RPI 2022-23: Return of the Schmidt and the Fans

[blue1924]

Not a big poster here, and certainly haven't been following the team as long as some of you. I have been following pretty heavily for almost 10 years now since I was a freshman, so I only have 1 former coach to compare Smith to.

Even in those first years Smith years when the record wasn't as good, I was a huge supporter of him, and especially his ability to develop players. Even when they weren't winning games, it looked like and felt to me that they were doing a lot right. Then when 2020 came, I thought like most of you that we had turned the corner and were set to continue winning ways moving forward. Last season, I was pleasantly surprised with the way the team played, especially at the end of the year. We should have won that series against the team that went on to win the league.

I did not have a lot of faith again coming into this year. I think that first line (and especially Ture Linden) carried this team last season. I think we all may have forgotten after the good start this team had against weak opponents, but this team only returned about 30% of its goals (34/114) and 33% of its total points (102/306). Only 4 players that returned had a positive +/- last year, and only one of those more than a +2 (Jack Agnew at +4).

This was going to be a down year for this team unless people made huge jumps for the freshman somehow filled the shoes of our top forward line and top defense pair that all departed. This isn't to say I am not disappointed and confused on how the team could possibly be 0-12 away from home. But there have been some plusses. I have been thoroughly impressed with what I have seen from some of the freshman, namely Muzzati, Evans and Smolinski.

Not to say I am in love with everything this coaching staff has done. I really hate the way they play the powerplay. I was screaming in my head in the stands last weekend during that full 2 minutes of 5 on 3 against SLU where they just took shitty shots from the outside. But, I am not ready to give up on this coaching staff yet, even with the way this year has gone.

 

[RPI67]

Not a big poster here, and certainly haven't been following the team as long as some of you. I have been following pretty heavily for almost 10 years now since I was a freshman, so I only have 1 former coach to compare Smith to.

Even in those first years Smith years when the record wasn't as good, I was a huge supporter of him, and especially his ability to develop players. Even when they weren't winning games, it looked like and felt to me that they were doing a lot right. Then when 2020 came, I thought like most of you that we had turned the corner and were set to continue winning ways moving forward. Last season, I was pleasantly surprised with the way the team played, especially at the end of the year. We should have won that series against the team that went on to win the league.

I did not have a lot of faith again coming into this year. I think that first line (and especially Ture Linden) carried this team last season. I think we all may have forgotten after the good start this team had against weak opponents, but this team only returned about 30% of its goals (34/114) and 33% of its total points (102/306). Only 4 players that returned had a positive +/- last year, and only one of those more than a +2 (Jack Agnew at +4).

This was going to be a down year for this team unless people made huge jumps for the freshman somehow filled the shoes of our top forward line and top defense pair that all departed. This isn't to say I am not disappointed and confused on how the team could possibly be 0-12 away from home. But there have been some plusses. I have been thoroughly impressed with what I have seen from some of the freshman, namely Muzzati, Evans and Smolinski.

Not to say I am in love with everything this coaching staff has done. I really hate the way they play the powerplay. I was screaming in my head in the stands last weekend during that full 2 minutes of 5 on 3 against SLU where they just took ****ty shots from the outside. But, I am not ready to give up on this coaching staff yet, even with the way this year has gone.

Thanks for the update about +/-. PP I think has given up 6 shorties.

 

[blue1924]

That was +/- from last season. This season, there is only 1 player with a positive +/- and that is Strom at +4. Other than Strom and Dylan Davies (who is even), everyone on the team has a negative +/-

 

[Ralph Baer]

I will throw in my inflation-degraded 2 cents. I am not impressed with the team's performance this season, but as blue1924 wrote, not much was expected. I do see positive signs, and if Smith can keep the portal losses to a minimum, we should be considerably better next year. I am certainly not nearly as down on him as I was with his predecessor in his last few years. We may indeed been better off with Ben Barr as the coach, but considering the hand that Smith has been dealt, I am not writing him off. And also, we do have some more very good recruits in the pipeline -- not top-tier, but we can't change things around in one year.

 

[RPIPuzzleGuy]

Just to add a data point from a rare poster... over the years I have to say my optimism has been whittled down to basically nil. We haven't made so much as a league semifinal since I set foot on campus in fall 2002, and at this point I simply don't expect us to be nationally relevant ever again. I hang on in the hopes that I'm wrong, or at least that they'll give me an enjoyable moment here and there.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Until this season, the team seemed to be buying into Smith's system.
However, this team is in disarray. Play in the defensive zone is awful. Blind passes that set up opposition goals is a regular feature in our games.
The goaltending has been a disappointment lately, and scoring has never been a strong suit.
While there is nothing that can be done to increase the scoring (just not enough talent), the rest of it is on the coach.
If these guys are healthy, then they must have just lost focus. And it is up to the coaches to fix that.
The biggest problem is that we seem to be having this conversation every few years.
Lets finish out this season and see where we go from here.

 

[blue1924]

I went ahead and did some math on goals scoring/goals against as a basis to judge the last 5 years. Just calculated average goals for and against per game to get an average goal differential, and did this for each of the ECAC squads over these 5 seasons (threw out 20-21 for everyone even if they played). So the number right is a rank out of 60 possible seasons. [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 1000"]
[TR]
[TD]Year[/TD]
[TD]Goals/Game (Avg)[/TD]
[TD]Goals Against/Game (Avg)[/TD]
[TD]Average Goal Differential[/TD]
[TD]Rank Among Last 5 Seasons for ECAC Schools[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22-23 (In Progress)[/TD]
[TD]2.46[/TD]
[TD]3.42[/TD]
[TD]-0.96[/TD]
[TD]43[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21-22[/TD]
[TD]2.59[/TD]
[TD]2.70[/TD]
[TD]-0.11[/TD]
[TD]31[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19-20[/TD]
[TD]2.79[/TD]
[TD]2.56[/TD]
[TD]0.24[/TD]
[TD]23[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18-19[/TD]
[TD]1.92[/TD]
[TD]3.08[/TD]
[TD]-1.17[/TD]
[TD]49[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17-18[/TD]
[TD]1.97[/TD]
[TD]3.49[/TD]
[TD]-1.51[/TD]
[TD]54[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
A Couple things I noted from doing this:

Something we all know, but the defense has been the problem this year. The 3.42 goals/against per game is the 6th highest of the 60 seasons.
If Jack Watson's SV% stays as is for the rest of the year (0.888), it would be the lowest for an RPI starter in a season since Andrew Martin in 04/05 (0.885).

Adding up all the rankings for each team and they lineup like this: [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Team[/TD]
[TD]Overall Points[/TD]
[TD]Best Season[/TD]
[TD]Worst Season[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cornell[/TD]
[TD]42[/TD]
[TD]3 (19-20)[/TD]
[TD]15 (21-22)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]QPac[/TD]
[TD]54[/TD]
[TD]1 (22-23)[/TD]
[TD]26 (17-18)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Harvard[/TD]
[TD]66[/TD]
[TD]6 (22-23)[/TD]
[TD]18 (17-18)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Clarkson[/TD]
[TD]67[/TD]
[TD]7 (17-18)[/TD]
[TD]28 (22-23)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Colgate[/TD]
[TD]158[/TD]
[TD]19 (22-23)[/TD]
[TD]55 (18-19)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Union[/TD]
[TD]175[/TD]
[TD]20 (17-18)[/TD]
[TD]52 (19-20)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Princeton[/TD]
[TD]192[/TD]
[TD]17 (17-18)[/TD]
[TD]58 (21-22)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]RPI[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]23 (19-20)[/TD]
[TD]54 (17-18)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Yale[/TD]
[TD]203[/TD]
[TD]27 (17-18)[/TD]
[TD]57 (22-23)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dartmouth[/TD]
[TD]208[/TD]
[TD]32 (18-19)[/TD]
[TD]53 (21-22)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brown[/TD]
[TD]216[/TD]
[TD]30 (22-23)[/TD]
[TD]56 (21-22)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SLU[/TD]
[TD]429[/TD]
[TD]38 (22-23)[/TD]
[TD]60 (18-19)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[sezenack]

Just to add a data point from a rare poster... over the years I have to say my optimism has been whittled down to basically nil. We haven't made so much as a league semifinal since I set foot on campus in fall 2002, and at this point I simply don't expect us to be nationally relevant ever again. I hang on in the hopes that I'm wrong, or at least that they'll give me an enjoyable moment here and there.

I think if Michigan Tech became nationally relevant again after becoming irrelevant for a little while, then so can RPI. But that starts from the top down, above Coach Smith.

I know I have been one of Coach Smith's biggest supporters on here, and I totally understand the frustration and annoyance with the team's performance this season. I have not enjoyed the season the same as you all have not. I'm just not ready to throw it in the towel on a coach who basically had all his best players (and some recruits too) taken away due to factors outside of his control. I don't view 2020 as having won the Super Bowl although I can see how it comes across that way sometimes. I can't speak for others, but when I reference 2020, I moreso am referencing two factors:
1) The team seemed primed to make it to Lake Placid (and potentially beyond, but Cornell would have been a tough out), and lots of core players returned for the following season.
2) The momentum from that team would have propelled the team's recruiting forward a lot.

We can't blame anyone for a global pandemic occurring but we certainly can blame the administration for their response to it. Cancelling the season and not letting the team practice lost the team part of its core with Savory and Ashbrook. I think they could have managed that if the administration in the spring didn't refuse to acknowledge the team would be playing in 2021-22. They refused to guarantee the FOLLOWING season would be happening, and then, the team lost Babichuk and Ferner too. Obviously we have no way of knowing the types of recruits that might have been more interested, but I'm sure we would have been in a better spot there as well.

The only reason last year was any better than this year was because the players who did stay stepped up with Leppanen, Linden, Lacka, Dubinsky, Mahshie, Johnson, and Kjellberg all playing key roles. Some of them had had key roles before (like Linden, Leppanen, Dubinsky, and Kjellberg), so they were able to take on more. And guys like Addamo, Sellar, Walsh, and Agnew added depth. After the administration didn't allow anyone except students in the building last year though, once again detrimenting recruiting and keeping current players, all the key players except Mahshie left. It's definitely not the sole reason some of them left, but it certainly was a large factor. I can't blame them for being fed up.

So now here we are, not enough talent left to fill the gaps of all the departures due to recruiting not taking the jump that it should and the current players who were in the bottom of the lineup (except for Mahshie and Walsh) now trying to fill top of the lineup roles they aren't ready for. What the team needs more than anything is positive momentum to get things rolling, whether that is doing more with less on the ice or some sort of positive news from the administration of investments in facilities or something along those lines.

The good thing is that Marty does seem committed to athletics and that support does appear to be coming. On the ice, the vast majority of this team will return next season, now with experience in their current roles and with a full year of development extra. Hopefully, the team can finish the year somewhat strong, win their first round game to get to the quarterfinals at least, and then, with most of the team returning, have a solid year next season.

But I just don't see how a coaching change accomplishes anything outside of continuing to throw in coaches and hope they work out. I also really do not see the school moving on from Coach Smith less than a year after giving him a 5 year extension.

 

[Wicked Slappaahs]

I will throw in my inflation-degraded 2 cents. I am not impressed with the team's performance this season, but as blue1924 wrote, not much was expected. I do see positive signs, and if Smith can keep the portal losses to a minimum, we should be considerably better next year. I am certainly not nearly as down on him as I was with his predecessor in his last few years. We may indeed been better off with Ben Barr as the coach, but considering the hand that Smith has been dealt, I am not writing him off. And also, we do have some more very good recruits in the pipeline -- not top-tier, but we can't change things around in one year.

Well said RB...I tend to agree with all of this. Assuming we can prevent a mass exodus of talent (who really knows?) we should take a full step forward next year.

 

[DavidNardolillo]

I think if Michigan Tech became nationally relevant again after becoming irrelevant for a little while, then so can RPI. But that starts from the top down, above Coach Smith.

I agree with everything you wrote, but I think the Michigan Tech example, while a good one and relevant to RPI, has an intersection with the conference realignment that began 10 years ago when the Big 10 was formed. The "smaller" teams in the WCHA that tended to be in the bottom half of the standings, including Michigan Tech and Minnesota State-Mankato, were hung out to dry by the big WCHA teams that left to form the Big 10 and NCHC. You can compare the W-L records from 2013-14 (the first year of NCHC and Big 10) to present to the prior 10 seasons. It seems like resetting the level of league competition helped provide immediate benefits to the W-L record and Tech deserves credit for getting the program into position to capitalize on it. Maybe some Tech fans on here will chime in and give us the other ingredients that were involved.

 

[sk8tronthepond]

In addition, RPI has had a total of 8 winning seasons out of the last 21 under 3 different coaches--that points to some issues bigger than who is behind the bench.

Good point. There is one common denominator through all three coaches! SAJ. Coincidence? Time to keep moving forward.

 

[DavidNardolillo]

Longtime HFH operations manager Norris Pearson announced as new president/CEO of Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce. https://www.renscochamber.com/news/chamber-announces-new-president

 

[tony/troy]

Longtime HFH operations manager Norris Pearson announced as new president/CEO of Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce. https://www.renscochamber.com/news/chamber-announces-new-president

Good guy. Good manager. Will be missed every bit as much as some of the other really good people who have already skedaddled and no longer appear on the athletics' department website.

To the best of my knowledge, the ones who have taken their noteworthy skills and abilities elsewhere have done just fine thank you. I have no doubt that the latest departee will do same. Quite likely, another most definite step backwards for the athletics department.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Does anyone know if WRPI is going to stream the games this weekend?

 

[troyboy]

Hey Ralph define "very good" We are becoming excuse makers the justification for firing SA who btw attracted NHL caliber players to RPI under SAJ btw was to "rebuild the program" so we brought in a sub 500 coach from Atlantic Hockey and I never heard anyone utter a word about the program having a ceiling of hopefully 8Th place in the league or the goal is to be very good and the president sucks,the facility sucks covid did it. Harvard and Cornell shut down for covid they seem to be OK. We have already been thru 1 contract and have not reached the very good stage and I don't see that in sight we may well have some "very good" players in the pipeline but I submit that is debatable. I for 1 think this program can return as a national player we just need the right people in place and unfortunately we are losing good people. A total reevaluation is necessary because the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train !

 

[Ralph Baer]

Hey Ralph define "very good" We are becoming excuse makers the justification for firing SA who btw attracted NHL caliber players to RPI under SAJ btw was to "rebuild the program" so we brought in a sub 500 coach from Atlantic Hockey and I never heard anyone utter a word about the program having a ceiling of hopefully 8Th place in the league or the goal is to be very good and the president sucks,the facility sucks covid did it. Harvard and Cornell shut down for covid they seem to be OK. We have already been thru 1 contract and have not reached the very good stage and I don't see that in sight we may well have some "very good" players in the pipeline but I submit that is debatable. I for 1 think this program can return as a national player we just need the right people in place and unfortunately we are losing good people. A total reevaluation is necessary because the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train !

If you are referring to my comment about recruits, I mean 4.0 *'s. If you are referring to something else, please point me to the comment. There is no doubt that early in his tenure SA attracted better players, but IMO they were not as good later.

Edit: The only ECAC schools that are better in this regard are Cornell, Clarkson, and Harvard (not even QU).

 

[rpi82]

Hey Ralph define "very good" We are becoming excuse makers the justification for firing SA who btw attracted NHL caliber players to RPI under SAJ btw was to "rebuild the program" so we brought in a sub 500 coach from Atlantic Hockey and I never heard anyone utter a word about the program having a ceiling of hopefully 8Th place in the league or the goal is to be very good and the president sucks,the facility sucks covid did it. Harvard and Cornell shut down for covid they seem to be OK. We have already been thru 1 contract and have not reached the very good stage and I don't see that in sight we may well have some "very good" players in the pipeline but I submit that is debatable. I for 1 think this program can return as a national player we just need the right people in place and unfortunately we are losing good people. A total reevaluation is necessary because the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train !

Seth got screwed by the Chicago Blackhawks. If Pirri had been drafted by anyone other than the team that had to empty its farm system after pushing the bounds of the salary cap to win a Stanley Cup, he probably stays at least 2 and maybe 3 years. If he does, then D'Amigo might have as well. However, Seth didn't bring in NHL level talent after his first few years. Over his last 8 classes (including players he had committed for 2017) he didn't meet that standard unless you consider Zalewski's handful of games in Vancouver the standard for NHL level talent. Furthermore, while hardly sufficient, the Institute did do some facilities renovations during Seth's years, including the new face for HFH, new locker rooms, team lounges, the coaches offices/Shirley's throne on the west end and training facilities both within the field house and the modern workout facility next door in the ECAV project. Can anyone name a single facility upgrade (new popcorn machine?) during Smith's tenure? I hope that the new administration will be proposing some required infrastructure (ice plant?) and amenity improvements (east end?) to the field house in future capital plans.

 

[sk8tronthepond]

Furthermore, while hardly sufficient, the Institute did do some facilities renovations during Seth's years, including the new face for HFH, new locker rooms, team lounges, the coaches offices/Shirley's throne on the west end and training facilities both within the field house and the modern workout facility next door in the ECAV project.

That was all in the process prior to the hiring of a new coach, whether it was Appert or someone else. If you haven't been paying attention, there is so much for the new President to correct due to SAJ's lack of leadership in the athletic department, I don't think it can ever be rectified. The athletic department is sinking fast, and the current AD is a figure head who does nothing. When you have an athletic department that is sinking, it's only a matter of time before the programs within do the same.

 

[rpi82]

That was all in the process prior to the hiring of a new coach, whether it was Appert or someone else. If you haven't been paying attention, there is so much for the new President to correct due to SAJ's lack of leadership in the athletic department, I don't think it can ever be rectified. The athletic department is sinking fast, and the current AD is a figure head who does nothing. When you have an athletic department that is sinking, it's only a matter of time before the programs within do the same.

I have no knowledge on the internal workings of the Athletic Department and I'm not a fan of how our flagship sport has been supported, but is the overall attack on the quality of the department true? It seems that the overall department has been doing pretty well. In fact, my biggest complaint with ECAV was that too much was spent on other sports than hockey. Football has had one losing season (barely, at 4-5) in the last 20 years. That trend preceded SAJ and ECAV as we've only had two in 30 years (Joe King was a great coach). Men's BB has never been better. Lacrosse, soccer and baseball have all had some excellent seasons in recent years. It's obviously tougher on the women's side but, again with the exception of hockey, most of the sports have been competitive and even had a few strong seasons - which is pretty impressive at an engineering school with just a 30% female enrollment largely playing liberal arts schools.

P.S. To this date I still have no idea why we needed a 5,000 seat football stadium.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Seth got screwed by the Chicago Blackhawks. If Pirri had been drafted by anyone other than the team that had to empty its farm system after pushing the bounds of the salary cap to win a Stanley Cup, he probably stays at least 2 and maybe 3 years. If he does, then D'Amigo might have as well. However, Seth didn't bring in NHL level talent after his first few years. Over his last 8 classes (including players he had committed for 2017) he didn't meet that standard unless you consider Zalewski's handful of games in Vancouver the standard for NHL level talent. Furthermore, while hardly sufficient, the Institute did do some facilities renovations during Seth's years, including the new face for HFH, new locker rooms, team lounges, the coaches offices/Shirley's throne on the west end and training facilities both within the field house and the modern workout facility next door in the ECAV project. Can anyone name a single facility upgrade (new popcorn machine?) during Smith's tenure? I hope that the new administration will be proposing some required infrastructure (ice plant?) and amenity improvements (east end?) to the field house in future capital plans.

So we are going to blame the Chicago Blackhawks for bringing up one of their draft picks, but losing players to the transfer portal is not affecting the current coaching staff.
I am not as high on Smith as I once was, but neither he nor Appert was to blame for the loss of our best players.