RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

[Scott Biggar]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

can anyone confirm if and possibly when this puck was used, if ever? i have never seen it before but that doesnt mean anything.

I can verify that pucks with that design were used at least in the '88-'89 season. I have one on my mantle that I caught in the stands during the NCAA championship game against Wisconsin-Stevens Point on March 25, 1989 that RIT lost 3-2.

[mar7967]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

I can verify that pucks with that design were used at least in the '88-'89 season. I have one on my mantle that I caught in the stands during the NCAA championship game against Wisconsin-Stevens Point on March 25, 1989 that RIT lost 3-2.

wow, thats really cool! Thanks for the info everyone!

[komey1]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Can somebody please explain how Robert Morris keeps getting votes in the polls but RIT is nowhere to be found?

They've lost to the Tigers twice and only have two more wins vs RIT in the overall standings.

If the polls are based soley on OC games, would it make more sense to just have four weeks of OC games and then seed everybody for the tournements before winter break?

While it would be nice to see RIT getting some love - especially since they ARE winning the AHA, I have no problems just sneaking in under the radar like last year.

In the end, the polls don't matter - rankings such as the RPI and PWR do. Robert Morris is ahead of RIT in both - so the pollsters may be looking at that.

[MattS]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

In the end, the polls don't matter - rankings such as the RPI and PWR do. Robert Morris is ahead of RIT in both - so the pollsters may be looking at that.

I disagree slightly. I think that polls matter some. While they don't matter at all for NCAA selection which is what I think you meant, I think they can help with recruiting. It's nice to be able to go recruit for a top 20 program. Not as nice as recruiting as a NCAA Frozen Four participant, but since that doesn't happen every year, I'll take the top 20 program angle. It's better than going out and recruiting for a bottom feeder like, say, Canisius!

[RITProf]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

I can verify that pucks with that design were used at least in the '88-'89 season. I have one on my mantle that I caught in the stands during the NCAA championship game against Wisconsin-Stevens Point on March 25, 1989 that RIT lost 3-2.

And you didn't give it to a kid???

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

And you didn't give it to a kid???

That was over 20 years ago. Maybe he was a kid then?

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Can somebody please explain how Robert Morris keeps getting votes in the polls but RIT is nowhere to be found?

They've lost to the Tigers twice and only have two more wins vs RIT in the overall standings.

If the polls are based soley on OC games, would it make more sense to just have four weeks of OC games and then seed everybody for the tournements before winter break?

The lone Army puck I saw which came off the ice I think had the AHA logo and Army's logo on it but the ones from the rink store only had the Army logo on it.

The pollsters don't give a rat's a** about AHA contests. OOC is the only thing they look at with teams from AHA, and with good reason.

And can we all just forget about discussing any at-large bid chances? The only way a team from this bottom-feeder conference can even be remotely considered for an at-large bid would be if they face a killer ooc schedule (which RIT's has so far turned out not to be) and win nearly all 7 of them. And even at that, it would be a long-shot. Most, if not all, of the games against our conference foes mean virtually nothing nationally. Games like Merrimack v. RIT, Notre Dame v. Canisius, and Yale v. Holy Cross, which happen all too often for our liking certainly don't help the cause any.

As far as how Merrimack looked, I agree with an earlier poster (can't remember whom) that Saturday's game was maybe the worst beat-down I've seen administered to the Tigers, ever, not to mention at Ritter Arena. I also agree that there was something lacking even in the demolition effort from the Warriors before they finally woke up and took the game seriously. Although the shot differential was overwhelming right from the beginning, Watson didn't seem overly tested until after RIT was up 2-1. The Tigers should have considered themselves extremely fortunate to only be down 4-2 after two periods. Merrimack was definitely the strongest opponent to play at Ritter I've seen yet (I discount the games from the 05-06 season since it was difficult to gauge how strong those opponents were against what was essentially a D-III team). In some ways, this loss almost did appear worse than the thrashing they took at the FF last year to Wisconsin - although it would be hard to "top" that performance.

Speaking of which, for Christmas I received the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four highlight DVD, narrated by Mike Emrick. Apparently, this is the first year they've made a package like that. Although the actual game footage was a painful thing to re-live, the re-cap of each team's road to Detroit and the pre-game material was pretty cool. They also included a story on one player from each school. Obviously, Cameron Burt was the subject for RIT. No new information, but it was kind of a treat to see RIT covered in a nationally released DVD like that. The only disappointing aspect was that there was no focus or even mention of the fans or the tournament experience from the fan's perspective at all (probably only had footage of fans complaining about the crappy view). I think RIT definitely would have made a name for themselves if that were a part of the coverage. If this video was previously mentioned in this thread and I'm repeating something, I apologize. But I can't remember reading about it on here.

[komey1]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

I'm going to disagree about the at-large chances of an AHA in general. SiouxSports.com has a calculated that, based on the teams rankings, calculates what they would be at the end of the regular season. Robert Morris and Air Force appear to have chances to get there. Granted, they will need to pretty much run the table (I think Robert Morris could do it by splitting with UND) to get their RPI in the top 15 by the end of the regular season. Win out for RIT and they would likely be in the top 20 still.

Nobody is saying that getting an at-large will ever be easy. But it IS doable without winning all your non-conference games.

[Scott Biggar]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

That was over 20 years ago. Maybe he was a kid then?

1989 was my final year at RIT as a student, which means I was a kid at least compared to now. But there is no way I was giving a puck I had just caught in the stands during a national championship game away.

[jflory81]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Can somebody please explain how Robert Morris keeps getting votes in the polls but RIT is nowhere to be found?

They've lost to the Tigers twice and only have two more wins vs RIT in the overall standings.

If the polls are based soley on OC games, would it make more sense to just have four weeks of OC games and then seed everybody for the tournements before winter break?

The lone Army puck I saw which came off the ice I think had the AHA logo and Army's logo on it but the ones from the rink store only had the Army logo on it.

Not only that, but 4 of RMU's 5 non-conference wins came against 2 of the worst 3 teams in the country (according to both KRACH and RPI)

It's hard to comprehend how voters could think RMU deserves to be ranked higher after losing both home and away to RIT, and even taking those games out, having a worse record in Atlantic Hockey than RIT.

I don't think either team deserves a sniff of a top 20 ranking right now, personally.

[LtPowers]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Not to mention that RIT's OOC losses were to teams that not only were ranked at the time of competition but are (with the exception of St. Cloud) still ranked now. And while Robert Morris beat Ohio State, our TWO wins against Robert Morris should count for at least as much because RMU and OSU are adjacent in the RPI!

I'm not saying RIT deserves votes, but I just can't see what Robert Morris has done to deserve them either, unless the voters just see "5-0-0 out of conference" and get excited.


Powers &8^]

[komey1]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Not only that, but 4 of RMU's 5 non-conference wins came against 2 of the worst 3 teams in the country (according to both KRACH and RPI)

It's hard to comprehend how voters could think RMU deserves to be ranked higher after losing both home and away to RIT, and even taking those games out, having a worse record in Atlantic Hockey than RIT.

I don't think either team deserves a sniff of a top 20 ranking right now, personally.

RMU has a 12-5-2 record and is 28 in RPI
RIT is 10-8-1 record and is 37 in RPI

I agree that neither team should be getting votes - but if there was discussion on who should - most people would vote RMU. The only things RIT has over them are the most important - 2-0 head to head and better conference record.

The poll is as much a popularity contest as anything. Teams such as Minnesota and Boston U will get ranked with subpar records more often than a good RMU or RIT team.

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

RMU has a 12-5-2 record and is 28 in RPI
RIT is 10-8-1 record and is 37 in RPI

I agree that neither team should be getting votes - but if there was discussion on who should - most people would vote RMU. The only things RIT has over them are the most important - 2-0 head to head and better conference record.

The poll is as much a popularity contest as anything. Teams such as Minnesota and Boston U will get ranked with subpar records more often than a good RMU or RIT team.

That, and it's harder to fall out of the rankings if you get up there early than it is to rise into the rankings. RMU started "hot", while RIT clearly did not (difficulty of opponents notwithstanding). As long as RMU only loses occasionally and to decent teams (like RIT), they are unlikely to drop all that far in the polls. RIT is going to face a tough climb with the voters now that they only have AHA games left. That is why the Pre-Season rankings in any sport should be abolished. Teams like Minn, Mich, BC, BU, etc seem to have an automatic bye into those rankings based on how strong they look on paper (high end recruiting results) for the upcoming season. then if they turn out to suck, it takes until almost February or March to finally push them out of the top 20 sometimes. There should be no rankings until at least mid-season. Who cares how the college hockey beat writer in Duluth rates the returning and new players at Holy Cross before the skates even touch the ice? (that's just an example - I have nothing against the writers of Duluth). Of course that would reduce the number of opportunities people would have to spout the "insert college name here beat a ranked team!!!" line in mid October, when half the time those teams end up out of the rankings in the end because it turns out they weren't as good as many thought.

There is all that and also the loss to AIC and the home tie with SHU certainly didn't help the Tigers' cause, either. Those are about as bad as it gets relative to a team's PWR.

[blazer777]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Ferris State at 9-8 is sitting at # 20.

It's the Seattle Seahawks all over again. I bet if they stay there, they'll host a regional!

Funny thing is that we'll all boast if the Tigers break into the top twenty later in the year and forget all about this nonsense.

Two days left.

[komey1]

Re: RIT 2010-11: What do Tigers dream of?

Bottom line is that at the end of the day or season - the USCHO polls are meaningless in terms of the selection process. A top 20 poll guarantees that at least 4 ranked teams won't make the NCAAs!

Yes, it would be nice to be ranked, but with the bias against AHA teams, it's very difficult to get ranked. If you check out the other threads, you will see how much people are taking exception to Yale being #1 due to their SOS, and in part, to their ECAC affiliation.

At this stage for RIT, it's win the games and see where it takes them. It starts this weekend with Army.