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

[DavidNardolillo]

I was about to post that here myself, thanks Ralph! Everyone McMahon named was already on our list, so it felt good that we're in the right ballpark. I like Greg Moore as a secondary option, surprised that no one else has brought him up. Another one I found was Chris Lazary at Saginaw, would be a homerun if they somehow landed him. Tapp and Chris Brooks also solid secondary options as top ECAC assistants

I think Andy Jones (Bentley head coach) might be worth a look for an under-the-radar pick, although I have no idea whether he's in the mix or interested. He has ECAC and USHL experience and was the longtime associate head coach at UMass Lowell until last year. He turned Bentley around quickly--they beat Maine up in Portland this year. Bentley has a decent shot to win the AHA conference tournament; they've beaten all of the other semifinalists at least once this year. And he went to Amherst, not that I'm biased or anything ;-)

 

[25+years]

Ken Schott wrote about the list of potential coaches in a Gazette column. The one thing he cautioned was patience would be needed. I agree. I do not think the process should be rushed.

I doubt whoever gets hired will result in a big turnaround in the W-L record next season. But if the players on that roster play better, no matter if it’s just on one side of the puck, offensive or defensive, AND if RPI shows some progress in addressing the facility needs, it will send a message to potential recruits that Troy will be a good place to play. If the new coach will set the tone, then we will have a reason for optimism.

 

[Waite21]

Have seen a couple comments like this. What is the full story of what happened in the 1960s? Have been a casual fan for years but never heard it.

I know that Ned Harkness departed following the 1962-63 season and Rube Bjorkman only coached for one season in 1963-64, after which Garry Kearns took over a team on the downturn and it took him a while to get them back to playing .500 or better hockey. The president of RPI during that period was Dr. Richard Folsom, while the athletic director was Henry (Hank) Kumpf.

My father was an RPI alum. I lived in Rensselaer County during the early '60's and was an RPI student in the late '60's, I had access to Albany and Troy newspapers throughout the period, so I kept pretty close tabs on RPI hockey.

I know that RPI didn't lavish extravagant amounts of money on the hockey program - I remember WRPI announcers telling us that if a puck was shot into the stands, we should throw it back so that the school wouldn't have to spend too much buying hockey pucks. And there is a famous story about Ned Harkness telling his players during the 1954 NCAA championship tournament that they could renew their energy by taking whiffs of oxygen from the oxygen tank he had brought along - revealing, after the tournament was over, that the tank had nothing in it but plain old air, since RPI wouldn't spring for an actual tank of oxygen.

Still, I can't remember ever reading or hearing anything to indicate that either Dr. Folsom or Mr. Kumpf deliberately took actions that could have been regarded as "genocidal" in regard to hockey.