RPI 22-23: Objective needs to be top 6

[Cornholio]

Last year Wagner had one of the top +- on team (-3). Scored 11 goals too. This year 2 goals and -11 (so far). Not a knock on her but line usage. Where has McCutcheon been? 2nd on team in goals last year this year 1 goal and only played in half the games? Maybe hurt. Don't know. Nice to see Kaiser step up but everyone else step back. Just wondering what changed.

[Reddington]

Blitz's stats have all but disappeared. Not sure what is going on with a number of players.

[hab]

This is ridiculous...a list of 27 Division 1 goalies (including 6 from the ECAC) has been announced as possible candidates for goalie of the year and Amanda Rampado is not on the list!!!! Do the people who decide on these awards actually watch any hockey games?

[sezenack]

Her stats are good as well. Odd for sure

[DrDemento]

Saw a few games. Team supposed to be more talented yet results are worse so far. Noticed a lot of usage of the Kaiser and Wagner line. Double shifted and all pp and pk. 3rd period team is out of gas. It is a grinding team and last year a lot more balanced line use and a lot of energy on ice. This year good starts bad finishes. Don't know what changed since roster is really the same as last year. Wagner not scoring at same pace and has worst +- of all the forwards.

Mostly agree. This team has started out rather well in many games only to fail at the end. And they do look to be out of gas late in periods. Ice time could be related.

[hab]

Strong game from the Engineers against #10 Clarkson tonight, losing in OT. Having watched almost every minute of this team's games this year I strongly believe they are moving in the right direction...AS A TEAM. Forget the individual stats. The senior leaders are playing well and some of the freshmen and sophs are really developing quickly. Great to see Phillip with a goal tonight...she had a great game...and Papineau certainly looks at home on the #1 line, which allows Chrsitoff to add some punch to the #2 line.

And what can we say about Rampado? Surely one of the top handful of goalies in Div 1, and I am certain her teammates know that.

[VGK]

All I can say is Vines is more of a men’s coach. Tough words and phrases work on men. Not so much on women. Women hear things differently, and he should know this. That tends to wear more mentally on women than men. And honestly, that’s like coaching 101.

Also, a month or so ago, someone touched on the thought that these perhaps aren’t the right players for the systems he’s using (over and over and over and clearly not working).
Spot on. The girls have talent. It’s not being utilized in the right way.

[hab]

Great third period by the Engineers for a 2-0 win over Saints and an important 4 point weekend. Rampado for Goalie of the Week, Month?, Year?

[Ralph Baer]

This is ridiculous...a list of 27 Division 1 goalies (including 6 from the ECAC) has been announced as possible candidates for goalie of the year and Amanda Rampado is not on the list!!!! Do the people who decide on these awards actually watch any hockey games?

https://twitter.com/VinesBryan/statu...88231756750848

[LeafsFor20]

I attend most home games and watch every game. Clearly, there are several things at play but Vine's performance speaks for itself. Everyone knows he was not retained when the Men's program hired Smith and his wife works for McElroy in the Athletic department. He was hired on the cheap, with no head coaching college experience and most importantly no women’s hockey experience. Regardless of what you think about their ability to recruit and compete with the top teams, his recruiting has been very one-dimensional plus he did not recruit Rampado.

He has shown no growth as a head coach and more importantly as someone capable of building and managing a good women's program. Rampado remains the only reason they can compete in a game, but this is more about the coaching and their lack of adjusting and less about the players. There is plenty of talent on this team to compete in the ECAC. He has chosen to abandon the style that was working last season and was yielding results in favor of a “trap” that neutralizes them more than the opponent. Any growth on offense that was seen last season has been completely abandoned in favor of a grind it out style that ultimately leads to few goals and squandered opportunities. Last season did not end well, but that was more about injuries and a team worn down by the grind of Vine’s coaching.

Many of the scoring leaders from last season have seen their production decline due to poor structure, in-game coaching or no longer the getting opportunities to play. The power play which was generating high quality chances last season with success has now been abandoned for a style that produces little quality scoring chances.. In every statistical category this team has taken a step backwards, arguably with more talent. It’s a real shame, because there is plenty of talent and a veteran squad that is not being permitted to compete for a real playoff spot.

A coaching change is not debatable. Any D1 coach with 5 plus years with this record would and should get replaced. It is well known that he has lost the locker room due to his antics and harsh words toward the players. He has created a negative environment, where there is very little support for these student-athletes. A new attitude and direction for RPI Women’s hockey is essential if this team will ever be successful and be able to attract better recruits. Mr. Schmidt must take action, spend some money and usher in a much needed change.

[hab]

A split on the weekend (loss to Hvd win vs Dartmouth) was probably not enough to keep the Engineers" playoff hopes alive. However, Union's win over Harvard, Princeton's 2 losses, and SLU's tie and loss helped a bit. One of those three teams needs to really stumble to give RPI a shot. Unfortunately, the only one we still have a game against is Princeton. Of all of these teams, the one that has looked the weakest to me is Harvard, which makes Friday's loss that much more painful.

[hab]

Taking a closer look at the remaining schedule I can see that RPI still has a reasonable chance at the playoffs. They currently sit 3.5 points behind Princeton but the Tigers have one more game to play. If RPI can win their conference game vs Union this next weekend (they also have a non-conf game) they could be just 1/2 point behind Princeton with each team having just 6 games left (this assumes that Princeton loses both their games against QU, which is likely but far from certain). That could make the RPI @ Princeton game the decider. However, Princeton does have a slightly easier remaining schedule so the Engineers may still need to beat Brown and pull at least one more upset against a higher ranked team, IMO.

Three wins in their final seven games could also give the Engineers a shot at Harvard or St. Lawrence if either of them falter.

[Ralph Baer]

https://twitter.com/ecachockey/statu...00550829252608

BACK-TO-BACK!
@RPI_WHockey's Amanda Rampado is @MACGoaltending Goaltender of the Week...again

[hab]

RPI fans and Union fans: which game this weekend is more important to you...the Friday came for ECAC points, or the Saturday game for the annual Mayor's cup?

I know, it's kind of a Sophie's Choice question isn't it? Can I have both?

[DrDemento]

RPI fans and Union fans: which game this weekend is more important to you...the Friday came for ECAC points, or the Saturday game for the annual Mayor's cup?

I know, it's kind of a Sophie's Choice question isn't it? Can I have both?

Without doubt - the Friday league game which counts in the standings. I have said many times before that we should get rid of the Trophy game for both the men and the women and replace it with some OOC game against some school that we do not often get to see. For many years this was the draw for me to the annual RPI Invitational Tournament. Two days (or in the early days 3 full days) of hockey often against teams that we would never otherwise see. Would love to see that reinstated in some form even to open the season if not over the holiday break.