Three years ago he heard fans and reporters clamoring for the axe. They wanted Rensselaer men’s hockey coach Dan Fridgen out. The Engineers were in the midst of a 12-25-3 season back in 2002-2003, their worst in almost 10 years.

But Ralph did not ice the Fridge; instead he resigned him to a three-year deal.

The decision made sense. Fridgen had led RPI to a 20-win season just the year before, the fourth in his tenure, and then followed with his fifth 20-win season and brought his team within one goal of the ECAC Final Four in 2003-2004.

Ralph apparently made the right decision.

So why does Ralph find himself in a strikingly similar situation three years later?

Try a combined record of 62-79-13 in the last four years, the worst such mark in RPI’s recent history, two consecutive losing seasons, and a shockingly quick exit from the ECACHL playoffs to newcomer Quinnipiac at the Houston Field House this weekend.

Ralph admitted he was in a state of shock after the Engineers’ 4-2 loss to the Bobcats Saturday.

“I didn’t expect the season to be over already and I don’t think anybody is happy about it,” he said.

And to make matters worse, Ralph can’t even take advantage of Spring Break. He is already beginning the evaluation process, which involves a lengthy interview with Fridgen along with feedback from hockey alumni, players, and Vice President for Student Life Eddie Knowles.

“We want to move quickly on this,” Ralph said. “Clarity for the program is important, but this will be a total program evaluation. We are not going to focus merely on wins and losses.”

The cases for and against Fridgen, who just completed his 12th season as RPI’s head coach, are both strong.

He has more wins than any other coach in RPI history with 211, but boasts a winning percentage of just over .500 and has only one ECAC title in his tenure. He’s known to be a great recruiter, but as the last four years have shown, has failed to get the most out of his talent.

By those marks, Fridgen should be out, especially considering even Mike Addesa, the man who brought home one of RPI’s two NCAA championships, could not survive a three-year stretch where he went 40-48-5.

But again, it is not all about those numbers.

“You have to look beyond the wins and losses,” Ralph said. “The coaching staff has to be given a lot of credit for what they accomplished. They have successfully balanced hockey and academics in an intense academic setting. That by itself is incredible.”

The men’s hockey team did have 23 of 25 active players make the Dean’s List last semester and 25 of 28 the year before. This year’s squad posted a collective GPA of 3.37. had 13 players make the ECACHL All-Academic team—the most in the league—and RPI was one of only seven schools in Division I to score a perfect 1000 on the NCAA’s new Academic Progress Report, a new initiative taking away a school’s scholarships for failing to meet a new set of academic standards. The hockey program also graduates 83 percent of its student-athletes compared to the Institute’s overall rate of just 77 percent.

By those numbers Fridgen should stay, the problem Ralph now faces is which message does he want to send.

Fridgen, according to Ralph, is also being “strongly” backed by hockey alumni, especially his former players, and it’s easy to see why.

Fridgen treats his players as he would his own children, constantly reaching out to them. A prime example of Fridgen’s love for his players occurred just last spring when he took then-junior forward Kirk MacDonald into his home as he began treatment for testicular cancer. This year, he welcomed his star back and encouraged his team’s efforts to support “Mac” as they raised over $10,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation through their season-long fundraiser.

The evidence is loaded on both sides. The question is which one will tip the scale?

Ralph will have to decide what’s more important.

Academics vs. Athletics.

Win’s vs. losses.

Good luck.