Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy had this “zinger” on RIT today in his blog post on the Frozen Four. I am sure that he is going to piss off a few of the RIT fans but he does have a valid point. RIT is from the AHA a league that was not very good this year in their nonconference schedule RIT went an
unimpressive 0-6 against the teams they played out of their conference. This is the teams that RIT played in their non-conference schedule; Colgate L3-2 (15-15-6), St Lawrence L 3-1 (19-16-7), Clarkson L 5-3 (9-24-4), Niagara L 3-2 (12-20-4), MSU-M L 6-1, L 3-0 (16-20-3)… So excuse me if I am not impressed with RIT either.
But really, this tournament highlights that for all the talk of parity on a national level, that the little guys are catching up with the big dogs at long last, it's more like "Business As Usual Plus RIT."
I have nothing against RIT, except that I disagree with the mechanism by which they got into the tournament; it's nice that a team with such likeable players has made it this far, but this isn't their rodeo.
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So yes, I am looking forward to that title game between Wisconsin and the winner of BC/Miami, but not because I want RIT to lose. It's just silly to expect anything but that outcome. Obviously everyone said that prior to their squeaker against Denver and again before UNH's annual Chernobyl act, but these courageous Tigers have to run out of luck at some point, right?
Maybe you want to believe in the underdog; I don't begrudge that attitude. Just don't be surprised when the three teams that have been to eight Frozen Fours in the last five seasons keep right on winning.
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RIT (28-11-1)
Why the Tigers will be national champions: Jared DeMichiel is a hell of a goaltender and the whole team plays strong defense. They proved it against both Denver and UNH. They're also capable of an offensive explosion. In this tournament the Tigers proved they can play white-knuckle hockey and that they can win a laugher.
Why they're going home disappointed: They haven't proven they can play from behind. They never trailed in the regional, and actually scored just five minutes into the Denver game. I'm sure they had a few comeback wins in Atlantic Hockey, but the Frozen Four doesn't have any teams like Army or UConn. Unless they go up on Wisconsin early in the game (unlikely), it's probable they'll have to play with a deficit
[PUCK DADDY]
