February 24, 2011
The sequel
One year after historic Frozen Four trip, RIT has put itself in position for more achievements
by Elliot Olshansky/Correspondent
If there’s an enduring image from last year’s Frozen Four -- unless you’re a fan from Boston College -- it’s probably the sights and sounds of the orange-clad fans who formed the most notable cheering section at Ford Field.
Even as their own team was beaten down by a Wisconsin team that boasted the 2010 Hobey Baker Award winner on its powerhouse roster, and even as those Badgers were blown out of the water in turn by BC in the final, the chant continued to ring out through the cavernous football stadium.
“R-I-T! R-I-T! R-I-T!”
That chant and those fans left their mark in Detroit, after a regional run that included upsets of perennial powerhouses Denver and New Hampshire, earning the first-ever Frozen Four appearance for a program that began the 2000s in Division 3. Now, some nine months later, that Frozen Four has left its mark on the defending Atlantic Hockey champions from Rochester Institute of Technology.
The Tigers occupied the top spot in the Atlantic Hockey standings in late January, five points ahead of their nearest competition. The school’s Ritter Arena is undergoing a renovation project that will expand the locker rooms for both the men’s and women’s teams, and defenseman Chris Tanev became the first former RIT player to compete in the NHL when he suited up for the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 18 against Colorado.
“We’re all very excited for him here,” RIT coach Wayne Wilson said. “Our players couldn’t be happier, and our staff. We’re all excited to watch him play.”
Taken all together, when RIT talks – whether it’s the team’s vocal and well-traveled fans or a coach on the recruiting trail – there are more and more people listening.
“I think it’s given us credibility,” Wilson said, “so that when we’re talking about possibilities of players coming to RIT and what the possibilities are, they’re real and they’re tangible, and they’re not just us speaking about it.”
“We noticed it right away last spring,” said associate head coach Brian Hills, “when we went out to a couple of showcases and tournaments, people congratulating you. People seem to answer a lot more phone calls and e-mails for us, too.”
The talent that those calls and e-mails lure to RIT will certainly come in handy in a conference that continues to grow more competitive with each passing year.
Atlantic Hockey has steadily gained respect with each NCAA tournament upset – Holy Cross over Minnesota in 2006, Air Force over Michigan in 2009 – but the addition of Niagara and Robert Morris from the defunct College Hockey America conference has strengthened the conference even further. The Purple Eagles, no strangers to NCAA tournament upsets with their win over New Hampshire in 2000, occupied second place in the league, with the Colonials just percentage points behind them in third.
“Atlantic Hockey, in the short time that we’ve been in the league, has come a long way,” Wilson said. “I think every team has made improvements, both in their play on the ice and in their commitment they’ve made to their programs off the ice. The credibility that Robert Morris and Niagara bring to our league is tremendous for our league. The way I look at it is to have added six more games against two opponents that, if we don’t play well, are going to mean six more potential losses.”
The Tigers (13-8-4, 12-3-4 Atlantic Hockey) did struggle early on, going 0-4-1 in non-conference play and dropping early league games to Air Force and Niagara as part of an overall 4-6-1 start. However, they have lost just twice since, including once to a Merrimack team that was ranked No. 13 in the nation in late January, haven’t dropped a home game all season long, and have silenced any thoughts of a Frozen Four hangover that might have arisen early on.
“I think we got caught up with that a bit at the beginning of the year,” said Tigers tri- captain Sean Murphy. “We’d think we’d just beat teams, based on what we did last year, but we learned the hard way at the beginning and now we’re rolling.”
Scoring has been balanced, with senior Andrew Favot (11-22-33), juniors Tyler Brenner (18-9-27) and Cameron Burt (5-15-20), and sophomore Adam Hartley (8-11-19) leading the way.
One of the steepest learning curves was for goalie Shane Madolora. The sophomore from Salinas, Calif., was 11-0-4 with a .936 save percentage and a 1.91 goals-against average, with a .945 save percentage and 1.68 GAA in conference play. Those numbers compare quite favorably to NCAA tournament standout Jared DeMichiel, who went 21-4- 1 in league play last season with a .932 save percentage and 1.78 GAA.
There’s just one place where Madalora isn’t trying to be a successor to DeMichiel: in his interviews. While DeMichiel may have become a Frozen Four media darling when he quipped, "We don't think about underdog, overdog … you can call us Snoop Dogg, we really could care less," Madalora is content to be himself, both on and off the ice.
“I’m not trying to imitate what he does,” he said. “I just fill that role with my personality and try to go from there. It’s definitely different during games – I don’t joke around as much as he did – but it’s still a little bit on the lighter side.”
Still, while DeMichiel has clearly moved on – he was 13-6-0 with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays in late January – the mentality he described remains the same.
Whether they’re top dogs in Atlantic Hockey or underdogs against the Denvers and UNHs of the world, the model for success hasn’t changed at RIT. The Tigers just have to keep working at it.
“It wasn’t a fluke,” Wilson said, “and it doesn’t come easy. We had to work very hard to have the success and we have to continue to work hard.”
Elliot Olshansky can be reached at feedback@nyhockeyjournal.com.
