Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<
I think the USCHO columnists and the Atlantic Hockey coaches pre-season coaches poll shows just how far this iteration of the team has fallen. We are no longer the premier program in the conference (along with Air Force) if you actually measure with recent on-ice results. Canisius, Mercyhurst, and Robert Morris have all been clearly better in results over the 4 years (well, 3.5) of the current senior class, even including their freshman tournament win, and you could make an argument that Army is above us too, although it's a more difficult argument to make without a regular season or conference championship to their name (it will become much easier to make next year if RIT doesn't turn it around this year and make some noise in the postseason).
It's really no surprise that the drop has made fans who have become used to at the very minimum being those schools equals a little ornery, especially when it's the constant home losses to schools that tend to reside at the bottom of the conference that trigger it, and when we actually play the above schools we still tend to show we still belong on the same ice as them. I don't have time to look it up, but I'd wager our record against the 5 schools I mentioned above is actually better than against the other 5 schools.
If "expectations" around the program are to finish in the bottom half of Atlantic Hockey, I'd argue that's evidence the program needs a shakeup.
Speaking of last night's game, a tie is fine as long as they get a result out of tonight. They can go 2-0-1 over the 3 game series with Niagara or even 1-0-2 to some extent and it'd be a positive result overall. If sweeping a two game series is difficult, what does that make sweeping a 3 game series? 4 or 5 points over 3 games is a fine record, especially against a team that started out relatively strong in conference. Get positive results over two game sets (not necessarily sweeps) for the rest of the season and they'll climb up the standings and have a good chance at a bye.
I was confident Drackett would be the starter yesterday, and am still relatively sure that he will start tonight despite the poor (statistical) game last night, but another couple of outings like that and all bets are off. We continue to have problems scoring goals when we get good goaltending/defense, and trouble preventing goals when we go on an offensive burst.
EDIT: I got time and did a quick looksee. All of this is including playoff games. Against Air Force, they are 2-10-1, so Air Force has certainly asserted their dominance as the class of the conference. Against the next 4 teams I mentioned above (Canisius, Robert Morris, Army, and Mercyhurst - who have the next 4 highest winning percentages in conference over the senior classes careers), they are 24-16-2. Against the bottom 5 teams of the conference over that time (and in actuality Holy Cross is slightly actually above us in winning %, but our conference championship certainly gives us the edge over them) we are just 25-22-5, and we're 12-18-2 at home against those teams. Sure, the bottom of the league is (significantly) better than it used to be, but that's not good enough.
I think the USCHO columnists and the Atlantic Hockey coaches pre-season coaches poll shows just how far this iteration of the team has fallen. We are no longer the premier program in the conference (along with Air Force) if you actually measure with recent on-ice results. Canisius, Mercyhurst, and Robert Morris have all been clearly better in results over the 4 years (well, 3.5) of the current senior class, even including their freshman tournament win, and you could make an argument that Army is above us too, although it's a more difficult argument to make without a regular season or conference championship to their name (it will become much easier to make next year if RIT doesn't turn it around this year and make some noise in the postseason).
It's really no surprise that the drop has made fans who have become used to at the very minimum being those schools equals a little ornery, especially when it's the constant home losses to schools that tend to reside at the bottom of the conference that trigger it, and when we actually play the above schools we still tend to show we still belong on the same ice as them. I don't have time to look it up, but I'd wager our record against the 5 schools I mentioned above is actually better than against the other 5 schools.
If "expectations" around the program are to finish in the bottom half of Atlantic Hockey, I'd argue that's evidence the program needs a shakeup.
Speaking of last night's game, a tie is fine as long as they get a result out of tonight. They can go 2-0-1 over the 3 game series with Niagara or even 1-0-2 to some extent and it'd be a positive result overall. If sweeping a two game series is difficult, what does that make sweeping a 3 game series? 4 or 5 points over 3 games is a fine record, especially against a team that started out relatively strong in conference. Get positive results over two game sets (not necessarily sweeps) for the rest of the season and they'll climb up the standings and have a good chance at a bye.
I was confident Drackett would be the starter yesterday, and am still relatively sure that he will start tonight despite the poor (statistical) game last night, but another couple of outings like that and all bets are off. We continue to have problems scoring goals when we get good goaltending/defense, and trouble preventing goals when we go on an offensive burst.
EDIT: I got time and did a quick looksee. All of this is including playoff games. Against Air Force, they are 2-10-1, so Air Force has certainly asserted their dominance as the class of the conference. Against the next 4 teams I mentioned above (Canisius, Robert Morris, Army, and Mercyhurst - who have the next 4 highest winning percentages in conference over the senior classes careers), they are 24-16-2. Against the bottom 5 teams of the conference over that time (and in actuality Holy Cross is slightly actually above us in winning %, but our conference championship certainly gives us the edge over them) we are just 25-22-5, and we're 12-18-2 at home against those teams. Sure, the bottom of the league is (significantly) better than it used to be, but that's not good enough.
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