>>>>> RIT TIGERS 2013-2014 - Rocking The Ritter One Last 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 know a lot of people where I work have been sick lately, so it is possible that Rotolo caught a bug. I don't know anything definite as to why. That's just me speculating why Rotolo didn't play. Coach Wilson is doing everything he can with what he has.

It's important that you said this season. Down the stretch last year, he was good. He also nearly singlehandedly kept RIT in the series against Niagara in the AHA tournament with a 3-2 loss and a 2-1 overtime loss. In 4 AHA playoff games, Ruby allowed 7 goals.

I specifically mentioned "this season" because I agree with you. I thought at times last season he was going to be the goalie of the future. But this season, I thought he has had plenty of chances to keep the top goalie spot, and he has never done it. The job was handed to him and he didn't keep it so.....

 

[LtPowers]

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

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

At this point we're so injured and so mentally broken, the team is just not playing good hockey and it's going to be tough for any goalie to put in a string of good starts. Wilson seems to understand this, but doesn't like soft goals. He spoke a lot on the radio Friday night about needing "the goalie" to make the big save and that they didn't get that. Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear he did not like Rotolo's performance Friday and he's had a quick trigger with his goalies all season.

The way our opponents are picking their corners I don't think Jared DeMichel would have a good GAA on this team. Most of those goals on Friday were not Rotolo's fault, as far as I could see. Coach seems to be demanding perfection, but that's unreasonable with the quality of snipers we have in the AHA at this point.

And unfortunately, RIT doesn't have snipers. We poured 87 shots on net over the two games and got outscored by 7 goals (5 if you don't count the garbage goals). We don't have forwards that can put the puck into those tiny holes available, and all of our opponents do. (We also seem to have trouble banging rebounds and passes into open nets, for that matter.)


Powers &8^]

 

[cplinford]

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

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

The way our opponents are picking their corners I don't think Jared DeMichel would have a good GAA on this team. Most of those goals on Friday were not Rotolo's fault, as far as I could see. Coach seems to be demanding perfection, but that's unreasonable with the quality of snipers we have in the AHA at this point.

And unfortunately, RIT doesn't have snipers. We poured 87 shots on net over the two games and got outscored by 7 goals (5 if you don't count the garbage goals). We don't have forwards that can put the puck into those tiny holes available, and all of our opponents do. (We also seem to have trouble banging rebounds and passes into open nets, for that matter.)


Powers &8^]

Its just some of those game details Wilson said the team wasn't executing he said in the post game that they want the center to drive the net on the rush and it isn't happening while Mercyhurst did it and got opportunities and goals. He also said something about getting key goals and saves when they need them.

Someone standing behind me said something like "wow someone actually is in front of the net only took 21 games."

 

[WestsideTigersFan]

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

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

The TV guys and Brian Hills both made it pretty clear last night that Rotolo was benched. He wasn't sick, he was benched.

At this point we're so injured and so mentally broken, the team is just not playing good hockey and it's going to be tough for any goalie to put in a string of good starts. Wilson seems to understand this, but doesn't like soft goals. He spoke a lot on the radio Friday night about needing "the goalie" to make the big save and that they didn't get that. Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear he did not like Rotolo's performance Friday and he's had a quick trigger with his goalies all season.

This is my problem with Coach Wilson. I understand teams need good goaltending to be contenders but it seems to me that blaming the goaltending has become his default excuse for the teams total lack of performance in front of whoever is in net. Coach, open your eyes. The team has played dismal hockey in front of whoever has been in goal all year. All you are doing at this point is screwing with the confidence of a goalie who is known to be streaky (Ruby) and a young goalie who everyone seems to acknowledge has a great deal of potential (Rotolo) who seems to have inspired the team on occasion and shown a pulse and a temper now and then.
This team easily the worst team we've had in the DI era (not counting the transitional year, and even though that team was outmatched, they showed up and played hard every night, which is more than can be said for this years team) and quite frankly I am starting to question the coaching and recruiting process a great deal. Is it that the players have talent which isn't being developed? Are they not being utilized correctly? Are they simply not players capable of playing DI hockey at this level? Is there a major communication issue between players and coaches? Is it bad chemistry in the room (as some have alluded to)? Is it the voice behind the bench isn't being heard anymore or the message has become stale? I don't know. But in any of those scenarios it falls on the coaching staff. They are the ones who recruit. They are the ones who coach. And they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the product on the ice. And quite frankly this team is terrible. And aside from a big hot streak last season, this team hasn't played good quality hockey in about 2 years. And that is unacceptable.

 

[Bing]

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

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

This team easily the worst team we've had in the DI era (not counting the transitional year, and even though that team was outmatched, they showed up and played hard every night, which is more than can be said for this years team)...

This statement intrigued me. I found a couple of interesting things:

In the 05-06 Season, RIT went 9-24-2. This season RIT is 8-17-5 and they might not win another game...

Rotolo has the same save percentage as Jocelyn Guimond in the 05-06 season (!) and Rotolo has a better GAA:

Guimond 0.906 Save %; 3.36 GAA
Rotolo 0.906 Save %; 2.99 GAA
Ruby 0.892 Save %; 3.74 GAA

 

[MattS]

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

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

This statement intrigued me. I found a couple of interesting things:

In the 05-06 Season, RIT went 9-24-2. This season RIT is 8-17-5 and they might not win another game...

Rotolo has the same save percentage as Jocelyn Guimond in the 05-06 season (!) and Rotolo has a better GAA:

Guimond 0.906 Save %; 3.36 GAA
Rotolo 0.906 Save %; 2.99 GAA
Ruby 0.892 Save %; 3.74 GAA

Very interesting.

 

[QUAlum2004]

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

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

Hockey Commitments ‏@hockeycommits 2m
Liam Kerins (North York Rangers) has committed to Rochester Institute of Technology for 2014-2015

Stats from Elite Prospects 25 goals, 29 assists in 38 games for the North York Rangers of the OJHL.

 

[Tom Naeger]

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

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

This is my problem with Coach Wilson. I understand teams need good goaltending to be contenders but it seems to me that blaming the goaltending has become his default excuse for the teams total lack of performance in front of whoever is in net. Coach, open your eyes. The team has played dismal hockey in front of whoever has been in goal all year. All you are doing at this point is screwing with the confidence of a goalie who is known to be streaky (Ruby) and a young goalie who everyone seems to acknowledge has a great deal of potential (Rotolo) who seems to have inspired the team on occasion and shown a pulse and a temper now and then.

I guess you didn't put 2 and 2 together when Brad Shumway was sat a night after a terrible give away against Holy Cross. Not to jump over Brad there also been other players who played poorly and were absent from the lineup the next night. The coaching staff has never advertised it when someone is sat, but they don't hide it and make an excuse. Friday night Rotolo was less than average. It was Ruby turn and I did not see the game but judging by box score he did not shine. This team's goal-tending is no where near an acceptable level and if you listen to comments both Hills and Wilson have made they have not really hid that fact. They also have not hid the fact that the rest of the team has been playing poorly either.

As respectfully as I can say this and it's not all directed at the person I am responding too. WAKE UP PEOPLE. Wayne is not going to come out and say this guy Sucks like the corner crew would on a player of another team. Mike Keenan or Joe Tortorella are in the NHL go watch them if you want that kind of coach. The coaching staff has been pretty dam honest and I think spot on in post game comments the last two seasons. Wayne even has surprised me a few times with a blunt comment the past two season.

You know after 4 straight ECAC West titles and two Frozen Four Appearances the Tigers dropped a very disappointing ECAC West Final in 2003. 2004 was the first in a 5 year span that the ECAC West Tournament was not held at the Ritter (Determined by regular season champion). RIT upset Manhattanville but lost to host Hobart in the Championship game of the ECAC West Final. The following year brought some promise till "the announcement" and then the team lost something like 5 straight home games, mostly to the SUNYAC who they normally dominated. The team ended up losing in the ECAC West Semi-Finals with several players suspended. By all means two down years going into the transition year to D-I. That was just a strange year to figure out. So really I saw that as 4 disappointing years. Than all the sudden on a dime it changed. The team surprised even it's own fans and won everything it could that year with the first AHA Regular Season Title. I think everyone expected to be in the middle to top of the standing, but I will admit even surprise by taking the title the first season.

Point is sometimes it takes a recruiting class or two. This is not the NHL where you can just trade away bad eggs and start rebuilding right away. Again you all are going to turn me back into broken record Naeger, but its been said how some players who have come to RIT with impressive hockey resumes and not produce the results we would like the past couple of seasons. It's ironic there are people on this board yelling where is the recruiting benefits from the Frozen Four run, and when you look at the recruits we have had guys come with more impressive hockey resumes, yet see the results last two seasons? Great looking recruiting class doesn't guarantee a winning team. It has happen in plenty of places, if you can't accept it I suggest you find something else to watch because college hockey will drive you crazy...

 

[lmg6841]

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

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

Point is sometimes it takes a recruiting class or two. This is not the NHL where you can just trade away bad eggs and start rebuilding right away. Again you all are going to turn me back into broken record Naeger, but its been said how some players who have come to RIT with impressive hockey resumes and not produce the results we would like the past couple of seasons. It's ironic there are people on this board yelling where is the recruiting benefits from the Frozen Four run, and when you look at the recruits we have had guys come with more impressive hockey resumes, yet see the results last two seasons? Great looking recruiting class doesn't guarantee a winning team. It has happen in plenty of places, if you can't accept it I suggest you find something else to watch because college hockey will drive you crazy...

So this brings us back to several other re-hashed topics. Is Wilson and his crew mismanaging the talent? Is our lack of scholarships making us lose out to other AHA programs regarding real recruits? I agree with the sentiment, recruiting classes don't always work out. What's hardest to believe though, that after two "down years" of performing below expectations, that we plummeted even further down the standings.

 

[WestsideTigersFan]

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

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

This statement intrigued me. I found a couple of interesting things:

In the 05-06 Season, RIT went 9-24-2. This season RIT is 8-17-5 and they might not win another game...

Rotolo has the same save percentage as Jocelyn Guimond in the 05-06 season (!) and Rotolo has a better GAA:

Guimond 0.906 Save %; 3.36 GAA
Rotolo 0.906 Save %; 2.99 GAA
Ruby 0.892 Save %; 3.74 GAA

And Guimond was viewed as a gift from god that year while playing against admittedly weaker competition and according to Naeger a guy with a better GAA and an equal save percentage playing against tougher competition is viewed as "less than average". Someone is drinking the kool-aid...

 

[Tom Naeger]

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

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

So this brings us back to several other re-hashed topics. Is Wilson and his crew mismanaging the talent? Is our lack of scholarships making us lose out to other AHA programs regarding real recruits? I agree with the sentiment, recruiting classes don't always work out. What's hardest to believe though, that after two "down years" of performing below expectations, that we plummeted even further down the standings.

Will start at the back end and work backwards. I give them some benefit of doubt with the injuries. I think it has turned a bad situation into a nightmare, however even if we had all those guys back I have trouble seeing this team finishing any higher than 6th. So I don't find it hard to believe when you also consider the injuries where this team is in the standings.

There is no debate that scholarships would open the doors to more recruits. Again though have to reinforce my point that just because a guy is on the NHL Central Scouting list or an NHL Draft pick doesn't mean he will be a great player. Should add in fairness that this isn't always the fault of the player as I said sometimes things don't work out.

We will never know the whole recruiting picture. We do not know who they target to look at and who they make offers too. We just know who ends up accepting. It's really hard really hard to grade how good recruiting any team does from year to year. What you can do is take a look at the track record over several years. The impression I've had for a while now is that Brian Hills does recruiting and does it very well. He turned a SUNY Geneseo team around over night when he became the head coach there. When he became Wayne's Assistant there was no complaints about any of the guys he was helping to bring in. It is always a gamble in college. You only get so many chances to look at a player. There is a reason the Pros have scouts out all year all over the place. College doesn't work that way, you just have to get lucky sometimes. One of RIT best goaltenders of the D-III age was signed last minute after a recommendation and looking at just a little film. There was another D-III player who's father helped inflate his Junior states and he came into camp looking like he was going to be a big gun. He didn't last through training camp and promptly transferred.

Have the coaching staff mismanaged talent? Can't believe I am plugging ESPN, but watch their 30 for 30 film, "The Best that never was" on Marcus Dupree . He went to OU as one of the most sought after running back ever. He looked like the next Herschel Walker. Marcus was coached by Barry Switzer who coached many legends in College. Dupree did have a great freshman year. He looked like he would go on the win the Heisman as a Sophomore and would have a great NFL career. However due to conflicts with the coaching staff, he left OU, enrolled in Southern Mississippi and never played a game there. He made it into the USFL but was not even a footnote and went down to injury. He did play very briefly in the NFL but hardly anyone would remember him.

Let just take Greg Noyes for example. Great Offensive minded Defense-man. Has some great skills, can easily see how he would excite scouts in Juniors. And he has made some outstanding plays in the offensive end and help RIT Power Play this season be something special. However he also has made some big defensive miscues and I think he makes a lot of ill advised pinches. Over the last 4 years I have seen him make a lot of the same mistakes. Question than becomes, is that coaching or the player? Another we will never know, you can tell a guy so much and even scream at him. However some just don't get the message. Maybe the message could be delivered better, who knows. Again I look at track record, and Wayne Wilson's record is pretty dang impressive over 15 seasons especially when you consider the amount of success in a short period of time when he transition the program to D-I.

I can tell you two things I feel certain about.

1) I don't see RIT ever firing Wayne Wilson over record. *Unless there is a change in the Athletic Director's office
2) I still give the coaching Staff a vote of confidence.

 

[Tom Naeger]

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

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

And Guimond was viewed as a gift from god that year while playing against admittedly weaker competition and according to Naeger a guy with a better GAA and an equal save percentage playing against tougher competition is viewed as "less than average". Someone is drinking the kool-aid...

WestSide Story, You would be right if you would just get facts that are not cherry picked...

First off I am not saying Rotolo is not going to be a good goaltender. He is no where close to Guimond's status, at least not yet.
Your forgetting most of Rotolo good starts came against the bottom of the AHA. If you take away those game his numbers are not even in the same zip code as Guimond.

So as you are trying to call that tougher competition let me also remind you that RIT DID NOT play an AHA schedule that season. The Transition year they only played 5 AHA teams. (Note: They did play 3 future AHA teams, Air Force, Niagara, and Robert Morris. But Keep in mind those teams had more scholarships as members of the CHA at the time). That team played a tougher schedule than the team that won the AHA regular the next season. Guimond faced 891 shots in 26 Games of RIT's 30 games that season. Rotolo has played 15 of RIT's 32 games, facing 449 shots. It really telling that RIT's 05-06 team with a defensive core built up of a few D1 Freshman and the rest was D3 recurits allowed just 5 more shots per game than this year's RIT team which is all D1 Recruited.

So please next time call me when Rotolo wins a game against top 20 opponent while his team is being outshout 68-15.

I know everyone loves the Rotolo-aid because Mike is from Rochester and fires everyone up. He may end up being the solid #1 guy, his save percentage is encouraging. I was shocked when he got the next start after the Saint Lawrence game. He let in a weak goal at the end that made the game very interesting when it should have been over. I thought it was questionable to give him the next start in league play, but I also remember making a comment to the effect that I am glad that I run the IT systems and networks for a law firm and am glad I do that instead of being the head coach of RIT and having to choose a goaltender...

You know I am going to stop calling you WestSide Story and start calling you, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot... Would you please... PLEASE point to the quote where Wayne Wilson said that all his problems are Goaltending. Or even any quote that supports him believing that. Just anything besides your insane theory because Wayne decided to sit Rotolo the night after a bad start?

If you want to question Wayne Wilson go right ahead, he is a big boy he can take it. But at least question him with something he actually said, not something you interpreted incorrectly during one game...

For this season, it probably means pretty much nothing. I am more concerned about next season and the season after that. I think that Rotolo has potential and playing him and giving him experience that will either benefit the program in the future by either developing into a quality starter or forcing Wilson to bring in a new tender in another year.

I believe there will be a new goaltender in the mix next season. Rotolo maybe the guy, but he will have to beat out some new blood.

 

[RIT Winters]

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

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

I really don't understand those crying for Wilson's head. There's no logical argument for it. The things I have seen people spout about him here can be basically broken down into two categories, which I will try to defeat now.

Case 1: Wilson's coaching style is not getting it done/he's just not a good enough hockey coach

This one is a real head scratcher. Entering the season he's guided the Tigers to a 270-145-44 record. That's phenomenal. He successfully guided the team from D3 to D1, he was behind the bench for our multitudinous AHA regular season championships and the Frozen Four run. He won coach of the year. Wayne Wilson has one incredibly accomplished resume.

This isn't like professional sports, where enough players tend to stick around long enough that a coach can really lose a locker room. Even the worst of apples will disappear in 4 years, and in the 15 years he's been at RIT there's never been any kind of suggestion that he's had a broken locker room. Sure, there are unsubstantiated rumors this season, but that happens to any team mired in a bad season. People like to talk and make drama, it's a convenient excuse. Additionally, the upper classmen on this team were on far more successful Tiger teams, they know that Wilson can lead this school to good things. They are the leaders of the team, it falls on them to keep the locker room morale up.

So, unless he fell and bumped his head and forget 15+ years of successful hockey coaching, I really don't think this argument makes sense. Everyone on this forum will never know the game anywhere near as well as him (or his players)...so calling out his coaching is laughable and a kneejerk reaction at best.

Case 2: Wilson is not a good enough recruiter/We've had bad recruiting

This is the ultimate in cherry picking. It's easy to look at the current team and see a bunch of underperforming or just plain not very good players, and it's easy to draw a line back to the coach and say "Oh it's his fault, he picked bad players!". Of course this ignores things like Hamburg having been good enough in the eyes of NHL scouts to be drafted, or Ruby being listed as one of America's top 100 goalie prospects...shame on Wilson for recruiting them when, in hindsight, we can see they are actually nowhere near as good as they were billed. Could he have gotten some other, better players? Probably...but you don't know until it's too late and this isn't pro hockey where we can just send them to the minors and call up the next guy.

But the reason that this is cherry picking is because it ignores what Wilson has actually done as a recruiter. Anyone heard of Chris Tanev? Yeah..leading the Canucks in PK time while playing on the 2nd defensive pairing? He wasn't drafted. He wasn't a huge name prospect. He was a guy that Wilson picked up and brought in. Look how that turned out. What about Pinizzotto? Burt? DeMike? How come Wilson is blamed for having a few down recruitment classes, but not praised for having some incredible ones? For all we know, next years freshmen could turn into the best players RIT has ever had. Scouting young players is notoriously difficult in all sports, it's even harder when the absolute best prospects will never come to your team, because they aren't a Boston College or Minnesota or Michigan. Wilson is forced to nibble at the edges of that elite prospect pool, and in many cases is only left with the leftovers or whatever diamonds in the rough he can salvage. Wilson's success as a coach (remember that 270-145-44 record) suggests pretty strongly that he's capable of bringing in talent. I'm sure it bothers him as much as us that his NHL draft pick is a 4th liner with 2 goals in 2 (nearly) full seasons.

Ultimately I am strongly of the opinion that in all sports, the players on the team are 90% of the success compared to the coaches. The notion that firing Wilson would make this team any better today, tomorrow, or next season is misguided. Do you think that RIT could honestly have brought in any other coach that would have done significantly better with this team (and its injuries) this season?

 

[ken66]

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

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

Things I noticed while looking up other things:

-Playing for an NCAA Championship under different (scholarship) rules than other schools is the definition of "unfair". It is shameful and absurd.

-It's worth noting that RIT's leading scorer (25 points) also has a +/- of -19. Our two senior pinching defensemen are also double-digit minus. Perhaps they have been miscast as defensive players. Kuquali and Perron
are much better puck-handlers, and defenders. Check out their +/- . BTW, the Frozen Four team's leading scorer (Burt, 47 points) had a +/- of -1. Interestingly, Brenner only had a +6 on a team with a Goal Diff of +55.

-And speaking of Goal Diff, Last years team had a GD of -4 for the season. This years team is already -18. However, it seems the defense is almost exactly the same, giving up 3.4 GPG vs 3.3 GD last year.

-The big difference seems to be in the offense: 3.2 GPG last year, but only 2.7 GPG this year. Statistically significant. Whoever said at the beginning of the season that, "We have enough goal-scorers" was wrong.

-More to the point, RIT has scored 40% of its goals on the PP. That's a very high %. Mercyhurst scores only 21% of its goals on the PP It points to the fact that RIT struggles 5x5. Why? Aside from Miller, this team lacks
the speed and quickness to compete consistently well in the AHA. RMU, for example, beat the Tigers to the puck all night. My worry? You can't teach speed.

And that's just the facts.....well, mostly.

 

[LtPowers]

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

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

-The big difference seems to be in the offense: 3.2 GPG last year, but only 2.7 GPG this year. Statistically significant. Whoever said at the beginning of the season that, "We have enough goal-scorers" was wrong.

Not necessarily. I think Garbowsky alone is good for half a goal a game, don't you?


Powers &8^]

 

[MattS]

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

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

Not necessarily. I think Garbowsky alone is good for half a goal a game, don't you?


Powers &8^]

No. And statistically he hasn't ever been.

Obviously RIT does not have enough goal scorers. Reference their GPG and their win/loss record.

 

[lmg6841]

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

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

Case 2: Wilson is not a good enough recruiter/We've had bad recruiting

This is the ultimate in cherry picking. It's easy to look at the current team and see a bunch of underperforming or just plain not very good players, and it's easy to draw a line back to the coach and say "Oh it's his fault, he picked bad players!". Of course this ignores things like Hamburg having been good enough in the eyes of NHL scouts to be drafted, or Ruby being listed as one of America's top 100 goalie prospects...shame on Wilson for recruiting them when, in hindsight, we can see they are actually nowhere near as good as they were billed. Could he have gotten some other, better players? Probably...but you don't know until it's too late and this isn't pro hockey where we can just send them to the minors and call up the next guy.

I agree, Wilson has obviously done a lot of good regarding recruiting in the past. His over all record with RIT shows it. It's not just one little thing that has brought this disastrous season on us, but it definitely seems like the "perfect storm" of awful seasons. With the expected up-tick in performance following the FF run not realizing, almost everyone in the AHA getting more competitive, attendance numbers slipping, and closing the door on the Ritter sooner than expected, it's easy to get frustrated.

edit: how can I forget? the injuries

 

[RIT Winters]

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

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

No. And statistically he hasn't ever been.

Obviously RIT does not have enough goal scorers. Reference their GPG and their win/loss record.

Not a goal per game player, no...but a point per game player?

Before going down this year he had 7 points in 8 games, about as close to a point per game as you can be.

Last season he had 33 points in 36 games, again very close to being a ppg player. I don't think it's unfair to say that RIT scores at least half a goal more per game he's on the ice given his status as a point per game player.

 

[MattS]

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

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

Not a goal per game player, no...but a point per game player?

Before going down this year he had 7 points in 8 games, about as close to a point per game as you can be.

Last season he had 33 points in 36 games, again very close to being a ppg player. I don't think it's unfair to say that RIT scores at least half a goal more per game he's on the ice given his status as a point per game player.

I see what you were getting at. I still disagree but I thought you meant 0.5 gpg by himself.

I think it is doubtful that he's worth a half a goal a game. Let's say that he scores at his average of 0.27 goals per game. Then he has to make the rest of the team better to allow them to score another 0.23 gpg. That's a lot of additional production to get from one player. I just don't see it.

Don't get me wrong, he arguably RIT's best player when healthy and the team certainly misses him. And I am sure that the team would be and is better with him on the ice, I am just skeptical that he's good enough to propel the offense to another half goal a game. It doesn't sound like a lot but consider that the other 17 skaters are accounting for 2.7 gpg.

 

[Bing]

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

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

I think it's worth mentioning that other AHA teams have gotten substantially better. See AIC, for example, who find themselves in 6th place. I will grant you that RIT is not performing well this year, but other teams are exceeding expectations as well.