This decision doesn't really surprise me - although as I have said, I
have reached the point where it would not have surprised me either
way. :-)
 
Brian Morris writes:
>Some quick comments.  This was consistent with my prediction when Fridgen was
>announced as the head coach.  Since he hails from Canada, Fridgen does not
>have the Massachusetts contacts that Powers had, so essential to compete in
>Hockey East.
 
I don't believe it is necessary to have those Mass contacts to compete
in HE.  The most successful team in HE over the last decade, Maine,
built their dynasty mainly through shrewd recruiting of excellent
Canadian players who no one else saw or wanted.  Look at Jean-Yves
Roy...darn it, he was a fireman before Shawn Walsh took a chance on
him!  Within a year everyone in DivI wished they had given him a
chance too.
 
At the start of Maine's rise to the top, Walsh was able to convince a
couple of stars here and there from Mass to come to Orono, and he also
got a number of players who knew they could play DivI but weren't
sought after by other teams.  But many of the great Maine teams were
built on the backs of outstanding Canadian players.  Even now, most of
Maine's top players are from outside Mass.  And it was actually not
usual that they would have a recruiting year that ahead of time was
considered as good as 1992, when everyone acknowledged that they had
signed 3 of the top 4 recruits available.
 
Maine is not the exception to the rule, either.  Rather, I would say
that BU is the exception to the rule right now - BU is the one team
that recruits heavily in Mass AND is very successful.  Providence,
UNH, and Lowell have all had superb teams in the last few years that
did not have a significant number of Mass players among their key
players.  And Northeastern did the same last season.
 
I think it could have helped to have Buddy able to recruit to RPI from
Mass and CM (boy would things have been interesting!).  But not having
that would not have hurt Fridgen, IMO.  I have to doubt that this was
a factor in the decision.  If anything, it shows a lack of faith in
your new head coach to get the job done.
 
BTW, don't forget...the guy who was a step below Fridgen on the asst
totem pole at RPI was Steve Duncan - my former roommate at RPI, from
Tewksbury, MA.  He has the connections Fridgen doesn't have.  I
haven't heard what his involvement, if any, will be with a
Fridgen-coached team.
 
>I think the decision came down to two factors: 1)the administration wasn't
>willing to completely junk the academic index; 2) fears that RPI would be
>unable to compete, especially with Buddy Powers having departed (thanks
>Jon for your opinion).
 
I can understand the first, I always thought that was a possibility...but
as far as how they would have fared, chances were, they would have
been one of the better teams.  I certainly don't think they would have
unable to compete.  Their performance in recent years against teams
like Maine, BU, UNH, etc. seems to show that.
 
>One additional influence may have been RPI's reticence
>to become the only New York team in HE.  I would think the thought of leaving
>traditional opponents like Clarkson, SLU and Colgate must have had an effect
>on the decision.
 
Yes...despite rumors that some of these teams might follow if RPI had
left for HE, nothing is guaranteed.
 
>I would also guess that the ECAC threw a carrot toward the
>Engineers (perhaps the tv contract reported earlier) as a rationale for RPI
>electing to stay put.  I don't think RPI was willing to take the heat for
>severely disrupting a league it had been a part of for so many years.
 
I cannot understand the latter being a factor (not taking the heat).
If a move is right for your program, you do what has to be done.  I
would hope that a rumored tv contract wouldn't have been the only
thing the ECAC conceded on...that belongs in the same category as the
new Garden (believe it when I see it) and didn't seem to be such a
major consideration to me.
 
>Engineer fans can only hope the adminstration has chosen the right track for
>the program.
 
So do I - seeing as how I am a fan of the game and want to see happen
what is best for it.  Unfortunately, I thought the move would have
been the right one for RPI at this time, so I am disappointed at the
decision (but not surprised).  I expect that in the coming years, we
will continue to hear the same complaints from RPI fans and reasons
why they should have left when they had the chance, but only time will
tell.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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