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Like almost always at this time of the year, I am optimistic and predict a first round bye.
Well said. I think a lot will come down to goaltending and defense. Good news our new coach has a history of very well coached teams. Particularly on the defensive side. I think 18-20 wins is within reach. I like our depth which we didn’t have with smith past couple seasons. Yeah we lost hotson and Caron but I think we will actually score more this year with a more balanced offense. Wallace and tapper alone will match hotson and Caron. Coach lang will have these boys playing hard right from the jump. No more of this shit with us being down 3-0 after the first period under Dave. I truly believe this program will become very good again.
I think the comments about improved depth and balanced offense are good ones. Coach Lang spoke highly of Lucas Matta, but I wonder if he will even be able to get ice time at his natural position, defense, much less having to skate a regular shift on offense as he did in many games last year. I’m also pretty optimistic that high potential guys like Sitar and Sobieski could be real breakout candidates as they take their young, limited ice time exposure in better programs to more significant roles in Troy. But developing team defense and cohesive offense takes time as players adjust to all new partners and coach/system. The early season may show growing pains, but my dream is that we see a more unified team put it together coming down the stretch into the playoffs (think ‘20 without a pandemic). The realist part of me knows next year or even the third year are far more likely for that scenario, particularly with a hopefully healthy and productive Jovanovic (truly the ultimate wild card), but the fan can dream it now.
Agreed I think growing pains at first but I believe this team will come together pretty quickly. Lang is such a good coach he demands his guys to play hard every shift. Jovanovic truly is a wildcard. If he can come back and play like he did 4-5 years ago he’s a top defenseman in ecac. He was on track to be a 1st round draft pick. Very encouraging giordano gave lang a thumbs up he’s legit. If he’s ready to play that’s a huge plus for us.
I gave up on expectations a long time ago....LOL. A competitive squad that plays a 200 foot game and is the proverbial "hard to play against" team would be a good start.
I’m not sure matta will get much playing time at defense? We seem to be very deep at this position. If Jovanovic makes the jump then no way.
Jovanovic was 16 the last time he played in a competitive game. If we get anything from him this year it’s really a bonus. If he’s a significant contributor the kid is amazing. If he’s a highly-ranked player in the league by his sophomore or junior years they should make a damn movie about him. I hope for his sake we see all of that and more.
I don’t think lang would bring him in to sit the bench. We probably won’t see him till December or January but the kid didn’t forget how to play hockey. He’s skating with nhl players for the past year and Matt giordano one of the best to lace them up literally told lang you can’t tell any difference between him and a NHLer. I’d say we might be surprised he’s ready to play very soon. Lol
Yes, but I think the fact that he’s coming here rather than playing as an over-ager in the OHL tells us a lot about his timeline. Summer pick-up games, even with NHL players, undoubtedly lack the speed and intensity of play in corners, in front of the net, anywhere you could line up a guy for a heavy check, etc. of a real game. They have to take things carefully with a guy still rehabilitating and working his way back. If he was a good candidate to be a significant contributor this year it would make sense for the major junior team to take a shot. But if this is a season of easing him back to practice then maybe easing him into games (probably with a reduced workload) in anticipation of becoming a regular in ‘26-‘27 that makes no sense for the OHL because his eligibility would expire before they could get the primary benefit. Coach Lang, however, is playing the long game. He can take Jankovic’s transition year back into games as an investment for future seasons. I think that’s the most likely scenario.
i hope it’s not “a lot” of 6-4 losses but perhaps a few that become 4-3 or 4-2 wins later in the year as the team D solidifies.
The attraction that many players and advisors point to with going the NCAA route is more time for: practice, workouts , treatment, development etc. So it makes sense that he chose the college route over the OHL. In Sez' excellent interview with our new great coach, he cautioned that they'd take things slowly with the kid....so playing time may be judicious in the early going.
I wonder if it will be possible to get more than one good year out of him. After that he would probably turn pro or at least go to a higher regarded college team.
I wonder if it will be possible to get more than one very good year from him. After that he would probably turn pro.
Perhaps, but i doubt he’ll have positioned himself for the pros this year and I would hope he’d have sufficient appreciation for RPI’s investment in him to contribute a full season. I’m sure Lang has discussed the plan with his advisors and family.
I think we agree that an NCAA team is in a better position to provide a phased in development plan that meets his needs. The difference I was trying to express is I’m not convinced we expect the payback this year. IIRC, Coach Lang said he was contacted months ago regarding Jovanovic. You can be sure virtually every school was contacted. Yet we only pulled the trigger when we had a late opening. Obviously no other school committed to him earlier. If there was a good chance of getting on the ice this year (even a month or two late) a player anywhere near the one Notre Dame recruited 4 or so years ago, I’m pretty sure there would have been a lot of competition (NCAA and OHL) far earlier. I still think Lang is playing the long game - at least as long as anyone can play in this constantly changing college hockey environment. We’ll bring him along slowly and hope he’ll be able to contribute something this year. I’ll bet the focus is on year 2 for the hopefully big payoff for him and the program.