RPI 2025 Off-Season: HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rsfs04]

Happy to see the news today, it was clearly time for a change.
I do think Dave was doing a good/decent job his first 3 seasons right up until Covid. Those teams had a clear identity. Between losing all momentum from Covid and not figuring out the transfer portal it’s been a steady downfall since.
As others have already said, the next coach is almost less important than how the administration invests/supports them. Puck is on their ice (ball is in their court)

 

[sezenack]

Dave is a great guy, and I'll forever be thankful for the time he gave me as a young student starting up with hockey blogging and podcasting. The human part of me is sad for him. As has been said by many, there was ZERO support from the previous admin. I think the majority of the problems were not his fault, but there comes a time when you just need a spark and need to get out of the rut. It's telling that we have had two different coaches fired in the past 20 years with limited success.

Marty and Kristie NEED to get this thing going. Let's get those HFH renovations and increased support. That's more important than our hire. Part of it their job will be convincing top candidates that they will be supported.

Some people have suggested that we are too late on Kirk. I'm not sure that's the case. Clarkson was able to get Houle last year. We need to show Kirk (or Dumais or Muse or Lang) that we have the resources for them to succeed. Let's get it right this time, 3rd time is the charm right?

 

[Wicked Slappaahs]

Whoever gets it, needs more support from admin. Lang might be hindered because he is an Atlantic Hockey guy like Smith was but totally different CV.

Totally agree -- hearing heard several hockey people talk about what kind of coach he is ...I've admired how well he's looked after his kids this year and finding them hockey homes for next year. AIC's season ended yesterday when #20 Holy Cross scored the OT series winner in the 3rd and deciding game.

 

[CMcGarvey]

Very true. Can’t argue with you there.
Next question will be what about the players for next season? Will there be a lot of players going into the transfer portal? And what about the recruits? Will they stay committed or go elsewhere?

No the next question is who do they hire.

They don’t have the talent right now to worry about who stays or goes.

I’d like them to try to retain Muzzatti, Hotson, Caron, Gilson, Tapper, Lemieux, Smolinski, Krawchuk. From there, I trust the new coach to build the team in his own vision

 

[CMcGarvey]

Dave is a great guy, and I'll forever be thankful for the time he gave me as a young student starting up with hockey blogging and podcasting. The human part of me is sad for him. As has been said by many, there was ZERO support from the previous admin. I think the majority of the problems were not his fault, but there comes a time when you just need a spark and need to get out of the rut. It's telling that we have had two different coaches fired in the past 20 years with limited success.

Marty and Kristie NEED to get this thing going. Let's get those HFH renovations and increased support. That's more important than our hire. Part of it their job will be convincing top candidates that they will be supported.

Some people have suggested that we are too late on Kirk. I'm not sure that's the case. Clarkson was able to get Houle last year. We need to show Kirk (or Dumais or Muse or Lang) that we have the resources for them to succeed. Let's get it right this time, 3rd time is the charm right?

Total agreement

 

[sezenack]

No the next question is who do they hire.

They don’t have the talent right now to worry about who stays or goes.

I’d like them to try to retain Muzzatti, Hotson, Caron, Gilson, Tapper, Lemieux, Smolinski, Krawchuk. From there, I trust the new coach to build the team in his own vision

I think the vast majority of the guys we want are gone. It's one thing when you're at a BU or Wisconsin and the program has value beyond the coach. RPI doesn't have that; most of the guys are here because they wanted to play for Dave. Look at what happened to Minnesota State two years ago. Clarkson got lucky their change was later on and that meant most teams didn't have spots left for players to move on to.

That being I said, I certainly hope I am wrong. It's a nice core to build around if they can be convinced to stay

 

[rpi82]

I definitely wouldn't give up on Kirk. Getting to the NHL is hard. Look at Seth - after several successful years at the AAA level, he's now an assistant on a staff that will probably get dumped in the next house cleaning in Buffalo either this season or next. The best path for an AHL coach is to their parent organization. However, with Crosby winding down and Pittsburgh (like Buffalo) in last place, the future is not too bright.

Here even mediocrity would guarantee a job for at least a decade and perhaps that's the problem. I'm sure Kirk wants far more than mediocrity, so, as we've all said, a real Marty commitment (versus Shirley lip service) needs to be behind it.

 

[CMcGarvey]

I definitely wouldn't give up on Kirk. Getting to the NHL is hard. Look at Seth - after several successful years at the AAA level, he's now an assistant on a staff that will probably get dumped in the next house cleaning in Buffalo either this season or next. The best path for an AHL coach is to their parent organization. However, with Crosby winding down and Pittsburgh (like Buffalo) in last place, the future is not too bright.

Here even mediocrity would guarantee a job for at least a decade and perhaps that's the problem. I'm sure Kirk wants far more than mediocrity, so, as we've all said, a real Marty commitment (versus Shirley lip service) needs to be behind it.

He would be a home run

 

[Engineers]

uconn men''s basketball coach on 60 minutes last night gave some insight into the portal.
He claimed that 50% of his team was looking into the portal with at least a couple of his players have already talked to coaches that were interested in them.
Now his team has won two national championships in a row and still his players are looking elsewhere.
What can that mean to a losing team with no coach?
We need to move in a hurry.

I definitely wouldn't give up on Kirk. Getting to the NHL is hard. Look at Seth - after several successful years at the AAA level, he's now an assistant on a staff that will probably get dumped in the next house cleaning in Buffalo either this season or next. The best path for an AHL coach is to their parent organization. However, with Crosby winding down and Pittsburgh (like Buffalo) in last place, the future is not too bright.

Here even mediocrity would guarantee a job for at least a decade and perhaps that's the problem. I'm sure Kirk wants far more than mediocrity, so, as we've all said, a real Marty commitment (versus Shirley lip service) needs to be behind it.

I hope they don’t give up on Kirk. He would be my choice. For obvious reasons

 

[rpi82]

I think the vast majority of the guys we want are gone. It's one thing when you're at a BU or Wisconsin and the program has value beyond the coach. RPI doesn't have that; most of the guys are here because they wanted to play for Dave. Look at what happened to Minnesota State two years ago. Clarkson got lucky their change was later on and that meant most teams didn't have spots left for players to move on to.

That being I said, I certainly hope I am wrong. It's a nice core to build around if they can be convinced to stay

We may be lucky on that front. With the opening of the MJ pathway the top schools may not take as many transfers this year. If they do it may open recruiting opportunities among their decommits. Add to that our performance over the last few years and there may not be a run on our players. Minnesota State and some of the others that got picked over had a record of success to recommend the players.

 

[Ralph Baer]

I think the vast majority of the guys we want are gone. It's one thing when you're at a BU or Wisconsin and the program has value beyond the coach. RPI doesn't have that; most of the guys are here because they wanted to play for Dave. Look at what happened to Minnesota State two years ago. Clarkson got lucky their change was later on and that meant most teams didn't have spots left for players to move on to.

That being I said, I certainly hope I am wrong. It's a nice core to build around if they can be convinced to stay

I am trying to think why they would have wanted to play for Dave the last few years. There are other things at RPI that could be attractive to some (e. g., Caron wanted to be an Aero E.), although not many. Has anyone ever gone to RPI for the women? -- they didn't when I was there.

 

[rpi82]

No the next question is who do they hire.

They don’t have the talent right now to worry about who stays or goes.

I’d like them to try to retain Muzzatti, Hotson, Caron, Gilson, Tapper, Lemieux, Smolinski, Krawchuk. From there, I trust the new coach to build the team in his own vision

This is pretty much spot on. Not only did we finish solidly in the lower half, but it was with a veteran roster that will be moving on to the ECHL or whatever career they start with their Lally education.

 

[Ralph Baer]

We may be lucky on that front. With the opening of the MJ pathway the top schools may not take as many transfers this year. If they do it may open recruiting opportunities among their decommits. Add to that our performance over the last few years and there may not be a run on our players. Minnesota State and some of the others that got picked over had a record of success to recommend the players.

I was thinking during the debacle on Friday, that the team was playing like they wanted Smith to be fired.

 

[sezenack]

I am trying to think why they would have wanted to play for Dave the last few years. There are other things at RPI that could be attractive to some (e. g., Caron wanted to be an Aero E.), although not many. Has anyone ever gone to RPI for the women? -- they didn't when I was there.

Recruiting is mostly about personal connections. If you trust and feel more connected with a coach, you're going to be more inclined to play for them regardless of the state of the program. Also ice time is a factor; those players knew they could get more minutes here. It certainly worked out for Muzzatti, who was drafted here and wouldn't have been if he went to a bigger school with less ice time

 

[sezenack]

We may be lucky on that front. With the opening of the MJ pathway the top schools may not take as many transfers this year. If they do it may open recruiting opportunities among their decommits. Add to that our performance over the last few years and there may not be a run on our players. Minnesota State and some of the others that got picked over had a record of success to recommend the players.

I certainly hope you're right

 

[Ralph Baer]

No the next question is who do they hire.

They don’t have the talent right now to worry about who stays or goes.

I’d like them to try to retain Muzzatti, Hotson, Caron, Gilson, Tapper, Lemieux, Smolinski, Krawchuk. From there, I trust the new coach to build the team in his own vision

Interesting that the only incoming player whom you you have named is Krawckuk. I do want to keep him, but he is not on the top of the list. His stats have gone downhill since he committed to the 'Tute. I would put Lemieux, Klassek, and Kyrkostas ahead of him. Also Adrian and perhaps Hilditch, if I knew that they were expected to come back from their injuries. Ziliotto perhaps too.

 

[CMcGarvey]

Interesting that the only incoming player whom you you have named is Krawckuk. I do want to keep him, but he is not on the top of the list. His stats have gone downhill since he committed to the 'Tute. I would put Lemieux, Klassek, and Kyrkostas ahead of him. Also Adrian and perhaps Hilditch, if I knew that they were expected to come back from their injuries. Ziliotto perhaps too.

I listed Lemieux as well. He’s #1 priority in terms of recruit

 

[jstadts]

I hope they don’t give up on Kirk. He would be my choice. For obvious reasons

Maybe he has found minor league hockey to be endless bus rides and kind of circus like. I have always felt minor league head coaching was overrated as a stepping stone to the NHL. The NHL just loves to recycle former head coaches that were fired elsewhere.

 

[jstadts]

I was thinking during the debacle on Friday, that the team was playing like they wanted Smith to be fired.

They didn`t seem to play balls out by any means.

 

[Ralph Baer]

I listed Lemieux as well. He’s #1 priority in terms of recruit

I read too fast when I have two pages of new posts.