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Colgate 2023-24

Woooooof I hear ya red. I feel like we just don’t have the guys to put the puck in the back on the net. Lots of circling and passing when on the PP and in OT but no plans to shoot and score.
 
As usual we finish our o-o-c season with a subpar record (3-7-2) against below mediocre teams...the irony here, of course, is that Brett Riley was with our program several years ago before starting the same at LIU...I know for a fact that he was a key guy in bringing some talent to Colgate, has a great college hockey pedigree and was very, very popular with young men looking to play hockey at the collegiate level...by no means am I forgetting the great weekend in Lake Placid last year, but one wonders...if we had two parallel universes and one involved Brett succeeding DV as head coach at Colgate in 2020 or 2021 would our program be in better shape today? Finally, these two losses simply reinforce the relative weakness (save Q-Pac and Cornell) of the ECAC...and it doesn't appear to be getting better anytime soon...
 
TheGreenCoat said:
As usual we finish our o-o-c season with a subpar record (3-7-2) against below mediocre teams...the irony here, of course, is that Brett Riley was with our program several years ago before starting the same at LIU...I know for a fact that he was a key guy in bringing some talent to Colgate, has a great college hockey pedigree and was very, very popular with young men looking to play hockey at the collegiate level...by no means am I forgetting the great weekend in Lake Placid last year, but one wonders...if we had two parallel universes and one involved Brett succeeding DV as head coach at Colgate in 2020 or 2021 would our program be in better shape today? Finally, these two losses simply reinforce the relative weakness (save Q-Pac and Cornell) of the ECAC...and it doesn't appear to be getting better anytime soon...
Click to expand...

Colgate could have hired Riley last spring as well
 
sezenack...I wish Mike Harder all the best and the incoming class next year looks fairly good...nonetheless, what the **** is our university thinking in NOT hiring Brett Riley? I'm now an old fart and don't have that many contacts in the college hockey world, but the individuals I've spoken to re: Riley are well known, knowledgeable and objective...well, that train has left the station...
 
TheGreenCoat said:
sezenack...I wish Mike Harder all the best and the incoming class next year looks fairly good...nonetheless, what the **** is our university thinking in NOT hiring Brett Riley? I'm now an old fart and don't have that many contacts in the college hockey world, but the individuals I've spoken to re: Riley are well known, knowledgeable and objective...well, that train has left the station...
Click to expand...

I would agree based on what I've seen too. Riley had good recruiting success at gate, and he has made LIU respectable. But yeah don't write off Harder. I think he can be successful as well, and this is coming from an RPI fan
 
It's a little early to be down on Harder. He comes with a great pedigree and was not picked unless he checked all the boxes. Yes. Riley has done a great job at LIU, but our succes is in front of us. I have no doubt, given a honeymoon period, that Mike Harder will bring Colgate hockey to succesful and winning ways.

P.S. - When was the last time we saw Harvard last in the ECAC? Hunh?
 
I have to admit that I am as critical as anyone. And the sweep by LIU was thoroughly depressing.

But in a fleeting moment of glass half fullness, I will somewhat echo Col Skate’s comment above. As disappointing as this weekend’s results were, Coach Harder is going to need time to build a program. Tournament championship of last year notwithstanding, it is not like he inherited a program at the upper echelons. He has a lot of work to do in recruiting. And I am cautiously optimistic in him and his staff.

Keep in mind that he was hired very late in the cycle and didn’t have the opportunity to really recruit for this season. We won’t see the results of his recruiting for a season or two.
 
Harder definitely needs time. A perfect example is Gate's women's basketball team in its third year under a great young coach. First year big losing record, second year winning record, this year tied for first in the PL. Hockey's tougher as we usually play a lot of the best teams in the country in the ECAC unlike the PL. That said we should have an inkindling if it's working next year and be certain in 25-26.
 
After our final non-conference games and keeping in mind that .500 hockey was the consensus goal this season, this is where we stand tonight...

6-11-3 overall (with 14 to play).

3-4-1 in ECAC Hockey (with 14 to play).

3-7-2 out-of-conference (FINAL).

1-6-2 at home (with 8 to play).

5-5-1 on the road (with 6 to play).

1-2-1 against 2023 NCAA Tournament teams (with 2 to play).

Additionally, this is where ECAC Hockey teams stand with regard to the 64-team PairWise Rankings (PWR)...

4-Quinnipiac, 16-Cornell,

30-Clarkson,

35-Dartmouth, 40-Union, 41-Colgate, 44-Yale, 47-Princeton,

49-RPI, 51-Brown, 56-Harvard, 59-Saint Lawrence.

As a point of reference, this is where Atlantic Hockey teams are in PWR...


22-RIT, 29-AIC,

33-Holy Cross, 41-Air Force, 46-Bentley, 47-Sacred Heart,

53-Army West Point, 54-Mercyhurst, 54-Canisius, 57-Niagara, 62-Robert Morris.
 
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Woof. It’s never fun losing both games of a weekend.

But it really bothers me that posters on this thread are very negative and acting like the sky is falling! We have a new coach this year, it may take a few seasons to get Mike Harder to build the vision he has. Look at Colgate’s men’s basketball program. Matt Langel was hired in 2011, and it took until 2019 for Colgate to win the Patriot League and make the NCAA tournament. They’ve made it to the league championship game 6 seasons in a row going back to 2018!

Everything takes time. There’s still a lot of season left, and anything can happen. Just look at last March, which took all of us by surprise!
 
I hear you gentlemen and, as I have said, I think we've got a decent to good incoming class next year (also nice-sized)...I also think Mike has hired two young and well-connected assistant coaches...I admit my patience at 73 years of age is not what it used to be (and it was never particularly good) and bitterness over the implosion of the Browns hasn't helped...the Cleveland defense, especially on the road, was overrated anyway and tended to give up big plays...
 
Carter Gylander in goal for Colgate.
Slovakian freshman Matej Marinov in goal for Quinnipiac.
Colgate penalty. Killed.

Quinnipiac 14, Colgate 6, SOG after one.
Colgate 0, Quinnipiac 0, score after one.

Colgate penalty. Outstanding penalty kill.
Colgate penalty again. Killed.
And seconds later… Alex DiPaolo scored a beautiful goal set up by Reid Irwin and Pierson Brandon.

Quinnipiac penalty. Killed.
Quinnipiac score.

Quinnipiac 25, Colgate 16, SOG after two.
Colgate 1, Quinnipiac 1, score after two.

Video Review for Major Penalty.
5-minute penalty to Quinnipiac.

Irwin from Bergsland and LaBelle.

Quinnipiac pulled goalie.
3.7 seconds left. Face-off in Colgate end.

Quinnipiac 34, Colgate 27, Final SOG.
Colgate 2, Quinnipiac 1, Final score.
 
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I couldn’t think of a better way to move beyond a weekend disaster of getting swept by LIU than beating Quinnipiac.
 
To paraphrase the classic 90’s comedy Dumb and dumber: “just when you do something so dumb you couldn’t be any dumber, you do something like this……….AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF”
 
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