RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

[rpi82]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

RPI & ND to HE?

http://redskinwarriors.com/

Redskin Warriors has received an unconfirmed report that Notre Dame and RPI are moving to Hockey East in 2013.

Our source with credible access to the ongoing talks tells us the Irish will take their talents east, and along with the Engineers of RPI will become the 11th and 12th members respectively, of Hockey East. If true, it could also signal Notre Dame’s intent to join the ACC for all other sports as the rest of the collegiate athletic world undergoes the same sort of seismic shift as hockey. And, for certain it’s a coup for Hockey East to land the last remaining free agent gem in the Fighting Irish.

For Notre Dame, this move makes sense. They would become conference mates with longtime rival, and Catholic college brethren, Boston College as well as Providence and Merrimack who also don the cloth.

For RPI, well, what an opportunity. They will be reunited with former ECAC rivals and this ties nicely to their reemergence on the college hockey scene as young head coach Seth Appert has the Engineers headed in the right direction. Their travel costs won’t rise and their sense of prestige and strength of schedule will certainly improve.

In the meantime, we’ll try to gain confirmation and will update this story as we can.

Interesting. If true, and conference realignment rumors often aren't, my wife will be the first to volunteer that I was wrong. However, I still think we are a better fit in the ECAC. It will also make it less likely that CT, NYC and NJ alumni will be able to see the team annually. Hopefully, we'll be able to regularly get teams like Princeton, Army and Yale/the Q on the OOC schedule.

I'll be very interested to see how HE handles scheduling. They will have to make accommodations for ND by scheduling two game sets instead of home and home (not necessarily on the same weekend) as one would expect for the rest of the league. How will they balance the schedule? Will they do the same 2 game weekend arrangement with one other team - perhaps RPI as the new kid or Maine since it is on the other extreme edge of the league map?

 

[jmhusker]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Interesting. If true, and conference realignment rumors often aren't, my wife will be the first to volunteer that I was wrong. However, I still think we are a better fit in the ECAC. It will also make it less likely that CT, NYC and NJ alumni will be able to see the team annually. Hopefully, we'll be able to regularly get teams like Princeton, Army and Yale/the Q on the OOC schedule.

I'll be very interested to see how HE handles scheduling. They will have to make accommodations for ND by scheduling two game sets instead of home and home (not necessarily on the same weekend) as one would expect for the rest of the league. How will they balance the schedule? Will they do the same 2 game weekend arrangement with one other team - perhaps RPI as the new kid or Maine since it is on the other extreme edge of the league map?

Meanwhile all of the Boston area folks have their fingers crossed. I will be surprised if HE does a 2 game weekend deal with just one or two teams. I think a Fri/Sunday or Thurs/Saturday arrangement with RPI and ND as travel partners would be better. Alternatively, the road trip could be arrange as Thurs/Fri games in Troy or SB followed by Sat/Sun games in the opposite location. Either way, Fri/Sat home weekends in-conference could become rare for ND and their travel partner.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Everyone seems to be talking about who RPI's league opponents might be two years from now.

Does anyone know anything about this Acadia team RPI's supposed to play this Saturday?

Sorry, I'm not monitoring this board as often as I used to!

The Acadia Axemen were the top team in the CIS in the late '90's, and were surging UNB's conference nemesis back then. They raised the bar on recruiting outside of the Maritimes and the other teams in the AUS conference stepped up to the bar, and then passed them. They've always been in the top half of the AUS, but have only advanced to Nationals once in the last ten years after upsetting a badly injured UNB team. The Varsity Reds coach, Gardiner MacDougall, still says he learned a big lesson that year (2005-06) and vowed to always have enough depth, even if good players are sitting in the stands. The V-Reds have won three of the last five CIS University Cups, including this past season, and are renowned for their comparative depth.

Acadia has been in the hunt for the AUS championship the last couple of years. Last season they swept UPEI in the first round of the playoffs in two 1-0 games. They took UNB to four games in the best-of-5 semis, including a CIS-record quadruple overtime game Feb. 27 in Fredericton (UNB won 3-2). They played a trap against UNB and ratcheted up the physical play, including a high-hit on V-Red Taylor Procyshen that caused him to retire from hockey over the summer due to post-concussion syndrome.

Their home rink is the only Olympic-sized surface in the AUS. Acadia is in Wolfville, a university town in Nova Scotia's scenic Annapolis Valley, renowned for summer tourism and agriculture, particularly apples.

Acadia were 14-11-3 in conference play last season, and ended the season tied for 4th place with UPEI. They were a better team than their record. They had a number of new players and got off to a slow start. They had a good second half, but lost their last three games going into the playoffs.

When you think Olympic ice you think a skating team, and Acadia are, but they are also pragmatic enough to play the trap against more skilled teams such as UNB or Saint Mary's.

I haven't seen them yet this season, but they beat a good University of Calgary team 3-2 in an overtime shootout on Sept. 20, and then surprised me by beating Saint Mary's 5-1 on the road the next night. They lost to Moncton 1-0 on Sept. 23 (which say more about rebuilding Moncton than the Axemen) and then hammered St. Thomas (who are rebuilding, slowly) 6-2 on Sept. 24. They play Dalhousie tonight.

 

[rpi82]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Meanwhile all of the Boston area folks have their fingers crossed. I will be surprised if HE does a 2 game weekend deal with just one or two teams. I think a Fri/Sunday or Thurs/Saturday arrangement with RPI and ND as travel partners would be better. Alternatively, the road trip could be arrange as Thurs/Fri games in Troy or SB followed by Sat/Sun games in the opposite location. Either way, Fri/Sat home weekends in-conference could become rare for ND and their travel partner.

Do you think they will go to a formal travel partner system the way the ECAC does it? That would be a very big change for HE.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

More on Acadia.

Compared to the other seven teams in the AUS, Acadia was offensively challenged last season -- 3.21 goals per game for sixth rank.

They had decent goaltending last season, but both veterans have graduated and moved on to the minor pro ranks. Their defence was pretty young last season, and good, so they should even better this year.

Their official website is here, including some blurbs about their recruits: http://www.acadiau.ca/sports/hockey/index.html

Their school colours are red and blue.

Their top 3 forwards are back from last season: Andrew Clark, Jonathan Laberge, Jacob Dietrich

What more do you want to know?

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Do you think they will go to a formal travel partner system the way the ECAC does it? That would be a very big change for HE.

I was thinking about that Also. I tend to doubt it. I also think that the league schedule will be more than 22 games. I suggested earlier that they might go to a pod system with three pods of 4 schools each with either 3 or 4 games against teams in the same pod for a 25- or 28-game schedule. A possibility is UMO-UNH-UML-MC, BU-BC-NU-PC, RPI-UMA-UVM-ND.

 

[jmhusker]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Do you think they will go to a formal travel partner system the way the ECAC does it? That would be a very big change for HE.

The rumors are 12 teams and a 22 game league schedule. It seems to fit.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Do you think they will go to a formal travel partner system the way the ECAC does it? That would be a very big change for HE.

Given HE (the league) actually has rules regarding number of games and quantitative-with-respect-to-time amount of travel in a week (one little tidbit I picked up from one of the HE fans while gathering information for the schedules), I'd think it'd be more likely to see one weekend, one team (home/home is dependent upon location). Also, since the Hockey East regular season actually matters (no Union rule in that league, even on the women's side with 8 teams), I would venture a guess that it'd be much less likely to see an imbalanced schedule, as a team's post-season life could be dependent upon specific teams having a hot year.

As always, though, this is all dependent on Notre Dame's joining of HE, as well as our administration's approval. I'm not sold on the earlier blog post, especially given the usage of the word "unconfirmed".

 

[jmhusker]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

I was thinking about that Also. I tend to doubt it. I also think that the league schedule will be more than 22 games. I suggested earlier that they might go to a pod system with three pods of 4 schools each with either 3 or 4 games against teams in the same pod for a 25- or 28-game schedule. A possibility is UMO-UNH-UML-MC, BU-BC-NU-PC, RPI-UMA-UVM-ND.

One of the complaints out there now is that the present 27 game schedule for HE doesn't leave enough room for OOC games so I would be surprised to see a 28 game schedule. 25 could work but you do end up with unbalanced "out of pod" schedules if you assume those are all 2 game weekends.

I still think the ultimate solution here is a 6 team IVY league and and a 2 division HE with all of the teams west of Worcester in the west. Room for 4 more!

 

[GRussinko]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Sorry, I'm not monitoring this board as often as I used to!

The Acadia Axemen were the top team in the CIS in the late '90's, and were surging UNB's conference nemesis back then. They raised the bar on recruiting outside of the Maritimes and the other teams in the AUS conference stepped up to the bar, and then passed them. They've always been in the top half of the AUS, but have only advanced to Nationals once in the last ten years after upsetting a badly injured UNB team. The Varsity Reds coach, Gardiner MacDougall, still says he learned a big lesson that year (2005-06) and vowed to always have enough depth, even if good players are sitting in the stands. The V-Reds have won three of the last five CIS University Cups, including this past season, and are renowned for their comparative depth.

Acadia has been in the hunt for the AUS championship the last couple of years. Last season they swept UPEI in the first round of the playoffs in two 1-0 games. They took UNB to four games in the best-of-5 semis, including a CIS-record quadruple overtime game Feb. 27 in Fredericton (UNB won 3-2). They played a trap against UNB and ratcheted up the physical play, including a high-hit on V-Red Taylor Procyshen that caused him to retire from hockey over the summer due to post-concussion syndrome.

Their home rink is the only Olympic-sized surface in the AUS. Acadia is in Wolfville, a university town in Nova Scotia's scenic Annapolis Valley, renowned for summer tourism and agriculture, particularly apples.

Acadia were 14-11-3 in conference play last season, and ended the season tied for 4th place with UPEI. They were a better team than their record. They had a number of new players and got off to a slow start. They had a good second half, but lost their last three games going into the playoffs.

When you think Olympic ice you think a skating team, and Acadia are, but they are also pragmatic enough to play the trap against more skilled teams such as UNB or Saint Mary's.

I haven't seen them yet this season, but they beat a good University of Calgary team 3-2 in an overtime shootout on Sept. 20, and then surprised me by beating Saint Mary's 5-1 on the road the next night. They lost to Moncton 1-0 on Sept. 23 (which say more about rebuilding Moncton than the Axemen) and then hammered St. Thomas (who are rebuilding, slowly) 6-2 on Sept. 24. They play Dalhousie tonight.

Thanks for the info - your take on the CIS teams is always helpful since we only ever see any once a year.

 

[MikeMidd]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Not to rain on the Hockey East parade, but the school's posture right now seems pretty definitive:

RPI AD Knowlton: 'We're happy with ECAC Hockey'

Of note:

"We're happy with ECAC Hockey," Knowlton said. "We do not want to be making decisions because of what someone else is doing. I feel very confident that we're in a good spot. We're where we like to be, where we want to be and we have a lot of great rivalries in our league that I would not want to lose by going some place else."

Now anyone who knows how these things work knows that things change in an instant. But that article doesn't give much of an indication that they are considering other options, or rhetoric about how they are always looking for the best fit for the Institute, etc.

Am still torn on what I want to happen here. HE would be a step up in competition, playing against the Eastern powerhouses in some great rinks. It would require RPI to up its game or become a Merrimack/Providence type. The loss of league rivalries with Clarkson, Union and a few others would be a real shame. And there's no true natural rival for RPI in Hockey East.

 

[knsmith]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Not to rain on the Hockey East parade, but the school's posture right now seems pretty definitive:

RPI AD Knowlton: 'We're happy with ECAC Hockey'

Of note:



Now anyone who knows how these things work knows that things change in an instant. But that article doesn't give much of an indication that they are considering other options, or rhetoric about how they are always looking for the best fit for the Institute, etc.

Am still torn on what I want to happen here. HE would be a step up in competition, playing against the Eastern powerhouses in some great rinks. It would require RPI to up its game or become a Merrimack/Providence type. The loss of league rivalries with Clarkson, Union and a few others would be a real shame. And there's no true natural rival for RPI in Hockey East.

When you read that quote closely, it looks a lot more like "it's tough to say goodbye" than "we're staying!"

 

[johnk]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Don't know what to believe but I am sure hopeful they make the move. There will be plenty of room for Clarkson, Union and whoever else they want on the schedule. They could actually bring back the Christmas tournament and invite some teams that would create alot of interest in the tourney again. So many good reasons to jump to Hockey East so I doubt it will happen.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

When you read that quote closely, it looks a lot more like "it's tough to say goodbye" than "we're staying!"

Bingo. Also, until something's finalized, you never burn bridges. Giving the ECAC the stinkeye and then having Notre Dame choose the NCHC would be awkward.

By the way... I love how BC fans seem to be singularly opposed to RPI... but then never really have any better ideas. I guess that's just them in a nutshell, I suppose. There's a pretty solid drawback to joining Hockey East - having to deal with mentally retarded fans who think they're supahgeniuses.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

By the by... 4th in the coaches poll, 5th in the media poll, and Bailen is pre-season All-ECAC in both.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

I for one, do not like the move to HE. At the present time, we are working our way to the top of the ECAC. And the ECAC is working its way up the conference ladder.
With Yale and Union making national noise, we (ECACH) are not the doormat that we once were.
Moving to HE would mean starting all over again. Playing teams like BU, BC, and UNH on a regular basis would mean learning new systems and new logistics.
I am not saying that we couldn't do it, but we don't have to.
We are in a competitive league and we are climbing to the top of that league. Lets get that done first and than look around.
JMO

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Bingo. Also, until something's finalized, you never burn bridges. Giving the ECAC the stinkeye and then having Notre Dame choose the NCHC would be awkward.

By the way... I love how BC fans seem to be singularly opposed to RPI... but then never really have any better ideas. I guess that's just them in a nutshell, I suppose. There's a pretty solid drawback to joining Hockey East - having to deal with mentally retarded fans who think they're supahgeniuses.

You'll fit in well as a fan in Hockey East. After dealing with the new wave of BU fanboys in the 2000s, non-BU fans in the league are quite used to limpwristed fansies in red jerseys.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

Hmm... I rest my case. Gotta love it when they do the heavy lifting for you in the proof-of-statement department.

 

[Hokydad]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

You'll fit in well as a fan in Hockey East. After dealing with the new wave of BU fanboys in the 2000s, non-BU fans in the league are quite used to limpwristed fansies in red jerseys.

exactly Nick....

"better solution"?

Dont add any teams.

I love the "RPI is a program on the rise" statements. No they are not. There record and ECAC playoff success has been horrible and they have not only not won a single NCAA tournamnet game in close to 25 years, they have not scored an NCAA tournament goal in close to 25 years. Union is a program on the rise, not RPI. I would rather see them added. Holy Cross would be a better fit as well

Hockey east does not need RPI. If they wanted to add ND, maybe. They dont "need" anyone

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI 2011-12 Season: Posts on a Message Board

And then if you needed any more proof, the company they keep. I love it.