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

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

TigerFan86-87 said:
As I stated earlier, HC was 5-4-2 in their last 11 AHA contests prior to this past weekend (two of the losses were against AIC). Hardly struggling compared to the putrid first half of the season for them.


AIC and Bentley are making sure of the regular season title part of that. Even if the Tigers had won Saturday, it would have been tough the way those two are playing.
As far as the first round bye, a lot can change certainly, but it's looking like a four team race for three spots at this point. Win the two games against SHU (no small task) and they'll be in good position to stay in the top 5 (5 point lead with 4 games remaining), but even with those two wins would still need 2 more wins in the last 4.
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The five wins are against teams going in the wrong direction or near the bottom of the league. RMU, Mercyhurst, Niagara (plus a tie), only real exception is Sacred Heart I'll give em. But the point here is the reason AIC is looking so good is they are taking care of business against these teams at the bottom of the league, infact they are feasting on them. Also don't forget that AIC has a lot of games in hand, granted all wins, but RIT could have still overtook them by winning those games. I felt that if they could have great shot with a sweep at Holy Cross and a split at SHU they would be in good shape with a very favorable schedule at the back end. And unless I missed a memo, 5 teams get buy, 6 play in the first round. So a split at SHU is needed at the least, a sweep would give them a shot again at the regular season title. But yes the loss to Holy Cross has reduced the margin of error for a first round bye.

I don't know will see what happen, RIT didn't beat AIC 4 times with luck. They have the talent and when that talent performs I honestly think they are the best team in the league. But they have this odd habit of taking extremely dumb penalties, poor decision making, and lack of compete level that has plagued this team for the last 2 + years. If they avoid those self inflicted wounds, they will be in the NCAAs, if not we can get a repeat of the last two seasons.

Not sure if that is to harsh or not, but it's that time of the year where we find out who are the boys and who are the men...
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Playing with leads has been a problem all season. They played with fire a little bit in both of the road AIC games and the first Holy Cross game, but it finally came back to bite them in the Saturday game. They've lost 5 games already in which they've had a 3rd period lead this year. Sacred Heart got them twice like that earlier in the year, so hopefully they can start to put their foot on their throat if they open up a couple goal lead in the middle period this time.
 
jflory81 said:
Playing with leads has been a problem all season. They played with fire a little bit in both of the road AIC games and the first Holy Cross game, but it finally came back to bite them in the Saturday game. They've lost 5 games already in which they've had a 3rd period lead this year. Sacred Heart got them twice like that earlier in the year, so hopefully they can start to put their foot on their throat if they open up a couple goal lead in the middle period this time.
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I watched how AIC handled Army’s push into the O zone this weekend. They had no problem clearing the zone by lifting the puck out to Center ice and letting Army try again. No fancy break out passes or anything cute where a bad turnover might occur. AIC would do it once, twice or three times and then finally dump the puck into Army’s end, forecheck, get a steal and look for a teammate rushing the front of the net. Pass right onto the blade of the stick, boom, goal. If that was Coach Lang’s plan his team executed it to perfection. Doesn’t have to be pretty it just has to be effective.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Tom Naeger said:
And unless I missed a memo, 5 teams get buy, 6 play in the first round.
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I'm not sure if you're agreeing with what I said or not. We all know how many teams go to which round. My point was that the way the standings shape up at the moment, it looks like there is in essence a four-way race for the last three first round byes. Air Force, RIT, Mercyhurst and Sacred Heart are all within one point of each other at 3, 4, 5, and 6. The only head-to-head matchups in that foursome remaining are the two this weekend between RIT and SHU and a pair between Mercyhurst and Air Force in Erie later. If either of those series ends up in a sweep (although unlikely), the victor will be in great position to lock up one of the top five spots.
Of course the way things go in this conference, both of those series will split, AIC and Bentley will find their way back to this pack and Niagara will get hot and close their gap as well. Then that four team race becomes a seven team mess and this analysis can be thrown out the window.

Tom Naeger said:
The five wins are against teams going in the wrong direction or near the bottom of the league. RMU, Mercyhurst, Niagara (plus a tie), only real exception is Sacred Heart I'll give em.
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Oh come on, now. We all know there is not a whole lot of difference between the middle and bottom of this conference. Regardless of who you play, going 6-5-2 over 13 games is not "struggling", especially for a team that lost nearly all of their games prior to that. Part of the reason some of those opponents are in the bottom half or going in the wrong direction is because HC beat them. A few breaks here and there go differently and maybe HC, NU, Army and or RMU are fighting for the last three byes while RIT, AFA, MU and or SHU are battling for the last two first round home ice spots.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

TigerFan86-87 said:
Oh come on, now. We all know there is not a whole lot of difference between the middle and bottom of this conference. Regardless of who you play, going 6-5-2 over 13 games is not "struggling", especially for a team that lost nearly all of their games prior to that. Part of the reason some of those opponents are in the bottom half or going in the wrong direction is because HC beat them. A few breaks here and there go differently and maybe HC, NU, Army and or RMU are fighting for the last three byes while RIT, AFA, MU and or SHU are battling for the last two first round home ice spots.
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So you're saying winning 6 games out of every 13 is....not struggling? You must be a Bills/Sabres fan.

You could wash away any season for any team in any sport with the line "a few breaks here and there go differently and..."

At the end of the day you are what your record says you are. RMU and Niagara both having losing records in conference (and are worse overall) and are teams that we need to beat.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

6-5-2 is a .538 winning pct. and you’re losing 5 out of 13. Half empty or half full?


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

Ed Trefzger said:
6-5-2 is a .538 winning pct. and you’re losing 5 out of 13. Half empty or half full?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

No matter what, you're at half something. I'd prefer not to be middling at .500 relying on ties to save the actual percentage.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

So....clinching scenarios (yes, it's that time of year). Right now, RIT can finish anywhere from 1st to 10th. Which means, more importantly, that they still can be anywhere from winning the league, to traveling in the first round of the playoffs. Let's look at how this weekend's results affect that. This all gets complicated due to everyone playing everyone (obviously everyone can't win out - if two teams are playing each other on a given night, those teams must drop 2 points among them). Due to AIC being off this week, the only way RIT can be eliminated from Conference championship contention is if they drop 3 points this weekend. No outside results can eliminate them from contention.

This week's scenarios:

RIT SWEEP:
- Alone this does not clinch even a 1st round home series, believe it or not. There's a scenario where 9 of 11 teams could have 29 points or more, with Robert Morris and Canisius bringing up the rear.
- As long as Holy Cross and Army don't both sweep the weekend (against RoMo and Mercyhurst, respectively), RIT will clinch at least a first round home series.
- If Niagara takes less than 2 points against Bentley, RIT still clinches a 1st round home series.
- RIT controls own destiny for first round bye and home ice in the 2nd round.

RIT takes 3 points:
- A Robert Morris - Holy Cross split would clinch at least a 1st round home playoff series.
- Army taking 1 point or less would clinch at least a 1st round home playoff series.
- RIT would clinch a first round home playoff series if Niagara is swept vs Bentley
- RIT controls own destiny for first round bye and home ice in the 2nd round.

RIT SPLIT:
- RIT clinches a first round home playoff series if Mercyhurst sweeps Army and Holy Cross/Robert Morris does not split.
- RIT controls destiny for first round bye and home ice in the 2nd round (Thanks to Mercyhurst and Air Force playing each other next weekend)

RIT takes 1 point:
- RIT can no longer win the conference
- RIT controls own destiny for a bye if Air Force and Mercyhurst combine to drop 2 points this weekend
- RIT controls own destiny for a bye and home ice in the 2nd round of the playoffs if Air Force is swept and Mercyhurst drops 3 points this weekend

RIT takes 0 points:
- RIT can no longer win the conference
- RIT controls own destiny for a bye only if Air Force and Mercyhurst combine to drop 4 points this weekend
- RIT can no longer control their own destiny for a bye and a second round home playoff series.

I didn't go into tiebreakers (particularly because there are a lot of teams that could potentially end up tied at any given point total), so it's possible further clinching scenarios exist (such as sweeping the weekend to clinch a first round home playoff series - as long as we don't finish last in the huge multi-team tiebreaker that could happen at 29 points, we would clinch a 1st round home playoff series there.)
 
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Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

RIT Winters said:
No matter what, you're at half something. I'd prefer not to be middling at .500 relying on ties to save the actual percentage.
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Struggling is a four game losing streak that RIT had in November, or a 2-6-2 stretch that NU is on, or the 1-7-1 stretch HC started the AHA season with. A winning record, (which by the way 6-5-2 really is, whether you agree or not), is not really "struggling", in most cases. It is "middling" as you call it, but I never said anything about them being hot or tearing it up or anything ridiculous like that.
It's not really a question of what you prefer. Words mean what they mean. Nobody prefers to be around .500. All teams prefer to play 1.000 all the time. But that's not likely. 6-5-2 is certainly preferred for a team that started 1-7-1. Although by that same token, one could say that everything is relative. A team that starts the season 9-0-0 might just say they're struggling if they suddenly went 6-5-2.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

RIT Winters said:
You could wash away any season for any team in any sport with the line "a few breaks here and there go differently and..."

At the end of the day you are what your record says you are. RMU and Niagara both having losing records in conference (and are worse overall) and are teams that we need to beat.
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I don't disagree with any of that. I think you missed the point. My point was that as tight as this conference is, there isn't such a huge difference between the abilities of the 3th place and 8th place teams that we can sit here and say that RIT should have beaten HC just because they're lower in the standings. RIT has proven to be better so far this season, but not all that much better that winning those games is a fait accompli. Hard work and attention to detail (and maybe a few breaks) are the only things that are going to get RIT wins against anyone in this conference, including those in the bottom half of the standings.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Anybody familiar with parking in our around the Webster Bank Areana?

Is it plentiful and what the cost is?
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

TigerFan86-87 said:
Oh come on, now. We all know there is not a whole lot of difference between the middle and bottom of this conference. Regardless of who you play, going 6-5-2 over 13 games is not "struggling", especially for a team that lost nearly all of their games prior to that. Part of the reason some of those opponents are in the bottom half or going in the wrong direction is because HC beat them. A few breaks here and there go differently and maybe HC, NU, Army and or RMU are fighting for the last three byes while RIT, AFA, MU and or SHU are battling for the last two first round home ice spots.
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You arguing semantics. Bentley and AIC are a perfect 6-0 against Holy Cross this season. So if you want to argue middle to bottom fine, I really don't care, it's irrelevant despite what some may think I like finishing in the top. I hope your right about Holy Cross though because Bentley has two more games with them and Air Force stops there for two. Simply put these are the games you want to feast on because they are capable. Yes, Holy Cross is not just going to lay down, and I give them credit for that, but they are by far a young team and really not surprise where they are this year in the standings. This missing two points has great potential to loom large come end of regular season...

RIT Winters said:
So you're saying winning 6 games out of every 13 is....not struggling? You must be a Bills/Sabres fan.
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Ok Winters said something funny, I like it. To put some perspective on it I'm a disgruntled Bills/Sabres Fan...

Ed Trefzger said:
6-5-2 is a .538 winning pct. and you’re losing 5 out of 13. Half empty or half full?
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Can I get some Half and Half? All though I do prefer Irish Cream... Yeah I have not had my Coffee this morning can you tell?


Ed Trefzger said:
I'm probably the wrong denomination.
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Maybe if I go with you next time it will help, I am a Roman Catholic in supposedly good standing with the church. No one in the Church wants to crucify me, not sure about the message board or some former goaltenders :eek:

Campbell might be a tough sell, I am not sure if he has religion outside of the Red Sox :D

blazer777 said:
Anybody familiar with parking in our around the Webster Bank Areana?

Is it plentiful and what the cost is?
Click to expand...

I went back in 2011, there was a parking garage near the arena, at the time it seemed reasonable from what I remember.
 
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Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

It's fair to say that RIT missed out on a great opportunity to give themselves some breathing rooms as they fight for at least a first round bye with that loss. Holy Cross has not been playing well most of the year, but was able to get a split. Sacred Heart has been playing well and is making a move for a bye. RIT will need to get at least a split out of this weekend.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Thank you Ed and Tom. The garage looks like the best option. Oh by the way. Bentley won again last night. Looks like them and AIC will be the teams to beat this year.
 
Re: >>> RIT Tigers 2018/2019 - Time For The Tigers to Roar <<<

Well thank you Mr. Drackett for that amazing game. Not sure I'm happy much with the rest of the play, but if they get goaltending like that and a good effort they could walk out with a sweep and help forget about the Saturday Night Holy Cross game...
 
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