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RPI 2024 Off-Season: Was 2023 – 2024 Just a Bad Dream?

Wicked Slappaahs said:
Well, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the issues plaguing the women's team. According to USCHO, the current coach sports a head scratchingly bad .303 WP. This, despite having recruited some really talented players over the years. It could (should?) be argued that the larger, more pressing issue facing the new A.D. is the WOMEN'S program. Given the explosive growth in the women hockey, they would have a plethora of talented applicants, should that change be made by the admin.

https://www.uscho.com/stats/coach/wid,1406/bryan-vines/
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Vines can at least point to improvement this season from last. On the men's side, the trend - at least in terms of wins and losses - has been in the opposite direction since returning from the pandemic hiatus. It's three successive seasons of worsening performance. That is not good.
 
vicious said:
Vines can at least point to improvement this season from last. On the men's side, the trend - at least in terms of wins and losses - has been in the opposite direction since returning from the pandemic hiatus. It's three successive seasons of worsening performance. That is not good.
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This is a good assessment. Bryan is on an upward curve and finished 9th (I think). He's built a good culture.
 
DavidNardolillo said:
Like in 2017, I don't think I'm qualified to call for a hockey coach to lose their job (or keep it for that matter), but I also think that the school has the right to make changes if they don't like the direction of the program. I have sympathy for Dave Smith, as I did for Seth, but I would understand if the school decided to make a change.
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I do agree with much of the sentiment about the lack of support for the program being a big issue. I look at RIT and the support shown by admin and their recent success as a possible path forward for our storied program. Remember when Dr Jackson said there was going to be a 10 million dollar investment.
 
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ServinisScores said:
I agree w/ the entirety of your post, except for the opening comment re: reasonable expectation. My bar was set back in 1978-79 time frame as a young fan, prior to going to RPI. I expect RPI to be a winning program, and shows up to wherever the ECAC final 4 happens to be in a given year. I don't think this is unreasonable, and have some data I think supports this:

[TABLE="width: 219"]
[TR]
[TD]1949–1963[/TD]
[TD]176–96–7[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.643[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1963–1964[/TD]
[TD]18–8–0[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.692[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1964–1969[/TD]
[TD]44–63–4[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.414[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1969–1972[/TD]
[TD]41–31–4[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.566[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1972–1979[/TD]
[TD]103–94–7[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.522[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1979–1989[/TD]
[TD]186–124–9[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.597[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1989–1994[/TD]
[TD]94–63–13[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.591[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1994–2006[/TD]
[TD]211–193–38[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.52[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2006–2017[/TD]
[TD]152–221–48[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.418[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2017–Present[/TD]
[TD]65–108–13[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]0.384[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPI_Engineers_men's_ice_hockey

When I looked back, it was surprising to me how competitive RPI was, by the standings. Anyways, that's where my bar is at, and why.

I don't think the previous 2 regimes have been set up for success, nor am I sure hockey is the bellwether/"front door" for the school that it used to be. The activity in the next 2 weeks will be the commentary on how important hockey is at RPI, and what comes next for the facility, the coaching staff, the alumni, and ultimately, the fans.
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It's good to see your posts. Always enjoyed our spirited back and forth back in the day. So much excitement back in the day, the Troy faithful (and I imagine the students) loved going to those games on Friday and Saturdays.
 
I am going to preface this with I don't follow RPI recruiting. That being said, we are going to be losing Miller, putting us down to two goalies. Watson has had injuries the last two seasons, and Chearpak, while he has shown some potential as a goalie, such as his win against Clarkson, was clearly not ready to be the starter last season.
I looked up the transfer portal, and on it; ASU's goalie Henry Levy was listed. He has three years left of eligibility. Looking up his stats, before college he appeared to be a decent goalie. At ASU he had a 100% save percentage, granted he also only had 1 save. I think it would be interesting if RPI brought him in as a backup this upcoming season, with the following season either him, or Chearpak becoming the starter.
Like I said, I don't know a lot about recruiting. I also don't really know that much about the portal, or players on it. I just watched last season. And while I don't want to badmouth Chearpak, because he has had some great games. But we need somebody who can be reliably good as a starter if Watson is injured, and I don't think Chearpak is there quite yet. If it's from the portal, or a rookie, we need a reliable third goalie.
 
RPI Hockey Guy said:
I am going to preface this with I don't follow RPI recruiting. That being said, we are going to be losing Miller, putting us down to two goalies. Watson has had injuries the last two seasons, and Chearpak, while he has shown some potential as a goalie, such as his win against Clarkson, was clearly not ready to be the starter last season.
I looked up the transfer portal, and on it; ASU's goalie Henry Levy was listed. He has three years left of eligibility. Looking up his stats, before college he appeared to be a decent goalie. At ASU he had a 100% save percentage, granted he also only had 1 save. I think it would be interesting if RPI brought him in as a backup this upcoming season, with the following season either him, or Chearpak becoming the starter.
Like I said, I don't know a lot about recruiting. I also don't really know that much about the portal, or players on it. I just watched last season. And while I don't want to badmouth Chearpak, because he has had some great games. But we need somebody who can be reliably good as a starter if Watson is injured, and I don't think Chearpak is there quite yet. If it's from the portal, or a rookie, we need a reliable third goalie.
Click to expand...

Fix the team defense and the goaltending will take care of itself. I think somewhere near 50% of our goals allowed this season (150 BTW - 2nd on all of D1) came on the penalty kill...which as we all know, was a dumpster fire all season.
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
Fix the team defense and the goaltending will take care of itself. I think somewhere near 50% of our goals allowed this season (150 BTW - 2nd on all of D1) came on the penalty kill...which as we all know, was a dumpster fire all season.
Click to expand...

WS: Before the season started I had posted that we would have to live and die with the defense and the special teams. Indeed we did. As you mention, good goal tending is key but as you also note, fixing team defense can make virtually any goalie just so much better. Having followed hockey for more years than I care to remember at all levels, I can safely state that i agree with you 100%. Obviously there are a lot of things that need to be done to improve the program and most have been listed on these threads. But I think the thing that will bring the fastest response is improvement in defense first and foremost. I do not think we will be able to address everything needed for the program to thrive all at once but putting the focus there just might make us all happier while waiting for the other things.
 
RPI Hockey Guy said:
I am going to preface this with I don't follow RPI recruiting. That being said, we are going to be losing Miller, putting us down to two goalies. Watson has had injuries the last two seasons, and Chearpak, while he has shown some potential as a goalie, such as his win against Clarkson, was clearly not ready to be the starter last season.
I looked up the transfer portal, and on it; ASU's goalie Henry Levy was listed. He has three years left of eligibility. Looking up his stats, before college he appeared to be a decent goalie. At ASU he had a 100% save percentage, granted he also only had 1 save. I think it would be interesting if RPI brought him in as a backup this upcoming season, with the following season either him, or Chearpak becoming the starter.
Like I said, I don't know a lot about recruiting. I also don't really know that much about the portal, or players on it. I just watched last season. And while I don't want to badmouth Chearpak, because he has had some great games. But we need somebody who can be reliably good as a starter if Watson is injured, and I don't think Chearpak is there quite yet. If it's from the portal, or a rookie, we need a reliable third goalie.
Click to expand...

Neutral Zone has Levy as 3.25 *'s which is marginal for D-I. He had great stats a year ago but he played for Penticton which is the dominating BCHL team (50-3-0-1 that year and 16-1 in the playoffs). Ryan Sanborn would have probably had similar numbers instead of the miserable ones he is getting at Prince George this year if he played there. i do agree that we need at least one new goalie and I wouldn't be surprised if we look at the portal.
 
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One goaltender that caught my eye is Ethan Langenegger of LSSU who was a two time Goaltender of the Week in the CCHA.
Another intriguing-player in the portal is Gunnerwolfe Fontaine. We still have another shot at him…
 
Odds are they will get a fresh or soph goalie in the portal. Assuming it won't be a freshman because I think he would have committed by now, and no way Sanborn is coming in. Don't see them going for a grad and leaving the future unclear by graduating 2 goalies
 
DrDemento said:
WS: Before the season started I had posted that we would have to live and die with the defense and the special teams. Indeed we did. As you mention, good goal tending is key but as you also note, fixing team defense can make virtually any goalie just so much better. Having followed hockey for more years than I care to remember at all levels, I can safely state that i agree with you 100%. Obviously there are a lot of things that need to be done to improve the program and most have been listed on these threads. But I think the thing that will bring the fastest response is improvement in defense first and foremost. I do not think we will be able to address everything needed for the program to thrive all at once but putting the focus there just might make us all happier while waiting for the other things.
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Agree 100% Doc. The cliche is just that because it is true...defense is 3/4 effort and attitude, which is why this year's team was really disappointing. You don't have to be a five star kid to play strong defense..it is the will and attitude to defend...and too many times we didn't have that this season.

On a side note, I noticed Gunnarwolfe Fontaine is in the portal. I suppose its too much to hope he'll do us a solid and come to Troy for his Grad year ? HA HA....

EDIT: RPI 4 Life beat me to it !! LOL
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
Agree 100% Doc. The cliche is just that because it is true...defense is 3/4 effort and attitude, which is why this year's team was really disappointing. You don't have to be a five star kid to play strong defense..it is the will and attitude to defend...and too many times we didn't have that this season.

On a side note, I noticed Gunnarwolfe Fontaine is in the portal. I suppose its too much to hope he'll do us a solid and come to Troy for his Grad year ? HA HA....

EDIT: RPI 4 Life beat me to it !! LOL
Click to expand...

Would not make an offer to Fontaine. I would equate that to dating your ex wife. I hope if we do make a pick from there that it would be a decent defensive player who can give us more than one year.
 
DrDemento said:
Would not make an offer to Fontaine. I would equate that to dating your ex wife. I hope if we do make a pick from there that it would be a decent defensive player who can give us more than one year.
Click to expand...

I dunno Doc, 97 pts. in 4 seasons of HE, I'd have no issue with it !! But I get your point and certainly expect he'll not land in Troy !
 
Ralph Baer said:
Neutral Zone has Levy as 3.25 *'s which is marginal for D-I. He had great stats a year ago but he played for Penticton which is the dominating BCHL team (50-3-0-1 that year and 16-1 in the playoffs). Ryan Sanborn would have probably had similar numbers instead of the miserable ones he is getting at Prince George this year if he played there. i do agree that we need at least one new goalie and I wouldn't be surprised if we look at the portal.
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Agree RB. The kid that could likely come in and take the reigns is Borgiel from Merrimack. He platooned with with Ollas last season in Mack's deep run into the NCAAs. This year Ollas took a few more starts from him (and just signed his pro deal with NYR). I understand the desire to avoid a one year keeper, but Borgiel is a big kid 6'2 210 and he's battled tested. He could be your bridge keeper to buy time for the youngsters.
 
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