>>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

"Poor" will be getting swept this weekend (I'd say P > 0.25).

"OK" would be sweeping this weekend and splitting the next 10 or so.

"Stellar" would be sweeping this weekend and then going on a 15 game unbeaten streak.

There's plenty happening right now that is "poor" or close to it and very little, if anything, that makes the word "stellar" come to mind.

Realistically, I'd like to see the following out of the current team. Use the rest of the regular season to continue to grow as a cohesive team, host a first round playoff, and hit their stride in the playoffs with everyone healthy and all aspects of their game (goaltending, defense, offense, power play, penalty killing, etc.) performing at their season best. I wouldn't be surprised to continue to see more changes as the season progresses as the coaches look for the right mix of players to give RIT the best chance to advance in the playoffs. I have faith in Coach Wilson and this RIT team. To paraphrase, Coach Serratore said that he hopes that his AF team is now over the "hump" after winning an "ugly" game. I don't think RIT is over the "hump" as yet nor have they won an "ugly" game.

 

[Zyklon]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

1. Our goaltending is not as good in D1 hockey as we thought it would be. I think that when recruiting our 3 goalies, we thought we were getting the cream of the crop, but we really weren't. Guimond was much better than the clowns we have in goal now. I'm not usually so critical, but we can't count on any of our goalies to make saves when we need them.

Ok. Look at madolora's stats at the beginning of 2010-2011 season, case closed he sucked to start so stop complaining: http://www.ritathletics.com/custompages/mhock/2010-11/plyr_1.htm . At this time his save percentage was about where watson's is now actually, maybe watson's a week behind.

2. We have the offense.

Yes.

3. We have terrible defense. Saracino cannot make up for the lack of talent on D. That's right... lack of talent and lack of effort to be good students of the game and do whatever it takes.

No. Yes, some of the Junior's make mistakes by overpersuing (Raibl, Noyes, Descoteaux) but Saracino, Kuqali, Shumway (except a mistake or two he has made) and brownell have all been pretty solid.

4. We have no enforcer. If we're going to take penalties, we had better make them count. I'm looking at you Kuqali.

Thompson was probably supposed to be an enforcer (Sorta was last year, also coulda been an assist machine), I have seen Kuqali enforce sometimes. At Air Force he tapped a guy and he kinda jumped it didnt even look like Kuqali shoved that hard in my opinion. He got unlucky and nobody on the team took his enforcer role afterwards.

Edit: Straight from when 2015 class was announced Wayne Wilson said: "Brandon Thompson is a speedy forward, who is a strong playmaker, and will agitate our opponents."

5. We will make it to the quarter finals, but only after winning a play-in round this year. We might even make it to the semis, but I doubt any further. If we won the league, it would be a shame, because we would go nowhere in the NCAA tourney.

I hate predicting and I think jumping to this conclusion so early is highly unnecessary.

6. We need better recruiting and we need to use the Pollesini Center to draw in A-level talent. I was really disappointed when WW said that RIT will rarely (if ever) have players that go straight to the NHL. While that mindset is pragmatic, that's not what he should be saying on TV. He should say that as the program develops, and as the Rochester Community builds around this team, and if RIT goes all-D1 in 5-10 years, we'll have all the talent we can handle.

We can recruit well (look at Union) without scholarships and the Polisseni Center should help. Union actually has 2 NHL draft picks as well on their team and made the frozen four last year.


Edit: Also for those looking for who was supposed to fill Brenner's shoes, coach Wilson thought it would be Adam Mitchell. http://www.ritathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=8699&path=mhock In my opinion if you were looking for a line to resemble the brenner-favot-lynch line it would be: lynch-mitchell-miller(should be thompson).

 

[five8five]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

1. Our goaltending is not as good in D1 hockey as we thought it would be. I think that when recruiting our 3 goalies, we thought we were getting the cream of the crop, but we really weren't. Guimond was much better than the clowns we have in goal now. I'm not usually so critical, but we can't count on any of our goalies to make saves when we need them.




/rant.

You gotta play on a consistent basis to keep your skills sharp. Watson hasn't gotten in more than a handful of games in two years and this season
has been trading starts with Ruby - it's gonna take a bit to get things going (for either of them) - just like it took Mads some time last year.

 

[RIT Winters]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Ok. Look at madolora's stats at the beginning of 2010-2011 season, case closed he sucked to start so stop complaining: http://www.ritathletics.com/custompages/mhock/2010-11/plyr_1.htm . At this time his save percentage was about where watson's is now actually, maybe watson's a week behind.

Disagree. First of all, those first two games were out of conference games against solid teams. The numbers are bad, but most RIT goalies walk away from non-conf games with pretty gnarly numbers each year. If you look at his first AHA game, his numbers were pretty great. 34 saves on 36 shots. His next AHA game? 29 saves on 32 shots. You then have to look a full month to find his next game where he gave up MORE THAN TWO GOALS.

Is it possible Watson pulls that off? Maybe. Do the numbers support it? Sorry friend, they do not.

No. Yes, some of the Junior's make mistakes by overpersuing (Raibl, Noyes, Descoteaux) but Saracino, Kuqali, Shumway (except a mistake or two he has made) and brownell have all been pretty solid.

Raibl and Descoteaux have been prone to making mistakes their entire careers here though, that's the problem. At some point you have to question the talent level there. Raibl has pretty frequently been the guy who is a healthy scratch when the team is healthy. I never thought either of them was particularly good, but I had some higher hopes for Nolan this year after he dropped a bunch of that weight. Noyes I will accept being not the best defensively because he is the definition of an offensive defenseman. I don't think it's bad to have that, it just hurts when we lack any good stay at home men.

 

[MattS]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Only if anything below "stellar" is "poor".

RIT Winter's response pretty much says it all:

Josh Watson (8 GP):
3.19 GAA
0.899 SvPct

Jordan Ruby (5 GP)
4.78 GAA
0.873 SvPct

I'm sorry but a save percentage below .900 at any level can certainly not be considered good. For a goalie in the AHA, .910 should really be the low bar. Watson's numbers are nearing respectable in AHA play, admittedly, but you definitely can't call our goaltending situation good, and I would agree that it is definitely poor.

I will add this to it:

The 30th best statistical goalie has a .913 SV% and a 2.40 GAA. Neither of RIT's are remotely close to that. The 30th best goalie would be considered mediocre so I contend that a 0.899 SV% and a 3.19 GAA is poor.

3. We have terrible defense. Saracino cannot make up for the lack of talent on D. That's right... lack of talent and lack of effort to be good students of the game and do whatever it takes.

No. Yes, some of the Junior's make mistakes by overpersuing (Raibl, Noyes, Descoteaux) but Saracino, Kuqali, Shumway (except a mistake or two he has made) and brownell have all been pretty solid.

Zyklon, what team are you watching? How anyone can think the RIT has anything but a terrible defense right now is way beyond me. RIT is 57th out of 59 teams in defense! If that isn’t terrible then what the heck is? Could they develop into a better D? Sure, but right now they are not.

6. We need better recruiting and we need to use the Pollesini Center to draw in A-level talent. I was really disappointed when WW said that RIT will rarely (if ever) have players that go straight to the NHL. While that mindset is pragmatic, that's not what he should be saying on TV. He should say that as the program develops, and as the Rochester Community builds around this team, and if RIT goes all-D1 in 5-10 years, we'll have all the talent we can handle.

Wow. Was this really said by Wilson? That has to be a rare gaff. While it might be true, it certainly isn’t what you want to say.

I would have thought the FF run would have made a difference in recruiting. So far it hasn’t. I would think that a brand new building filled (hopefully) with rabid fans will help too. I hope it does. I really, really hope it does. I think RIT is falling behind in recruitment these past couple of years. I hope it is an anomaly and not a trend.

My only concerned that with the new building it will bring too many casual and business type fans that really don’t care about the team or the game. They’re there because it’s new and shiny and it’s the cool place to be. One of the things I have read, heard and been told, over and over again, is that players that come to colleges that do not offer scholies, is that it was seeing a game in person and the energy and passion of the crowd makes them want to play there. I hope RIT doesn’t lose that in the new building.

 

[Frank_Jiang]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

“Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar ” A very vivid metaphor！

 

[five8five]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Watson's numbers have been improving. He got a shut out at Holy Cross and posted a .932 save percentage against Clarkson. In Colorado he gave up 3 goals, but one of them was kicked into the net so I'm not gonna hold that against him.

Watson's last five games: SV% is .920 with a GAA 2.52

 

[LtPowers]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Guimond was much better than the clowns we have in goal now.

Well that pretty much says it all about what kind of "fans" we have of this team.


Powers &8^]

 

[LtPowers]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

The 30th best goalie would be considered mediocre so I contend that a 0.899 SV% and a 3.19 GAA is poor.

30th best is mediocre? There are somewhere on the order of 170 goalies in Division I men's hockey!


Powers &8^]

 

[lmg6841]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Kicked in or not, he was completely out of position and blew the play. I'm pretty sure he thought he had the puck *smh*

Watson's numbers have been improving. He got a shut out at Holy Cross and posted a .932 save percentage against Clarkson. In Colorado he gave up 3 goals, but one of them was kicked into the net so I'm not gonna hold that against him.

Watson's last five games: SV% is .920 with a GAA 2.52

 

[five8five]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

RIT Winter's response pretty much says it all:



I will add this to it:

The 30th best statistical goalie has a .913 SV% and a 2.40 GAA. Neither of RIT's are remotely close to that. The 30th best goalie would be considered mediocre so I contend that a 0.899 SV% and a 3.19 GAA is poor.





Zyklon, what team are you watching? How anyone can think the RIT has anything but a terrible defense right now is way beyond me. RIT is 57th out of 59 teams in defense! If that isn’t terrible then what the heck is? Could they develop into a better D? Sure, but right now they are not.

Yes, RIT is ranked 57th in team defense - that's the entire team, not just the D-men. You can't hang it all on Noyes, Saracino and company. There is a lot of adjusting going on - the freshmen are learning a new system (which I've been told is pretty complex) and the upperclassmen are either matched with freshmen or guys they haven't played with in the past. The line chemistry will come, the D pairings will start clicking and things will be better.

I'm not saying there isn't work to be done, but I'm not saying this season is a wash either.

 

[RITProf]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

My only concerned that with the new building it will bring too many casual and business type fans that really don’t care about the team or the game. They’re there because it’s new and shiny and it’s the cool place to be. One of the things I have read, heard and been told, over and over again, is that players that come to colleges that do not offer scholies, is that it was seeing a game in person and the energy and passion of the crowd makes them want to play there. I hope RIT doesn’t lose that in the new building.

Or, and I have seen this at several schools, etc., the "prime" seats in the center are all taken by season ticket holders, many of which don't bother to show up to any given game and then it looks like a somewhat empty arena. This doesn't happen now because the seats can all be filled in as general admission. That might not be the case going forward if reserved seats need to be held reserved through the whole game. Oh well, a minor tidbit to get everyone's minds off mediocre goalies and poor defenses...

 

[Bing]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Originally Posted by Bing
Guimond was much better than the clowns we have in goal now.

Well that pretty much says it all about what kind of "fans" we have of this team.


Powers &8^]

While I admit that "clowns" was perhaps not the most flattering word I could have chosen, it's because I care about the team that I went on an such a harsh rant. I have been watching RIT hockey for 10 years now, and I want to see the team succeed. I make the trip from Syracuse to every home game and I would submit that I'm more dedicated than most.

 

[RIT Winters]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

30th best is mediocre? There are somewhere on the order of 170 goalies in Division I men's hockey!

Powers &8^]

Watson is below 30th best. Plus, I believe he is comparing to starting goalies. If you are going to be proud of Watson being better than dozens of teams backups, more power to you, but as far as Division 1 starters we're about as far down on the list as it goes.

Watson's numbers have been improving. He got a shut out at Holy Cross and posted a .932 save percentage against Clarkson. In Colorado he gave up 3 goals, but one of them was kicked into the net so I'm not gonna hold that against him.

Watson's last five games: SV% is .920 with a GAA 2.52

He got a shut out at AIC. We were swept by Holy Cross. Shutting out AIC is not exactly impressive. He only saw 19 shots of which maybe a handful were strong scoring oppurtunities.

 

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Disagree. First of all, those first two games were out of conference games against solid teams. The numbers are bad, but most RIT goalies walk away from non-conf games with pretty gnarly numbers each year.

There is that and the fact that Shane was nursing an injury and may (at least according to coach Wilson) have tried to start his season a little too soon in 2010-11. This was addressed on here at the time when a number on here wanted him benched in favor of Ropponen and or Watson due to his shaky performance against Lowell. He certainly came a long way in a very short period of time after that early season bashing from this board. I agree, though that so far neither Ruby nor Watson have shown much evidence that they might make the same turn-around. Maybe Watson more than Ruby, but we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, a couple 0, 1, or 2 GAA perfromances against SHU can help turn the corner for one or both of them.

 

[RIT Winters]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

There is that and the fact that Shane was nursing an injury and may (at least according to coach Wilson) have tried to start his season a little too soon in 2010-11. This was addressed on here at the time when a number on here wanted him benched in favor of Ropponen and or Watson due to his shaky performance against Lowell. He certainly came a long way in a very short period of time after that early season bashing from this board. I agree, though that so far neither Ruby nor Watson have shown much evidence that they might make the same turn-around. Maybe Watson more than Ruby, but we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, a couple 0, 1, or 2 GAA perfromances against SHU can help turn the corner for one or both of them.

On that note, do we think Watson plays both games this weekend? He's played 4 straight now.

I think he plays Friday and if the score is lopsided in our favor, Ruby gets the start Saturday. Basically, if Sacred Heart looks to be a confidence booster for our goalies I think Wilson will want to get Ruby in. Otherwise, Watson gives us the best chance to win.

It's easy to write off Sacred Heart given their record, but let's not forget we're only two spots (and a single win) above them. Furthermore, they scored 3 goals in each of their 2 games against Niagara last week. Given that Niagara's goalie is the best in the AHA and their defense isn't awful, that is fairly impressive. It also leads me to believe that they might be able to put up a lot of points on us, so hopefully we can fire back.

 

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Watson is below 30th best. Plus, I believe he is comparing to starting goalies. If you are going to be proud of Watson being better than dozens of teams backups, more power to you, but as far as Division 1 starters we're about as far down on the list as it goes.

Neither is even in the top 37 goaltenders in GA, and if I'm reading the lists correctly (hard to sort) Ruby is second to last in SV% of all goaltenders who have played at least 33% of their teams' minutes (far fewer than 170 goaltenders qualify for the rankings, btw). Of course there are only three AHA goalies in the top 37 (Chubak, Capobianco, Tibbett), so this doesn't enlighten RIT's tenders relative to the rest of the conference they are in, but it does show how below mediocre they have been to date. As was pointed out previously, the lowest SV% amongst the top 37 (in GA) is .910, leading one to believe that neither Watson nor Ruby is even close to # 37 since the closest to that amongst the two of them is .899. Considering there are only 60 D-I teams, many of which probably don't have more than one goaltender that qualifies for the list, that has got to be considered below average.

 

[lmg6841]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Lopsided score? I don't see use taking more than two points this weekend...

On that note, do we think Watson plays both games this weekend? He's played 4 straight now.

I think he plays Friday and if the score is lopsided in our favor, Ruby gets the start Saturday. Basically, if Sacred Heart looks to be a confidence booster for our goalies I think Wilson will want to get Ruby in. Otherwise, Watson gives us the best chance to win.

It's easy to write off Sacred Heart given their record, but let's not forget we're only two spots (and a single win) above them. Furthermore, they scored 3 goals in each of their 2 games against Niagara last week. Given that Niagara's goalie is the best in the AHA and their defense isn't awful, that is fairly impressive. It also leads me to believe that they might be able to put up a lot of points on us, so hopefully we can fire back.

 

[burgie12]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

It's easy to write off Sacred Heart given their record, but let's not forget we're only two spots (and a single win) above them. Furthermore, they scored 3 goals in each of their 2 games against Niagara last week. Given that Niagara's goalie is the best in the AHA and their defense isn't awful, that is fairly impressive. It also leads me to believe that they might be able to put up a lot of points on us, so hopefully we can fire back.

Not to nitpick, but Sacred Heart only scored 2 goals on Saturday. I was able to attend the game and it was not close.

Niagara had two goals disallowed, one of them rightly so (1:33 into the third period) and one slightly more questionably so (2:35 into the game).

About the two goals that they allowed, though, the first was sloppy play behind the net / a somewhat decent forecheck by Sacred Heart which led to a pass from behind the net to a completely unmarked man who scored before Chubak had even seen the puck come out in front. And the second goal occurred when one of Niagara's d-men cross-checked a forward for absolutely no reason and then he just stood there looking at the ref saying "But I didn't do anything" and Sacred Heart's defenseman unleashed a slap shot that went right past said Niagara d-man and ended up going top shelf. Sure, you can say Chubak could have saved it, but the first goal was most certainly not his fault.

Otherwise, he wasn't tested much. There was never a point where Chubak had to make a sprawling save or go full out or when the Pioneers really established a lengthy offensive possession outside of a power play.

Niagara just unloaded in the second, taking 21 shots and chasing SHU's goalie and just played keep away in the third. All in all, I expect RIT to take three points on the weekend. Hopefully, fairly easily.

I'm looking forward to the Dec 12 game at Niagara. I plan on being there wearing an RIT Frozen Four shirt and sitting on the end that RIT will attack twice (closer to the entrance). If anyone else plans on going, make sure to get there relatively early. There's only one ticket window, so it's slow moving to get your tickets and I-190 North going over the Grand Island Bridge (if you decide to go that way) is notoriously slow around rush hour.

 

[MattS]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2012-2013 - Locked, Loaded, And Ready To Roar <<<<<

30th best is mediocre? There are somewhere on the order of 170 goalies in Division I men's hockey!

Watson is below 30th best. Plus, I believe he is comparing to starting goalies. If you are going to be proud of Watson being better than dozens of teams backups, more power to you, but as far as Division 1 starters we're about as far down on the list as it goes.

Exactly.

Or, and I have seen this at several schools, etc., the "prime" seats in the center are all taken by season ticket holders, many of which don't bother to show up to any given game and then it looks like a somewhat empty arena. This doesn't happen now because the seats can all be filled in as general admission. That might not be the case going forward if reserved seats need to be held reserved through the whole game. Oh well, a minor tidbit to get everyone's minds off mediocre goalies and poor defenses...

Ah, yes I forgot about that little dilemma that happens at some events.