RPI Engineers 24-25

[DrDemento]

Thanks Dr. D. I am still trying to find a way to watch the games.

Splits with Holy Cross and Sacred Heart is not the way I would have hoped for this team to start the season. Hopefully they are just working out the kinks but this does not bode well for being competitive in the really tough ECAC.

Last night they looked like a much better team. They controlled the entire 60 minutes and won 4-0 out shooting SH by a mile. Coach Vines made a few changes, notably #3 Sophie Helgeson playing defense simply played a solid game. Defensively played a poised controlled game and assisted on two goals early (one set up to Skoda was just a beauty after joining the rush). Goaltending was not tested (perhaps two semi difficult saves) but Keating now has 2 shutouts in 4 games this season and has only allowed 5 goals in 4 games.
I, too, was hoping for a somewhat better start OOC since these teams are not the test that the ECAC squads will be. But we finally saw a much more improved team play last night.

 

[DrDemento]

Hab- in response to your post on the other thread - I discount the Sacred Heart weekend a bit (but not totally) as several first line players did not suit up. We just are not a potent offense threat from the forward position and for that series, for some reason, we only had 5 defensive players in uniform. We did shift a forward back to defense but I found the entire defensive flow was already affected. Once Helgeson got into the line up there has been a major difference. She set up 2 goals in one game and scored the winner in OT in a third. With her and Trnkova out there I feel much more confident that we can move the puck out of our own end and also keep pressure on when we are in the opponent's zone. Also, both our goal keepers have played well but the surprise for me has been how well the first year young lady just stepped in and played with poise and puck control. Are we a top tier ECAC team? Not even in my imagination. But we are a much better team in the second 3 games than we were in the first 3. This weekend will be more of a test as RIT is, in my estimation, a step up from the recent competition. I would be happy if we played well and would settle for a split. I think when all is said and done most people are going to find that teams like HC and Syracuse are not easy prey mostly due to all the changes made from the portal and transfers.
What i am most unhappy about is the same thing you are - we are not able to get broadcasts of all the games. I have only seen the ladies 3 times out of the first 6 games!

 

[hab]

Hab- in response to your post on the other thread - I discount the Sacred Heart weekend a bit (but not totally) as several first line players did not suit up. We just are not a potent offense threat from the forward position and for that series, for some reason, we only had 5 defensive players in uniform. We did shift a forward back to defense but I found the entire defensive flow was already affected. Once Helgeson got into the line up there has been a major difference. She set up 2 goals in one game and scored the winner in OT in a third. With her and Trnkova out there I feel much more confident that we can move the puck out of our own end and also keep pressure on when we are in the opponent's zone. Also, both our goal keepers have played well but the surprise for me has been how well the first year young lady just stepped in and played with poise and puck control. Are we a top tier ECAC team? Not even in my imagination. But we are a much better team in the second 3 games than we were in the first 3. This weekend will be more of a test as RIT is, in my estimation, a step up from the recent competition. I would be happy if we played well and would settle for a split. I think when all is said and done most people are going to find that teams like HC and Syracuse are not easy prey mostly due to all the changes made from the portal and transfers.
What i am most unhappy about is the same thing you are - we are not able to get broadcasts of all the games. I have only seen the ladies 3 times out of the first 6 games!

I really appreciate this Dr D! You are doing a wonderful job of keeping a focus on this team. It has been hard for me to assess this team because I have not watched them and am only going on box scores. I am usually the resident optimist here . Your analysis makes me very keen to watch the team. I have solved my issues on video access and excited to watch the games going forward.

 

[DrDemento]

I really appreciate this Dr D! You are doing a wonderful job of keeping a focus on this team. It has been hard for me to assess this team because I have not watched them and am only going on box scores. I am usually the resident optimist here . Your analysis makes me very keen to watch the team. I have solved my issues on video access and excited to watch the games going forward.

Jenny and i usually get to see them when they are on ESPN+ as our local pub gets the feed. if no one at the bar wan ts to watch anything else I can usually convince them to leave the ladies hockey on. As i mentioned, I could not see 3 of the games and felt as you did that I could not have any opinion. But now that they are skating a complete set of 3 defense pairings they are showing some promise. I think the 2 games with RIT are the last before league play so we have fingers crossed for a successful weekend. One concern is Hamilton left the ice last game and could not put any pressure on her leg. They did not show the incident that caused the injury but it sure looked like a knee injury of some severity.

 

[DrDemento]

RPI had to come back from a 3-1 deficit with only 4 minutes to play to earn a tie. The final goal scored with the goal tender pulled and an extra attacker with about 90 seconds left. OT saw no scoring but both team had power plays. Game was very even but RPI was short handed 6 times which made the difference as RIT scored 2 power play goals.

 

[hab]

First time that I have been able to watch a full RPI game this year...and here is the good, bad and ugly.

Good: this is a really well balanced team....must be tough to know who to put out as top lines and top D. Keating looked pretty good tonight...first goal was a wicked shot. Kaiser and Larsen look good, as always. I have never focused on Jones before....it was sad to see that her fumble resulted in the second RIT goal because she had such a strong game, and Vines seemed to want to throw her out there in a lot of critical situations.
Bad: We have some really talented players who can be doing so much more. I would like to see Trnkova carrying the puck up the ice more, and making crisper passes.
Ugly: A record of 5-3-1 against non conference teams that were ranked lower than us last year is quite discouraging.

As an aside...the late penalty calls against Larsen and Trnkova were just bad calls. They both play a physical game and the refs made the sort of calls that you would expect in a D3 game.

 

[DrDemento]

We took 6 penalties yesterday against 2 for RIT. Not sure all of them were deserved either. This team can be a tough defensive team but they have to find some offense from the forwards or every game will be similar to this one. Trnkova does seem to get called for penalties by reputation at times.

 

[hab]

We took 6 penalties yesterday against 2 for RIT. Not sure all of them were deserved either. This team can be a tough defensive team but they have to find some offense from the forwards or every game will be similar to this one. Trnkova does seem to get called for penalties by reputation at times.

Trnkova and Larsen are talented players and they are both strong and physical, so when they make body contact the opponent often hits the ice. But refs who call penalties on the basis of whether or not someone hits the ice are just not doing their jobs.

 

[Ralph Baer]

I think that this is a record for how long it took me to find out about a recruit -- 17 months. https://home.bostonladywhalers.com/n...e/show/1274082

She now plays for NAHA White. https://www.winter-hawks.org/stats/...1&tab=team_instance_player_stats&tool=5651329 Stats need to be updated.

 

[DrDemento]

Trnkova and Larsen are talented players and they are both strong and physical, so when they make body contact the opponent often hits the ice. But refs who call penalties on the basis of whether or not someone hits the ice are just not doing their jobs.

We had a similar problem several times in the past - most notably on the men's side with Luke Curadi. Any time Luke took someone into the boards (legally or not) it was at least a 2 minute penalty and often a 5 minute major. I was convinced the call was made by the sound of the hit as opposed to what actually happened on the ice. The girls have a fairly talented group of players especially on defense. I did feel we took some rather unnecessary penalties all weekend long but some were simply not deserved. Not sure if any of these would have affected the outcomes. Now that the OOC games are history we will see this weekend how we stack up against the true test of the season with ECAC games. My own prediction is that the defense will keep us competitive but we will need to find some scoring from the front lines to make life miserable for opponents.

 

[hab]

Welcome to the forum Hky1! Your very first post! The negativity and lack of serious analysis is not an auspicious start, but hey...it leaves you lots of upside for improvement, right? Just out of curiosity...are you by any chance related to Shelfit? The tone and content of your post bear's an uncanny resemblance. Twin brother, twin sister? It just has to be a VERY CLOSE relationship.

 

[hab]

To be clear...there is good reason to be concerned about this version of the Engineers, but my concern is out of respect for the coaches and some great players. Vines designed an out of conference schedule that was soft (all teams ranked below RPI at end of last season) for reasons that I don't understand. To finish that pre-conference schedule with a record of 4-3-1 does not bode well, to say the least. I have only watched about the equivalent of 1 1/2 games in that stretch, but it certainly seems that this team is not as sharp as last year's team at the same point. It is only October, of course, and there are new players in the lineup (freshmen and transfers), new assistant coaches. This weekend will be a test. Home games against 2 teams that finished lower than us last year (Dartmouth 10th, Harvard 12th).

 

[shelfit]

This RPI team is god awful…The coach is a joke and so is hos staff…. And the defense?? Hardly a D1 caliber Defense. How many girls are on this team 40??

So tell us how you really feel. Stop sugar coating your opinions. : D

Wow, going after coaches is one thing, but going after players is really low of you. They got recruited there so don't blame them for accepting that opportunity. That's really sh*tty of you. I'm oftentimes overly critical and sarcastic when it comes to coaches but you're just being a total *sshole in general especially in picking apart the players like that!

 

[hab]

So the entire coaching staff quit a week before the season starts. Than dig through unions garbage and find a coach who was fired. Union coaches had a mass exodus as well.

You have way too many girls on your roster. It’s like club hockey at this point.

Obviously no idea how to recruit. There are no steady lines. He doesn’t match lines. A loss to Sacred Heart - really?

Picking apart the players?? They aren’t D1 defenders.

He’s playing a Grad from the NEWHA over girls that have been there. Maybe RPI should switch to the NEWHA they might crack .500

Much better post Hky1, and you raise some legit concerns, so let me respond.
I agree that the departure of Asst Coach Tara Connolly was a concern, and maybe a red flag and I have said so previously on this forum.
The strategy of getting ice time for a large number of players in the pre-conference schedule is debatable, I agree. On the other hand, they are all good hockey players who came here to play and the time to give them a chance to show what they can do is in the non-conference games (and in practice, of course). Same can be said about mixing up the lines. I have noted that this year's team looks sloppier than last year's team at the same point in the season, and the musical chairs on the bench and lines may be part of the issue. And yes, a loss to Sacred Heart dumbfounded me. The "grad from NEWHA" is Tolchinsky, and she looks like she has the talent to be part of this lineup. Totally disagree with you about our D.

So, you see how this works? You provide a post with real content and you get a respectful response.

 

[shelfit]

So the entire coaching staff quit a week before the season starts. Than dig through unions garbage and find a coach who was fired. Union coaches had a mass exodus as well.

You have way too many girls on your roster. It’s like club hockey at this point.

Obviously no idea how to recruit. There are no steady lines. He doesn’t match lines. A loss to Sacred Heart - really?

Picking apart the players?? They aren’t D1 defenders.

He’s playing a Grad from the NEWHA over girls that have been there. Maybe RPI should switch to the NEWHA they might crack .500

Apparently not the WHOLE coaching staff, otherwise you'd be very happy that Vines isn't the coach anymore. What you're not getting is he is actually a genius who is way ahead of the curve because he has figured out how to recruit enough players to create a practice squad just like in college football. Now that's showing true brilliance. Once they all start getting paid to be there they're all going to be very happy and they aren't going to care if they win or lose because they'll be getting paid either way. It's the future of college sports. ; D

 

[AlwaysCold2]

Do you think morale and team chemistry matter?? Can 40 girls losing remain happy?

It's an interesting point you bring up. Have been watching the team since the 0-33 season (our friend's daughter was on the team and has since graduated). I just checked that '19-'20 roster and there were only 25 players on that team, three of which were goalies. Her dad always said how tightknit the team was and that the team culture was so positive.

Now, with one of the largest rosters in the ECAC for the last few years and not a winning record, that tightknit and positive team culture HAS to be harder to maintain.

Also, my understanding is the NCAA is increasing the number of scholarships that can be offered by schools, but requiring a limit of 26 players, regardless.

 

[DrDemento]

A win today 3-1 (Dartmouth's only score came with 9 seconds left in the game after RPI took a very late penalty). This one was just so close to being a shut out. Good start to the ECAC league season.

 

[DrDemento]

A sweep of the weekend as RPI shuts out Harvard 3-0. This weekend Keating came within 9 seconds of a double shutout for the games. The schedule will get tougher from here on. Pretty sure the cream will rise to the top and the favorites will end up high in the standings but for now it looks like any given game can be competitive.

 

[hab]

A sweep of the weekend as RPI shuts out Harvard 3-0. This weekend Keating came within 9 seconds of a double shutout for the games. The schedule will get tougher from here on. Pretty sure the cream will rise to the top and the favorites will end up high in the standings but for now it looks like any given game can be competitive.

Let's enjoy it while it lasts . ECAC standings after 1 weekend: 1) RPI and Union tied; 3) Brown; 4) Yale.

 

[DrDemento]

Let's enjoy it while it lasts . ECAC standings after 1 weekend: 1) RPI and Union tied; 3) Brown; 4) Yale.

Next 4 games are the toughest road trip of the league season for us. Hoefully the defense will keep these games close enough that anything can happen.