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>>> RIT Tigers 2020-21: A Season "Reconsidered" <<<

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XCTiger said:
Maybe the AHA playoff championship won't be decided on the ice, but in the testing labs. Whoever can play is crowded, and moves on to the NCAAs. ;->
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If a team can't play in the playoffs then they're done. Re-seeding or giving a team a bye will be the result depending on timing.
 
So it looks like RIT @ Canisius next weekend in a best of 3 for the Western Semifinals.

I assume the playoffs eventually will pit the East winner and the West winner against each other to decide the one automatic NCAA birth?
 
jflory81 said:
So it looks like RIT @ Canisius next weekend in a best of 3 for the Western Semifinals.

I assume the playoffs eventually will pit the East winner and the West winner against each other to decide the one automatic NCAA birth?
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Yes, in the semifinal round.
"The only East-West crossover will come during championship weekend where the semifinals will see the top remaining seed coming out of the West playing the lowest remaining seed coming out of the East and vice versa"
Source: https://atlantichockeyonline.com/ne...antic-hockey-tournament-format-announced.aspx
 
mar7967 said:
Yes, in the semifinal round.
"The only East-West crossover will come during championship weekend where the semifinals will see the top remaining seed coming out of the West playing the lowest remaining seed coming out of the East and vice versa"
Source: https://atlantichockeyonline.com/ne...antic-hockey-tournament-format-announced.aspx
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Weird that they're doing it in the Semi-finals rather than the Finals. Also given that the entire playoffs are being played on campus, are they expecting teams to play Friday night at AIC and then travel to Robert Morris for a Saturday Night game if the top seeds hold? That's an 8 hour drive! Seems like they should have given another weekend or at least made the Championship round games on Friday and Sunday rather than Friday and Saturday.
 
jflory81 said:
Weird that they're doing it in the Semi-finals rather than the Finals. Also given that the entire playoffs are being played on campus, are they expecting teams to play Friday night at AIC and then travel to Robert Morris for a Saturday Night game if the top seeds hold? That's an 8 hour drive! Seems like they should have given another weekend or at least made the Championship round games on Friday and Sunday rather than Friday and Saturday.
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Would imagine, semis and finals will be single game elimination at one site. Probably at highest remaining seed. Unless Pegula convinces them to do it at the Harbor Center.
 
LtPowers said:
Anyone else find this season frustrating and unsatisfying?


Powers &8^]
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Yes, absolutely.
And especially so for teams like Holy Cross who's season was just ended by COVID.
However the season ends, it's kind of like walking out of the arena after a tie (for those of us old enough to remember ties :))
 
The radio guys will be hosting another chat with RIT head coach Wayne Wilson this Tuesday, March 9th, 6:00pm. The registration link is:
https://rit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MJpQDu7FTD-Vepe4Db2FnQ

This is sponsored by the RIT Alumni Association. We are alaos planning one final chat on April 13th to wrap up the season.
 
XCTiger said:
Would imagine, semis and finals will be single game elimination at one site. Probably at highest remaining seed. Unless Pegula convinces them to do it at the Harbor Center.
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*shrug* According to the link it will all be at campus sites, although in reading the release again it does sound like one school will host the semis/finals.

Which of course begs the question, who is the higher seed if both regular season champions (or both regular season #2 teams, or #3 teams, etc) make the finals? They purposely (and correctly) handed out dual regular season championships because it's impossible to compare teams by record when you're completely separated by a pod system (which is also why I think it's extremely stupid to begin crossing over in the semi-finals: they should be getting one team out of each pod and then preferably playing the final at a neutral site). If AIC and Robert Morris both make championship weekend, they are both #1 seeds, and with no cross pod games, record is essentially meaningless in determining who the more deserving team is. What if the other 4-5 teams in the pod are simply superior in one pod or the other?

For that matter, let's say the 4 teams in championship weekend are Robert Morris (#1W), RIT (#3W), Army(#2E), and Bentley(#4E). Who hosts that? Army has the best record of the 4, but Robert Morris is technically the higher seed and also a regular season champion. Does record matter more than seed? The press release does not actually provide any information on how the host institution for championship weekend will be determined.

(Of course, the press release also stated the 1st round games would be played on Feb 6th or 7th, and here we are on the 8th and they're now scheduled for the 8th and 9th.
 
For that matter, let's say the 4 teams in championship weekend are Robert Morris (#1W), RIT (#3W), Army(#2E), and Bentley(#4E). Who hosts that?
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I believe Army would be the host as the team with the highest points percentage.
 
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Another season ends with a whimper. No lack of effort to blame this time, just superior talent on the other side of the ice.

The AHA has gotten better in recent years, but has RIT?


Powers &8^]
 
LtPowers said:
Another season ends with a whimper. No lack of effort to blame this time, just superior talent on the other side of the ice.

The AHA has gotten better in recent years, but has RIT?


Powers &8^]
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I hate to be a broken record, but I wonder how lack of scholarships are affecting recruiting now. With the rest of the AHA (sans AF and Army West Point) offering up to 18 scholarships now, it must be a factor. Having some standout seasons would help recruit I think, but that just hasn't happened the past few years.
 
mar7967 said:
I hate to be a broken record, but I wonder how lack of scholarships are affecting recruiting now. With the rest of the AHA (sans AF and Army West Point) offering up to 18 scholarships now, it must be a factor. Having some standout seasons would help recruit I think, but that just hasn't happened the past few years.
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Pretty incredible what AIC has done since 2018. Arguably the best 3 year stretch any program has had in Atlantic Hockey history and that's without arguably their best team even getting to play playoff hockey due to COVID. RIT hasn't really put anything more than an average team on the ice since 2/3 of the MGM line graduated, and even those were one line teams by and large. AHC as a whole has caught up and, in several cases, clearly surpassed RIT. Hard to argue superior institutional support when everyone else is offering scholarships, and the clout of Wilson and the new arena clearly have not been differentiators. Now the arena isn't even that new or special by AHC standards with several being built since and SHU breaking ground on a new one recently.

At the end of the day RIT is one of the most expensive tuitions in the conference and offers the least financial incentive to come play hockey. The kids know it's a $100,000 question and a cool locker room and couches with tiger logos stitched in them isn't going to beat a full ride to play in an empty AHL barn in Massachusetts.

RIT is clearly making moves towards D1 (their newly announced athletics facilities projects is a public nod to it, but the consulting firm work began long before) but it is still years away. RIT might have to continue to languish in mediocrity until then.
 
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RIT Winters said:
At the end of the day RIT is one of the most expensive tuitions in the conference and offers the least financial incentive to come play hockey. The kids know it's a $100,000 question and a cool locker room and couches with tiger logos stitched in them isn't going to beat a full ride to play in an empty AHL barn in Massachusetts.
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The last I knew AIC still hadn't gotten to the 12 full scholarships the AHA used to allow nevermind the 18 that are now permissible. And when you consider the Yellow Jackets are the largest team in D1, that's a lot of players paying full tuition to live in a rough part of Springfield, Mass.
 
Leather Lungs said:
The last I knew AIC still hadn't gotten to the 12 full scholarships the AHA used to allow nevermind the 18 that are now permissible. And when you consider the Yellow Jackets are the largest team in D1, that's a lot of players paying full tuition to live in a rough part of Springfield, Mass.
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Any number between 1-12 is still higher than what RIT offers. And it's worth pointing out that AIC's baseline tuition rate is nearly $10,000 less than RIT's. That is still $40,000 less for a 4 year degree to play for a program on the upswing vs spending more for less in Rochester.

I think it's clear that while RIT was rightly credited with excellent scouting and recruiting 10 years ago, the reality is that it's easier to scout/recruit from the "best of the rest (non-scholarship earning talent) when you are one of only two teams in the nation actually trying to compete without them and can say you are by far the most well supported team in your Conference. But AHC has moved past cost containment and so there's a lot more competition for those fringe guys and RIT isn't able to collect 'em all and indeed seems to be collecting less and less.
 
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