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

[AspyDad]

Just some thoughts - whatever changes are made, and I suspect they will be minor if at all), I strongly suspect that results would be slight if any in the immediate future. I do not think the program can be turned around in a short period of time. This was for me the second worst season I have ever endured in my over 60 years of following the program. Not so much because of the poor overall record (nothing could match the 1965-66 season in that regard), but because I was just expecting more after the past few years. Before the season I felt the defense and special teams would tell most of the story and that we would simply live or die will how well we managed those two aspects of the game. The stats do not have to be mentioned here as we all know we were simply horrible all season.
But at the same time I have to wonder how far away from putting a competitive team on the ice we really are? Perhaps even some rather small change making a formidable difference? I have spent the last couple weeks watching a top notch Denver team play with the two defensive player brothers (the Buium boys). I fully understand that it would be most unlikely (near impossible ) that we could ever get these kinds of recruits to come to Troy at this time. But these 2 brothers, a junior and a freshman, seem to make the difference virtually every game for the team. Since we are firmly in the off season early again, just tossing this out there for everyone to ponder. If we could leave everything else discussed the same. Keep the offense we have, keep the coaching staff we have, keep the HFH just as it is, how much of a difference does everyone here think we would see if we had those two fellows recruited here and playing here for the past year?
Would we still be talking about major changes needed or would we be perhaps still playing this year?

Agree about Dmen. Good teams are built from the goal line out. There was a lot of issues with their positioning this year especially around the blue paint. That's coaching IMO.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Today is 27 March 2024. There are 192 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 5 October 2024 for the start of next season.

 

[engineerhockeyfan]

Agree about Dmen. Good teams are built from the goal line out. There was a lot of issues with their positioning this year especially around the blue paint. That's coaching IMO.

I thought that we had a decent core of defensemen coming in, but I don't think that they played up to their potential. That may be due to coaching, or Hallbauer held these guys together.
Either way, too many blind passes that led to goals and great scoring opportunities for the opposition.
In my opinion, it all came down to leadership on and off the ice.

 

[RPI67]

I thought that we had a decent core of defensemen coming in, but I don't think that they played up to their potential. That may be due to coaching, or Hallbauer held these guys together.
Either way, too many blind passes that led to goals and great scoring opportunities for the opposition.
In my opinion, it all came down to leadership on and off the ice.

I agree. I watched the Cornell DC and SLU games last weekend. The Cornell DMen seemed to hit the puck hard along the boards rather than use short passes in the Dzone. Also the wings often passed rink wide in the neutral zone. Both spread (widen) the ice better helping Cornell's defense.

 

[DavidNardolillo]

We will never know doc. Theirs a better chance of seeing god before this coaching staff recruits anyone even remotely like the buium brothers to Troy. Think back to appert and the defenseman he had in Troy. Bergin, foss, Bailen, brutlag, koudys etc… forwards pirri, haggerty, d”amigo, zalewski, Higgs, burgess. How did appert get them to Troy?

The forwards were the better group and you didn't mention the best one (Polacek). That defensive group was a mixed bag. Bailen was tremendous, but he was a transfer from Bowling Green back when there were rumors the program was on the chopping block. Koudys had potential but left after one year and later captained Penn State. Brutlag was a flop as a defensman but converted into a hardworking forward. Kennedy was a solid leader. Some of the defensemen wound up being liabilities--Guy LeBoeuf seemed to always be in the penalty box when the other team scored on the power play. We had a more dynamic defensive group in '19-'20 with Reilly, Hallbauer, Babichuk, Johnson, and Kjellberg, who were all decent skaters and above-average puck handlers. That was a key ingredient in that team's success.

RPI currently has some players that could be all-ECAC talent, but a couple took a step back this year, and that is one of the fair reasons for the scrutiny on the coaching staff.

 

[Engineers]

The forwards were the better group and you didn't mention the best one (Polacek). That defensive group was a mixed bag. Bailen was tremendous, but he was a transfer from Bowling Green back when there were rumors the program was on the chopping block. Koudys had potential but left after one year and later captained Penn State. Brutlag was a flop as a defensman but converted into a hardworking forward. Kennedy was a solid leader. Some of the defensemen wound up being liabilities--Guy LeBoeuf seemed to always be in the penalty box when the other team scored on the power play. We had a more dynamic defensive group in '19-'20 with Reilly, Hallbauer, Babichuk, Johnson, and Kjellberg, who were all decent skaters and above-average puck handlers. That was a key ingredient in that team's success.

RPI currently has some players that could all-ECAC talent, but a couple took a step back this year, and one of the fair reasons for the scrutiny on the coaching staff.

How could I forget polacek. Reilly also was a great recruit.
Point being I simply do not see that level of recruiting going on. Combine that with players regressing/step back not a recipe for success.

 

[jericho]

Brady Ferner was another great recruit. Can’t remember if he was Smith or Appert. That ldefectionnCAN be blamed on Covid.

 

[AspyDad]

Random thought - Jared Wilson was a stud and had an AHL career. Apps and Nolan recruit. Willy was super nice kid too.

 

[AspyDad]

News out of the Men's Team
Smith had a meeting with the sophomore class excluding Muzzatti and Smolinski. The players were told they can come back as students but not members of the men's hockey team.
Here are the Players pushed out:
Cherepak
Ardanaz
Evans
Ciccarrello
Brown
Also hearing Payant is going into the portal. Heard there maybe more to come.
They can't go into the portal until after March 31.
If they are bad players, Smith recruited them and didn't help them get better in two seasons.

 

[CaptainNitro]

News out of the Men's Team
Smith had a meeting with the sophomore class excluding Muzzatti and Smolinski. The players were told they can come back as students but not members of the men's hockey team.
Here are the Players pushed out:
Cherepak
Ardanaz
Evans
Ciccarrello
Brown
Also hearing Payant is going into the portal. Heard there maybe more to come.
They can't go into the portal until after March 31.
If they are bad players, Smith recruited them and didn't help them get better in two seasons.

All I see is Dave making some good roster choices.

Let the rebuild begin innit.

 

[AspyDad]

All I see is Dave making some good roster choices.

Let the rebuild begin innit.

Yeah, always a good look cutting players you brought in that you spent resources and $$ to recruit.

 

[sezenack]

With the exception of Brown, those cuts were all recruited during COVID when the admin cancelled the season, didn't let players use facilities, furloughed our assistant coaches, let Dave's contract expire, etc., so I'd be willing to bet they were all Plan D or lower players. I'm not surprised they didn't work out and no sense keeping them around if they can't play just because they were recruited by Dave. That's a sunk cost fallacy.

I feel like this staff cannot win with some of you. I understand you guys want a change, but it doesn't seem to be happening this offseason (like I had said). If the admin isn't making change, why are you unhappy Dave is cutting bad players and attempting to make the roster and team better?

 

[CMcGarvey]

Haven’t seen Bracketts name in portal. Maybe we see him back if Payant is gone. Pretty similar players

 

[CaptainNitro]

Yeah, always a good look cutting players you brought in that you spent resources and $$ to recruit.

Can't fall into sunk cost fallacy though. Yeah, we missed on some guys. Absolutely. No one doubting that. That's gonna happen when you're a school like RPI. You gotta take big swings sometimes. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't.

Obviously not an ideal situation, but it is what it is. wish the boys nothing but the best.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Today is 28 March 2024. There are 191 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 5 October 2024 for the start of next season.

 

[Ralph Baer]

I am surprised that Dave is supposedly cutting as many as are listed. Certainly none of them are great, but some are useful. Also we don't have that many better players coming in which means we will have to rely on a lot from the portal which is unlikely to produce great players either. (I don't expect Tinling will convince his former linemates to join him. :-D) Undoubtedly Smith has had unofficial discussions with some who won't be listed in the portal until April.

 

[DrDemento]

Haven’t seen Bracketts name in portal. Maybe we see him back if Payant is gone. Pretty similar players

Personally would not like to lose either of these two boys. Speed for me is as important as size and both of these two have the ability to keep opponents backing up or at least ready to retreat due to their quickness and acceleration. Payant still has time to develop and could have a significant upside.

 

[DavidNardolillo]

Brady Ferner was another great recruit. Can’t remember if he was Smith or Appert. That ldefectionnCAN be blamed on Covid.

Forgot Ferner. That was a tough loss.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Forgot Ferner. That was a tough loss.

I agree, but he had only a 29-0-4-4-6 line at UND.

 

[rpi82]

News out of the Men's Team
Smith had a meeting with the sophomore class excluding Muzzatti and Smolinski. The players were told they can come back as students but not members of the men's hockey team.
Here are the Players pushed out:
Cherepak
Ardanaz
Evans
Ciccarrello
Brown
Also hearing Payant is going into the portal. Heard there maybe more to come.
They can't go into the portal until after March 31.
If they are bad players, Smith recruited them and didn't help them get better in two seasons.

If true the only good news I see here is that virtually confirms Watson is coming back. Even if we are going to bring in a goalie from the portal, it wouldn't make sense to cut our only returning goaltender if Watson is leaving. I will be disappointed if Payant enters the portal because he offers speed, which we clearly need. I like him and was surprised by his lack of ice time but I suspect the staff saw early our defensive issues and preferred McNeil for his 2-way game.

With the exception of Brown, those cuts were all recruited during COVID when the admin cancelled the season, didn't let players use facilities, furloughed our assistant coaches, let Dave's contract expire, etc., so I'd be willing to bet they were all Plan D or lower players. I'm not surprised they didn't work out and no sense keeping them around if they can't play just because they were recruited by Dave. That's a sunk cost fallacy.

I feel like this staff cannot win with some of you. I understand you guys want a change, but it doesn't seem to be happening this offseason (like I had said). If the admin isn't making change, why are you unhappy Dave is cutting bad players and attempting to make the roster and team better?

The only real surprise to me is Evans. I think he has some untapped potential although his slim build may always be a problem.

As for recruiting status, Brown was considered a win when he committed (IIRC we beat out Clarkson for him). Ardanaz and Evans were late commits post-"the empty stands season" so the staff was definitely working with a second hand tied behind their backs, but both fell off the Hockey East truck (former UNH commits) so they presumably have some upside. The problem is that upside is mostly offensive and both appeared to be defensive liabilities on a team that badly needs defense. Ciccarello committed during the same period as Muzzati, Hotson and Smolinski so I don't think we were picking the bottom of the barrel yet. He appears to be a hard-working kid, but this is a case where it just didn't work out. Cherepak was definitely a late add to fill a need but I had hopes for him based on his RBC (or whatever it's called these days) results. However, he had clearly non-D1 caliber outings in a majority of his games. I will fondly remember what may have been his best game, beating Clarkson in Potsdam earlier this season.

Random thought - Jared Wilson was a stud and had an AHL career. Apps and Nolan recruit. Willy was super nice kid too.

Jared was a good player for us. This year we certainly could have used someone with his shot on the PP. However, he played one game in the AHL. That's not an AHL career. I haven't gone back to see if anyone has mentioned his defensive classmate (IIRC correctly) Prapavessis. He too was predominantly an ECHL guy but he had a bit longer run in the AHL.