I can't believe I ever wasted my time respecting you.
Has college hockey not changed one iota since Adessa's first five years? Since Powers or Fridgen's? The comparisons are bunk. Gee, did any of those guys have a Union, Dartmouth, Princeton, or Yale team that was worth a darn to recruit against or play against? Hang on, let me answer that one for you - no. They only had to recruit and play well against SLU, Clarkson, Cornell, Harvard, and occasionally Colgate when it came to the ECACs. Those four teams were so hideously bad back then on a year in, year out basis that you could skate your reserve players and still win. Today the league, top to bottom, is far more competitive than it ever was under the three men you mentioned, not to mention that Appert is the first of those four to be coaching in the ECAC when it was not generally on par with the other three major conferences during his first five years. Did you think about that? No, of course you didn't. So he's starting off right there with a bit of a handicap.
You want to know what Appert has done for the program? Try this on for size.
* We have increased our win totals in both of the last two seasons.
* We have put ourselves into the discussion for the NCAA tournament for the first time in over a decade.
* We have landed recruits good enough to have the NHL come calling after just one season. That's bringing in the talent.
* We have been in a position to compete for the first round bye for consecutive seasons for the first time since the ECAC adopted its current playoff system.
* We have seen the hockey program return to its position of prominence within the athletic department and the Institute.
* We've seen the Field House undergo renovations, including brand new locker rooms and the most state-of-the-art scoreboard in the league.
I'm sorry, John, am I boring you yet?
* We've watched as a freshman who was passed over by practically everyone grew into what should be a two-time ECAC Player of the Year (only two others have ever done that) and a two-time Hobey Baker Finalist. Was that just magic?
* We've watched as a highly touted young goaltender grew into one of the best backstops in the entire country.
* We watched expectations take a serious beating at the start of the year thanks to unexpected departures with no time to adjust for them, and still finished with a better record than last season.
No one here is suggesting that everything is running exactly as we'd like it to go. No, of course it isn't. We are all disappointed in the playoff results of the past two seasons and we all want the team to do better. The problem is, you see what happened in the past and you can't get by the negatives that exist. You simply can't see the forest for the trees, can you? What are the answers, John? Is it just to continue to bay and moan like a dog in heat? That seems to be your gameplan.
Pensfan08, I think, has done the right analysis of the situation. He/she sees that there are two areas of coaching in which Mr. Appert very obviously excels, and one that he clearly is growing at. You are willing to ignore the first two because they haven't resulted in championships to date (in spite of the items I discussed at the top, of course). He is the youngest coach in the ECAC. He spent years learning from one of the best in the business. His trendline on being a bench coach has been one of improvement, but that's not nearly fast enough for you. He has to shoulder the burden of those years before him when the team was struggling as well, doesn't he? Those years made him responsible for giving YOU a trophy NOW.
If you want instant gratification, I suggest you go elsewhere, John. You're in Niskayuna, it wouldn't be so far fetched for you to turn your car around and head the other way. Go root for Union, they're winning right now. That's all you need, isn't it? Winning right now? Go. Get your instant gratification. You know what, even better, why don't you just start rooting for Cornell? Their fans don't care how they win either, they just want to win. Whether the game is exciting or interesting is no item.
And now, when someone calls you out for being a whiner, your response is to call him gay. You're a big man, aren't you?
You have joined the ranks of those who only show up around here to whine and kvetch when things don't go our way. I hope you're proud. When we celebrate a championship in the near future, I hope you're just as invisible then as you were this season when we were lighting it up.
Now go ahead, John. Turn your guns on me. Let's go, tough guy. Call me a scumbag. Tell me I'm wrong for being upset when the referees screw up for the millionth time and make it harder for RPI to pick up points. Tell me Jacob Laliberte and Matt Neal are dog****. Oh, I'm sorry, you don't even know who those names are yet, do you? You want to pick on AspyDad for having opinions, you'd better come strong, and you haven't got jack.
