RPI 2021-22: Picking Up Where We Left Off

[Ralph Baer]

After the game 1 win the RPI power play went 0/5, 0/3, 0/5. If you want to help a goalie, ANY goalie, score a few goals !

Alaska did better on our power plays. :-(

[rpi82]

I do agree that goaltending needs to steal games from time to time...which Marshall did with a 34 save performance in game 1 --including a 16 save onslaught in the 3rd period when he slammed the door on the Nanooks.

Perhaps it was because I only listened to the first game in Alaska rather than watching it, but I didn't perceive that as a "stolen" game by any measure. We scored on the first shot of the third period to go up 3-0. After that Alaska nearly doubled their shot total (adding 17 versus 10 more for us) but at no point did the game seem in doubt and many of the chances came across in the play-by-play as just putting pucks on net against a defense that is playing conservatively with the lead to keep from giving up Grade A opportunities. Perhaps it seemed different on TV.

I'll be the first to admit that what I look for from Marshall is probably less than fair, but it is what I see as necessary for this team to turn things around. Like many coaches, particularly those with teams lacking offensive stars, Smith appears to build his team from the net out. He expects his defense to play solidly and his forwards to play a 200' game. The cost of that is that it reduces the scoring potential of an already limited roster. However, I'll bet (without verifying, but what fun would that be) that his Buffalo and Troy teams have actually scored better as the back end performed better defensively. In particular, when he's has had an outstanding goalie as he did 2 years ago with Savory, the offense seemed to relax and become a bit more free-flowing as they didn't fear that every mistake might end up in the back of the net. We are, at best, an average team if we get average goaltending. If we get much better than average goaltending I expect that we'll see a proportional impact on the offense.

It does seem that Smith may have made a mistake booking an 8-day (if I remember his description of the travel schedule correctly) trip to Fairbanks, particularly during finals. I was surprised to learn that the population is only 31.5K. I certainly thought it was bigger. That's equivalent to an all-expenses paid 8 day trip to Poughkeepsie. Smith seemed genuinely excited about the trip, but it may have appeared quite differently to a bunch of young 20s athletes. Perhaps he should have just said, "We wanted to get everyone more ice time and this is the price we had to pay to get a 38 game schedule."

[DavidNardolillo]

I do agree with others here and don't understand why the backup(s) didn't see any ice time... seems like a perfect opportunity to give them some experience.

Maybe the previously reported injury issues continue to linger? I wasn't surprised Marshall played 3 games, but would have thought we would see one of the others get a game or a portion of one. 4 games in 6 days for one goaltender seems like a lot at this stage of the season, and you'd like to have the backups get some seasoning in case they are needed down the road. Unlikely to get clear answers to this; rarely see formal injury news out of RPI, and the team certainly won't broadcast any concerns about the readiness of the backups.

[DavidNardolillo]

I did watch the last 4 games, I'm guessing you didn't read my post that said "They got outplayed in every game. Marshall was the only reason they won game 1. I don't know how the team has been controlling play so well all season, and then did the complete opposite this weekend". They played pretty poorly, but I don't understand why you think DS has created a dumpster fire. We were expected to be a middling team, and that's what we have been

I missed the last game. Looks like RPI enjoyed a nice shot advantage, suggesting they might have skated better. Surrendering 4 goals on 22 shots and going 0 for 5 on the power play will make most games hard to win. What was your diagnosis of that last game?

[DavidNardolillo]

Let’s meet at Knotty Pine to discuss…….

Notty Pine in Troy closed permanently around Memorial Day this year. Owners decided to retire and sold the building.

[sezenack]

I missed the last game. Looks like RPI enjoyed a nice shot advantage, suggesting they might have skated better. Surrendering 4 goals on 22 shots and going 0 for 5 on the power play will make most games hard to win. What was your diagnosis of that last game?

RPI won the shots on goal battle, but I thought Alaska had much better chances. We had to have allowed at least 7-8 odd-man rushes or breakaways in the game, and Linden was standing tall luckily. Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if it was in the double digits.

RPI also only really started putting shots on net in the 3rd period when they were down and desperate to try to score. The offense was lacking the majority of the game, while the defense kept allowing quality chances. I thought Linden played really well and it's a shame he didn't have much help in front of him

[engineerhockeyfan]

This weekend the NHL and the NFL are both cancelling games. I can only hope that we haven't seen the last hockey game for the Engineers this season.
The covid numbers are out of control right now.
Think happy thoughts.

[Ralph Baer]

This weekend the NHL and the NFL are both cancelling games. I can only hope that we haven't seen the last hockey game for the Engineers this season.
The covid numbers are out of control right now.
Think happy thoughts.

If we have seen the last game, hopefully it is at least a league decision, preferably the NCAA.

[Wicked Slappaahs]

This weekend the NHL and the NFL are both cancelling games. I can only hope that we haven't seen the last hockey game for the Engineers this season.
The covid numbers are out of control right now.
Think happy thoughts.

The difference with this outbreak, which you won't hear about on the nightly news, is the considerably milder symptoms of Omicron cases vs. Delta. I have no idea what Shirley will do ... will she complete her bridge burning campaign on the way out of town ? Certainly possible.

[rpi82]

The difference with this outbreak, which you won't hear about on the nightly news, is the considerably milder symptoms of Omicron cases vs. Delta. I have no idea what Shirley will do ... will she complete her bridge burning campaign on the way out of town ? Certainly possible.

I hope you're right because "considerably milder" might be the begining of a path out of this mess, but what I've heard from people tracking the medical data is that they are fairly certain that Omicron severity is not signicantly worse than Delta, but whether it is comparable or less severe is still TBD. Importantly, they also believe that Omicron is much more contagious, thus even if it is comparable or somewhat less severe on an individual case basis, there is a lot of concern regarding widespread overwhelming of our medical system. As it is, here in CT we've seen a 300% increase in hospitalized cases over the last month and a 200% increase in infections over just the last two weeks - all before Omicron could become the dominant strain, although that's expected in the next few weeks.

For those of us that have tickets to the Army game at West Point, keep an eye out. My nephew, a USMA grad, was going to join me for the game and he's heard that closure to fans may be upcoming.

[Wicked Slappaahs]

For those of us that have tickets to the Army game at West Point, keep an eye out. My nephew, a USMA grad, was going to join me for the game and he's heard that closure to fans may be upcoming.

Dang. I was worried about that.

[Wicked Slappaahs]

I hope you're right because "considerably milder" might be the begining of a path out of this mess, but what I've heard from people tracking the medical data is that they are fairly certain that Omicron severity is not signicantly worse than Delta, but whether it is comparable or less severe is still TBD. Importantly, they also believe that Omicron is much more contagious, thus even if it is comparable or somewhat less severe on an individual case basis, there is a lot of concern regarding widespread overwhelming of our medical system. As it is, here in CT we've seen a 300% increase in hospitalized cases over the last month and a 200% increase in infections over just the last two weeks - all before Omicron could become the dominant strain, although that's expected in the next few weeks.

For those of us that have tickets to the Army game at West Point, keep an eye out. My nephew, a USMA grad, was going to join me for the game and he's heard that closure to fans may be upcoming.

Just for an update on location Cap. Dist. conditions, as an FYI. I heard a radio interview this A.M. with Dr. Dennis McKenna, the Prez of Albany Medical Ctr.

Paraphrasing his key points:

-Hospitalizations are DOWN at Albany Med. over the last two weeks (I'll hold my breathe waiting for that tidbit to air on the local news...)
-Case loads (positive test results) are increasing rapidly because testing is increasing rapidly. (He mentioned the same would be true if you increased testing at the same pace for other viruses.... such as flu.)
-Upwards of 90% of all new cases (positive tests) are Omicron
-ALL of the data they are seeing--local, regional, statewide -- is that the severity of illness is FAR less severe than Delta. For those with symptoms (at least 40% are asymptomatic) Omicron appears to stay higher up in the nasal cavity with far less impact and far slower spread into the bronchi... and resolves more quickly than Delta.
-There are very effective treatments for those who might become ill
-The latest data from South Africa where Omicron was first found, shows their case loads dropping rapidly with few hospitalizations.

I'm not pushing any narratives, but the facts (the math) are what matter. This guy has consistently been a non-partisan steady voice through the cloud of fear that is spread like manure by media outlets.
The current case loads are exploding because everybody is getting tested, including many, many, many of those with no symptoms... With any luck our Omicron curve will peak as quickly as it did in S. Africa.

[DrDemento]

WS-Thanks for posting the sensitive but sensible material. My outlook here in NJ is similar. Those that want to create panic and fear will simply focus on the number of positive tests. This post seems like a very honest appraisal of the situation that is being seen her and around the world. So far, and I must admit it is far too early to draw firm conclusions, this new variant is acting like nature's vaccine. Most vaccines either contain killed virus, or severely weakened and attenuated virus. This way you get the body to respond and create immunity against the entire virus (not just a portion of it). We can only hope that this variant is doing that job for us. If it is indeed as mild or even asymptomatic as early indications and trends are showing, and if it elicits a decent antiviral response form the host, it may be possible to have large segments of the population become immune to COVID infections in general. This is not something new and has been described in the past in the medical literature and has been seen as the precursor of the end of some epidemics and pandemics. Keeping fingers crossed since as it remains unpredictable as to how this continues. It is a very different world now (with air travel and population mobility) and trying to draw conclusions from past behavior of infectious agents is no longer as reliable. Also hopeful that the powers that be in ECAC and NCAA sports are actually looking at and understand what we are seeing instead of firing from the hip with lock downs and regulations.

[DavidNardolillo]

Just for an update on location Cap. Dist. conditions, as an FYI. I heard a radio interview this A.M. with Dr. Dennis McKenna, the Prez of Albany Medical Ctr.

Paraphrasing his key points:

-Hospitalizations are DOWN at Albany Med. over the last two weeks (I'll hold my breathe waiting for that tidbit to air on the local news...)
-Case loads (positive test results) are increasing rapidly because testing is increasing rapidly. (He mentioned the same would be true if you increased testing at the same pace for other viruses.... such as flu.)
-Upwards of 90% of all new cases (positive tests) are Omicron
-ALL of the data they are seeing--local, regional, statewide -- is that the severity of illness is FAR less severe than Delta. For those with symptoms (at least 40% are asymptomatic) Omicron appears to stay higher up in the nasal cavity with far less impact and far slower spread into the bronchi... and resolves more quickly than Delta.
-There are very effective treatments for those who might become ill
-The latest data from South Africa where Omicron was first found, shows their case loads dropping rapidly with few hospitalizations.

I'm not pushing any narratives, but the facts (the math) are what matter. This guy has consistently been a non-partisan steady voice through the cloud of fear that is spread like manure by media outlets.
The current case loads are exploding because everybody is getting tested, including many, many, many of those with no symptoms... With any luck our Omicron curve will peak as quickly as it did in S. Africa.

Which radio station interviewed Dr. McKenna?

[rpi82]

WS-Thanks for posting the sensitive but sensible material. My outlook here in NJ is similar. Those that want to create panic and fear will simply focus on the number of positive tests. This post seems like a very honest appraisal of the situation that is being seen her and around the world. So far, and I must admit it is far too early to draw firm conclusions, this new variant is acting like nature's vaccine. Most vaccines either contain killed virus, or severely weakened and attenuated virus. This way you get the body to respond and create immunity against the entire virus (not just a portion of it). We can only hope that this variant is doing that job for us. If it is indeed as mild or even asymptomatic as early indications and trends are showing, and if it elicits a decent antiviral response form the host, it may be possible to have large segments of the population become immune to COVID infections in general. This is not something new and has been described in the past in the medical literature and has been seen as the precursor of the end of some epidemics and pandemics. Keeping fingers crossed since as it remains unpredictable as to how this continues. It is a very different world now (with air travel and population mobility) and trying to draw conclusions from past behavior of infectious agents is no longer as reliable. Also hopeful that the powers that be in ECAC and NCAA sports are actually looking at and understand what we are seeing instead of firing from the hip with lock downs and regulations.

"Nature's vaccine" - I like that. It's what I meant by "considerably milder might be a path out of this mess." A weaker version that is highly transmissible would rapidly spread natural immunity, which as you noted is likely to be stronger because the immune system is exposed to the full protein profile of the virus rather than selected subsets found in a vaccine, without the negative impacts on our medical system and tens of millions of patients. That could even make a mild "breakthrough" infection a good thing as it might be preferable to trade a few days of mild illness in exchange for greater likelihood of protection from a potentially more serious future variant.

If Doc's theory is correct my major concerns would shift to my 92 year-old father that lives with us. Unlike my wife and I, he had absolutely no side effects from any of his three shots. I rationalized my few days of aches and generally tired feeling as an indication that my immune system was at work. Of course, if you buy that then you might be worried about him as he's elderly and with limited lung function. Before deciding how our household should deal with info like Wicked provided, I wonder if I should get him an antibody test to see if he's got reasonable immune response.

P.S. Bringing this back to hockey, Northeastern has announced that all home athletic events are closed to spectators. However, in the "mixed messages" department, they then put their Beanpot allocation on sale and it quickly sold out. I guess they are betting (or hoping) the worst will be over by February.