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RPI 2021-22 Restart

Posts by ARM are always worth attention. I do think that in college hockey (male and female) the emphasis needs to be on skill development. You bring in young people with good skills and experience but the success of your team depends so much on what you do with that. Fans, like me, have trouble evaluating coaching skills because we are so far removed. Is Brian Vines doing a good job of developing his talent?

Without being able to watch practice sessions and team meetings, we have no clue. Give me a few minutes watching and I will give an informed opinion. For example, many years ago I watched one practice that Nate Leamon was directing with the Union mens team (at that time a cellar dwellar) and my immediate reaction was "watch out for this team". Skill development is what it is all about for men and women in their late teens.
 
Of the 12 semi-finalists for Goalie of the Year, five are from ECAC, and Rampado isnt one them. Seriously? Was she really the sixth best goalie in the ECAC this year?
 
Vines should go.

He has had enough time to make a difference...5 years! Of course the team looks improved, they had nowhere to go but up from the bottom. Realistically, this was a down year for all the top teams due to the Olympic rosters. However, he has pieces on this team that have performed when they have been put in the position to succeed...the team looked to be moving in the right direction with their early season performances against BU, Providence, Cornell and Colgate.

Unfortunately, he has consistently demonstrated he sticks to a process that is more about grinding down the opponent which ultimately wears out his team. Look at their performance down the home stretch with a playoff spot on the line. Including the Mayor's Cup (which they won despite a poor performance over a bad Union team), they were 1-9, outscored 28-8 and being shutout 5 times. To say this team looked tired, slow and emotionally defeated would be an understatement. Credit to the players, they showed heart, commitment and battled every minute but ultimately had empty tanks which showed in their final weekend performances against Harvard and Dartmouth.

The goaltending was a bright-spot once again as well as their PK. But ultimately, taking as many penalties as they did contributed to the wearing out of the team by the end of most games.

With his limited coaching background - as a defensive assistant and no prior head coaching experience, he runs the offense? The offense is once again near the bottom of the league and the defense is is highly porous...2nd in most shots allowed. it is clear he needs help at the very least. He went most of this season with 1 assistant and she coaches the defense. He lacks tactical and game IQ, which is evident if you watch the games each week. There is real lack of in-game adjustments and inability to recognize key moments in the game.

As for RPI being at a disadvantage. Yes, the administration needs to do better. The Ivy's have more resources devoted to their student athletes as well as teams like Clarkson. Additionally, to allow the team to compete with less coaching staff alone is a big huge dis-service to the players hinders growth and performance. I do know academically, many of the schools provide better assistance to their athletes enabling them to better succeed. Perhaps, RPI does not want to do what is necessary to really compete at a "true" D1 level....
 
Rampado not being considered for goalie of the year is border-line criminal. She basically single-handedly kept RPI in every game and I'd say was responsible for over half their wins. She played nearly every minute of every game this year.

I always look at institutional support as the root cause for the success or failure of a program. Coaches have an impact for sure but given too much credit when the program wins and too much blame when it loses. The players make things happen. Players want to be supported. I have no idea how much / how little support the women's team is given, but given the administration's reaction to covid, both in shutting down last year and not allowing fans in this year, says to me the administration first has to care more. Other programs made it work safely both last year and this year. The fact the team improved as much as they did says at least RPI recruits high-character players who care.
 
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