RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

[crossbar]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

The Engineers far exceeded my expectations this season. I thought .500 in conference play would be a stretch. They played fantastic! I can't wait til October.

I'm sure that the expectations of the powers that be at RPI were and are expecting more. They have made a substantial investment in the program. .500 or one game over is probably not what they thought they were going to get. I like SA, but it's time to check the whole body of work. Out of 152 games, the boys from Troy have won 49 times, less than 1/3 of the time. Sure the win total jumped this year, but it couldn't get much lower, could it? This topic was bandied about on this site last year, and the consensus was, in my opinion, Albany or bust. Well, we're still on the wrong side of the river, and a meteoric rise to mediocrity should not be enough to maintain this job. I realize that SA has supposedly brought in studs, but what's happening when they get here? ND football had supposedly high rated recruiting classes, and well, we know what happened there. Is this much different?

 

[redhead18]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

IMHO, continued improvement by the returning players and incoming freshmen (whether or not Laliberte and Quinn show up), should make next year's team significantly better. I will truly be disappointed if next year's team doesn't make it to <s>Albany</s> Atlantic City, and there is an excellent chance for an NCAA bid.

Completely agree with everything here. I mentioned a few months ago that I felt this years team was a .500 level team and before the season started I did have my doubts. If you take a look back at the teams who have had recent success in the league (Princeton, Yale an Clarkson come to mind), they all had one .500 season and the following year boom 20+ win season and an NCAA appearance. Needless to say, I will also be disappointed if next years team doesnt make it to AC or get a NCAA bid. October cant come soon enough.

 

[aweise]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

By the way, this all just confirms for me that WRPI is still a high quality operation. Well done, Tim and Joe.

Completely agree. I admit I haven't listened to WRPI too much since the Jayson Moy & Kurt Stutt days, but I thought Tim & Joe are as good as anyone I've heard. You're always going to get some homer-ism from a specific team's broadcast...you just need the maturity to look past it and let it go.

As for the team, they will only be getting better. It's too bad they couldn't reach Albany, even though they probably would have had to go through Union to get there this year. I don't look forward to another year of Polacek, nor do I look forward to seeing at least a couple more years of D'Amigo & Pirri.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

Appert might need to go his systems aren't working the d is slow I can't wait for fresh d next yeAr

Rvd, I'd like to invite you to my North Country trip next year. Bring a decent amount of personal belongings when we go to Potsdam, because I will be leaving you there. You'll fit in well.

 

[The Freds]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

I'm sure that the expectations of the powers that be at RPI were and are expecting more. They have made a substantial investment in the program. .500 or one game over is probably not what they thought they were going to get. I like SA, but it's time to check the whole body of work. Out of 152 games, the boys from Troy have won 49 times, less than 1/3 of the time. Sure the win total jumped this year, but it couldn't get much lower, could it? This topic was bandied about on this site last year, and the consensus was, in my opinion, Albany or bust. Well, we're still on the wrong side of the river, and a meteoric rise to mediocrity should not be enough to maintain this job. I realize that SA has supposedly brought in studs, but what's happening when they get here? ND football had supposedly high rated recruiting classes, and well, we know what happened there. Is this much different?

This is much different. It is all about perspective. See Providence College who just finished year five with a "new" coach, a school legend. He has had four straight losing seasons, the last two with 20 losses. His teams have 9 league wins in the last 54 league games and finished 10 points behind the next team and 11 points out of the playoffs in Hockey East. His teams regularly quit come January and players leave left and right. That coach got a three year contract extension in his second year.

A rise to mediocrity has to happen before reaching the top echelon. It takes at least five years to turn a program around. I have watched Providence fall into the depths of irrelevancy in Army's five years and RPI make a steady rise in Appert's four. I like what I see at RPI.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

I like what I see at RPI.

Besides for Servinis's goal?

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

If RHamilton or another member of RPI-TV reads this, how many people watched the webcast on Sunday?

 

[RHamilton]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

If RHamilton or another member of RPI-TV reads this, how many people watched the webcast on Sunday?

Peak viewership on Sunday was 380, 170 on Saturday. We're quite pleased, and we're looking forward to being able to provide this service again next season (with the blessing of RPI Athletics, of course). We've got quite a lot of time to perfect and mature our streaming over the summer, and we'll be practicing on Lacrosse and Football in the offseason.

All 3 Brown games:
1 - http://www.rpitv.org/productions/286-mens-hockey-vs-brown-game-1-ecac-championship-1st-round
2 - http://www.rpitv.org/productions/287-mens-hockey-vs-brown-game-2-1st-round
3 - http://www.rpitv.org/productions/288-mens-hockey-vs-brown-game-3-1st-round

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

Peak viewership on Sunday was 380

Almost as many as were at the HFH.

 

[RHamilton]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

Almost as many as were at the HFH.

Haha yeah, Kevin Beattie jokingly mentioned we might have to institute a 40 mile blackout

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

Almost as many as were at the HFH.

You're telling me, Section 33 was SCANT!

We need that area rockin' again...

 

[crossbar]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

This is much different. It is all about perspective. See Providence College who just finished year five with a "new" coach, a school legend. He has had four straight losing seasons, the last two with 20 losses. His teams have 9 league wins in the last 54 league games and finished 10 points behind the next team and 11 points out of the playoffs in Hockey East. His teams regularly quit come January and players leave left and right. That coach got a three year contract extension in his second year.

A rise to mediocrity has to happen before reaching the top echelon. It takes at least five years to turn a program around. I have watched Providence fall into the depths of irrelevancy in Army's five years and RPI make a steady rise in Appert's four. I like what I see at RPI.

Perspective? I'm afraid it's all about success! A rise to mediocrity only has to happen when you've fallen to despair. RPI WAS mediocre before SA arrived, then proceeded to have the worst 3 year stretch in the program's history. Talk about changing perspective! Anything close to .500 makes you appear to be successful, but is it really? In last year's posts, it only took 4 years to turn a program around, and just because Providence extended their coaches salary doesn't make it right. Are you suggesting that because Providence did it, that RPI should, based on the success of PC's program? Or, are you saying RPI should avoid the mistake? My point is, 49 wins in 4 years with the highlight being a 1 game over .500 mark, and a 6th place finish in a league that only has 5 scholarship schools needs to be reviewed, particularly since the school has stepped up financially to accomodate a better product. I'll also say that their are quite a few people disguised as blue and red chairbacks at the HFH these days. Attendence is terrible. Just my observations, but it seems Fridgen was being called out when the team was around .500, now SA is a hero! That is perspective!!

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

I received a message stating that the first game will be on 8 October. I'll except that as more likely than my pure guess.


Today is 8 March 2010. There are 214 days (7 months) until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 8 October for the start of next season.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

I received a message stating that the first game will be on 8 October. I'll accept that as more likely than my pure guess.


Today is 8 March 2010. There are 214 days (7 months) until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 8 October for the start of next season.

FYP

"Except" and "accept" have different meanings. I'm sure you meant the latter.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

FYP

"Except" and "accept" have different meanings. I'm sure you meant the latter.

Of course.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

Perspective? I'm afraid it's all about success! A rise to mediocrity only has to happen when you've fallen to despair. RPI WAS mediocre before SA arrived, then proceeded to have the worst 3 year stretch in the program's history. Talk about changing perspective! Anything close to .500 makes you appear to be successful, but is it really? In last year's posts, it only took 4 years to turn a program around, and just because Providence extended their coaches salary doesn't make it right. Are you suggesting that because Providence did it, that RPI should, based on the success of PC's program? Or, are you saying RPI should avoid the mistake? My point is, 49 wins in 4 years with the highlight being a 1 game over .500 mark, and a 6th place finish in a league that only has 7 scholorship schools needs to be reviewed, particularly since the school has stepped up financially to accomodate a better product. I'll also say that their are quite a few people disguised as blue and red chairbacks at the HFH these days. Attendence is terrible. Just my observations, but it seems Fridgen was being called out when the team was around .500, now SA is a hero! That is perspective!!

There's a lot of stuff the scoreboard doesn't tell you.

OK, so we lose some games. We're not the 1970 Cornell team. Fridgen also lost a lot of games. And with the exception of that team, they all lose now and again. Not shooting the puck enough? I seem to recall this also happening with another coach. Finally getting over .500? Didn't happen in Fridgen's last two years.

Go down to RPI's penalty box wall and rub that kick dent, because that's all the love you'll get if you want Appert traded for Fridgen. Because obviously according to your perspective, he seems to be your hero.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

Perspective? I'm afraid it's all about success! A rise to mediocrity only has to happen when you've fallen to despair. RPI WAS mediocre before SA arrived, then proceeded to have the worst 3 year stretch in the program's history. Talk about changing perspective! Anything close to .500 makes you appear to be successful, but is it really? In last year's posts, it only took 4 years to turn a program around, and just because Providence extended their coaches salary doesn't make it right. Are you suggesting that because Providence did it, that RPI should, based on the success of PC's program? Or, are you saying RPI should avoid the mistake? My point is, 49 wins in 4 years with the highlight being a 1 game over .500 mark, and a 6th place finish in a league that only has 5 scholarship schools needs to be reviewed, particularly since the school has stepped up financially to accomodate a better product. I'll also say that their are quite a few people disguised as blue and red chairbacks at the HFH these days. Attendence is terrible. Just my observations, but it seems Fridgen was being called out when the team was around .500, now SA is a hero! That is perspective!!

I enjoyed the unintentional humor rife in this post.

 

[crossbar]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

There's a lot of stuff the scoreboard doesn't tell you.

OK, so we lose some games. We're not the 1970 Cornell team. Fridgen also lost a lot of games. And with the exception of that team, they all lose now and again. Not shooting the puck enough? I seem to recall this also happening with another coach. Finally getting over .500? Didn't happen in Fridgen's last two years.

Go down to RPI's penalty box wall and rub that kick dent, because that's all the love you'll get if you want Appert traded for Fridgen. Because obviously according to your perspective, he seems to be your hero.

No, Dan Fridgen is not my hero. Nor am I calling for SA's ouster. I'm just throwing a little reality out there. The powers at RPI must be looking at where they are today as compared to where they were 4 years ago, and figure if they are getting their money's worth. Is the program on an upswing? I hope so, but going from poor to average does not mean it will go from average to excellent. I'm hoping that I'll have alot of wins to see when I attend games(and more people join me) at the HFH. Unfortunately, it really comes down to the stuff the scoreboard DOES tell us. Otherwise, they wouldn't keep records, and coaches would never change based on their records. As for my perspective, it seems there's been a lot of hoopla for a team that is .500.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

I'm at a loss to fully explain the attendance this weekend. I think it was probably a perfect storm of factors, maybe.

1) Spring break started on Friday. Even hockey fans have to take advantage of time off when you're a college student (even I missed the Lake Placid trip in '02 because of a pre-planned trip to Arizona. Gave up on the team too early and bought tickets while they were cheap).

2) It was Brown. Nobody cares about Brown except their four fans and maybe a handful of parents. There's no more irrelevant team in the ECAC than them.

3) Playoff tickets weren't bundled with season tickets this year because the ticket office got tired of having to issue refunds (and worse, having to hold onto the funds in perpetuity for those who never came back to claim their refunds). Understandable, but probably a bad year to do that.

4) MAAC tournament the same weekend was the bigger draw for the casual area sports fan. Not a problem in the near future.

5) Related to number four, the local media, by and large, just isn't talking much at all about college hockey. Casual fans might not have received the memo at all that there was a home series.

The turnout was pretty pathetic. Instead of commending those who turned out, I'm seeing a lot of outsiders running their mouths about percentages of capacity. Yes, we have a large building that we can't fill every night. There are very few eastern teams that would be able to do so. Yes, our townies are relatively clueless for the most part.

I thought there was actually a decent amount of energy in the building when the team was warranting it. When you weed out the people who are only there for face time and get down to the people who actually care, there's a net positive effect on that front.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: RPI Off-Season Thread 2010 -- The Calm Before the Storm

No, Dan Fridgen is not my hero. Nor am I calling for SA's ouster. I'm just throwing a little reality out there. The powers at RPI must be looking at where they are today as compared to where they were 4 years ago, and figure if they are getting their money's worth. Is the program on an upswing? I hope so, but going from poor to average does not mean it will go from average to excellent. I'm hoping that I'll have alot of wins to see when I attend games(and more people join me) at the HFH. Unfortunately, it really comes down to the stuff the scoreboard DOES tell us. Otherwise, they wouldn't keep records, and coaches would never change based on their records. As for my perspective, it seems there's been a lot of hoopla for a team that is .500.

So in other words, the motto is win now. Get from Point A to Point C yesterday and if you have to go through Point B to get there it's a failure. You don't know much about how college sports operate, clearly. You can't see the forest for the trees.

The only other thing Appert could have done is to have ruthlessly cut upperclassmen left and right when he came on board so he could get guys he wanted into the program right away. But he didn't, because he's a little more savvy than that. Yes, a few players left the program or were cut when he became the coach, but not to the level that it's happened elsewhere. He honored the school's commitment to most of the student-athletes he inherited, and now he has a team almost entirely of his own making, and the upswing is noticeable. If you want to wet the bed just because a young team got outgooned this weekend, I can't help you.