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RPI 2023-24: In Our 200th Year, We're Getting It Right

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Ben Barr has a really talented team. And he has installed a great system. They are fast and they swarm all over the ice.
Tonight, we will have to be better at getting the puck out of our own end and win some 50/50 pucks. And it wouldn't hurt to win a face of once in a while.
We got to see them at their best, now we have to show up, and keep their shots down to a reasonable number.

Lets go RED!!!!!!!!!!!
 
engineerhockeyfan said:
Ben Barr has a really talented team. And he has installed a great system. They are fast and they swarm all over the ice.
Tonight, we will have to be better at getting the puck out of our own end and win some 50/50 pucks. And it wouldn't hurt to win a face of once in a while.
We got to see them at their best, now we have to show up, and keep their shots down to a reasonable number.

Lets go RED!!!!!!!!!!!
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Imagine that he has a really talented team with a great system after year 3 at a state school who’s nearly bankrupt. Crazy
 
rpi82 said:
That was about the only good news - he looked like the freshman Watson. I agree that if he plays like that all season we will win quite a few games. However, we have to do a much better job in front of him. Their skating, stick work and anticipation had our guys on their heels virtually the entire game. Ben had them very well prepared.

I don't know whether it was a brilliant recruiting job or Ben just got lucky with the Nadeaus (although they played junior hockey out west they are from a tiny New Brunswick town just across the St. John river from Maine), but he has put Maine hockey in a position to rise back to HE prominence. It wasn't just the #1 line either - they were impressive top to bottom and from the net on out. Let's hope we can ratchet up our game and at least slow them down a little tomorrow.
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Maine’s first and second lines are all from the previous regime.
 
rpi82 said:
That was about the only good news - he looked like the freshman Watson. I agree that if he plays like that all season we will win quite a few games. However, we have to do a much better job in front of him. Their skating, stick work and anticipation had our guys on their heels virtually the entire game. Ben had them very well prepared.

I don't know whether it was a brilliant recruiting job or Ben just got lucky with the Nadeaus (although they played junior hockey out west they are from a tiny New Brunswick town just across the St. John river from Maine), but he has put Maine hockey in a position to rise back to HE prominence. It wasn't just the #1 line either - they were impressive top to bottom and from the net on out. Let's hope we can ratchet up our game and at least slow them down a little tomorrow.
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Ben is a great recruiter and coach...he's gained his experience working for guys like Carvel, Lehman, and Murray. No one should be surprised at what he is building at Maine --remember that Monty was on the selection committee and Ken Ralph was the AD at Maine.
 
Engineers said:
Imagine that he has a really talented team with a great system after year 3 at a state school who’s nearly bankrupt. Crazy
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Maine is currently getting (or might already be finished) with multi-million dollar renovations to the Alfond and other sports facilities. They are certainly not broke.
 
sezenack said:
Maine is currently getting (or might already be finished) with multi-million dollar renovations to the Alfond and other sports facilities. They are certainly not broke.
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Maine got a nine figure donation from the Alfond family(who fleeced Warren Buffett out of billions of dollars) a few years ago to upgrade facilities but because of cost increases it won’t go nearly as far as hoped. The underlying financial situation at the school/university system are a complete disaster.
 
sezenack said:
Maine is currently getting (or might already be finished) with multi-million dollar renovations to the Alfond and other sports facilities. They are certainly not broke.
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I know nothing about University of Maine's finances, but I wouldn't necessarily draw inferences about a school's budget status based on investment in their sports program, particularly their flagship sport. West Virginia U is in such bad straits that they are laying off over 100 faculty and shutting down a significant percentage of their degree programs. I'll bet, however, that the football team's NIL program is growing quite nicely. Donors will ensure that.
 
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Drew S. said:
Maine got a nine figure donation from the Alfond family(who fleeced Warren Buffett out of billions of dollars) a few years ago to upgrade facilities but because of cost increases it won’t go nearly as far as hoped. The underlying financial situation at the school/university system are a complete disaster.
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Didn't realize they were from a donation. I will rescind my statement
 
sezenack said:
Maine is currently getting (or might already be finished) with multi-million dollar renovations to the Alfond and other sports facilities. They are certainly not broke.
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You probably should look at the campus and talk to some folks who work there before making the assumption that everything is great based on a gift from the Alfond foundation. Maine is dying slowly but surely except near the coast where people from away are buying everything in sight. Maine has far too many campuses and not near enough taxpayers to maintain the system.
 
rpi82 said:
I know nothing about University of Maine's finances, but I wouldn't necessarily draw inferences about a school's budget status based on investment in their sports program, particularly their flagship sport. West Virginia U is in such bad straits that they are laying off over 100 faculty and shutting down a significant percentage of their degree programs. I'll bet, however, that the football team's NIL program is growing quite nicely. Donors will ensure that.
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Yeah NIL funds are not from the school itself, so I agree those would be misleading. In Maine's case, I didn't realize the alfond family funded the renovations, so I'll walk back my statement that said Maine isn't broke due to their athletics renovations
 
walrus said:
You probably should look at the campus and talk to some folks who work there before making the assumption that everything is great based on a gift from the Alfond foundation. Maine is dying slowly but surely except near the coast where people from away are buying everything in sight. Maine has far too many campuses and not near enough taxpayers to maintain the system.
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I already addressed this
 
Drew S. said:
The underlying financial situation at the school/university system are a complete disaster.
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I will add that Maine is not, and won't be, the only school suffering from this issue. Enrollment declines at many schools: there are far fewer 18 year-olds than there are seats in post-secondary institutions and there is going to be a bigger drop in the next couple of years. It is a really difficult situation and it is going to be a rough few years, especially for private colleges that do not have the ability to receive direct taxpayer support. Will be interesting to see how this affects the college hockey landscape and other sports with no or low revenue.
 
Engineers said:
Nice start to the season. Team looked super competitive. Hopefully this was a fluke game cause if that’s what Dave is going to put on the ice fire him now and get someone who can actually recruit and coach.
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Maine looked great and could have won by many more. RPI looked like they had zero energy and were skating in sand. That said, RPI is not *that* poor of a skating team. Not to search for excuses, but I was wondering if there was illness running through the team; the performance was that bad. If the players were healthy, they need to dig deep and leave it all out there every shift tonight. The players know that performance isn't acceptable and that they are capable of much more. Will be interested to see the response tonight.
 
DavidNardolillo said:
Maine looked great and could have won by many more. RPI looked like they had zero energy and were skating in sand. That said, RPI is not *that* poor of a skating team. Not to search for excuses, but I was wondering if there was illness running through the team; the performance was that bad. If the players were healthy, they need to dig deep and leave it all out there every shift tonight. The players know that performance isn't acceptable and that they are capable of much more. Will be interested to see the response tonight.
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I sure hope Payant plays tonight! I know Hotson's getting all the press as the "real deal", but Payant was the one that stood out on the ice every shift last weekend. (I did make it to the Guelph game last week!). I'm looking forward to watching him the most this season. I hope coach Smith gives him the nod tonight!
 
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