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

Perhaps this would be a more appropriate post for the alumni thread, but since no one's posted there in several years, I'll put it here.

Former Engineer player Andrew Lord's name has been mentioned a couple of times in connection with the coaching vacancy, though he doesn't seem to be very high on anybody's list of preferences.

I remember communicating with Andrew after he finished up at RPI. Believe it or not, he was asking me for advice on how to get started in pursuing a career as an actuary.

He didn't end up becoming an actuary. He played professional hockey in Wales with the Cardiff Devils and eventually became that team's head coach.

In 2020, he decided to come back to North America and became the head coach of the ECHL's Greenville (SC) Swamp Rabbits.

He earned sufficient respect in that role to be named the ECHL's Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

And when the 2024-25 season started, he had become the head coach of the QMJHL team in Halifax.

To me, going from being Coach of the Year for a professional team to becoming the first-year coach of a junior team seems like a comedown, though maybe some have a better idea than I do about how the QMJHL compares to the ECHL.

Anyway, does any one have any information on why Lord made that move?
 
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Someone who does not want to post sent me this message.

So, here’s my take. This has been in the works since at least January. I do believe they have a couple of candidates in mind and we might hear an announcement on a new hire before the summer along with Field House renovations. I think Marty has been working behind the scenes to keep both recruits and current players, and we’ll see very minimal movement. This is a lot different from Seth’s hire, as I think this is an administration who cares about the program and sees its value. Once Kristie was hired, the writing was on the wall with Dave, as I think both Marty and Kristie want this program to succeed. There were ALOT more alumni than I thought there would be at the Alumni House after Freakout, and what was telling to me is very little talked with Dave. Ideally, I’d like to see Fridge become “interim” for a year as the players know who he is, he has no ties to the current administration and team, except for ESPN+, and he’s still respected among the alums and back in good graces of fans. He has nothing to lose and he can give the new guy a chance to get his recruits in while getting familiar/evaluating the current team. Much like Casey Jones did at Cornell this year with Shafer.
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This addition

Also, let’s not forget, a lot of why Dave was hired was to get his wife here to teach. She was being recruited by Shirley herself and wouldn’t leave obviously as long as Dave was at Canisius. I also think there’s a lot more money in the C Lloyd Bauer endowment than we think there is.
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Ralph Baer said:
Would he keep the Latvians? ;)
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Ralph Baer said:
Someone who does not want to post sent me this message.



This addition
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Wait wait wait a second lol
Dave was hired because Shirley wanted and was recruiting his wife to teach at RPI?? So we have endured 8 years of this shit because Shirley wanted his wife. If that’s true that’s insane. I thought when Dave was hired it was a bizarre choice. Second if Marty is working behind the scenes to keep players and recruits that tells me Marty is truly committed to seeing this program succeed. That’s a good sign
I hope we hear a lot sooner than the summer? Jesus
 
tony/troy said:
Ralph; As a valued member of the RPI community and alumnus, thank you for sharing this with us mere and lowly "external spectators who need to be socially separated". I most definitely did not receive it. If that gem wasn't that reason why it did not arrive here, maybe it was the later gem that referenced an unknown future date when us trolls and mutants would be allowed to return. It read "management of spectators- to be determined".

Most definitely very "productive" disparaging and insulting comments directed at as loyal a fan base as there ever was. Probably contributed to the present average attendance of 2,181 per game, believed to be an all time low. Sure looks like a lot of the folks decided to give them more "social separation" than they ever wanted and also show them just who it is that manages and determines who. Stands to reason that many of the folks really no longer even care whether they got this message or not.

Nonetheless, thank you for passing it along Ralph.
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I suspect that i got that message because I donate money to Let's Go Red!, specifically designated to the hockey team.
 
Ralph Baer said:
I suspect that i got that message because I donate money to Let's Go Red!, specifically designated to the hockey team.
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That makes a lot of sense as I’ve been a season ticket holder for 50 years and I didn’t get that message either. Thanks for posting that Ralph.
Lots of very interesting posts yesterday and this morning. Probably the most posts on an offseason thread since the day that Appert was fired.
 
Waite21 said:
Perhaps this would be a more appropriate post for the alumni thread, but since no one's posted there in several years, I'll put it here.

Former Engineer player Andrew Lord's name has been mentioned a couple of times in connection with the coaching vacancy, though he doesn't seem to be very high on anybody's list of preferences.

I remember communicating with Andrew after he finished up at RPI. Believe it or not, he was asking me for advice on how to get started in pursuing a career as an actuary.

He didn't end up becoming an actuary. He played professional hockey in Wales with the Cardiff Devils and eventually became that team's head coach.

In 2020, he decided to come back to North America and became the head coach of the ECHL's Greenville (SC) Swamp Rabbits.

He earned sufficient respect in that role to be named the ECHL's Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

And when the 2024-25 season started, he had become the head coach of the QMJHL team in Halifax.

To me, going from being Coach of the Year for a professional team to becoming the first-year coach of a junior team seems like a comedown, though maybe some have a better idea than I do about how the QMJHL compares to the ECHL.

Anyway, does any one have any information on why Lord made that move?
Click to expand...
 
Engineers said:
Wait wait wait a second lol
Dave was hired because Shirley wanted and was recruiting his wife to teach at RPI?? So we have endured 8 years of this shit because Shirley wanted his wife. If that’s true that’s insane. I thought when Dave was hired it was a bizarre choice. Second if Marty is working behind the scenes to keep players and recruits that tells me Marty is truly committed to seeing this program succeed. That’s a good sign
I hope we hear a lot sooner than the summer? Jesus
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This rumor has been going around for a while, but I am not persuaded. I don't think a prospective faculty member that Dr. Jackson coveted would wind up with a non-tenured lecturer position. FYI, you can see what those pay by looking at RPI's current openings for those types of positions.

At this point, let's just thank Dave for his efforts and for hanging in there when the program had zero admin support, and also admit that it didn't work out and fresh leadership was needed with the presidential administration change. No need to revive unsupported rumors that are, unsurprisingly, shared anonymously.
 
Impossible for any of us to know why he chose to leave the E for the Q. The article link below details his departure and how well he was regarded in the Greensville org. He does mention his family in his departure press release, which of course could easily have played a role in his decision.

echl.com

Official Site of The ECHL | Greenville's Lord accepts head coaching job in QMJHL

Greenville Swamp Rabbits head coach Andrew Lord, the 2023-24 ECHL Coach of the Year, has accepted the head coaching job with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
echl.com echl.com
 
Ralph Baer said:
Someone who does not want to post sent me this message.



This addition
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Interesting thoughts. I don't really put any stock in the Fridgen idea... I like Dan a lot, but none of the kids outside of the HFH locker room know who he is. They weren't even born yet when Dan was behind the bench. The play needs to be to identify your candidate and then go get him....as Colgate, Clarkson, Dartmouth, Cornell have done. Dan can absolutely help us and mentor our kids and our program, similar to Joe Marsh at SLU...just not behind the bench. The new coach needs to have the keys to the car.
 
DavidNardolillo said:
This rumor has been going around for a while, but I am not persuaded. I don't think a prospective faculty member that Dr. Jackson coveted would wind up with a non-tenured lecturer position. FYI, you can see what those pay by looking at RPI's current openings for those types of positions.

At this point, let's just thank Dave for his efforts and for hanging in there when the program had zero admin support, and also admit that it didn't work out and fresh leadership was needed with the presidential administration change. No need to revive unsupported rumors that are, unsurprisingly, shared anonymously.
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🫡
 
The new coach other than the obvious character requirements needs to be a high level recruiter and fully understand the history of this program and the importance of it to the community at large. Say what you may about Seth Appert but he was a recruiter of the highest order (a couple of natty's @denver)and anyone who had any conversations with him quickly understood that to Him RPI hockey was the most important thing in the world and that was contagious. Remember in the not so distant past we had the likes of Jerry D'Amigo-Brandon Perry-Ryan Haggerty-Mike Zelewski-Jason Kassdorff not to mention Jim Mongomery out on the road recruiting the right person can put us back on that path. GO RED !!!!!!!!!
 
AspyDad said:
OGC
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troyboy said:
The new coach other than the obvious character requirements needs to be a high level recruiter and fully understand the history of this program and the importance of it to the community at large. Say what you may about Seth Appert but he was a recruiter of the highest order (a couple of natty's @denver)and anyone who had any conversations with him quickly understood that to Him RPI hockey was the most important thing in the world and that was contagious. Remember in the not so distant past we had the likes of Jerry D'Amigo-Brandon Perry-Ryan Haggerty-Mike Zelewski-Jason Kassdorff not to mention Jim Mongomery out on the road recruiting the right person can put us back on that path. GO RED !!!!!!!!!
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Not to mention draft picks like Jeff Foss, Mike Bergin, Parker Reno, etc. Clearly recruiting went down recently.
 
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