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RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

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Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

FreshFish said:
One area in which I'm hoping to see continued improvement is in team play: having a co-ordinated group applying an overall strategy instead of a collection of individuals trying to make plays. It appeared to me that we made significant progress from '11-'12 to '12-'13 and if we can make even more progress in this area we could be a real force in '13-'14.
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I think we have made great strides in our team play. And if we can keep healthy next year we will continue that progress. Our biggest losses this year were Lee (leadership) and Bailen (scoring from the back line).
If we can replace them, we will have one impressive team.
I am looking forward to that.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

Expect to see Miami back on the schedule in 2014-2015

from SA's twitter:
Congrats @CoachBlasi on contract well deserved/excited to renew our NC series in 14-15-we can relive old days of sharing a 700 sq ft apt
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

engineerhockeyfan said:
I think we have made great strides in our team play. And if we can keep healthy next year we will continue that progress. Our biggest losses this year were Lee (leadership) and Bailen (scoring from the back line).
If we can replace them, we will have one impressive team.
I am looking forward to that.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just me, but if we're overly concerned about team play and not trying too hard as an individual, then I would say losing Bailen is addition by subtraction. Do I think he was trying to do too much to "lead the team on the ice"? Yes, I do, and for two years running. Looking back at several of the mistakes we made as a team, we can point to him being on the ice making poor decisions that led to goal-scoring turnovers. I even saw it in the one AHL game I attended (although a goal wasn't scored, there was a nasty turnover or two). Obviously he showed some improvement, which is why he was greatly missed during the third Brown game, but with team cohesion, especially in the college game, it's going to change from year to year. It's time to reload. Bokenfohr is someone I think will provide a great presence at the line.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

FlagDUDE08 said:
Maybe it's just me, but if we're overly concerned about team play and not trying too hard as an individual, then I would say losing Bailen is addition by subtraction. Do I think he was trying to do too much to "lead the team on the ice"? Yes, I do, and for two years running. Looking back at several of the mistakes we made as a team, we can point to him being on the ice making poor decisions that led to goal-scoring turnovers. I even saw it in the one AHL game I attended (although a goal wasn't scored, there was a nasty turnover or two). Obviously he showed some improvement, which is why he was greatly missed during the third Brown game, but with team cohesion, especially in the college game, it's going to change from year to year. It's time to reload. Bokenfohr is someone I think will provide a great presence at the line.
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And he goes back on ignore.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

Today is 23 April 2013. There are 165 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 5 October 2013 for the start of next season.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

I'm a little surprised WaP didn't say they were in aestivation mode. After all, hibernation means sleeping through the winter. ;)
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

During last season, SA moved Matt Neal off the NHL, probably to balance the scoring more among the lines. CJ Lee took his place. Now CJ is graduating. Does anyone have an idea of who will replace him? I'd offer a suggestion, but I don't know who can play each forward position. One possibility is to move Neal back, of course, but I think that SA an staff will still want him on a different line.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

Ralph Baer said:
During last season, SA moved Matt Neal off the NHL, probably to balance the scoring more among the lines. CJ Lee took his place. Now CJ is graduating. Does anyone have an idea of who will replace him? I'd offer a suggestion, but I don't know who can play each forward position. One possibility is to move Neal back, of course, but I think that SA an staff will still want him on a different line.
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Given CJ's grittiness, I would think it'd be someone with a bit more of the enforcer type. Maybe someone like Matt Tinordi?
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

FlagDUDE08 said:
Maybe it's just me, but if we're overly concerned about team play and not trying too hard as an individual, then I would say losing Bailen is addition by subtraction....QUOTE] I'm not sure that more team work can generate the 31 goals Nicky represented last year...which is what he was referring to.
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Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

engineerhockeyfan said:
I think we have made great strides in our team play. And if we can keep healthy next year we will continue that progress. Our biggest losses this year were Lee (leadership) and Bailen (scoring from the back line).
If we can replace them, we will have one impressive team.
I am looking forward to that.
Click to expand...

I'm concerned about replacing Bailen, but I'm just as concerned about replacing the strength and toughness that CJ and Burgdoerfer displayed. While our front line isn't huge, they followed the seniors' leadership and won more and more battles along the boards and in one-on-one confrontations as the season wore on. I'm hopeful that we will get some of that from the return of Tinordi and growth from guys like Miller, but we shouldn't underestimate its importance if we want to see the team get our of the chute next year the way they played down the stretch this season.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

rpi82 said:
I'm concerned about replacing Bailen, but I'm just as concerned about replacing the strength and toughness that CJ and Burgdoerfer displayed. While our front line isn't huge, they followed the seniors' leadership and won more and more battles along the boards and in one-on-one confrontations as the season wore on. I'm hopeful that we will get some of that from the return of Tinordi and growth from guys like Miller, but we shouldn't underestimate its importance if we want to see the team get our of the chute next year the way they played down the stretch this season.
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You bring up an interesting conundrum for the coaching staff!

We generally have a tough out-of-conference schedule early in the season, and as we've noticed, racking up points during that portion of the season can really help with the Pairwise late in the year: the Pairwise doesn't care when the points are snagged, only that the points were earned.

On the other hand, you also want your team to peak and gel and play its best at the end of the season. It's pretty hard to do both well in the same year unless you have a really elite team.




Perhaps a bad example for people who follow men's college hockey, but this year's UConn women's basketball team struggled against top-notch competition during the season (1-4), but when the NCAA tournament arrived, they were able to elevate their game to a level that no other team could match and they just shredded everyone they faced: absolute total domination against Notre Dame, for example, a team that had played them evenly earlier in the year had no chance in the semi-final. This is a bad comparison in the sense that UConn is nearly a lock for a # 1 or # 2 seed every year while even making the tournament for us is a signal achievement these days; however if you want to catch fire at just the right time just look at this year's Yale team!
 
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Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

This isn't hockey related, but this morning an RPI student committed suicide in his dorm room which is located behind the HFH. They evacuated the area around the field house as it was some kind of mixing of chemicals that led to the suicide. Thankfully, no one else was affected.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

FreshFish said:
You bring up an interesting conundrum for the coaching staff!

We generally have a tough out-of-conference schedule early in the season, and as we've noticed, racking up points during that portion of the season can really help with the Pairwise late in the year: the Pairwise doesn't care when the points are snagged, only that the points were earned.

On the other hand, you also want your team to peak and gel and play its best at the end of the season. It's pretty hard to do both well in the same year unless you have a really elite team.




Perhaps a bad example for people who follow men's college hockey, but this year's UConn women's basketball team struggled against top-notch competition during the season (1-4), but when the NCAA tournament arrived, they were able to elevate their game to a level that no other team could match and they just shredded everyone they faced: absolute total domination against Notre Dame, for example, a team that had played them evenly earlier in the year had no chance in the semi-final. This is a bad comparison in the sense that UConn is nearly a lock for a # 1 or # 2 seed every year while even making the tournament for us is a signal achievement these days; however if you want to catch fire at just the right time just look at this year's Yale team!
Click to expand...

Important to remember-every game, every point-means something. As long a season as it seems to be-every game counts. Life can become certainly easier late in the season once you start off well. You can rest players-the pressure can be lessened. A single mistake or bad outing may not be enough to eliminate you from post season play. Let's start the season healthy-and get the new boys incorporated into the system that was working so well for the end of the regular season.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

Today is 24 April 2013. There are 164 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 5 October 2013 for the start of next season.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

DrDemento said:
Important to remember-every game, every point-means something. As long a season as it seems to be-every game counts. Life can become certainly easier late in the season once you start off well. You can rest players-the pressure can be lessened. A single mistake or bad outing may not be enough to eliminate you from post season play. Let's start the season healthy-and get the new boys incorporated into the system that was working so well for the end of the regular season.
Click to expand...

Doc, you just described a top-level program: you expect to be competitive in every game at every moment. The mental conditioning becomes just as important as the physical conditioning. We are getting pretty close. and we should have some stability now with OGC extended again.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

FreshFish said:
Doc, you just described a top-level program: you expect to be competitive in every game at every moment. The mental conditioning becomes just as important as the physical conditioning. We are getting pretty close. and we should have some stability now with OGC extended again.
Click to expand...

It's even more important when the season is so short (34 games vs. a professional league of 80 games).

One thing I've noticed: We play a heck of a lot better when we're expected to lose than when we're expected to win. It's the old "chip on the shoulder" and "having something to prove" cliché points, I know, but as much as we hate the media-speak, it's spot on. Should we expect to go 0-34 and finish in dead last? OK probably not, but any mental edge we can get against these choke jobs we keep having will help.
 
Re: RPI Off-Season 2013 Part I: We Will Get Our Title Next Season

For most of the 50 years I have followed RPI hockey we have always been a team that plays to the level of the competition. We win close games that we should have been badly beaten and we have often lost games to teamsthat we should completely demolish. Every so often, we hit a streak where everything just falls into place-I think as many have started to feel-that we could be on the verge of that kind of year.
 
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