RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

[hab]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

Better than Union!

There is that . Despite my current funk about our first weekend I really do remain optimistic that the talent of this team, combined with some hard work, bodes well .

[Trillium]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

After watching RPI lose 7-1 to UND I was not too discouraged. But after listening to them being badly outplayed by Bemidji and then hearing that Vermont beat UND 3-1, I have to conclude that this team has a lot of work to do. Good to see both goalies play solid games this weekend, though.

I do appreciate that you are trying to be positive about your team and their outlook for the season. And I fully recognize that goals allowed is a function not only of a goalie's performance but of the play of the rest of the team. A team that musters only 36 shots over 2 games has a lot of work to do, as you say.

But that doesn't completely excuse the fact either that your goalies allowed 11 goals in those games, for save percentages of .821 for O'Brien and .900 for Piper. Even if they aren't the biggest problem, neither do those stats support your confidence in their delivering solid performances in net. As discussed previously, for RPI to make the playoffs, they will need to have career years for one or both of them including much higher save percentages than .900--especially in light of the lack of offence.

[hab]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

I do appreciate that you are trying to be positive about your team and their outlook for the season. And I fully recognize that goals allowed is a function not only of a goalie's performance but of the play of the rest of the team. A team that musters only 36 shots over 2 games has a lot of work to do, as you say.

But that doesn't completely excuse the fact either that your goalies allowed 11 goals in those games, for save percentages of .821 for O'Brien and .900 for Piper. Even if they aren't the biggest problem, neither do those stats support your confidence in their delivering solid performances in net. As discussed previously, for RPI to make the playoffs, they will need to have career years for one or both of them including much higher save percentages than .900--especially in light of the lack of offence.

I watched the UND game, and believe me, O'Brien was really hung out to dry by her defence on almost all of those 7 goals. I listened to the audio of the Bemidji game and it really does sound like Piper played well. Don't get me wrong, I agree that it remains to be seen what kind of performance RPI will get in net this year, but right now I'm more concerned with what I am seeing from the rest of the team, which looks quite a bit shabbier than where this team was at this time last year.

[hab]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

WRPI has now posted the games that they will be doing on radio (and via internet) for the season. They will be covering 11 out of 19 home games and two road games (the recent game at UND and the game at Union): http://www.wrpi.org/sports/wh_schedule.html. Hopefully, many of these home games will also have video coverage on www.rpitv.org.

[hab]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

Last October, RPI lost a non-conference game to Vermont 3-1. Today they lost to Vermont 4-2. And that is about where the similarities end. Last year RPI totally dominated the game but couldn't put the puck in the net, while giving up 3 goals on something like 16 shots. This year, so far, the team does not seem to have the speed and playmaking to dominate anyone, not yet at least. Vermont looked like the better team, not by a lot but they did look better. Not sure why RPI is off to a slower start this year, but it is a concern. Combined with their late season tail-spin last year, they have now gone 13 NCAA games without a win.

Positive note from today's game: Marianna Walsh, a senior who has not had a ton of ice time in her first 3 years, worked hard every time she was on the ice, got rewarded with more ice time as the game went on, and earned it with a gritty goal.

[hab]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

Good tie against Vermont yesterday. The team looked a little tired and slow but toughed it out for a good road draw.

I'm still having trouble understanding how different this team looks from the team that we saw at the early part of last year. We are seeing a lot less speed and a lot less puck possession. Maybe I underestimated how much speed we lost with the departure of last year's seniors, or maybe some of our returning players are taking longer this year to find their legs.

Good to see Lauren Wash return to the lineup. Shayna Tomlinson sat out the weekend...injury or healthy scratch?

[Waite21]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

FWIW, I found out the result of the women's game Sunday before I found out the result of either game the men's team played.

I travelled from Pennsylvania to Vermont for a wedding this weekend. Friday night, I stayed at a hotel in Albany. I was watching the ALCS and forgot to check any local TV stations for the result of the RPI-Notre Dame game.

No worries, I thought. I'll just go out and pick up a newspaper Saturday morning and find out the result then.

I went out Saturday morning and found a convenience store with the Times Union and the Record for sale - however, the edition of the Times Union that was on sale was the Sunday edition (at 10 AM on a Saturday morning). I wasn't too sure I could expect to find the result of a Friday night hockey game in a Sunday edition and I wasn't too keen on shelling out $2 to find out, so I didn't buy the Times Union. The Record's Saturday edition was on sale for 75 cents, so I bought that.

Got back to the hotel room and eagerly opened up the paper to the sports section, to find a cheerful advisory that I could find all the results of Friday night's games on the Record's website - to which, of course, I did not have access, since I was on the road and away from my PC.

Oh, the joys of the information age.

Saturday and Sunday nights I was in Rutland, VT. I tuned in the Sunday night news on the local channel (which I think is based in Burlington), and would you believe the lead story on the sports segment was not any of the NFL games, but the UVM-RPI women's hockey game.

Good to see our women's team came away with a tie.

When I got home to my PC this evening, I finally learned that RPI's men's team had split their two games for the weekend - which didn't feel all that bad, either.

[DC78-82]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

FWIW, I found out the result of the women's game Sunday before I found out the result of either game the men's team played.

I travelled from Pennsylvania to Vermont for a wedding this weekend. Friday night, I stayed at a hotel in Albany. I was watching the ALCS and forgot to check any local TV stations for the result of the RPI-Notre Dame game.

No worries, I thought. I'll just go out and pick up a newspaper Saturday morning and find out the result then.

I went out Saturday morning and found a convenience store with the Times Union and the Record for sale - however, the edition of the Times Union that was on sale was the Sunday edition (at 10 AM on a Saturday morning). I wasn't too sure I could expect to find the result of a Friday night hockey game in a Sunday edition and I wasn't too keen on shelling out $2 to find out, so I didn't buy the Times Union. The Record's Saturday edition was on sale for 75 cents, so I bought that.

Got back to the hotel room and eagerly opened up the paper to the sports section, to find a cheerful advisory that I could find all the results of Friday night's games on the Record's website - to which, of course, I did not have access, since I was on the road and away from my PC.

Oh, the joys of the information age.

Saturday and Sunday nights I was in Rutland, VT. I tuned in the Sunday night news on the local channel (which I think is based in Burlington), and would you believe the lead story on the sports segment was not any of the NFL games, but the UVM-RPI women's hockey game.

Good to see our women's team came away with a tie.

When I got home to my PC this evening, I finally learned that RPI's men's team had split their two games for the weekend - which didn't feel all that bad, either.

Vermont TV does a very good job covering their UVM Women's team, and before I got to the end of your tale, I suspected you saw the result on the news! It helps that one of their premier players, Ms. Pelkey, grew up playing in Vermont, and stayed home to represent her State College.

[Waite21]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

Yes. The coverage was very even-handed, too. There were video clips of all four goals, including RPI's two.

[DC78-82]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

Yes. The coverage was very even-handed, too. There were video clips of all four goals, including RPI's two.

Should you be interested, UVM lives streams every women's hockey game in HD, and they have a play by play and color team that is quite good. Fair and balanced, as they say! I like to watch / listen to games that don't involve UNH when it fits my schedule and the price is right, and UVM has one of the best, with Northeastern and Quinnipiac right up there. Ironically, I've found that the free broadcasts are as a rule, infinitely better than the pay streams

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

RPI Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony including Rosina Schiff video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ2LdqdHSXs.

hab,
She mentions someone you know in the answer to a question about teammates who are successful. Sorry that I didn't record the time.

[hab]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

RPI Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony including Rosina Schiff video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ2LdqdHSXs.

hab,
She mentions someone you know in the answer to a question about teammates who are successful. Sorry that I didn't record the time.

Thanks for this Ralph. Yes, she does mention my all-time favourite RPI player , and also a few others that I enjoyed watching, and of course Bill Cahill and John Burke. Those first two years in D1 were exciting days for the program.

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

A bit late (just a bit ) but I just stumbled across this article about Shayna Tomlinson from last March with a picture of her signing her LOI. http://www.newhampshirelakesandmount...-RPIbound.html.

[hkypassion]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

The team finished last season (in conference play) 0-9-1 dropping out of playoff contention. This year they've started 0-4-1 and they are a whopping 0/29 on the power play!! They haven't had a PP in years. The girls come in with a lot of skill, but don't improve as the season goes on as other teams do. When do you start looking at the coaching as the root cause? If this were the men's team, this would not be acceptable and it will get harder and harder to recruit (already is hard given the nature of academics). Been watching this fiasco long enough now.

[giwan]

Re: RPI 2014-2015: Goin' back to the playoffs

The team finished last season (in conference play) 0-9-1 dropping out of playoff contention. This year they've started 0-4-1 and they are a whopping 0/29 on the power play!! They haven't had a PP in years. The girls come in with a lot of skill, but don't improve as the season goes on as other teams do. When do you start looking at the coaching as the root cause? If this were the men's team, this would not be acceptable and it will get harder and harder to recruit (already is hard given the nature of academics). Been watching this fiasco long enough now.

Not picking on the girls but it's always a mix of coach and not the right girls or enough skills.