Mike Machnik <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Luiz Valente writes:
>>But how about coaching? Is Dan Fridgen as bad as many RPI fans
>>said he was? Should he still be fired at the end of the season?
>
>You have to know this got my attention. :-)
 
Mine too.  I couldn't stay out of this thread, no matter how hard I
tried.
 
>It's interesting to me that both PC and RPI picked up their play
>towards the end when it counted, yet PC's Pooley received accolades
>while RPI folks have been quiet about Fridgen.
 
It could be because Fridgen was not getting as much blame for the
problems RPI was having.  Whether he is at fault or not I'm not saying.
But the team was not executing properly on the ice, and I believe many
people blamed the team, not the coach, for this, although I agree that
the coach is ultimately responsible for the team's play.
 
>I don't know if this means that RPI fans are stubborn about admitting
>they were wrong, or what. :-)
 
No comment.
 
>Heather and I were thrilled to see that Fridgen and of course asst
>Steve Duncan proved themselves.  I don't see how they can not be
>brought back.  Dunc has to deserve praise for the way he worked with
>Tamburro and got him to play better than many people expected this
>season.  He looked very good in the RPI-Harvard q-final game we went
>to.
 
I don't think it is necessarily Duncan's work this year.  Mike was
in Little's shadow for two years and never had a chance to prove
himself.  If anything, it's been Steve's work the previous two
years that got Mike to the level he's at.  Tamburro was good early
on, but then the injury had him slumping in the middle of the season.
Now that he's playing every game and healthy, he's extremely sharp.
 
>Gopher fans will forgive me, I'm sure, if I pull for RPI this weekend.
>
>BTW, RPI is 2-7-0 all-time against Minnesota.  The teams last met in
>Minnesota on 12/10-11, 1988.  RPI won the first game, 7-4, while
>Minnesota won the rematch 9-3.  Duncan made 37 saves in RPI's 7-4 win.
>RPI would finish 12-17-3 that season, 8th in the ECAC, while Minnesota
>went 34-11-3 and finished first in the WCHA, losing the NC$$ title
>game to Harvard in overtime.
 
Let's not forget the second meeting between these two teams, on March 13,
1954 in the NCAA Championship Game at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.  RPI and Minnesota skated to a 4-4 tie
in regulation, then went to sudden-death overtime.  The game ended at 1:54
of overtime when Gordie Peterkin knocked home the winning goal and RPI
won their first national championship.
 
See everyone at the Dane.
 
Kurt Stutt
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