I was surprised that RIT was able to light up St. Michael twice. St. Michael has been one of the weakest teams in D-I, but the Tigers haven't been synonymous with offense of late. If you get more than a point from Mercyhurst, I would say that's a very positive sign for the Engineers.
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RPI 22-23: Objective needs to be top 6
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Originally posted by DrDemento View PostIt appears we are capable of playing fairly well for up to two periods. The last 20-25 minutes of games seem to be a nightmare scenario.Last edited by hab; 10-12-2022, 05:24 PM.
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Originally posted by hab View Post
We appear to be competitive for a couple of periods, defensively, but we have shown almost zero offensive strength in any period so far. I may sound like a broken record on this (have said the same thing in previous years), but if you cant recruit the players that can dominate in the open ice, but can recruit fast, tough, enthusiastic players, you need to do two things well: 1)forecheck very aggressively so that the opponent cannot set up their open ice plays (you will give up more 3 on 2s, so also practice that); 2) make sure that you have at least one forward crowding the blue paint with eyes on the puck and stick on the ice every time you are in the opponents end (again, you will give up some 3 on 2s but practice that, and depend on your goalie...). Don't let the opponent take the game to you...rattle them. The best glimmers of light that I have seen in recent years have been when the team has done those 2 things well. We have the talent to do it this year...I could name the forwards who would fit one of those two roles but I won't. It is up to the coaching staff to encourage them to use their talents.Take the shortest distance to the puck and arrive in ill humor
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I should clarify that my comments were not meant as a criticism of the current coaching staff. I am not close enough to the team to know one way or the other whether we have the right coaches to do the job, so I am always prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. I was merely offering some observations as a fan, that in a tough conference like the ECAC we may have little success playing the game that our opponents want us to play. We need to move the opponent out of their comfort zone...surprise them a little with a more "in your face" style of hockey. Take some chances. We probably have the goalie who can bail us out a few times each game when those chances backfire with odd man rushes or penalties for being too aggressive on the forecheck or on the edge of the blue paint.
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Originally posted by hab View PostI should clarify that my comments were not meant as a criticism of the current coaching staff. I am not close enough to the team to know one way or the other whether we have the right coaches to do the job, so I am always prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. I was merely offering some observations as a fan, that in a tough conference like the ECAC we may have little success playing the game that our opponents want us to play. We need to move the opponent out of their comfort zone...surprise them a little with a more "in your face" style of hockey. Take some chances. We probably have the goalie who can bail us out a few times each game when those chances backfire with odd man rushes or penalties for being too aggressive on the forecheck or on the edge of the blue paint.Take the shortest distance to the puck and arrive in ill humor
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Yet another shutout loss (2-0 to Mercyhurst) but I found this game quite encouraging. RPI has a deep roster: I think that 13 forwards and 6 D saw a good deal of ice time and none of them looked out of place. Nice to see freshmen Jones, Toye, Beaudoin respond well to getting good ice time. Kaiser was probably our best offensive threat. Riena Jahnke was given a shot at the first line and showed some pretty slick skills. The real question is who is going to take their game to the next level and put some pucks in the net?
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Originally posted by sezenack View PostWe need a coaching change
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Originally posted by hab View Post
Fully understand the frustration. This is a very discouraging start to the season, for fans, and for the players too, I am sure. I have followed this team for about 20 years now, and there have been too many of these moments where one just wants to throw up your hands. However, I am not inclined towards simple solutions like 'fire the coach'. The program needs some serious attention. However, in the meantime, all that I care about is that the players find a way to meet THEIR expectations for the season, whatever those expectations are, and that they enjoy the great game of hockey en route.
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Originally posted by sezenack View Post
I agree with everything you just said. The program needs more attention and support from the school, and the players deserve to enjoy their careers as student athletes to the fullest. I still do think that the coaching is part of the problem though. I haven't seen any evidence in his 5 years that Vines is capable of making this program a competitive one year in and year out. The ECAC is an outstanding league and I think we can do better just by simply pulling a top assistant from Clarkson, Colgate, etc.
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Originally posted by hab View Post
A very legitimate perspective. One way or another, RPI needs to raise its expectations for the women's hockey program, which is the sentiment behind my choice of the title for this thread. If we do go the route of selecting a new coach, we need to go beyond the standard lazy RPI practice of simply transferring an assistant coach from the men's team. That move clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of the women's game and a lack of ambition for the program.
Not all hope is lost until we start losing ECAC games, but it's tough to see us getting a playoff spot
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For the first time this season I would probably rate the Engineers as slight favorites going into their weekend series, against RIT. A big weekend for both teams, getting ready for conference play with disappointing results in pre-conference games. RIT is rated above the Engineers on the RPI index etc. but only because they had the opportunity to beat up on St. Michael's for one weekend. RPI has done a good job of putting together a non-conference schedule: tough teams, middle of the pack or slightly better...no patsies but no top 10 teams. RIT will not be an easy opponent, but I am looking for a couple of home game wins this weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQitj-ih9GkLast edited by hab; 10-20-2022, 04:54 PM.
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Engineers sweep RIT, 2-0 and 3-0. I have predicted their performance pretty accurately over the last 6 games, but I have to say that I like the progress that I see. While I expected the wins over the Tigers, RPI controlled the play more than I expected, and I now feel more comfortable that they are ready to open their conference season with the important North Country trip next weekend. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that they will win one of those games. Coach Vines has used the last few games to give ice time to most of the players on his large roster, and I don't envy his position now, of having to choose his lines for next weekend.
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I just noticed that Neutral Zone states that RPI received a commitment a month ago from Aylah Cioffi of the CT Polar Bears 19U team.
List:
Code:# Name Ps commitm. Team (League) Year DOB Ht Wt Hometown NZ*s 19 Georgia Bailey F 01/05/22 Northwood School (NAPHA) 2023 03/17/05 5'09" 125 Sherbrooke, QC x.xx 9 Alexis Brunet F 12/06/21 Kingston Ice Wolves (OWHL) 2023 02/07/05 5'06" 165 Kingston, ON 3.25 15 Aylah Cioffi F 09/24/22 Connecticut Polar Bears 19U 2023 08/23/03 5'05" 134 Revere, MA x.xx 22 Taryn Rathwell * D 11/24/21 Kingston Ice Wolves (OWHL) 2023 01/28/04 5'04" 136 Belleville, ON x.xx xx Morgann Skoda F 04/21/22 College Champlain Cougars (QCHL) 2023 10/26/03 5'10" 170 Mont-Royal, QC 3.50 4 Charlotte Wensley F 10/01/22 St. Paul's School (Lakes Region) 2024 08/29/05 5'03" 130 Dover, NH 3.00
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