RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

RHamilton (or someone else in RPI-TV), I'm not sure this has been asked, and I realize you will not be able to stream the games live outside of B2, but will your team still be hosting an archive of the game after it has completed? There will probably be some games that I may miss, and would still like to watch the game, even if it is after the fact.

http://board.uscho.com/showpost.php?p=4853177&postcount=358

All games will still be available for on demand viewing from our website.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

For the guys-I am thinking 5th with a distinct possibility of finishing as high as 3rd. An awful lot will just depend on how fast the young freshmen can adapt to the NCAA level game. For me the key is the defense. I am pretty sure we will do some scoring and have only the concern for how well we can keep the pressure off of York. If the defense can limit the opposition's chances and we can keep the goals against in the 2-3 level, this team can easily win 20+ games this year. Then again, this is about what i have thought last year also.

I wish I had your confidence in the offense. Pirri and D'Amigo did not just take their point totals with them, they also decreased the totals of their line mates. They made the players that they played with better.
As far as I can see, at this point the only player that the opposition has to concentrate on is Polacek. And that will put a lot of pressure on the second and third lines.
This season, will depend on how well we play defense. The offense will improve as the season goes on. But we will need to win games early with defense.
I see this year as a big question mark.
This is the year where coach Appert shows his ability. I have a lot of confidence in him and look for us to be somewhere between 4th and 7th in the final standings.
If he does better than that, we have a really great coach.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

I wish I had your confidence in the offense. Pirri and D'Amigo did not just take their point totals with them, they also decreased the totals of their line mates. They made the players that they played with better.
As far as I can see, at this point the only player that the opposition has to concentrate on is Polacek. And that will put a lot of pressure on the second and third lines.
This season, will depend on how well we play defense. The offense will improve as the season goes on. But we will need to win games early with defense.
I see this year as a big question mark.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

I love the response, now dispute what I said.
I ahve already stated that your comments on the game of hockey are relevent, now say something.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

I love the response, now dispute what I said.
I ahve already stated that your comments on the game of hockey are relevent, now say something.

I'm not playing this game. I have never wasted my time "disputing" the patently absurd, I'm not going to start with you.

If you want to be a bedwetter, I'm not going to be the one to stop you, just don't pitch a nutty when you get called out for it.

 

[DrDemento]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

I wish I had your confidence in the offense. Pirri and D'Amigo did not just take their point totals with them, they also decreased the totals of their line mates. They made the players that they played with better.
As far as I can see, at this point the only player that the opposition has to concentrate on is Polacek. And that will put a lot of pressure on the second and third lines.
This season, will depend on how well we play defense. The offense will improve as the season goes on. But we will need to win games early with defense.

Offensively-No question Polacek is important as he was last year. Truthfully I feel we lost more goal scoring with the graduation of Kerins that by losing either D'Amigo or Pirri. Obviously I would have loved to have them-but they scored 21 goals total last year and I am relatively secure in thinking the new group of players can get close to that total. And remember-Helfrich was not really in the scoring mix last year and I expect more from him this year.

I agree totally with you about the defense-as I mentioned, that will be the key. We have an excellent goaltender who if given the chance to see the shots, can stop virtually anything. I am a little hesitant(but very hopeful) about the defense which is why I felt this team was good enough to be top 5 in the league and perhaps a little better. With all the youngsters coming in. it will be a year where the level of coaching will be important and we will find out whether coach SA is just a good recruiter(which we already know) but also a good tactical coach.

 

[troyboy]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Offensively-No question Polacek is important as he was last year. Truthfully I feel we lost more goal scoring with the graduation of Kerins that by losing either D'Amigo or Pirri. Obviously I would have loved to have them-but they scored 21 goals total last year and I am relatively secure in thinking the new group of players can get close to that total. And remember-Helfrich was not really in the scoring mix last year and I expect more from him this year.

I agree totally with you about the defense-as I mentioned, that will be the key. We have an excellent goaltender who if given the chance to see the shots, can stop virtually anything. I am a little hesitant(but very hopeful) about the defense which is why I felt this team was good enough to be top 5 in the league and perhaps a little better. With all the youngsters coming in. it will be a year where the level of coaching will be important and we will find out whether coach SA is just a good recruiter(which we already know) but also a good tactical coach.

We will be just fine.I feel as though we have a better overall Team w/the last 3 incoming classes.By that I mean we have checkers when we need checkers...we have energy guys when we need energy guys...we have speed when we need speed...we now have size when we need size...and yes we have skill and scoring when we need that.Will there be times when we wish JDA & BP were here YEP but its not catastrophic.My personal opinion is that we will miss BP the most in the faceoff circle he either got run or won the draw.Hockey is the ultimate team sport thats why everyone on this board is so passionate about it.I know this is a straw man argument but how many cups did the "Great One" win after he left the Oilers.ITS THE TEAM not the individual !

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

We will be just fine.I feel as though we have a better overall Team w/the last 3 incoming classes.By that I mean we have checkers when we need checkers...we have energy guys when we need energy guys...we have speed when we need speed...we now have size when we need size...and yes we have skill and scoring when we need that.Will there be times when we wish JDA & BP were here YEP but its not catastrophic.My personal opinion is that we will miss BP the most in the faceoff circle he either got run or won the draw.Hockey is the ultimate team sport thats why everyone on this board is so passionate about it.I know this is a straw man argument but how many cups did the "Great One" win after he left the Oilers.ITS THE TEAM not the individual !

You want a "dispute," ehf? There it is. Well said, troyboy.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

You want a "dispute," ehf? There it is. Well said, troyboy.

I'm not looking for an arguement, and Troyboys response is certainly on point.
What I said, was that we were losing more offense than just BP and JDs point totals.
I didn't say the team would fall apart. I questioned our offensive output. I still do.
And I will still be at just as many games as I can get to and I will listen and watch all of them from my computer rooting on the Engineers with all I have.
All I did was state an opinion, if you disagree, you have that right, but it would be nice to hear your explanation of why you disagree.

 

[DrDemento]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

We will be just fine.I feel as though we have a better overall Team w/the last 3 incoming classes.By that I mean we have checkers when we need checkers...we have energy guys when we need energy guys...we have speed when we need speed...we now have size when we need size...and yes we have skill and scoring when we need that.Will there be times when we wish JDA & BP were here YEP but its not catastrophic.My personal opinion is that we will miss BP the most in the faceoff circle he either got run or won the draw.Hockey is the ultimate team sport thats why everyone on this board is so passionate about it.I know this is a straw man argument but how many cups did the "Great One" win after he left the Oilers.ITS THE TEAM not the individual !

Exactly-that was what I was indicating. We will have to win and score by committee-and we have the young guns to replace the number of goals we lost. I did not mention the face offs-but that is one place where we will miss BP and hopefully we have that sorted out early in the season.

 

[burgie12]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Excellent point being brought up about the faceoffs. But, Pirri was also tossed from more than half of his faceoffs by the end of the season. It almost seemed that some linesmen just refused to drop the puck to him. I'm not sure if it was his attitude / mouthing off or if his stance / approach was actually incorrect, but it sure seemed like the number of faceoffs that he was actually involved in decreased significantly in February / March.

Replacing both Pirri and Malchuk in the faceoff circle will be difficult. However, if that's my primary concern (and it sure sounds like we've got the firepower / electric shots / tenacity coming in to offset the actual goalscoring), then I'm not too worried.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Excellent point being brought up about the faceoffs. But, Pirri was also tossed from more than half of his faceoffs by the end of the season. It almost seemed that some linesmen just refused to drop the puck to him. I'm not sure if it was his attitude / mouthing off or if his stance / approach was actually incorrect, but it sure seemed like the number of faceoffs that he was actually involved in decreased significantly in February / March.

Replacing both Pirri and Malchuk in the faceoff circle will be difficult. However, if that's my primary concern (and it sure sounds like we've got the firepower / electric shots / tenacity coming in to offset the actual goalscoring), then I'm not too worried.

Why are we replacing Malchuk?

 

[redhead18]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Excellent point being brought up about the faceoffs. But, Pirri was also tossed from more than half of his faceoffs by the end of the season. It almost seemed that some linesmen just refused to drop the puck to him. I'm not sure if it was his attitude / mouthing off or if his stance / approach was actually incorrect, but it sure seemed like the number of faceoffs that he was actually involved in decreased significantly in February / March.

Replacing both Pirri and Malchuk in the faceoff circle will be difficult. However, if that's my primary concern (and it sure sounds like we've got the firepower / electric shots / tenacity coming in to offset the actual goalscoring), then I'm not too worried.

Higgs was used numerous times for faceoffs last year in Kingston. I would expect to see the same this year at RPI.

 

[burgie12]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Why are we replacing Malchuk?

Oops. I swapped Malchuk and Kerins in my mind (somehow).

Alright, Polacek, Malchuk, Higgs, AAG are four strong centers.

 

[redhead18]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Oops. I swapped Malchuk and Kerins in my mind (somehow).

Alright, Polacek, Malchuk, Higgs, AAG are four strong centers.

Hmm... if I had to guess I would say Polacek, Rogic, Malchuk and either AAG or Higgs will be used at center most of the time. Polacek on the 1st line, Rogic 2nd line, AAG or Higgs 3rd line and Malchuk on the checking line.

 

[DrDemento]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Hmm... if I had to guess I would say Polacek, Rogic, Malchuk and either AAG or Higgs will be used at center most of the time. Polacek on the 1st line, Rogic 2nd line, AAG or Higgs 3rd line and Malchuk on the checking line.

I sometimes forget about what sort of asset Malchuk can be. Have only see him play a few times in person but have never failed to be impressed by his energy and willingness to complete his checks. Unfortuantely was a close witness to his leg injury at Princeton years ago and honestly thought at the time that he might never recover. If he stays healthy I suspect his ice time will be substantial.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

I sometimes forget about what sort of asset Malchuk can be. Have only see him play a few times in person but have never failed to be impressed by his energy and willingness to complete his checks. Unfortuantely was a close witness to his leg injury at Princeton years ago and honestly thought at the time that he might never recover. If he stays healthy I suspect his ice time will be substantial.

I personally think that SA will at least try Malchuk as the second line center. A year from now, I can see Rogic as one of the scoring centers, but this year it will be Polacek and either Malchuk or AAG as the top two centers. Rogic and Higgs both have potential, but neither is a D'Amigo or Pirri. They won't step right in.

Please note that my thoughts on what will happen are rarely correct.

 

[jmhusker]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Hmm... if I had to guess I would say Polacek, Rogic, Malchuk and either AAG or Higgs will be used at center most of the time. Polacek on the 1st line, Rogic 2nd line, AAG or Higgs 3rd line and Malchuk on the checking line.

I see idle speculation is ramping up already. Like they say Upstate... when in Speculator...

This team has way too many unknowns to start projecting these things. I'm not even sure that our style of play stays the same. We've got some skaters on D now. Who knows what may happen... crash and burn and pleasant surprise are both in the mix. AAG and Cullen will probably be the keys guys to watch on O. If they both start strong then we are in for good things. If not.. then who the heck knows.

But, what I really want to know is this: did we get rid of those stupid socks?

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

But, what I really want to know is this: did we get rid of those stupid socks?

I'll take functionality over fashion seven days a week and twice on Sundays.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

Re: RPI 2010 Offseason VI: The NHL's CBA Doesn't Appear to Have Been a Boon for the Tute.

The only way I really see Joel Malchuk moving up this year is if he takes Paul Kerins' spot on the power play and plays bruiser up front. His specialty is the garbage goals and the puck battles. I'm not saying he can't do 1st or 2nd line, but he really is a checker, and I think Coach sees that and likes Joel where he is.

AAG definitely stepped up after the SLU "comment", and so I would see him 2nd or 3rd line, with some combination of Rogic and Malchuk in there somehow.

The biggest question mark I see this year (aside from the unknown freshmen) is Tyler Helfrich. What sort of shape will he be in this year? Will he finish out his tenure strong? Is it just a downhill ride from the freshman year high?