coach sums things up very well and of course our boys speak like elocution instructors. You get a sense that this team is going to put a very good season together.

[engineerhockeyfan]

My take on the weekends games.
We have some very talented players, but not much chemistry at this point.
The defensemen in our own zone need to be introduced to each other. It just looked like they had no idea how to defend the rushes.
TJ Walsh has to shoot the puck on the power play. At least three times this weekend, he had a clear path to the net from the point and instead of going forward and shooting he passed it back to the point. One of those times, he passed it out of the zone. Fortunately, on that play he used his blazing speed to catch up to the opponent and make a play in his defensive zone.
As for the goaltending, I was not impressed. I don't see us any better than the middle of the pack with Marshall. I hop that I am wrong about that.
Anyway, that is just my opinion.

[DavidNardolillo]

P.S.- I despise this 3 on 3 crap. it is just a disguised form of a shootout.

Lucky for you, there may be games where you get both! ECAC now has shootouts if overtime does not produce a winner.

[Ralph Baer]

Student attendance was excellent and the student sections were mostly full. Great atmosphere

I wonder why the reported attendance was less than 500.

[DavidNardolillo]

My take on the weekends games.
We have some very talented players, but not much chemistry at this point.
The defensemen in our own zone need to be introduced to each other. It just looked like they had no idea how to defend the rushes.
TJ Walsh has to shoot the puck on the power play. At least three times this weekend, he had a clear path to the net from the point and instead of going forward and shooting he passed it back to the point. One of those times, he passed it out of the zone. Fortunately, on that play he used his blazing speed to catch up to the opponent and make a play in his defensive zone.
As for the goaltending, I was not impressed. I don't see us any better than the middle of the pack with Marshall. I hop that I am wrong about that.
Anyway, that is just my opinion.

I tend to agree. Saturday was a bit of a grind, and things really didn't look good for most of the 3rd period. But they hung in there and created some luck with some hustle on the forecheck. In overtime, BG's best player wound up 1 on 1 with a forward skating backwards and took advantage. I think RPI will score more goals this year once they get some rhythm.

RPI also held BG to 35 shots over the two games, which is a plus, but I am not sure the goaltending was a negative this weekend. I do think this weekend showed what we already knew we have in Marshall; he can make some big saves, but also lets in some frustrating ones that should be stopped (BG second goal on Friday). If he can cut those soft ones out, he could really propel RPI to another good season. From my vantage point, 4 of the 5 BG goals were more down to defensive errors than the goaltender.

[Ralph Baer]

Important question. ;-) How should we treat shootout games for the purpose of thread starting stats? I won't give my opinion until I hear what others think.

[sezenack]

I wonder why the reported attendance was less than 500.

Not sure, it felt and sounded like more than that

[Ralph Baer]

Not sure, it felt and sounded like more than that

The attendance for the two games were 484 and 361, respectively. Perhaps that is only faculty and staff who paid because students got in free.

[DrDemento]

I tend to agree. Saturday was a bit of a grind, and things really didn't look good for most of the 3rd period. But they hung in there and created some luck with some hustle on the forecheck. In overtime, BG's best player wound up 1 on 1 with a forward skating backwards and took advantage. I think RPI will score more goals this year once they get some rhythm.

RPI also held BG to 35 shots over the two games, which is a plus, but I am not sure the goaltending was a negative this weekend. I do think this weekend showed what we already knew we have in Marshall; he can make some big saves, but also lets in some frustrating ones that should be stopped (BG second goal on Friday). If he can cut those soft ones out, he could really propel RPI to another good season. From my vantage point, 4 of the 5 BG goals were more down to defensive errors than the goaltender.

Saw it just about exactly as you described. One very soft goal along with a few really good tough saves. OT goal probably should never have happened but these things are what we should expect when we have 3 on 3 situations.

[DrDemento]

Lucky for you, there may be games where you get both! ECAC now has shootouts if overtime does not produce a winner.

I can foresee lots of drinking here and will have to stock up on good quality Vodka and lots of fresh limes for Gimlets. I am a traditionalist especially with hockey. I find nothing wrong with a game deserving to end in a tie (both of this weekend's games for example) when neither team deserves to win or lose. I never liked many of the changes in sports for lots of reasons but it makes comparing statistics from the past with the present virtually impossible. You can guess how much I hate the DH rule in baseball!!