Re: >>>>> RIT Tigers 2011-2012 <<<<< Dreaming is Done, Time to ROAR
Re: >>>>> RIT Tigers 2011-2012 <<<<< Dreaming is Done, Time to ROAR
I don't think losing a game is always on persons fault, but that major penalty..
That penalty was right in front of where I was sitting, and it wasn't worthy of a 5 and a game. It was no worse than the checking from behind penalty that was whistled on RPI in the first period, which was given only a minor. Foote choked on that call. Plain and simple. I know he has friends and co-workers who are RIT fans and that past negative comments about him have been met with a lot of defense, but quite frankly he has regressed in terms of the quality of his officiating. It was worthy of a minor, no question about it, but nothing more than that.
This really highlighted to me the stark difference in quality between what is considered an upper echelon AHA team and a team that quite frankly is a bottom feeder in the ECAC. While RIT had an advantage in the speed department, they were hard pressed to do anything with it because they could not out muscle the much larger RPI squad. RIT struggled to win battles for loose pucks, struggled to establish any sort of strong forecheck and had virtually no presence in front of the net at all, in either zone. The fact that this game was even on the scoreboard aside from a 1:30 stretch on the PK in the second, was quite frankly a miracle, as RIT got outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game.
The power play continues to be an absolute joke. RPI had a significant number of quality chances while RIT was on the powerplay. It could actually be argued that RPI's PK had better scoring chances than RIT's PP.
If there are positives to be had, its that Greg Noyes seems to be finding his stride a bit, his play has really picked up the last few weeks, Shane continues to be a rock in the net, and McReynolds continues to play with heart and grit on every shift (he delivered the biggest hit of the night in open ice in the first period). I'll call it a positive that Descoteaux was given a night off, it was long over due, he's not played well at all this season.
As for the not so bright side, once again a second tier quality non conference opponent basically took it to RIT, and provided a glimpse of just how far behind RIT is behind the level of competition outside of the AHA. If this school is going make the investment of $30 mil. in a new arena, it should take the step of moving the school to DI athletics across the board, so that RIT can do it the right way, join a real conference and compete for the best players available on a level playing field, including scholarships. Otherwise, it is nothing but a total waste of time and money.
