engineerhockeyfan
PUCKMAN RULES!!!
I love this hockey team. I hate the situation that we have put ourselves in.
And yet I will be here when the new season begins. And win or lose, continuing to love the team we put on the ice.
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RPI 2025 Off-Season: HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter Ralph Baer
- Start date
And yet I will be here when the new season begins. And win or lose, continuing to love the team we put on the ice.
Ralph Baer
Let's Go 'Tute!
He was banned by USCHO before COVID started. I forgot what he allegedly did. I think that he posted on some YouTube game videos when RPITV used to broadcast them,
Now I'm answering my own messages because I may want to take that back. I looked back to see how AIC was expected to do this season. They were picked to be 4th by the coaches (with one first place vote), which must be a tribute to their belief in Lang's game coaching, because not a single AIC player was on the pre-season all-league team or in the "others receiving votes" category. Perhaps their recruiting really had fallen off.
Yeah but Ken reported he was a finalist. Jewell as well, those are not the same thing. Appreciate the coverage, but that is just an inaccurate report and then saying that doyle pulled out just seems like he is covering his tracks
I do wholeheartedly agree though AD that the attention is welcomed. Just frustrated our fanbase was all up in arms about a report of an underwhelming finalist list that was in fact, not the finalist list. To then have the goalposts moved is just kinda eh. But regardless, #LANGforCoach!!!
tanman
New member
I went to RPI as a freshman in 1989 with the hockey line at full tilt and the memory of the 85 title still fresh in campus memory. That first year they made it to the ECAC finals and lost, I think to Cornell. Since then they've won the ECAC once, in '95, and I watched them lose in the championship to SLU in Lake Placid in '00. I've seen them make three NCAA tournament appearances and seen them get shut out three consecutive times - George Servinis is still the last NCAA tourney goal scorer for RPI. It's easy to despair, especially after both the active and benign neglect the program has suffered under from multiple administrations. Hockey line gone, Puckman sidelined, pep band shunted up into the corner nosebleed seats out of sight, and little visible investment in improving the attractiveness of the program to players and fans alike. We all know the tale of woe.
Maybe I am dreaming but I still believe things can be turned around. With the change at coach and an administration willing to invest in the program it can be relevant again. Union did it. Yale did it. Qpac did it. UMass did it. We did it, once upon a time. Keep the faith, and let's go Red!
Wicked Slappaahs
I miss Tie Domi
Mercifully, with interviews REPORTEDLY 
wrapping up, we'll have our answer soon enough and the repair work can begin...brick by brick ! ( I think that should be the slogan for player t-shirts in the fall....) LOL
wrapping up, we'll have our answer soon enough and the repair work can begin...brick by brick ! ( I think that should be the slogan for player t-shirts in the fall....) LOL
tanman
New member
Maybe they could really lean into it and bring back Jeff Brick as an assistant.Mercifully, with interviews REPORTEDLY
TucsonMike
Member
Love this post - mainly because I've lived the same timeline and have the same emotions about where we were once upon a time. This program has far too much history and energy not to eventually turn itself around, especially now that we have a President THAT IS ACTUALLY A HOCKEY FAN. I'm ready for the upward trajectory! LET'S GO RED!!!
Wicked Slappaahs
I miss Tie Domi
Mercifully, with interviews REPORTEDLY wrapping up, we'll have our answer soon enough and the repair work can begin...brick by brick !
wrapping up, we'll have our answer soon enough and the repair work can begin...brick by brick !This kind of enthusiasm has no place in this forum. Ha ha
tanman
New member
Exactly. Our recent results notwithstanding RPI has a great history, a loyal fan base, and I think a huge upside potential given the right attention. RPI is a small school and no doubt tough to recruit for, but it's still an excellent education and people love this place and their time here despite the winters and the workload. If Marty and Kristie are willing, there's a golden opportunity here to revive us into something special again. It won't be easy and it won't come quickly - I just think the chance is now there to be taken in a way it has not been in a very long time.
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Well I have been following along all your input and I expect we will find out soon enough who will be the next head coach. I don’t know enough about the process, who made the final list, and who will ultimately be on the team ( one question I have….the players that enter the portal- if they don’t sign elsewhere, are they still potential members on this team? Or is it once you enter the portal, there’s no turning back?).
The one thing I know for certain is that come September and October we will be returning for another season of both men’s and women’s games. And will enter the HFH optimistic for a better year for both the men and the women.
The one thing I know for certain is that come September and October we will be returning for another season of both men’s and women’s games. And will enter the HFH optimistic for a better year for both the men and the women.
Not sure if you are talking about the 1989 ECAC Finals, but that year it was SLU vs Vermont, which SLU won 4-1. My apologies if I misunderstood your post.
tanman
New member
I started in fall of '89 so this would have been the 1990 ECAC finals. I think we beat Colgate in the semis but lost to Cornell in the final (maybe vice versa?). This was when they played at the Boston Garden, before Lake Placid (or Atlantic City... what was up with that?)
RPI fan 4 life
Season Ticket Holder since 1974
Actually we beat Cornell in the semis and lost to Colgate in the finals. Colgate went on to Frozen Four (which was called the NCAA Ice Hockey Championships back then) and lost to Wisconsin in the title game. The reason the ECAC’s were in the Boston Garden was it was a 2-year deal with NESN to broadcast both the ECAC and Hockey East tournaments from the Garden. The Friends of RPI Hockey had an overnight bus trip which I took advantage of.
CornwallAce
Patron Saint of Defunct Teams
There were at least two things going on this year.
1 )Lack of a quarterback
2) Being told the team was folding
I have been following AIC since 2008. Our 2019-20 team had 5 D men who could quarterback play and bring the puck up the ice. It's scary how good the entire team was because of that. It made what might have been average players into players that the other team had to fear, offensive wise. And the team bought into Lang's defensive style as well. I honestly never felt like the team was going to lose a game. They could compete with anyone in any league that year.
2023-2024: We were essentially down to 1 D-man who could bring the puck up the ice (A couple others were still better than this year's group at bringing the puck up the ice and dictating play, just didn't do it enough.) We also had 80% of our statistical offense injured at one time last year. Yet the commitment was still incredible. With all these injuries, we still made it to the AHA championship game.
Why the coaching staff didn't find a few more D men who could be quarterbacks. I honestly don't know. Even the games before we found out the team was ending, there was just no one in charge(quarterbacking) this year. This year's team had no-quarterback on the D line, and no one was able to make up for that deficiency. It's very difficult to tell if our current group of juniors just needed someone to set them up, or if they declined in play or what part was based on knowing the team was kaput?
Their effort in the playoffs this year against Holy Cross was top notch. They were one bounce away from winning that series. (We went up 3-2 in game 3 with 10 mins left, and H.C. challenged the goal saying our goalie slashed a player and won the challenge.)
The first playoff game vs RIT was god awful hockey on both sides. And honestly, I only bring it up because RIT was in the NCAA Tourney last year, and to see that team get decimated by the transfer portal speaks about how easy it is to drop down in the Atlantic because of transfers.
tanman
New member
Yes, thanks for the correction. I knew we played Cornell/Colgate in the final two games but forgot which order. But now I recall - one of my very first RPI acquaintances was a girl from Wisconsin who was (is) a huge Badgers fan and she was pretty over the moon about them winning the tourney against Colgate. I think one of my Nason Hall dorm-mates did that Friends of RPI Hockey road trip. Anyway it was a bummer because we had beaten both Colgate and Cornell at home just prior, and I think it was the best weekend of RPI hockey I ever watched. The game against Cornell was a 6-5 OT thriller where we were down 5-3 with about 5 minutes left and scored with the goalie pulled to force OT. Best game I ever saw until the OT Freakout win over Clarkson!
Don't put that evil out there! Lang! Lang! Lang!