What's new
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

I suspect that fact that our OOC schedule is now weaker than it was under SA is likely due to a different coaching philosophy. The fact that the ECAC may be weaker this year outside of Cornell, Clarkson, and Harvard is also a factor.

I agree. I don't have a problem with the current scheduling, but Seth deserves credit for pulling those schedules together as it stoked interest when high ranked marquee teams came into town. I would guess Seth's scheduling was partly a recruiting tool (giving players looking at bigger teams the option to still play big teams at RPI) and partly an NCAA playoff strategy (the theory being that stealing a win against a top ranked team can be huge in the pairwise, while the downside of losing is lower). Look at the 2010-11 season. Beating #7 BU and #1 Yale got RPI into the NCAA playoffs despite mixed results in the ECAC schedule and a collapse at home in the playoffs. That didn't quite work out a few years later when RPI just missed out in '16 after beating #1 BC, despite being just 1 game over .500 in the ECAC.

But I think the real challenge is that RPI has been a middling to poor ECAC team for almost 10 years now, which is very hard to overcome regardless of who they play out of the conference. The flip side of that for this year is that there have been some decent ECAC performances so far, and plenty of opportunities for more in the coming weeks. Better defensive focus is crucial, and the power play needs a strategic re-think.
 
If we are indeed a battleship, we should be able to eventually turn it around. My concern is if we are actually the Titanic or a garbage scow. :D
16 wins in 2 1/2 years our 2 most talented players E.Ohrvil and Hayhurst left the program our 2 best recruits Cameron and Fontaine decommited and arguably our best players with a couple exceptions (maybe) are leftovers from the last regime. So that is certainly a conversation that can be had Ralph.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

16 wins in 2 1/2 years our 2 most talented players E.Ohrvil and Hayhurst left the program our 2 best recruits Cameron and Fontaine decommited and arguably our best players with a couple exceptions (maybe) are leftovers from the last regime. So that is certainly a conversation that can be had Ralph.

Ohrvall and Hayhurst aren't exactly helping Michigan much this year.

I also would replace Cameron by Sarlo in that sentence. See https://www.ushl.com/view#/player-stats (currently #6 and #8). I should add that Beaton and Brown could turn out to better fit in the ECAC. I hope we don't lose them too. There is also incoming talent on D, but hard to compare to forwards.
 
Last edited:
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

16 wins in 2 1/2 years our 2 most talented players E.Ohrvil and Hayhurst left the program our 2 best recruits Cameron and Fontaine decommited and arguably our best players with a couple exceptions (maybe) are leftovers from the last regime. So that is certainly a conversation that can be had Ralph.

Cameron is not a big loss whatsoever. Fontaine is small and doesn't back check or play defense as well as you would want a forward to. He's very talented, but that is not the end-all be-all. Sarlo is a much more well-rounded player and is a big loss. However, I think Beaton is a much better fit than both of them. He is talented, big and can do it all. He has been playing top line minutes, is on the PP and is on the PK. While he had a slow start as he adjusted to much higher competition than he had last year, he has 10 points in his last 8 games, which is similar production to Sarlo and Fontaine. Brown looks like a great player even though it is a weaker league. He is a very different player than the others but is still a great recruit.

As Ralph said, Hayhurst and Ohrvall have not done much with Michigan. (Also, Ohrvall was not one of our 2 most talented players, nowhere close to that). I actually wonder if Hayhurst regrets transferring seeing that Michigan has done no better than us, and he would without a doubt be producing more offense with us.

This team has many backbones for years to come. Johnson, Hallbauer, Ferner, Kjellberg, Babichuk and Klee are all going to be backbones of the defense for many years. They're all talented and fit the system Smith wants (and are only sophomores and freshmen). At forward, Leppanen, Dubinsky, Ashbrook, Mahshie and Linden are all great young building blocks. We will see what they accomplish this year and in the next couple, but writing off Dave Smith and the team now is foolish.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Cameron is not a big loss whatsoever. Fontaine is small and doesn't back check or play defense as well as you would want a forward to. He's very talented, but that is not the end-all be-all. Sarlo is a much more well-rounded player and is a big loss. However, I think Beaton is a much better fit than both of them. He is talented, big and can do it all. He has been playing top line minutes, is on the PP and is on the PK. While he had a slow start as he adjusted to much higher competition than he had last year, he has 10 points in his last 8 games, which is similar production to Sarlo and Fontaine. Brown looks like a great player even though it is a weaker league. He is a very different player than the others but is still a great recruit.

As Ralph said, Hayhurst and Ohrvall have not done much with Michigan. (Also, Ohrvall was not one of our 2 most talented players, nowhere close to that). I actually wonder if Hayhurst regrets transferring seeing that Michigan has done no better than us, and he would without a doubt be producing more offense with us.

This team has many backbones for years to come. Johnson, Hallbauer, Ferner, Kjellberg, Babichuk and Klee are all going to be backbones of the defense for many years. They're all talented and fit the system Smith wants (and are only sophomores and freshmen). At forward, Leppanen, Dubinsky, Ashbrook, Mahshie and Linden are all great young building blocks. We will see what they accomplish this year and in the next couple, but writing off Dave Smith and the team now is foolish.

I should add that it is doubtful that Cameron decommited. I think that Smith didn't want him.

As to Fontaine, Neutral Zone NHL evaluated him in October and thinks that he has a good chance of being drafted by the NHL. They also like his penalty killing. I also think that he would have attracted fans to the HFH via his charisma. I'll just post the link https://twitter.com/ChicagoSteel/status/1200969346526392320, but who wouldn't like his OT goal last weekend. Granted, we don't play 3x3, but IMO that was a great little pass to start the turn around at the other end and a great goal.
 
Cameron is not a big loss whatsoever. Fontaine is small and doesn't back check or play defense as well as you would want a forward to. He's very talented, but that is not the end-all be-all. Sarlo is a much more well-rounded player and is a big loss. However, I think Beaton is a much better fit than both of them. He is talented, big and can do it all. He has been playing top line minutes, is on the PP and is on the PK. While he had a slow start as he adjusted to much higher competition than he had last year, he has 10 points in his last 8 games, which is similar production to Sarlo and Fontaine. Brown looks like a great player even though it is a weaker league. He is a very different player than the others but is still a great recruit.

As Ralph said, Hayhurst and Ohrvall have not done much with Michigan. (Also, Ohrvall was not one of our 2 most talented players, nowhere close to that). I actually wonder if Hayhurst regrets transferring seeing that Michigan has done no better than us, and he would without a doubt be producing more offense with us.

This team has many backbones for years to come. Johnson, Hallbauer, Ferner, Kjellberg, Babichuk and Klee are all going to be backbones of the defense for many years. They're all talented and fit the system Smith wants (and are only sophomores and freshmen). At forward, Leppanen, Dubinsky, Ashbrook, Mahshie and Linden are all great young building blocks. We will see what they accomplish this year and in the next couple, but writing off Dave Smith and the team now is foolish.
You must have info that UMass, Northeastern, Michigan and the Toronto Maple Leafs for that matter don't but who knows. Neutral Zone ranks the top 40(out of 60) NCAA D1 Hockey recruiting classes 2016 thru 2019 the average ranking for those 3 years we don't appear in that 40 so we're somewhere south of 40 for whatever its it's worth I'm not writing anybody off just a fan looking at the numbers as fans will do.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Ohrvall and Hayhurst aren't exactly helping Michigan much this year.

I also would replace Cameron by Sarlo in that sentence. See https://www.ushl.com/view#/player-stats (currently #6 and #8). I should add that Beaton and Brown could turn out to better fit in the ECAC. I hope we don't lose them too. There is also incoming talent on D, but hard to compare to forwards.

Melanson? He could have helped DS 1st year. Scheduling UMass and Uconn seemed to make sense. Less travel early in the season. Maybe help attendance with RPI alums in CT / MA plus UMass / UConn alums in tri city. CT and MA recruits?
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MH| Saturday night; 7PM. Men’s Hockey taking on the Brown Bears. May be the only game you see all year where a Brown Bear gets tossed ... onto the ice. Join us for a great cause Teddy Bear Toss at intermission on <a href="https://twitter.com/rpigreeklife?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rpigreeklife</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_Hockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RPI_Hockey</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RPIAthletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RPIAthletics</a></p>— Houston Field House (@RPI_HFH) <a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_HFH/status/1202730661318184961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

I should add that it is doubtful that Cameron decommited. I think that Smith didn't want him.

As to Fontaine, Neutral Zone NHL evaluated him in October and thinks that he has a good chance of being drafted by the NHL. They also like his penalty killing. I also think that he would have attracted fans to the HFH via his charisma. I'll just post the link https://twitter.com/ChicagoSteel/status/1200969346526392320, but who wouldn't like his OT goal last weekend. Granted, we don't play 3x3, but IMO that was a great little pass to start the turn around at the other end and a great goal.

Which Cameron? Didn't the younger Cameron commit and decommit? We'll see how he develops but at the time he switched to UMass wasn't he considered to be a high level prospect?
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Which Cameron? Didn't the younger Cameron commit and decommit? We'll see how he develops but at the time he switched to UMass wasn't he considered to be a high level prospect?

Yes, Mike was considered a top prospect. He has done very little in the USHL this season as Sezenack wrote. OTOH, he did make the USHL which one can't say about several of our recruits.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Cameron is not a big loss whatsoever. Fontaine is small and doesn't back check or play defense as well as you would want a forward to. He's very talented, but that is not the end-all be-all. Sarlo is a much more well-rounded player and is a big loss. However, I think Beaton is a much better fit than both of them. He is talented, big and can do it all. He has been playing top line minutes, is on the PP and is on the PK. While he had a slow start as he adjusted to much higher competition than he had last year, he has 10 points in his last 8 games, which is similar production to Sarlo and Fontaine. Brown looks like a great player even though it is a weaker league. He is a very different player than the others but is still a great recruit.

As Ralph said, Hayhurst and Ohrvall have not done much with Michigan. (Also, Ohrvall was not one of our 2 most talented players, nowhere close to that). I actually wonder if Hayhurst regrets transferring seeing that Michigan has done no better than us, and he would without a doubt be producing more offense with us.

This team has many backbones for years to come. Johnson, Hallbauer, Ferner, Kjellberg, Babichuk and Klee are all going to be backbones of the defense for many years. They're all talented and fit the system Smith wants (and are only sophomores and freshmen). At forward, Leppanen, Dubinsky, Ashbrook, Mahshie and Linden are all great young building blocks. We will see what they accomplish this year and in the next couple, but writing off Dave Smith and the team now is foolish.

I see where you're defending a coach; been there done that. This program is in absolute freefall. The losses that we suffered from players that left are devastating. Are you trying to tell me the loss of Hayhurst is nothing? The kid plays on the 2nd line for Michigan. Correct me if I'm wrong but he was the leading scorer for RPI last year? Emil is better than anything we have on our second, third and fourth lines. The loss of recruits is beyond words; it proves there is a problem. For sure, let's see what Dave does but beating Cansius twice, SLU (new coach and in the midst of a major rebuild), a bad Union team and UCONN does not knock my socks off. In fact 3 out of the 5 wins are against last place teams in their respective leagues.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

I see where you're defending a coach; been there done that. This program is in absolute freefall. The losses that we suffered from players that left are devastating. Are you trying to tell me the loss of Hayhurst is nothing? The kid plays on the 2nd line for Michigan. Correct me if I'm wrong but he was the leading scorer for RPI last year? Emil is better than anything we have on our second, third and fourth lines. The loss of recruits is beyond words; it proves there is a problem. For sure, let's see what Dave does but beating Cansius twice, SLU (new coach and in the midst of a major rebuild), a bad Union team and UCONN does not knock my socks off. In fact 3 out of the 5 wins are against last place teams in their respective leagues.

Hayhurst and Emil O haven't kept Michigan out of being tied currently for the B1G cellar.

I wouldn't say that the "the loss of recruits is beyond words". Assuming that you are referring to Sarlo and Fontaine, it would not surprise me if they committed to RPI with the intention of jumping if something better came along, especially Fontaine who no doubt would have preferred NU all along where his sister is and one of his prep school linemates with the other going there with him next season. Recruiting has changed in recent years and smaller schools like RPI are hurting on account of it. Hopefully Smith and his staff tried to keep Sarlo and Fontaine but I am not convinced that anyone could have kept them committed to RPI. If you are also referring to Mike Cameron, I really don't think that he is the type of player who fits Smith's system. (I also don't think that Max Itagaki fits his system, so there is a bit of uncertainty in my mind.)

The five W's we have haven't knocked my socks off either, but I do see improvements over the past. I don't know how to get the total stats, but certainly relative shot totals between us and our opponents and faceoff stats have been improving over past years. The ECAC overall past the top three teams is quite poor this year, so I agree that we should be doing better. It is a bit simplistic, but we lost yesterday because Yale twice scored after we failed to score on short-handed breakaways.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Only saw parts of last night’s game but it did seem like so many others this season - pretty good play followed by periods of passivity that lead to extended possession and scoring chances for the opposition. You can feel goals coming because we just stop skating (competing?) for a few minutes. We think we’re on the right track because we play an opponent well for 80+% of the game, but good teams will take advantage of that other 20%.

I can’t call myself a Smith backer (still can’t figure out how he got the job), but I have been in favor of giving him time because I saw some season over season improvement and in-game adjustments. However, this season is critical. With all of the top scorers, such as they are in our goal-starved lineup, being seniors, he’s really got to get us to home ice this season or start thinking of his escape route. Tonight’s game is critical for that to happen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Hayhurst and Emil O haven't kept Michigan out of being tied currently for the B1G cellar.

Smith recruits haven't help us from being a poor team either. B10 much better league. Hayhurst was leading scorer for two years in Troy.

"Despite missing seven games due to injury, junior Jacob Hayhurst was once again RPI's top point-getter, collecting 23 on three goals 20 assists."

Source - https://rpiathletics.com/news/2019/4/5/mens-hockey-2018-19-season-review.aspx
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Hayhurst and Emil O haven't kept Michigan out of being tied currently for the B1G cellar.

I wouldn't say that the "the loss of recruits is beyond words".

I would. You lost guys who would have made significant contributions. Also, the recruiting trail is abt reputation and relationships....something is wrong when you lose the amount of players we've lost.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Smith recruits haven't help us from being a poor team either. B10 much better league. Hayhurst was leading scorer for two years in Troy.

"Despite missing seven games due to injury, junior Jacob Hayhurst was once again RPI's top point-getter, collecting 23 on three goals 20 assists."

Source - https://rpiathletics.com/news/2019/4/5/mens-hockey-2018-19-season-review.aspx

The B1G is certainly a better league on average than the ECAC this year. You don't have to post Hayhurst's contribution to RPI. What you posted, by the way, was under Smith's tutelage. Granted he was an Appert recruit and his Freshman year was under SA.

I would. You lost guys who would have made significant contributions. Also, the recruiting trail is abt reputation and relationships....something is wrong when you lose the amount of players we've lost.
Can you please say which other recruits you are referring to, if any, besides Fontaine, Sarlo, and Mike C? There are many schools who have lost a similar amount. Just look at the number of crossed out players on Heisenberg's list (only includes recent losses and does include players whom the school dropped also.

I agree that recruiting is a large part reputation and relationships.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top