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

Wicked Slappaahs said:
Agree. I suspect there are a few AIC kids he would like to teleport in to Troy. Add in a few major junior kids and a portal kid or two and off you go.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if Marty and/or Dr. Bowers said “if you want them, we’ll do whatever we need to get them in”. I’d imagine at an 86% acceptance rate and a 43% graduation rate, the admissions standards aren’t nearly as stringent.
 
Engineers said:
That’s good for keeping recruits and whatever is left of the team. Gavars is in the portal from SLU he might be an option? I think with the portal showcase coach lang is holding this weekend I bet he will have many recruits lined up for RPI.
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Gavars is a heckuva player. Gotta think he's headed somewhere outside ECAC...but he is a Latvian, so you might be on to something. Maybe Zirnis can work some magic !
 
MikeMidd said:
For those closer to what's happening in Troy, would love to know if there's any further chatter about other investment to support the program. I have to imagine Lang would not have taken the job if it didn't feel like RPI was committed to elevating it. Thinking about day-to-day things as much as a big Field House renovation.
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I sure hope he conditioned his hiring on investment in the program, because boy do they need it. Upgrade or replace HFH, get your social media presence up to snuff, engage the community, the alumni, embrace your program's storied history and treat it as the crown jewel of campus life and not an afterthought. Put the pep band back where they belong. More community engagement events - things on ice between period, promotions, giveaways, etc. Whatever they can do to amp up interest and get butts in the seats and have a decent showing on the ice. As I said much earlier in this thread we have a window now that doesn't come along often to enter a renaissance for RPI hockey, and at least for now I am encouraged by what I see, but there is so much more that could be done.
 
jericho said:
Wouldn’t be surprised if Marty and/or Dr. Bowers said “if you want them, we’ll do whatever we need to get them in”. I’d imagine at an 86% acceptance rate and a 43% graduation rate, the admissions standards aren’t nearly as stringent.
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Eh. RPI doesn't allow rising senior transfers and aic doesn't have many good players left uncommitted in the portal that meets rpi transfer criteria. I would say 1 or 2 at max
 
tanman said:
I sure hope he conditioned his hiring on investment in the program, because boy do they need it. Upgrade or replace HFH, get your social media presence up to snuff, engage the community, the alumni, embrace your program's storied history and treat it as the crown jewel of campus life and not an afterthought. Put the pep band back where they belong. More community engagement events - things on ice between period, promotions, giveaways, etc. Whatever they can do to amp up interest and get butts in the seats and have a decent showing on the ice. As I said much earlier in this thread we have a window now that doesn't come along often to enter a renaissance for RPI hockey, and at least for now I am encouraged by what I see, but there is so much more that could be done.
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I agree with most of this but mostly absent from the discussion is the Titanic change in D1 caused by the start of direct, and indirect, pay-for-play. I realize that most of the direct money will go to men’s (American) football and basketball and possibly women’s basketball but I suspect that the big hockey schools can find plenty of money from rich alumni and donors and massive revenues from those other sports. Can RPI drum up enough money to be competitive?
 
bgtrpi said:
I agree with most of this but mostly absent from the discussion is the Titanic change in D1 caused by the start of direct, and indirect, pay-for-play. I realize that most of the direct money will go to men’s (American) football and basketball and possibly women’s basketball but I suspect that the big hockey schools can find plenty of money from rich alumni and donors and massive revenues from those other sports. Can RPI drum up enough money to be competitive?
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It's probably a good thing they are still in the ECAC where I think they can be competitive at least in their league. A guy like Lang has demonstrated he can do a lot with a little and hopefully RPI gives him more to work with than he had at AIC. If they can make it to the big dance every now and then, well, anything can happen. We might even score a goal!

Also it's a bit of chicken-egg thing. If there's a sense of investment and renewal, that begets interest which can lead to more tickets sold, more donations, etc. But they're going to have to bootstrap it at first. That's why I say there's a window here where they can plausibly make the case that things are changing for the better - now follow through.
 
Engineers said:
Barnes and Lundy I would say are the best left from AIC.
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Barnes is headed to SHU. Jack Cronin is a forward from Princeton who'd be a nice add as a grad student. He missed last season with an injury but was 11-8-19 the year before...good on the PP and FO.

Edit: Maine's keeper Patriks Berzins is still out there -- maybe our Latvian connection can reel him in. All things to watch as we move forward !

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tanman said:
It's probably a good thing they are still in the ECAC where I think they can be competitive at least in their league. A guy like Lang has demonstrated he can do a lot with a little and hopefully RPI gives him more to work with than he had at AIC. If they can make it to the big dance every now and then, well, anything can happen. We might even score a goal!

Also it's a bit of chicken-egg thing. If there's a sense of investment and renewal, that begets interest which can lead to more tickets sold, more donations, etc. But they're going to have to bootstrap it at first. That's why I say there's a window here where they can plausibly make the case that things are changing for the better - now follow through.
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I agree with the sentiment. I have a few friends who had stopped donating and buying tickets during Shirley's reign...they've now indicated they are ready for the revamp....if the admin lays out the plan for facilities, etc.
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
I agree with the sentiment. I have a few friends who had stopped donating and buying tickets during Shirley's reign...they've now indicated they are ready for the revamp....if the admin lays out the plan for facilities, etc.
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Exactly. RPI, you have the college hockey world's attention - show them you mean business. Hiring Lang was a huge step in the right direction.
 
bgtrpi said:
I agree with most of this but mostly absent from the discussion is the Titanic change in D1 caused by the start of direct, and indirect, pay-for-play. I realize that most of the direct money will go to men’s (American) football and basketball and possibly women’s basketball but I suspect that the big hockey schools can find plenty of money from rich alumni and donors and massive revenues from those other sports. Can RPI drum up enough money to be competitive?
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I wonder if he actually said straight up what it will take to get RPI relevant again during interview process and thats one of the reasons the hire took a little longer than expected. I may have missed it but i haven`t seen any public announcment of recruits decomitting.I think we have a few good ones lined up and hope we keep them in the fold.Coach sure does have alot of phone calls to make and scholarship money disbursment to sort out. I think he and the assistants will put a better team on the ice next year.Hell with modest improvement on D and in goal we should move up a spot or two.
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
Barnes is headed to SHU. Jack Cronin is a forward from Princeton who'd be a nice add as a grad student. He missed last season with an injury but was 11-8-19 the year before...good on the PP and FO.

Edit: Maine's keeper Patriks Berzins is still out there -- maybe our Latvian connection can reel him in. All things to watch as we move forward !

​

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Just an assumption but you would think the princeton kid would fit on academics.
 
jstadts said:
Just an assumption but you would think the princeton kid would fit on academics.
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Been watching the WHL playoffs on Victory app. Lots of young talent in the CHL out here in the west. I'm sure the same can be said for the OHL and QJML. Navigating admissions standards etc. at RPI might be an issue though
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
There aren't any silver bullets. Stem the bleeding this year, retain who we can and then build it moving forward.
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I was looking at our guys in the portal and was surprised that Gilson and Hotson had positive +/- and Smolinski was a -3. Given the amount of ice time they got and the fact that we were massively outscored for the year I was surprised. It just goes to show how much of our problem was truly bad special teams. Just get them up to average and we'd definitely have home ice in the first round and, with a few more additions, be competing for home ice in the 2nd round.

I'm less optimistic that the CHL will be the answer to our problems. The piece where Lang remarked on the deep pool of unmined talent available was from February 1. Since then a lot of schools have been mining. I actually wonder whether we might do better picking up USHL, BCHL, NAHL, etc. junior players that were committed to some of the big boys but may be getting pushed out by CHL signings.
 
rpi82 said:
I was looking at our guys in the portal and was surprised that Gilson and Hotson had positive +/- and Smolinski was a -3. Given the amount of ice time they got and the fact that we were massively outscored for the year I was surprised. It just goes to show how much of our problem was truly bad special teams. Just get them up to average and we'd definitely have home ice in the first round and, with a few more additions, be competing for home ice in the 2nd round.

I'm less optimistic that the CHL will be the answer to our problems. The piece where Lang remarked on the deep pool of unmined talent available was from February 1. Since then a lot of schools have been mining. I actually wonder whether we might do better picking up USHL, BCHL, NAHL, etc. junior players that were committed to some of the big boys but may be getting pushed out by CHL signings.
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Answer: (D) All of the above... LOL Kidding, but not kidding. The answer for most teams in the ECAC is get 'em wherever you can. A recent case in point is Clarkson signing kids from the CHL .....AND signing the outstanding keeper from DIII Curry College. You scout 'em all over and bring in the kids you think can help you.

The great thing about today's technology is that you can do a lot more scouting in less time thanks to streaming. While there is no replacing seeing a kid play live, you can research and gather a ton of info on players before heading out on the road.
 
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