>>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

[StimulisRK]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Well...was really hoping for a better game tonight.

I recorded last nights game, then took my GF to her first hockey game, UofA vs. San Diego St. (ACHA hockey) here in Tucson. At that game, shots were 72-Arizona, 18-San Diego. We got home and she watched the RIT v. Niagara game with me and halfway into the 2nd period, and she goes "Why doesn't RIT get the puck and shoot? They like dancing around and passing, if they shoot, they'd score more". I thought that was an apt observation for this season by someone who doesn't know hockey.

 

[LtPowers]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I say sack Coach Wilson. RIT is still an up and coming team. I'm sure given the right pay check, anyone coach would jump on the RIT band wagon. RIT has everything going for it right now, just not the coaching. I love you Coach Wilson, but your time is over.

What do you think this is, the NHL?

It's extremely rare to sack a college coach after a couple of down seasons (and we haven't even finished the second one yet).


Powers &8^]

 

[unscarred76]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Leave it to Ruby to kill momentum with a weak 3rd goal. He is not a d1 goalie. Lynch is snake bit at the moment and McGowan is also. Ug just sick of watching the jeckyl and hyde of this team.

 

[kerwing7]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

My quick takeaways from this weekend. 1.) Niagara is a lot better than their record and with all the young players on their team they are going to be kicking our a** for years to come. 2.) Rotolo is our starting goalie until he completely implodes, which I don't think is ever going to happen. 3.) Not to be too negative but, we just aren't a very good team and our record shows it. It's time for Wayne to play the younger players more to get them as much game experience as possible for next season.

 

[RIT Winters]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Leave it to Ruby to kill momentum with a weak 3rd goal. He is not a d1 goalie. Lynch is snake bit at the moment and McGowan is also. Ug just sick of watching the jeckyl and hyde of this team.

Lynch is definitely snake bit right now. On one shift tonight he had 3 chances and none of them went his way. McGowan is a totally different player without Garbowsky, I'm not sure he's going to return to form until Garbo comes back.

My quick takeaways from this weekend. 1.) Niagara is a lot better than their record and with all the young players on their team they are going to be kicking our a** for years to come. 2.) Rotolo is our starting goalie until he completely implodes, which I don't think is ever going to happen. 3.) Not to be too negative but, we just aren't a very good team and our record shows it. It's time for Wayne to play the younger players more to get them as much game experience as possible for next season.

1) This is hard to say. I think we just made them look good. They have put up some really poor results against teams better than RIT.

2) I agree....but Wilson has a quick trigger finger with goalies at this point. Rotolo went 6 games without a loss and got benched after 3 not so good/bad showings in favor of a guy who is just not good.

3) Indeed. And actually I think we've seen some pretty solid play from the freshmen in general. Skirving and Perron-Fontaine in particular have been playing very well for us and as we bench guys like Hamburg in favor of freshmen I think there's a chance we see more of what this class has to offer.

 

[tigerprincess7]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Anyone know if it's possible to watch the games on DirecTV and if so, what channel?

Not unless it's nationally televised, only people with Time Warner get the SportsNet (I think it's channel 26 in Rochester?) where all the home games are shown.

(Actually that isn't technically true either because if it's nationally televised you have to make sure you get the right channel because every service has different sports packages, like I have FiOS at home now and I didn't have CBS Sports on Friday ..... I mean I did go to Niagara but I would've liked to hear what the announcers had to say although now I know from reading here that they weren't that great)

 

[komey1]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I say sack Coach Wilson. RIT is still an up and coming team. I'm sure given the right pay check, anyone coach would jump on the RIT band wagon. RIT has everything going for it right now, just not the coaching. I love you Coach Wilson, but your time is over.

And replace him with who? RIT is not a high-profile job. Coaches aren't going to be lining up to take an AHA job at a team that doesn't offer scholarships. Where is the money for the right paycheck going to come from?

I think the real problem is that the team is not mentally tough enough to come from behind. The team is 1-9-3 overall after allowing the first goal. They haven't won a game where they were behind after 2, and only once when behind after 1. Amizingly, after the first couple games, RIT looked like they had the toughness with comebacks to earn ties against Clarkson and Penn State, and even in the comeback against Michigan to tie it after being down 4. I have to lay that out on the seniors. I'd look to the captian, but since Garboswsky has been out I have to look at Lynch who is listed as the alternate caption, unless someone else has the captaincy. I think it is telling that a junior got the "C", and it seems obvious now why.

 

[MattS]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

My quick takeaways from this weekend. 1.) Niagara is a lot better than their record and with all the young players on their team they are going to be kicking our a** for years to come.

I have to completely disagree with you here about Niagara being better than their record. Unless, they have drastically changed from when I saw them earlier this season, they are a bad team. I saw them against Cornell and they were completely dominated and looked bad. And I don't think they looked good this weekend from my TV vantage point. Now they might have some freshman who will deliver in the future. I cannot speak intelligently to that.

And replace him with who? RIT is not a high-profile job. Coaches aren't going to be lining up to take an AHA job at a team that doesn't offer scholarships. Where is the money for the right paycheck going to come from?

Agreed. I am not opposed to making an employment change (& this is in almost any employment situation not just coaching) but you only do it when you are reasonably positive that making a change will improve the product. As much as I am critical of this program over the past 2-3 seasons, I think a coaching change would be a bit premature. And that is not even considering the (unwise) contract extension that Wilson received and the money involved. In college sports I believe an AD has to work in 4 year cycles when looking at coaching. One really bad year of recruiting can completely ruin 2-3 years of production. If RIT is still floundering like they currently are in say another year or certainly two then I will have a different attitude and at that time a coaching change is a valid discussion. If at this point next season the Tigers are in the same position then I think we might have something to talk about. Although maybe Bennett (from Union) might be looking for a new job after his um, lets say poor decision last night! Just kidding.

I do think at this point RIT needs to take a hard look at how the program is faring and what needs to change. It is completely obvious that RIT is not getting the players they need to compete. We all know the limitations RIT has and those are not going to change. I assume that RIT is not happy with the on ice product especially with a new arena coming. So RIT needs to make sure that it is doing everything possible to allow Wilson and the program to succeed. I know for sure that they are not, so I hope that changes. Time will tell.

I think the real problem is that the team is not mentally tough enough to come from behind.

This is certainly a large part of it. I think these players are just not hockey smart and tough. They make multiple mental mistakes. And last night with the exception of a couple of players they were mentally done after the second Niagara goal.


At this point I see no reason to play any upperclassmen any more than necessary. This season is a waste with regards having a good record and realistically making the NCAA tourney (unless Rotolo goes a run of epic lore) so Wilson should get the underclassmen as much experience as possible. Test them out in situations where they normally wouldn't get much time and see what they can do. There is a fine line with having young players fail too much too early in their RIT careers but better to try them out now then when they are juniors and seniors only to find they can't handle it then when it is too late.

With regards to the goalie rotation, I see no reason to play Ruby at all unless Rotolo is getting completely shelled in a game. Rotolo would be my starter for the remainder of the season. Period. Planning for the future now by playing the youngsters should play dividends come next season and the one after that.

 

[LtPowers]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

And last night with the exception of a couple of players they were mentally done after the second Niagara goal.

On the contrary, I thought the second and third periods RIT was the better team. We didn't get the results on the scoreboard, but we dominated time of possession and scoring chances.


Powers &8^]

 

[RITFan67]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

On the contrary, I thought the second and third periods RIT was the better team. We didn't get the results on the scoreboard, but we dominated time of possession and scoring chances.

Yup, we had three ring off the posts (in the wrong direction), at least one goal that Ruby should have stopped (Rotolo really should have been playing), and one shot into the goalie with a wide open left side of the net. I know, "woulda, coulda, shoulda"... but with things different by very minor amounts and one player change, the results could have been very different.

 

[komey1]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I do think at this point RIT needs to take a hard look at how the program is faring and what needs to change. It is completely obvious that RIT is not getting the players they need to compete. We all know the limitations RIT has and those are not going to change. I assume that RIT is not happy with the on ice product especially with a new arena coming. So RIT needs to make sure that it is doing everything possible to allow Wilson and the program to succeed. I know for sure that they are not, so I hope that changes. Time will tell.

I'm curious to know what you at least think you know in regards to the second to last sentence. They've been upgrading their facilities and we have a new arena next year.

At this point I see no reason to play any upperclassmen any more than necessary. This season is a waste with regards having a good record and realistically making the NCAA tourney (unless Rotolo goes a run of epic lore) so Wilson should get the underclassmen as much experience as possible. Test them out in situations where they normally wouldn't get much time and see what they can do. There is a fine line with having young players fail too much too early in their RIT careers but better to try them out now then when they are juniors and seniors only to find they can't handle it then when it is too late.

I think the only underclassmen that I think should get more consistant playing time that isn't is McMullen. He has been solid for the most part in the games he has been in. I don't want to throw away this season because of where they are now. Letting things get completely get out of hand is a recipe for having bad ramifications down the road. They need to keep themselved competitive and I think it would send the wrong message to just throw the upperclassmen under the bus for playing time.

With regards to the goalie rotation, I see no reason to play Ruby at all unless Rotolo is getting completely shelled in a game. Rotolo would be my starter for the remainder of the season. Period. Planning for the future now by playing the youngsters should play dividends come next season and the one after that.

I think next year should be a goalie competition. Rotolo is good enough against weaker competition, but he did struggle against quality competion, even if it wasn't completely his fault. I don't know what the answer is for this year. I bet that both Ruby and Rotolo get playing time.

 

[MattS]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I'm curious to know what you at least think you know in regards to the second to last sentence. They've been upgrading their facilities and we have a new arena next year.

$$$$$$$$$$ RIT is terrible at raising funds for the hockey team and the new arena. I have been involved in two capital fund campaigns for non-profits; one as the leader. Now, while I will admit that neither were on the scale of the amount of money needed for a new arena, there were both in the multiple 6 figure area. If I had run my campaign the way that RIT did then I would still be asking for money today, years later. RIT's efforts in that area were absolutely pathetic. If anyone thinks that there were adequate is a fool. It obvious to anyone that the area that is being built is a scaled back version of what was originally shopped around. Why is that? Money is why. Plain and simple.

I give regularly to RIT. While my donations are a small amount compared to what others can and do give. I have never been asked to up my donation specifically for the hockey program. Even though I am a former season ticket holder for 10+ years (only gave them up after multiple years of living 2+ hours from RIT and only using them a handful of times a year), I have never once been specifically asked for any extra donation for the hockey program. I can only assume that I am the rule and not the exception.

By comparison my wife (alumn) gets a call every year from a Cornell hockey player asking for a donation as part of their athletic donation drive. We have season ticket which is why we are on their radar and not the amount of donation. Aldo as season ticket holders were are encouraged to join the Cornell Hockey Association which raises money for and highly supports the teams. I'm sure CU is not unique yet RIT does none of this that I am aware of. Granted I am not as connected as I once was but that just means if similar programs exist at RIT then they are missing my dupport and most likely lots of other alumni and supporters.

Imagine what RIT could do with a properly run marketing and alumni outreach program. All of this has a trickle down effect and makes the difference between running a first rate nationally competitive program and a middle of the road AHA program.

I think the only underclassmen that I think should get more consistant playing time that isn't is McMullen. He has been solid for the most part in the games he has been in. I don't want to throw away this season because of where they are now. Letting things get completely get out of hand is a recipe for having bad ramifications down the road. They need to keep themselved competitive and I think it would send the wrong message to just throw the upperclassmen under the bus for playing time.

This is the main difference between you and me. You are much more conservative and seemingly willing to accept the status quo and/or mediocrity. Obviously RIT can't field an all underclassmen team and I didn't mean to imply that RIT should not play the upperclassmen but when a game is over (like Saturday nights) put the youngsters out there more. Or heck even give some players more playing time right to start with. As it stands we know what we're going to get from the juniors and seniors but the development of the freshman and sophomores is the future of the team.

I think next year should be a goalie competition. Rotolo is good enough against weaker competition, but he did struggle against quality competion, even if it wasn't completely his fault. I don't know what the answer is for this year. I bet that both Ruby and Rotolo get playing time.

Rotolo isn't the next coming of Ken Dryden but Ruby is just plain bad. He's been given the opportunity to win and keep the starting job and has failed on multiple occasions. I say give Rotolo the opportunity to start the remainder of the year to see what he can do without worrying about having a bad game and losing the starting job. Next year is a completely different opportunity for both of them and I am OK with an open competition.


I guess what I am trying to say in a long winded way is that I sick and tired of loosing. Im frustrated as I am sure the coaching staff and players are. I've seen nothing that gives me any hope for the future. It seems like Wilson with the exception of the goaltending situation is just doing that same thing over and over. And I believe RIT could and should be doing better on multiple fronts with regards to hockey programs.


EDIT: I should state that I do think Wilson is trying his best and I by no means think I am smarter than he is at hockey coaching. I am simply stating what I believe I would do in his situation. While arrogrant, I do know that given the proper funds and staff, that I could have done a better job of raising funds for the hockey program from the average alumni.

 

[StimulisRK]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I agree with Rotolo starting. I think he should have stayed starter.

Anyone notice this during the broadcast friday haha?
farm3.staticflickr.com/2838/12130845713_2b3b7a7ba2_z.jpg

 

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I think this RIT team would have probably been a top 3 or better team in the AHA four or five years ago.

I whole-heartedly disagree. While I agree the league's other teams (well, some of them) have upgraded their talent levels and RIT doesn't seem to have, this team has displayed nowhere near the heart, desire, character, goaltending, or scoring ability (especially at critical points in the game) that the teams from 2007 through 2011 did.
I agree that the freshmen and sophomores need as much ice time as possible the rest of this season. The upper-classmen have already shown us more than enough and will not be adding any value to the future of the program by continuing to lead this team. Aside from two home games against a pretty poor Army team, this Tigers team has been swept three times in the last month, and not in very close games (6-2, 4-1, 8-2, 3-0, 5-1). Overall, if you ignore the SHU, AIC, and Army games, this team is 2-13-3. Last season was bad, but was treated as an anomaly by many. Two years in a row in the bottom half of the worst conference in the NCAA is too many. This team is headed directly for a road trip in the first round of the AHA playoffs, especially with their complete lack of ability to compete with their Western Pod competition. This is not what we signed up for in moving to Division I. We need the "next generation" to learn from this and get better. We have to hope they do so before becoming too accepting of the current state of affairs (losing all the time).

 

[lmg6841]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Well it's been quite a noisy weekend... and deservedly so. Only caught the box scores, but it seems I didn't miss anything while on vacation.

I agree with other posts here; firing Wilson alone wont solve the problem. RIT needs at least two of: new coaching staff, a more competitive league, scholarships. You get some all star coach and recruiters, and maybe we'll get competitive again, but as others are saying we're going to lose to the AHA scholarship programs. Scholarships plus the new rink may get us back into "best of the AHA" status, but maybe not much further up on the national level. Moving RIT to a more competitive conference could create some Ivy league/Union situation.

All pipe dreams at this point though :|

 

[kwh7433]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I just feel that I need to say that some of you need to relax a bit with the negativity on here. Last I checked this is a forum for fans of this team. Personal attacks on players don't help anyone. I am a die hard yankee fan and know what it is like to need to win every year but this isn't the yankees. Hockey is a game of momentum and chances, both of which are not going our way at the moment. In this league if a goalie gets hot you can find yourself going very far in the playoffs, and that's what we should all be looking for, not bashing all our goalies and looking at the future. This year isn't over and if you are really a "fan" of this team you should act like it.

With Garbowski out and several others in ruts we just need to mix up the lines and find ones that create plays and work well together, which wilson has been doing. Get a really hot line and a goalie on fire and we can make a run at this. It's not over yet.

p.s. last nights game was still a lot of fun to watch for me because if you really watched the players didn't give up. They kept fighting and were very emotional

 

[blazer777]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

This team is headed directly for a road trip in the first round of the AHA playoffs, especially with their complete lack of ability to compete with their Western Pod competition.

So, if that happens, any guesses on where they'd be playing?

 

[kerwing7]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I whole-heartedly disagree. While I agree the league's other teams (well, some of them) have upgraded their talent levels and RIT doesn't seem to have, this team has displayed nowhere near the heart, desire, character, goaltending, or scoring ability (especially at critical points in the game) that the teams from 2007 through 2011 did.
I agree that the freshmen and sophomores need as much ice time as possible the rest of this season. The upper-classmen have already shown us more than enough and will not be adding any value to the future of the program by continuing to lead this team. Aside from two home games against a pretty poor Army team, this Tigers team has been swept three times in the last month, and not in very close games (6-2, 4-1, 8-2, 3-0, 5-1). Overall, if you ignore the SHU, AIC, and Army games, this team is 2-13-3. Last season was bad, but was treated as an anomaly by many. Two years in a row in the bottom half of the worst conference in the NCAA is too many. This team is headed directly for a road trip in the first round of the AHA playoffs, especially with their complete lack of ability to compete with their Western Pod competition. This is not what we signed up for in moving to Division I. We need the "next generation" to learn from this and get better. We have to hope they do so before becoming too accepting of the current state of affairs (losing all the time).

Good post. Not good for the team or the fans of course, but well said IMO.
To add a little more fairly random statistical info to this general point:

The average number of goals scored by RIT in the 13 losses this season: 1.54 avg. goals per game
The average goal differential (the goals scored by opponent vs RIT) in those 13 losses is: 2.92 avg. goal differential per game

Obviously, it's tough to win when you are only scoring an average of 1.54 goals per game. To make matters worse we are getting beaten by almost twice as many goals (on average) as we are scoring in those losses. So to sum it up, we aren't very competitive in our losses. But I guess we kind of knew that already

 

[LtPowers]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

I give regularly to RIT. While my donations are a small amount compared to what others can and do give. I have never been asked to up my donation specifically for the hockey program. Even though I am a former season ticket holder for 10+ years (only gave them up after multiple years of living 2+ hours from RIT and only using them a handful of times a year), I have never once been specifically asked for any extra donation for the hockey program. I can only assume that I am the rule and not the exception.

By comparison my wife (alumn) gets a call every year from a Cornell hockey player asking for a donation as part of their athletic donation drive. We have season ticket which is why we are on their radar and not the amount of donation. Aldo as season ticket holders were are encouraged to join the Cornell Hockey Association which raises money for and highly supports the teams. I'm sure CU is not unique yet RIT does none of this that I am aware of. Granted I am not as connected as I once was but that just means if similar programs exist at RIT then they are missing my dupport and most likely lots of other alumni and supporters.

Imagine what RIT could do with a properly run marketing and alumni outreach program. All of this has a trickle down effect and makes the difference between running a first rate nationally competitive program and a middle of the road AHA program.

I can corroborate that I haven't seen much in the way of direct appeals. I won't say they've done nothing, however; they did have the text-to-donate options for the first year of the campaign, as well as the Take A Seat drive. But neither seems to have captured much interest. I've been assuming their focus was on major (rich) donors, efforts which would obviously be out of public view, but maybe that's incorrect. And it certainly seems like they could have done more to harness the enthusiasm of 2010-12 and translate it into dollars for the arena.


Powers &8^]

 

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

Re: >>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last Time <<<<<

So, if that happens, any guesses on where they'd be playing?

I can't see them finishing any lower than 9th and the most likely 8th place finishers at the moment aside from RIT are either Holy Cross or Niagara. Let's hope though that the Tigers can avoid being swept for the fourth time in five weeks this coming weekend against the Crusaders so that they firm up their tentative grip on that last home ice spot a little bit. How embarrassing would that be for RIT to not even get the chance to play at home in the post season?
Of course, wherever they end up in the standings, a couple hot weeks of goaltending can get anybody to BCA. It's not the Ritter, but it is at least close to home. Can you imagine the hand-wringing by the AHA tournament folks watching RIT descend to a program that is no longer a regular attendee at the conference championships in Rochester? Yikes. Let's hope the team's downturn in fortunes doesn't last too long or else the championships might move closer to teams that might get there more often (like somewhere between Buffalo and Erie, maybe?).