RPI men’s hockey Head Coach Dan Fridgen delivered some surprising news to his players in the early hours of Tuesday morning: He was stepping down.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” graduating captain and forward Kevin Croxton said Tuesday afternoon, several hours after the team’s 7 am meeting at Houston Field House. “As the senior class, we can’t help but feel somewhat responsible. This was not the lasting impression we wanted to leave.”
After 17 years behind the bench, including 12 as RPI’s head coach, Fridgen officially announced his resignation through the Rensselaer athletic department Tuesday even though his contract did not expire until June.
“Rensselaer has offered me a tremendous opportunity over the past 17 years,” Fridgen said in an Institute press release. “My family and I are very thankful for all the experiences we have shared with some tremendous people in the program, on the campus, and in the community. I wish the team nothing but success.”
In those 12 years as a head coach, Fridgen’s teams put together an overall record of 211-193-38, which includes an in-conference mark of 116-116-31. His 211 wins are the most in the history of the program. He surpassed Mike Addesa with a win over Mercyhurst last season, and hit the 200-win plateau with a win over Army this season.
However, 200 career wins was not enough to erase a 62-79-13 record in the last four years, a 14-17-6 record this season, and an early exit from the ECACHL playoffs against conference newcomer Quinnipiac at the Houston Field House.
Rensselaer Athletic Director Ken Ralph admitted at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that wins and losses played a major role in Fridgen’s departure and that RPI’s former coach failed to meet expectations in that area.
“Unfortunately, there were too many of one and not enough of the other,” Ralph said.
In his tenure, his teams had eight winning seasons and three top-three finishes in the league. In 1995, his first year as head coach, the Engineers won the league title despite finishing that season in sixth place. Academically, Fridgen’s resume is spotless. During his tenure, the program graduated 83 percent of his players, and last year’s team had 13 ECACHL All-Academic team members along with a collective GPA of 3.37.
“This has been tough for me,” Ralph said. “Things have snowballed the last couple of days.”
Fridgen’s decision was made for professional reasons according to Ralph, after extensive talks between the two and a thorough program evaluation failed to materialize a new contract for Fridgen. Ralph also said an extension was not in the offing.
The Engineers return two of their top three scorers for the 2006-07 season, Oren Eizenman and Jonathan Ornelas, their starting goaltender Mathias Lange, and Kirk MacDonald, the leading scorer from 2004-05 who red-shirted this season after winning his battle with testicular cancer.
“I’m thankful he brought me here,” Lange said of Fridgen. “He never broke a promise.”
With the uncertainty surrounding Fridgen’s replacement, Lange admitted times are tense in the Engineer locker room. “Everyone will be starting back at zero now.”
Frank Bretti, the second-year assistant coach, will run day-to-day operations for the team until a replacement is tabbed. Bretti said recruiting is continuing for the Engineers as the team tries to bring in another forward and defenseman.
“This is difficult to take,” Bretti said. “We felt we had things going in the right direction. I have tremendous respect and appreciation for Dan and him bringing me here. He has a tremendous passion for the game of hockey.”
