Schedule analysis - conference schedule

Let's look at the conference schedule....

RIT hosts AIC, Canisius, Air Force, Mercyhurst, Sacred Heart, Army, and Bentley. Sacred Heart, Air Force, and Army are among the top teams that could dethrone the Tigers from their perch as defending champion. So having them at the friendly confines of the Ritter is a big help. AIC, Canisius, and Bentley are games the Tigers should win no matter where they play. Those three are likely going to be near the bottom of the conference. That RIT will get those teams 4 times is big. Mercyhurst is the wild card of this group. They have a good sized freshman class. They are not likely to have as bad a year as they did last year. And even then, they played the Tigers tough in the second series. RIT should win double digit wins out of the conference games. You need to do that to contend for the title.

RIT will travel to AIC, Canisius, Air Force, Mercyhurst, Bentley, Holy Cross, and UConn. My feeling is that this is favorable for the Tigers. AIC, Canisius, and Bentley are teams likely to be in the bottom of the conference. So RIT should win most of those games. Mercyhurst, Holy Cross, and UConn could be tough games. Holy Cross and Mercyhurst had down years for them. I fully expect that they will be better. UConn is a tough call. They lost a ton of seniors, but they do return a solid goaltender. Air Force will be a tough set. RIT splitting those 4 series will be a good job. RIT should easily be over .500 on the road.

So I look at RIT getting over 17 conference wins easily. Getting 20 wins is not out of the question and I think that will be enough to win the regular season title again.

Schedule analysis - the non conference schedule

RIT recently announced their schedule. There were the 28 conference games (too many) and a solid set of non-conference games. Let's go through them game by game.

Colgate - It's great to get a road game that many RIT fans can make the trip. Hamilton is about 2 hours or so from Rochester, so it could be one that sees quite a few Corner Crew members make the trip. Colgate had a down year last year, but prior to that they had won 20 or more games 3 straight years. The 'Gate will be a good challenge for RIT, but the Raider could be a little weary as they play Sacred Heart the night before and RIT will be rested. This is definately a competitive game.

Bowling Green - Coach has to be thrilled to get his alma mater in for a home game. It's also a very winnable game for the Tigers. Bowling Green as been near the bottom of the CCHA in recent years. This is a great chance for RIT to get a win over a Big 4 win. Any of those that the Tigers can get will provide a boost in the Pairwise rankings in March.

Cornell - This will be a big college hockey event in Rochester. The Big Red are coming to Blue Cross Arena. The Lynah faithful will travel well and make their presence known. I look at this to be a fun game as I think quite a few Rochecsterians will get a good look at RIT for the first time. Hoepfully the Tigers can put on a good show and some of those fans will come to the Ritter for games.

Marriuci Classic - Talk about a great opportunity. RIT will get to match up against one of the true powers in college hockey in Minnesota. David will have a tough task slaying this goliath. It will give RIT a chance to see where they are in terms of the elites of hockey. The other teams in the field are Boston College and Air Force. They will face one of those teams in the early game on Saturday. RIT will hope to play Boston College in that game, but will more likely get Air Force.

Niagara - The Purple Eagles were a late addition to the schedule. They will travel to the Ritter late in the season. It may serve as a bit of a "Bracket Buster" kind of game as both teams could be near the top of their conferences. A win there will get a nice RPI boost late in the season. That is a great time to get it before finishing out the conference season and into the playoffs. This should be a fun game as RIT looks to break through against them after falling short the last couple years.