First Quarter Grades
We are about a quarter of the way through the season and it's time to hand out some grades. So here we go.
Offiense: A
This area is where there has been the most improvement has been shown. Even if you consider that RIT scored 16 of their 34 goals against AIC, they have generated much more chances and have scored more goals than they were last year. Another encouraging sign is that the scoring is more evenly distributed. Last year, Simon Lambert was great - but he really was the only consistant scorer and only double digit goal scorer last year. This year, there are several players that look like they will get to double digits. Matt Smith leads the team with 5 goals. Steve Pizizzotto, Anton Kharin, and Jeff Hofstetter have 4 goals. Having more weapons means that RIT's opponents have more lines to worry about than just Lambert's line. If this trend keeps up, RIT will have a very successful season.
Defense: B
The defense is still giving up a quite a few shots - almost 37 per game. However, they are doing better in conference play, where it is 32.4 shots allowed per game. They are getting better in blocking shots as well. They make good effort in making sure that the shots allowed have not been quality shots for the most part. One thing that has been the stalwart of the defense in the penalty kill. The Tigers have excellant in that department. They allow goals on only 13.5% of the opponent's chances - and only 10.4% during conference play. Considering RIT has been taking a lot of penalties, that has been huge. On the +/- side, RIT as a team is +24, with defensemen Al Mazur, Matt Harris, and Bobby Ramond leading the way with a +4. Only 6 players are in the negatives, so this definately has been a team effort.
Goaltending: A
What more can be said about Jocelyn Guimond that has not been said before. He may be the best goaltender not on a "Big 4" conference team. About the only thing he has not yet done is get a shutout. He has a sparkling 2.68 GAA and a .929 save percentage. He has allowed only 9 even strength goals on the season. Louis Menard seems to have been a solid backup. He did have a bad game against Cornell, but he was sharp in games against Clarkson and AIC. He has even stopped a penalty shot and has a shutout. Overall, he has a 3.02 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. This tandem could be pretty formidable as the season goes on.
Things to improve on: Obviously, things are not perfect for RIT. There are some things that do concern fans and I'm sure Coach Wilson as well. RIT is losing more faceoffs than they have been winning. Only a handful of players have won more faceoffs than they lost. Another major concern is the penalties. It's true that the game is being called tighter in general. However, RIT is averaging 12.4 penalties a game for a whopping 30.3 PIMs per game. That number must go down for RIT to be competitive against better teams.
Overall grade: A Nobody really knew what to expect this season. Being 3-1-1 in conference is a good start. Also, the Tigers have only had 2 home NCAA games. They have a chance to boost their record when more of the home games kick in. RIT looks to be on their way to a successful season and possibly becoming a force in the AHA. The next stretch of 8 games against Bentley, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, and Army will go a long way towards determining where RIT is competitively with the rest of the AHA.
Offiense: A
This area is where there has been the most improvement has been shown. Even if you consider that RIT scored 16 of their 34 goals against AIC, they have generated much more chances and have scored more goals than they were last year. Another encouraging sign is that the scoring is more evenly distributed. Last year, Simon Lambert was great - but he really was the only consistant scorer and only double digit goal scorer last year. This year, there are several players that look like they will get to double digits. Matt Smith leads the team with 5 goals. Steve Pizizzotto, Anton Kharin, and Jeff Hofstetter have 4 goals. Having more weapons means that RIT's opponents have more lines to worry about than just Lambert's line. If this trend keeps up, RIT will have a very successful season.
Defense: B
The defense is still giving up a quite a few shots - almost 37 per game. However, they are doing better in conference play, where it is 32.4 shots allowed per game. They are getting better in blocking shots as well. They make good effort in making sure that the shots allowed have not been quality shots for the most part. One thing that has been the stalwart of the defense in the penalty kill. The Tigers have excellant in that department. They allow goals on only 13.5% of the opponent's chances - and only 10.4% during conference play. Considering RIT has been taking a lot of penalties, that has been huge. On the +/- side, RIT as a team is +24, with defensemen Al Mazur, Matt Harris, and Bobby Ramond leading the way with a +4. Only 6 players are in the negatives, so this definately has been a team effort.
Goaltending: A
What more can be said about Jocelyn Guimond that has not been said before. He may be the best goaltender not on a "Big 4" conference team. About the only thing he has not yet done is get a shutout. He has a sparkling 2.68 GAA and a .929 save percentage. He has allowed only 9 even strength goals on the season. Louis Menard seems to have been a solid backup. He did have a bad game against Cornell, but he was sharp in games against Clarkson and AIC. He has even stopped a penalty shot and has a shutout. Overall, he has a 3.02 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. This tandem could be pretty formidable as the season goes on.
Things to improve on: Obviously, things are not perfect for RIT. There are some things that do concern fans and I'm sure Coach Wilson as well. RIT is losing more faceoffs than they have been winning. Only a handful of players have won more faceoffs than they lost. Another major concern is the penalties. It's true that the game is being called tighter in general. However, RIT is averaging 12.4 penalties a game for a whopping 30.3 PIMs per game. That number must go down for RIT to be competitive against better teams.
Overall grade: A Nobody really knew what to expect this season. Being 3-1-1 in conference is a good start. Also, the Tigers have only had 2 home NCAA games. They have a chance to boost their record when more of the home games kick in. RIT looks to be on their way to a successful season and possibly becoming a force in the AHA. The next stretch of 8 games against Bentley, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, and Army will go a long way towards determining where RIT is competitively with the rest of the AHA.
posted by Komey at 6:37 PM
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