>>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

[Tom Naeger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Air Force website goes back to the 06-07 roster. All of the players are American born. SOOOOOO.....either Air Force cannot recruit a foreign player for an athletic team or they do not because of choice . Maybe a foreign person can enlist or had lineage from 1 parent and had dual citizenship (just guessing) but not play on an athletic team? I looked at the Air Force Lacrosse rosters. Canada has a strong lacrosse presence as well as hockey and there were no foreign players on the lax team, back to 06-07.

Lets just agree, the recuiting pool for Air Force and Army are smaller then every other team in college hockey and they do more with less then others.

Just helping people.....

You are correct that their are challenges to their recruiting, Frank has said so many times. Your stated reason is incorrect...

 

[Tom Naeger]

Re: &gt;&gt;&gt; RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar &lt;&lt;&lt;

Re: &gt;&gt;&gt; RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar &lt;&lt;&lt;

"Locals should play at local schools" is not my point.

But get 1 or two would be nice. RIT has been D1 for 13 years. These players are 16 years old, watching RIT hockey growing up and RIT cannot get 1????????

Ummmm... Dan Schuler, Garrett McMullen, Mike Rotolo!?!?

You should know better...

 

[Tom Naeger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Get off recruiting people, you are just proving you have no idea what you are talking about.

Big problem I've seen is RIT top line has really struggled last 4 games. Coaches moved Gabe to help shake things up. Without making tonight game it seemed to help as Gabe made the score sheet and nice to see Brubaker going. We need to get the captains going...

Panic button is officially pressed...

 

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Get off recruiting people, you are just proving you have no idea what you are talking about.

Big problem I've seen is RIT top line has really struggled last 4 games. Coaches moved Gabe to help shake things up. Without making tonight game it seemed to help as Gabe made the score sheet and nice to see Brubaker going. We need to get the captains going...

Panic button is officially pressed...

Lump me in with the people who have no idea what they're talking about. In the meantime if you want to list the best five junior leagues in North America for D1 colleges to recruit from, (from best to worse) please enlighten the folks who don't know what they're talking about.

You can state your opinion Tom without criticizing the opinions of others.

 

[RIT Winters]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Or the talent in the league has surpassed us, SHU almost has twice as many BCHL and USHL players and two HEA transfers. Maybe it’s time to admit that the talent on many Atlantic Hockey at least on paper is stronger than the talent on RIT. Maybe RIT players are playing their guts out but they no longer match up favorably against many of the teams in Atlantic Hockey that have upped their recruiting efforts and are signing better players.

I'm sorry but this is laughable. A few weeks ago we were all discussing how this was the best position RIT has been in this early in the season in a long time. Heck, it was the best October is D1 program history. Has the talent level in AHA risen? Absolutely. Gone are the days of SHU coming on campus, being outscored by 8 on the weekend, and heading home. But to claim that SHU (and the entire rest of the league?) is more talented is totally baseless. Coming into this weekend Sacred Heart was 3-8-2, while RIT was 6-6-1 - hardly looks like SHU was setting the world on fire with their Hockey East washouts. RIT is a team that beat Colgate, beat UMass, lost to Northeastern by 1. All of those teams are better recruited and more skilled than Sacred Heart! We swept AIC, and before you scoff take a look at the standings and note they are #2 in the league right now.

RIT has struggled for years on Friday nights and that trend has continued this year, currently sitting at 1-5. This means the team is 5-3-1 on days other than Friday, which is baffling. RIT played terribly all weekend, well below their talent level that they have showcased as recently as a few weeks ago, and now finds itself in the basement of the league. Erik Brown has disappeared of late and he is the straw that is supposed to stir the drink for our offense. The defense has been uncharacteristically sloppy. These should be correctable issues, but until they are they will force us into losing games we shouldn't be losing.

 

[Tom Naeger]

Re: &amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar &amp;lt;&amp;lt;&amp;lt;

Re: &amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar &amp;lt;&amp;lt;&amp;lt;

Lump me in with the people who have no idea what they're talking about. In the meantime if you want to list the best five junior leagues in North America for D1 colleges to recruit from, (from best to worse) please enlighten the folks who don't know what they're talking about.

You can state your opinion Tom without criticizing the opinions of others.

Well, if you can't let it go... And do note I did not call anyone person out...

Here is a break down of Verbal Commits of 2018 AHA Freshmen (Note this is off my spreadsheet and I will admit there probably an error or two, but the numbers will be in the ball park)

NAHL: 30
USHL: 20
BCHL: 14
OJHL: 10
AJHL: 7
CCHL: 7
NCAA Transfer: 6
NCDC: 6
Prep School: 3
SJHL: 2
CJHL: 2
ACHA Transfers: 1

When is the NAHL going to get some love for crying out loud!?!? Everyone wants to take a dump on that league, yet Air Force keeps stocking up on players from that league to win the most league championships.

Now lets look at the break down of this years players which we are very familiar with, without trashing anyone:

BCHL

Christian Short - Anyone who spends 5 minutes talking with this kid knows he a great kid, but things have not gone smooth.
Adam Brubacher - Talent now doubt
Spencer Berry - Potential there

USHL

Dan Willett - Makes up with under size with great talent
Jake Hamacher - He is on the up

So yeah, good conferences, but what about the OJHL

Gabe Valenzuela - I think he playing the best of any Tiger right now
Abbott Girdukis - Team Captain
Jordan Peacock - Really hurt not seeing him in line up.


And two guys that can really make a splash down the road...

Jake Joffe
Andrew Petrucci

And oh yeah, Erik Brown from the CCHL.

Now lets look at some noteable RIT players in the DI era:

USHL

Jared Demichiel
Cameron Burt
Taylor McReynolds
Sean Murphy
Mike Janda
Chris Saracino
Alexander Kuqali
Anthony Hamburg
Shane Madolora (Note he played most of his Juniors in the NAHL and then played last season in the USHL)

BCHL

Jocelyn Guimond
Josh Watson
Brad McGowan
Matt Garbowsky
Josh Mitchell
Myles Powell

OJHL

Dan Ringwald
Steve Pinizzotto
Chris Tanev
Bobby Raymond (also player MWJHL)
Andrew Favot
Chris Haltigin
Trevor Eckenswiller
Jordan Ruby

CJHL

Brennan Sarazin
Simon Lambert

CCHL

Louis Menard

MWJHL

Tyler Brenner
Bobby Raymond

Prep

Matt Smith

Now I am not trying to say that the USHL and BCHL have not produce some good talent for RIT, you can see names that prove it. However I included a few names, not to pick anyone, but show that players from that league, like any other league, can sometime not have the career you would have hoped for. What I am really laughing at is that I remember there were some people on the Board who didn't take the BCHL seriously until the MGM line. I think you could make the argument that the OJHL has produce the most for RIT, including the guys who made it to the NHL.

Listen everyone, the point is there a lot more to recruiting than what league a guy came from. There are so many talented leagues that load up the frequent flyer mileages for the scouts. If we are honest, many if not all of the players did not have the AHA as their first choice. That turns this to a complete different game than what the Big Tens, NCHA, etc get to play.

I'm the first to say and want RIT to go DI in all sports, offer scholarships and move to a difference conference. I've also looked at a heck of a lot of recruiting data the last couple of years. There is no obvious downturn in recruiting. If you want to prove there is, you need to come at it with more than their recent record, I can site numerous examples of recruits that just didn't work out for big time programs. RIT has not fallen off on recruiting, yes other teams in the AHA are doing much better. But just because you pull in the top recruits doesn't mean you are a shoe in to win the league...

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Or the talent in the league has surpassed us, SHU almost has twice as many BCHL and USHL players and two HEA transfers. Maybe it’s time to admit that the talent on many Atlantic Hockey at least on paper is stronger than the talent on RIT. Maybe RIT players are playing their guts out but they no longer match up favorably against many of the teams in Atlantic Hockey that have upped their recruiting efforts and are signing better players.

Not to mention a lot of these schools are now getting their own (sometimes very nice) new arenas. They are no longer at a facility disadvantage in the recruiting wars.

Nonetheless, I like Tom's analysis,

 

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

RIT is the only Atlantic Hockey program to not advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs a single time over the past two seasons. They currently sit 3 games under .500 in what still is the worst conference in the country, despite the strides that have obviously been made.

Yes, this is a bad hockey team. You are what your results say you are. The results have not been there for a long time. It's always something with them.

 

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

Not to mention a lot of these schools are now getting their own (sometimes very nice) new arenas. They are no longer at a facility disadvantage in the recruiting wars.

Nonetheless, I like Tom's analysis,

I also like Tom’s analysis, Tom does a great job in keeping track of all of the future and past players who have played for RIT.

All I’m saying is...is the number of BCHL and USHL players on a given team a ‘rough’ barometer as to the success of the team? I understand that it is difficult to recruit these players and RIT is always searching for that “diamond in the rough” that other teams passed over. RIT’s frozen four team was stacked with players from these leagues, in recent years we’ve seen a decline of players from these leagues. Is that by design or is it because of the challenges RIT faces when recruiting in these league against colleges who now have more to offer?

 

[Tom Naeger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

RIT is the only Atlantic Hockey program to not advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs a single time over the past two seasons. They currently sit 3 games under .500 in what still is the worst conference in the country, despite the strides that have obviously been made.

Yes, this is a bad hockey team. You are what your results say you are. The results have not been there for a long time. It's always something with them.

Wait a second!!

Did you forget that the season before that time period the Tigers won their second consecutive league title? College classes last 4 years. Judging a program over 2 and half years is ridiculous. Many RIT fans are just spoiled by the unbelievable quick success they had. In effect any time there is a downturn there is a "Remy" size outburst.

Saying stuff like the number of USHL and BCHL recruits predict success is just not supported by the reality of the AHA, specifically the success Air Force has had (thanks your making me sound like Hockeyplayer82), and the number of high quality players in other leagues.

Given the logic here the Buffalo Sabres was the Best hockey franchise ever last month to the worst this month. Some just need to get a grip on reality. The Tigers have played their worst two weekends of the season and it is embarrassing. There is still an entire second half of hockey to play. This team that played and beat top talent and was off to the best start in the D-I era is down. They are not out and have time and the talent to turn this around. Will they I do not know. This is why I love college sports, with these young kids you never know how they will respond.

 

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

I'm sorry but this is laughable.

Its all good Winters.

It may be laughable but no one here is ready to say that a team of NAHL and OJHL players on paper is better than a team of BCHL and USHL players.

I thought I was just stating what I thought was a fact based on what little I know about the junior leagues and studying the rosters of other D1 teams in Hockey East and the ECAC but I see not many here in RIT World will acknowledge that. So I admit that I'm wrong, I used too broad a brush when implying that the USHL and BCHL are the top leagues for NCAA hockey D1 colleges to recruit from.

Maybe what is really laughable is a Saturday night attendance at GPC of less than 1700. That's a problem that winning can definitely fix, hopefully we can all agree on that.

 

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Wait a second!!

Did you forget that the season before that time period the Tigers won their second consecutive league title? College classes last 4 years. Judging a program over 2 and half years is ridiculous. Many RIT fans are just spoiled by the unbelievable quick success they had. In effect any time there is a downturn there is a "Remy" size outburst.

Saying stuff like the number of USHL and BCHL recruits predict success is just not supported by the reality of the AHA, specifically the success Air Force has had (thanks your making me sound like Hockeyplayer82), and the number of high quality players in other leagues.

Given the logic here the Buffalo Sabres was the Best hockey franchise ever last month to the worst this month. Some just need to get a grip on reality. The Tigers have played their worst two weekends of the season and it is embarrassing. There is still an entire second half of hockey to play. This team that played and beat top talent and was off to the best start in the D-I era is down. They are not out and have time and the talent to turn this around. Will they I do not know. This is why I love college sports, with these young kids you never know how they will respond.

Two and a half seasons is not equivalent to a month in the NHL. Give me a break. This senior group is exactly .500 over their entire careers in regular season Atlantic Hockey play (a couple games above water counting the playoffs thanks to the 4-0 run through the playoffs ), and that includes a 5 game head start when they were freshmen and older players were in the positions of leadership and playing major roles. And frankly, looking at that 2015-2016 roster, it's baffling that this class hasn't been able to build on the success of that first season. Counting playoffs, they're seven games under .500 over the past two and a half seasons against Atlantic Hockey competition. We're talking over 70 games over that span.

Another problem is that the only games I get to watch (and thus really, truly, evaluate with my eyes rather than relying on other people's senses and perceptions) are home games. This class is an atrocious 20-31-2 against conference opponents at home. That's, again, plenty of games to sit back and say that this has not been a good hockey team for a long chunk of time. I mean, we just got swept at home by Sacred Heart. That literally does not happen to good teams. Do you know the last time Sacred Heart beat any team that finished .500 or better in AHA play twice in their own building? I don't, because I gave up looking after I reached 2009-2010, back when Dan Ringwald was still patrolling the Ritter (and Sacred Heart made their only championship game appearance).

Again, you are what your record says you are. There's two ways to avoid losing in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. (1)Be among the top 45% of the league (ie be a barely above average Atlantic Hockey team in the regular season), or (2)Win one playoff series against a below average Atlantic Hockey team.

The fact that this group has been able to fulfill neither of those two routes over the past two years is ****ing. Every other Atlantic Hockey team managed to fulfill one of those two requirements once over the last two full seasons. I'm not saying that they can't turn it around. That's the beauty of sports. Maybe they finally figure out how to play with a lead. Hopefully Drackett gets his mojo back and makes sure it's just a rough weekend for him and not a long term slip. Hopefully the top line gets it together, and some of the underclassman step up and start making plays. But based on the last 15 months worth of hockey I've seen on the ice over the last two and a half seasons covering 70 games, I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[Hockeyplayer82]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Wait a second!!

Did you forget that the season before that time period the Tigers won their second consecutive league title? College classes last 4 years. Judging a program over 2 and half years is ridiculous. Many RIT fans are just spoiled by the unbelievable quick success they had. In effect any time there is a downturn there is a "Remy" size outburst.

Saying stuff like the number of USHL and BCHL recruits predict success is just not supported by the reality of the AHA, specifically the success Air Force has had (thanks your making me sound like Hockeyplayer82), and the number of high quality players in other leagues.

Given the logic here the Buffalo Sabres was the Best hockey franchise ever last month to the worst this month. Some just need to get a grip on reality. The Tigers have played their worst two weekends of the season and it is embarrassing. There is still an entire second half of hockey to play. This team that played and beat top talent and was off to the best start in the D-I era is down. They are not out and have time and the talent to turn this around. Will they I do not know. This is why I love college sports, with these young kids you never know how they will respond.

Tom, thank you for the shout out, appreciated. I thought you wrote you do not like to call anyone out?

Just curious, not coming at you in anyway. Where did you play hockey?

 

[Hockeyplayer82]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

USHL and BCHL are the top leagues for high end talent. Top to bottom these two leagues are the strongest. Still does not mean you win with players from these leagues. All it means is you have talent on paper. Get a mix of talent and character from different leagues. Recruit from everywhere. Garbowsky was playing Jr B when he committed to RIT then went to the BCHL for example.....

 

[Hockeyplayer82]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

And getting swept at home after getting swept at home the weekend before, giving up two third period leads, losing with 5 seconds in overtime after you call a time out, to Sacred Heart........ You are a team that is struggling all over. Defining weekend of the season....The only question I have is will the goalie carousel begin or go back with Drackett? Play Drackett until he is playing well again is my vote.

 

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

USHL and BCHL are the top leagues for high end talent. Top to bottom these two leagues are the strongest. Still does not mean you win with players from these leagues. All it means is you have talent on paper. Get a mix of talent and character from different leagues. Recruit from everywhere. Garbowsky was playing Jr B when he committed to RIT then went to the BCHL for example.....

Thank you, I'm with you, and that's all I'm saying, 'on paper' it appears that the other teams in Atlantic Hockey have been increasing the number of players on their rosters from these two top leagues while RIT's recruit numbers from the BCL and the USHL has seemed to decline. I asked a serious question as to whether anyone thinks that is by design or that RIT is having a tougher time recruiting from these leagues as some of the other Atlantic teams have seen improvements both in their programs and scholarship numbers. You provided the first salient response. Thanks, I just would want to see more Grade "A" recruits, that's all, not disparaging the other leagues or their players or their rate of success in D1 hockey. When I look at a roster like Yale's I'm led to believe that schools like Yale almost exclusively recruit from those two leagues, not a bad recipe for success, if, like you said, they can gel. I also find it interesting as to what AIC has been doing, if you look at their roster they have quite the contingent from Europe, like they opened some channel into the kids coming over and playing in juniors. Interesting recruiting strategy that may pay dividends for them.

BTW I hope Matt is enjoying Europe, he had a terrific run with the Colorado Eagles. Hope he's making some good money and seeing the world.

 

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

And getting swept at home after getting swept at home the weekend before, giving up two third period leads, losing with 5 seconds in overtime after you call a time out, to Sacred Heart........ You are a team that is struggling all over. Defining weekend of the season....The only question I have is will the goalie carousel begin or go back with Drackett? Play Drackett until he is playing well again is my vote.

I vote to stay with Drackett as well.

 

[Hockeyplayer82]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Tom, thank you for the shout out, appreciated. I thought you wrote you do not like to call anyone out?

Just curious, not coming at you in anyway. Where did you play hockey?

And how was your recruiting process when you played? How many players have you moved on to Juniors and College hockey? Again, just curious, I am fairly new to the thread.

 

[Ed Trefzger]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Hopefully Drackett gets his mojo back and makes sure it's just a rough weekend for him and not a long term slip.

I think it was less of a rough weekend for Drackett than it was a rough weekend of flukes and bad plays. On Friday, one goal came in off a hard bounce off the back boards and off his leg and the OT goal popped high and went off his back on a rush that never should have happened. On Saturday, the blueliners on the power play made lazy passes that led to two shorthanded breakaways, and a bad giveaway in the slot led to another.

 

[jflory81]

Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

I think it was less of a rough weekend for Drackett than it was a rough weekend of flukes and bad plays. On Friday, one goal came in off a hard bounce off the back boards and off his leg and the OT goal popped high and went off his back on a rush that never should have happened. On Saturday, the blueliners on the power play made lazy passes that led to two shorthanded breakaways, and a bad giveaway in the slot led to another.

I don't blame Drackett for the losses by any means, but he's made similar type saves to bail his defense out earlier in the season (particularly in the Friday night win over AIC). Obviously I can't speak to the road games, but at home he's had to come up with more odd man rush/breakaway saves than he should in just about every game they've played (with the possible exception of the Canisius game) - when he plays outstanding, they can win despite the mistakes, but if he's a notch below that, they're going to struggle to win games with the mistakes that are being made on the back end and the rushes he's been facing.

I'll just copy what I said on 11/18 after the win over Canisius: "To speak to the comments above, yes, the defense is better than last year, possibly significantly so, but that doesn't mean Drackett hasn't been miles better as well. There's been plenty of odd man rushes stopped by Drackett this year that felt like sure goals last year, and that includes a couple stops he's made that were not particularly well played by the defender. If he doesn't make those saves we might be sitting here thinking about how it's the same old defensive lapses that have been doing us in at home for what seems like forever now." This weekend, Drackett largely lost the one on one battles he was subjected to, and we're sitting here thinking how it's the same old lapses that have been doing us in at home for what seems like forever now.