>>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

RIT will finish as either the third or fourth seed overall. RIT can tie Sacred Heart for second place in the standings, but lose the tiebreaker.

If RIT is the 4th seed it's against either Robert Morris, Air Force, or Niagara in the quarterfinals as nobody else can get there. Third seed could mean anyone except AIC, Sacred Heart, or Army and whichever of those above three finishes fifth. Robert Morris is at Niagara this weekend and RIT has Air Force. Only Robert Morris controls its destiny for fifth, which it can clinch with four points. An Air Force loss and at least one point for Robert Morris means Air Force can't finish fifth. Niagara can take fifth with a sweep and Air Force getting no more than three points against RIT.

They can't play Mercyhurst either, right? They're locked into the 11th seed and if they manage to beat the 6th seed in the first round of the playoffs they'd be shuttled off to AIC to play in the 2nd round.

If RIT finishes 3rd, they could play anyone from the 6th seed to the 9th seed depending on who wins the quarterfinal matchups.

[Ed Trefzger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

They can't play Mercyhurst either, right? They're locked into the 11th seed and if they manage to beat the 6th seed in the first round of the playoffs they'd be shuttled off to AIC to play in the 2nd round.

If RIT finishes 3rd, they could play anyone from the 6th seed to the 9th seed depending on who wins the quarterfinal matchups.

Correct. Mercyhurst goes to AIC. Tenth place remains up for grabs.

[Ed Trefzger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Here are all the possibilities from the home office in Winthrop, Mass.

http://atlantichockeyonline.com/news...ar-season.aspx

[35TH40TH]

Final weekend, let's hope we can take a winning streak into the playoffs.

GO TIGERS!!!!

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Lose again tomorrow and it's Air Force in the playoffs with both teams on a bye - and should that happen no current player at Air Force will have dropped a single point at the Pollesini in their careers. That's....slightly unsettling, to be sure. Anything other than a loss tomorrow and matchups will depend on other results around the conference.

The less said about tonight the better. When Air Force is at their best it's like watching paint dry. But RIT wasn't doing much right for the first 50 minutes of the game either. Interesting to see that Andriano seems to be the #2 in the coaches eyes and would likely start if Drackett can't go in the playoffs, but his play tonight justified the decision. Made a couple really outstanding saves to keep them in it in the 2nd.

I also don't love the too many men review. I know RIT benefited from it at Niagara, but it doesn't make much sense. That kind of play never gets called as too many men during the flow of the game. Suddenly we're adding a replay to see if players joined the rush too early? The guy who came on slightly early didn't really have anything to do with the rush, although I suppose you could argue it bought Brubaker space. There used to be a rule where a linesman could blow a play dead for a quick change without giving a 2 minute minor, but IIRC it was taken out of the rulebook years ago - and that old rule's context the only interpretation that I could see justifying waving that goal off for.

[blazer777]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Is there something wrong with Drackett?

[Ed Trefzger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

I also don't love the too many men review. I know RIT benefited from it at Niagara, but it doesn't make much sense. That kind of play never gets called as too many men during the flow of the game. Suddenly we're adding a replay to see if players joined the rush too early? The guy who came on slightly early didn't really have anything to do with the rush, although I suppose you could argue it bought Brubaker space. There used to be a rule where a linesman could blow a play dead for a quick change without giving a 2 minute minor, but IIRC it was taken out of the rulebook years ago - and that old rule's context the only interpretation that I could see justifying waving that goal off for.

Before last season, the too many players rule was updated to tighten it up (something Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna was pushing for). I got to see a still shot after the game from the overhead center ice camera and it wasn't really that close. The player coming off the ice has to be within five feet of the bench before the other player can touch the ice, and RIT clearly exceeded that, though it wasn't called on the ice.

As far as the too many men review, at Niagara the officials did it wrong. During the regular season, that review and reviewing offside after a goal can only come from a coach's challenge, and at Niagara, the referees initiated the review which we pointed out on the radio broadcast at the time.

Air Force used the coach's challenge after their video/hockey ops guy spotted the change. The review is not simply for too many men but for one that gives a team a "gained advantage." RIT got a player on the ice probably 30 feet closer to the offensive zone, so that's going to be considered an advantage.

So, overall, everything was probably done according to Hoyle (as they used to say).

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Honestly I'm not complaining about the implementation so much as the rule itself. I actually think yesterday was a pretty well officiated game. I just don't love going back to replay for something that really didn't have a lot of effect on the play (IMO) and would never really get called during the run of play. Especially if you're not going to call the penalty on it after the replay....if it's a penalty, then it should probably be enforced. It's weird that something the rulebook says is a 2 minute penalty is only not a 2 minute penalty if the other team challenges and gets a goal wiped out. I guess they figured having the goal cancelled was punishment enough. :shrug:

They frankly should put the bad line change rule back in the book so the linesman have a way to stop play for a bad change that gives an advantage without calling a penalty for too many men. Looking into it a bit, apparently this rule actually still does exist, but only for goaltenders coming off the ice for an extra attacker.

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Is there something wrong with Drackett?

Upper body injury. Minor, according to the broadcast - just keeping him out as a pre-caution since they have the home ice bye locked up, from what I understand.

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Unless Mercyhurst goes to Colorado and pulls the giant upset, RIT will be facing Air Force again in two weeks. Robert Morris will be #7, Bentley will be #8, and Canisius rises to #9. Their opponent will be one of those four.

Next weeks matchups are Mercyhurst at Air Force, Holy Cross at Robert Morris, and Canisius at Bentley.

[blazer777]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

All in all, not a bad regular season me thinks. Hopefully the rest will help them come out strong on the playoffs

[LtPowers]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Unless Mercyhurst goes to Colorado and pulls the giant upset, RIT will be facing Air Force again in two weeks.

Given the other results, it was almost impossible to avoid Air Force in the second round. By my calculations, we would have had to go past the first overtime for us to be seeded 3rd and for Air Force to tie or pass Niagara for 5th. There was no way we could be seeded 4th and Air Force be seeded 6th or lower.

We are all Mercyhurst fans now.


Powers &8^]

[Scott Biggar]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Now that we have reached the end of the regular season, some interesting accomplishments of this year's team:

Best non-conference record in DI era
Most regular season conference wins since 2010-11
Highest regular season standing since 2014-15
Won or tied season series with 8 of 10 Atlantic Hockey teams. Only two series losses were AIC and Sacred Heart

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

We are all Mercyhurst fans now.


Powers &8^]

Be careful what you wish for. It's a new season.
Do we want RIT to play Air Force or the team that just got done beating Air Force? As bad as Mercyhurst has been, if they were to find a way to pull off the upset, do the Tigers really want to face a team with that kind of momentum, confidence, etc?

If the Tigers can find a way to stop missing the net with their shots, they proved this weekend that they were the better team than Air Force, so shouldn't be as worried about facing the Falcons as they might be in the semi's facing AIC or Sacred Heart. The Falcons are definitely not easy to play against (and are truly BORING), are well coached, are certainly the Tigers' nemesis, and for whatever reason love playing in Rochester, but they're not as much of a behemoth as they've been in past seasons. I like RIT's chances in this matchup.

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2019-2020: "We're on the clock" <<<

Be careful what you wish for. It's a new season.
Do we want RIT to play Air Force or the team that just got done beating Air Force? As bad as Mercyhurst has been, if they were to find a way to pull off the upset, do the Tigers really want to face a team with that kind of momentum, confidence, etc?

If the Tigers can find a way to stop missing the net with their shots, they proved this weekend that they were the better team than Air Force, so shouldn't be as worried about facing the Falcons as they might be in the semi's facing AIC or Sacred Heart. The Falcons are definitely not easy to play against (and are truly BORING), are well coached, are certainly the Tigers' nemesis, and for whatever reason love playing in Rochester, but they're not as much of a behemoth as they've been in past seasons. I like RIT's chances in this matchup.

First of all, if it were an option, yes, anyone here should rather play a Mercyhurst team off an upset in Colorado Springs than Air Force. Obviously nothing is a guarantee (as we well know having watched 11th seeded Niagara beat us in 2016-17), but an upset this weekend wouldn't change the fact that over 28 games, this Mercyhurst team was one of the three worst regular season teams in Atlantic Hockey history (yes, the aforementioned Niagara team is another of the 3 teams on that list). Momentum and confidence only go so far. For example, the Niagara team mentioned above promptly went to Canisius and was swept the next weekend. In fact, since the AHA has gone to a format where the bottom seeds played in the 1st round and the top teams got a bye, the bottom seeded team has won 4 first round series. Those teams have combined to go 0-8 in 2nd round games (ie 4 sweeps out of 4). Playing Mercyhurst would be a huge boon for RIT, were it able to happen.

Unfortunately, that's not an option anyway. If Air Force loses, AIC gets the benefit of Mercyhurst coming to their place, while RIT would play Robert Morris if Robert Morris wins their series, or the winner of Bentley/Canisius if both RoMo and Air Force lose. And yes, I would also prefer to play any of the other three teams than Air Force in the 2nd round. Air Force has the capability to suffocate the RIT offense where one defensive or goaltending mistake could prove fatal any given night - RIT barely reached 60 shots on goal total over 4 games against them. None of the other potential 2nd round opponents have that kind of defense. I personally would love to see Robert Morris - they've ridden a hot start to the 8th seed but they're 4-11-5(3) in their last 20 conference games. Again, nothing's a guarantee (and certainly Air Force slumped to the finish line as well), but I think RIT matches up much better with Robert Morris than a team like Air Force. That's not to say RIT can't beat Air Force (I think RIT would be favorites against any of the potential round 2 opponents), but there certainly are reasons - even beyond the historical voodoo they seem to have on us in Rochester - to want to avoid AF.