Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

[Clueless_Hockey_Dad]

Trying to get a sense of drop in level between Div 1 and Div 3. Any thoughts on how Cardinals would do against RPI, Union, Brown, Dartmouth, Holy Cross*, maybe even Vermont? Actually, did Plattsburgh play Holy Cross a lot before they moved to Div 1?

Or another way to look at it, would a middling forward at these lower Div 1 schools dominate and generate big stats at a strong Div 3 school? If I am not mistaken, a transfer or two from Union a couple of years ago had an immediate impact on Trinity. Are there other examples?

If so, would people think that the driving force for such a player outperforming in Div 3 is more likely to be speed, skill, size or hockey IQ?

I appreciate your thoughts.

[Cornholio]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

This type of question pops up every now and then in all sports. On any given day any team can beat another, but the gap is pretty significant in talent. Just look at some of the transfers in years past of players who were on a D1 roster who moved to D3 and dominate. There is actually not enough consistent D1 talent for the existing D1 programs as is, and it would be highly unlikely that a critical mass of D1 talent slipped through and all fell to a single D3 program. Also, as in most women's sports, there are very few late bloomers in women's hockey where they suddenly got bigger/faster/stronger/more talented while in college. I'm sure there are players, for example, who were border-line D1 but would rather either dominate at D3 or would say go to a Williams College as opposed to lower-academic D1, but not enough to compete against even a "low" D1 program on even an irregular basis.

[Clueless_Hockey_Dad]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

Makes sense. It may be the case the rosters of some of the lower Div 1 school mentioned may contain too many “borderline” players. They just get overwhelmed...

I mentioned Plattsburgh but they seem to be so dominant...

[Scott_TG]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

I think the Cardinals would be competitive but I wouldn't be expecting them to win or be disappointed if they lost.

There have been quite a few DI transfers who've gone on to great success in DIII but it isn't 100%. It depends on the situation they're going into, the players around them, etc. Plattsburgh has had a number of DI transfers go from not playing well in DI to being key contributors. Goalies like Sydney Aveson and Brooke Wolejko. Forwards like Jenny Kistner and Ali Vakos. Erin Brand as a defender. But they've also had transfers who weren't stars.

The biggest factors I've seen in the difference between DI to DIII players are speed, skating skills and stick handling.

[Reddington]

[QUOTE=Clueless_Hockey_Dad;6958623]Trying to get a sense of drop in level between Div 1 and Div 3. Any thoughts on how Cardinals would do against RPI, Union, Brown, Dartmouth, Holy Cross*, maybe even Vermont? Actually, did Plattsburgh play Holy Cross a lot before they moved to Div 1?

Or another way to look at it, would a middling forward at these lower Div 1 schools dominate and generate big stats at a strong Div 3 school? If I am not mistaken, a transfer or two from Union a couple of years ago had an immediate impact on Trinity. Are there other examples?

If so, would people think that the driving force for such a player outperforming in Div 3 is more likely to be speed, skill, size or hockey IQ?

I appreciate your thoughts.[/QUOT

It's always foot speed.

[hab]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

The very best D3 teams would be competitive with the worst D1 teams. There is some overlap, IMO. Several years ago there used to be more exhibition games between top D3 teams and bottom D1 teams. Now, perhaps the best way to compare is to look at how teams do in exhibition games against Canadian universities, which are generally between D1 and D3 in calibre.

[Cornholio]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

The exhibition's against Canadian Universities kind of hurts this argument though, if on average, they are between D1 and D3. Both RPI and Union tied their exhibitions (in RPIs case, 1 of only 2 non-losses for the entire year) while RIT lost in overtime. Any given day anything can happen and if say a Plattsburgh beat a low D1 team, it would not be earth-shattering but the D1 teams wins 9 times out of 10. I leave the NEWHA out of this discussion for now although technically D1, some of those programs are still at a mid-D3 talent level right now.

[Rightnut]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

The very top 1-3 players on a very top D3 team (1-5th ranked) would be solid 8- 12th forward or 5-6 def on a middling or lower D1. Falls off quickly thereafter. There is always a diamond in the rough that could do well at D1 but not many. Could Plattsburgh win-yes. but as someone said, the D1 team will win 8 or 9 out of 10.

[PrezdeJohnson09]

Trying to get a sense of drop in level between Div 1 and Div 3. Any thoughts on how Cardinals would do against RPI, Union, Brown, Dartmouth, Holy Cross*, maybe even Vermont? Actually, did Plattsburgh play Holy Cross a lot before they moved to Div 1?

Or another way to look at it, would a middling forward at these lower Div 1 schools dominate and generate big stats at a strong Div 3 school? If I am not mistaken, a transfer or two from Union a couple of years ago had an immediate impact on Trinity. Are there other examples?

If so, would people think that the driving force for such a player outperforming in Div 3 is more likely to be speed, skill, size or hockey IQ?

I appreciate your thoughts.

Holy Cross was Division I in name only back when they were playing in the ECAC East/NEHC. They had a solid Division III team that would have bordered on being ranked in the top 10 every year. Their games against Norwich were generally always competitive.

They didn’t operate as a Division I school at all during their days in that league and didn’t give Athletic scholarships etc.

Plattsburgh/Norwich/Middlebury/Adrian etc. have had some very good teams over the years that would be very competitive with the bottom 10 Division I teams and beat them from time to time.

[Reddington]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

Pre- injury Moe Tsukimoto could have helped someone at the D one level with scoring. Northwood seems to struggle placing girls at the D one level over the last five years and is apparently a pipeline to Plattsburgh. I guess it makes sense because of the proximity.

[In the blue]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

Mostly the D3 players that could play D1 just Don’t have the commit level on and off the ice.

[shelfit]

Mostly the D3 players that could play D1 just Don’t have the commit level on and off the ice.

One of the most ignorant comments ever! You clearly have no clue!

[HckyFanFreak]

Re: Silly Hypothetical - how would SUNY Plattsburgh do against lower Div 1 teams?

Mostly the D3 players that could play D1 just Don’t have the commit level on and off the ice.

Not necessarily true. Actually very unfair to assume that. Could be a chance that they just got "over looked" or they didn't have the right politics game to get D1 attention. I think that teams like Plattsburgh and Norwich could compete with lower end D1 teams