Early Returns

So, what do we now know about RPI Hockey in mid-October? It's not always easy to extrapolate from just a weekend or two of results, but there's little question that if the men could keep things going the way they did against Ferris State, it would be a pretty outstanding year.

Consider the following:

• Jacob Laliberte's first freshman goal: December 2
• His first sophomore goal: October 12
• His third freshman goal: February 11
• His third sophomore goal: October 13
• Game in which RPI scored its fifth goal of the season in 2011-12: Fifth
• Game in which RPI scored its fifth goal of the season this year: Second
• Goals scored by sophomores against Ferris State this weekend: 5 out of 5
• Points by sophomores against Ferris State this weekend: 9 out of 14

What does it all mean? It all speaks to the heart of the offense for this team, which is actually exactly where it was last year - with the Class of 2015. It's no coincidence that last year's five freshman forwards practically always played when they were healthy - and none of the five managed to make it through the entire season without illness or injury sidelining them (all missed at least four games).

The quintet - Laliberte, Ryan Haggerty, Zach Schroeder, Mark McGowan, and Matt Neal - notched a combined 23 goals last season, which led the four classes (sophomore forwards scored 10 goals among three, juniors scored 14 among three, seniors 16 among five).

Are they going to be the end all, be all this season? No, almost certainly not - we should expect to see solid contributions from C.J. Lee, Marty O'Grady (when he comes back), Brock Higgs, and Matt Tinordi based on what we saw last year. Nick Bailen has proven to be a scoring threat from afar over the last two seasons, and there's no reason we won't see a lot of Milos Bubela and Mike Zalewski this season, a couple of freshmen with the bonafides to be contributors. (Aside, of course, from the injury potential, knock on wood.)

Whenever you have freshmen as the core of your scoring output, you're bound to have a struggle to score goals, especially early in the season, and that was exactly the case last year. Although there are exceptions - Brandon Pirri and Jerry D'Amigo come to mind - freshmen typically have a need to acclimate themselves to college hockey before they can perform at a high level. Pirri and D'Amigo, it should be noted, also benefited from the presence of a Hobey Baker finalist on the team.

As well, the marginal utility that the program got out of those two players in terms of on-ice production is actually pretty low - D'Amigo already ranks behind classmates Lee and O'Grady on the all-time points list, and Pirri will likely fall behind Lee this season. It took the two seniors three years to accomplish what those players did in one, but that merely has spread out their usefulness.

So on the basic assumption that RPI is unlikely to see players on the level of Pirri and D'Amigo with any striking regularity, most freshmen that arrive in Troy are going to have seasons like Laliberte did last year, when after much anticipation and expectation, he scored "just" five goals. Does his three goal weekend mean we're going to see more of what was anticipated and expected last year? Perhaps. But he's not likely to be the only one improving. There's no getting around the fact that RPI's frosh five from last year are getting more experienced and getting better - which could be very good news going forward.

Hero #2: Patrick Cullen

Like Friday night's hero, Patrick Cullen had a rough go for much of the year - in fact, he's had a rough go largely since his sensational freshman year. But he's turned it on here toward the end of his final season in the Cherry and White - he seems to have found his hockey soulmates in Brock Higgs and Matt Tinordi, as they've helped him boost his offensive production significantly.

Saturday night, he was the spark for the Engineers' scoring, taking part in all three RPI goals with two of them on his own, and setting up C.J. Lee's power play goal in the first period. He also led the team with seven shots on goal in the marathon session.

The longest game in RPI history and the 6th longest in NCAA history ended the way the previous two longest games in team history did - with a tough coinflip goal. Fortunately, unlike last year's marathon, there is a tomorrow - or, rather, today.

RPI fans can be forgiven for expecting to know how this story ends.
Game 3, 2004 Quarterfinals: Dartmouth 1, RPI 0
Game 3, 2009 Quarterfinals: Cornell 4, RPI 3
Game 3, 2010 First Round: Brown 3, RPI 2
Game 3, 2011 First Round: Colgate 2, RPI 1

The Engineers haven't won a Game 3 since upending Harvard 4-2 in Troy in 1999. They've never done it on the road. Now, they have to do it with a team that's almost entirely fatigued from the longest game any of them have likely ever played before with a couple of exceptions - Lee's game misconduct early in the third period simultaneously helped create the extra-long game (Clarkson's power play goal) and kept him comparatively fresh for tonight, plus Zach Schroeder, who was injured, will likely be replaced with someone who hasn't played yet this weekend. Don't be surprised to see Alex Angers-Goulet tonight (if he's healthy, we don't know why he's been out the last three games), Pat Koudys, Josh Rabbani, or even Greg Burgdorfer or Justin Smith if they're needed.

But what we really need tonight, to keep the season alive, is another hero. Who's wants the belt, boys?

Men's Hockey - at Harvard & Dartmouth (10/11 Feb)

Perhaps it is time to start calling RPI the "road warriors." After a mediocre four-game homestand bookended by a solid win and an awful loss, the Engineers managed to extend their road unbeaten streak to four straight games by riding a defense rebounding from the Freakout nightmare to a 3-point weekend on the road, battling back to pick up a 2-2 tie with the fit-to-be-tied Crimson on Friday, then coming back to pick up a 2-1 win the next night at Dartmouth to pass a plummeting Brown and move out of the ECAC cellar.

Harvard

Lee/McGowan/O'Grady 

Cullen/Higgs/Haggerty

Neal/Laliberte/Schroeder

Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Rabbani

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen

Curadi/Dolan

Merriam

The top line of C.J. Lee, Mark McGowan, and Marty O'Grady has been together for some time now, but the rest of the forward lines have been jumbled a bit. Matt Tinordi, Greg Burgdoerfer, Johnny Rogic, and Pat Koudys were removed from the Friday lineup after having played in the Freakout, and were replaced with Matt Neal, Jacob Laliberte, Josh Rabbani, and Luke Curadi.

The Engineers got out to the 1-0 lead, scoring the game's opening goal for the first time since the 4-0 win at home over St. Lawrence with Lee's team-lead-tying sixth goal of the season from O'Grady and McGowan    about 15 and a half minutes into the game, but the lead only lasted a short time as the Crimson answered back to tie the game just 1:43 later.

RPI weathered the storm in the second period as Bryce Merriam made 11 saves to keep the game knotted at one heading into the final period, where the Engineers began to take more control of the game, and yet they still ended up falling behind. Harvard coach Ted Donato called timeout shortly after RPI failed to score on their second power play opportunity of the game, and just under two minutes later, the Crimson grabbed the lead.

That goal was followed just over a minute later by a questionable tripping call against Luke Curadi, but the Engineer penalty kill held strong, giving RPI the opportunity to stick around. After the Curadi penalty expired, the Engineers started getting some good puck control and had a number of good opportunities on a subsequent power play, but as time ticked down, they still trailed 2-1.

Following an icing call against Harvard, Seth Appert used his timeout and pulled Merriam from the cage - not an uncommon sight this season, but the script was changed this time. For the first time this season, RPI scored an extra attacker goal, coming off the stick of Brock Higgs, who with 1:03 left on the clock, tied the game at two with just his second goal of the season.

The Engineers dominated the overtime period, but could not find the game winner and settled for their second straight 2-2 tie with Harvard. Interestingly, the tie was the Crimson's 10th of the season (in 24 games), tying an NCAA record. As opposed to the tie in January in which RPI blew a 2-0 lead, this one was a little easier to swallow, but the Engineers surely would have hoped for the win given the way the first and third periods went.

Bryce Merriam finished with 29 saves on the night.

Dartmouth

Lee/McGowan/O'Grady 

Cullen/Higgs/Tinordi

Neal/Laliberte/Schroeder

Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Rogic

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen

Curadi/Dolan

Merriam

Rogic and Tinordi returned to the lineup on Saturday night, replacing Rabbani and Ryan Haggerty.

As with Friday night, the Engineers jumped out to the 1-0 lead in the first period, and this time they were able to make it stick for a bit longer. Joel Malchuk's fifth goal of the season 9:23 into the game put RPI ahead, and the team killed off the only penalty of the period late to hold the lead into the second thanks in part to some very sloppy play by the Big Green.

Jacob Laliberte struck on the power play about six minutes into the second to give the Engineers a 2-0 edge, but that lead was cut in half about four minutes later, shortly after RPI was unable to convert on another power play opportunity. Dartmouth's Brandon McNally scored just seconds after getting out of the box on a boarding call to make it 2-1, but it was the only high point for the Big Green in the second period, as their overall anemic play carried over into the second overall. Dartmouth managed only two shots on goal in the second period.

Things picked up dramatically in the third period. While RPI put up 14 shots against Dartmouth's 9 in the first two periods, both teams went to work in the final stanza, throwing all kinds of pucks on net. Big Green netminder James Mello made 14 saves in the third, while Merriam threw up 11 of his own.

Both teams had a pair of power play opportunities each in the final frame, but none was more important than Mike Bergin's interference penalty with 1:04 left in regulation. Dartmouth called timeout, and went to work on a 6-on-4 power play which the Engineers were able to break a couple of times with clearances (and open shots on an empty net without the fear of icing), but largely kept RPI hemmed in their own zone. It wasn't until an interference call against Dartmouth with 3 seconds left on the clock that the Engineers could breathe a sigh of relief that they would not be victimized in the same fashion they had done the previous night.

RPI is now undefeated in four straight road games (3-0-1), but they return home this weekend for their final home appearances of the year if they are unable to dig themselves out of their current hole. The good news is that RPI is now within striking distance of a home ice position, now tied for 10th with Princeton and two points behind the tie for 8th between Dartmouth and Yale. With four games left, it's a mad dash for positioning and as we're used to in the ECAC, pretty much anything is possible.

Other junk - Congratulations to Seth Appert's alma mater (and one of RPI's non-conference opponents both this season and next) Ferris State, as they have become the #1 team in the country for the first time in school history, pulling down 27 first place votes (up five). Also ranked this week on the RPI schedule are #6 UMass-Lowell (up one, with one first place vote), #8 Union (up three), #12 Cornell (up one), #13 Notre Dame (down four), and #15 Colorado College (down five). Also receiving votes were Colgate (107) and Quinnipiac (5).


Union, Cornell, and Colgate have clinched home ice at some point in the playoffs. Realistically, given usual point total targets, Union and Cornell have clinched first round byes, while Harvard and Clarkson have pretty much wrapped up home ice at some point as well.

The win over Dartmouth was RPI's second straight win at Thompson Arena. That's the first time that's happened since the playoff upset of March 2009 and the first time in the regular season since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.

The men and the women both defeated Dartmouth on Saturday, marking the first time both teams defeated the same school on the same day since January 15, 2011, when both teams beat Colgate. Both teams also beat Dartmouth on January 22, 2009.

ECAC Standings

1. Union - 26 pts (11-3-4)
2. Cornell - 25 pts (10-3-5)
3. Colgate - 23 pts (11-6-1)
4. Harvard - 20 pts (6-4-8)
5. Clarkson - 19 pts (8-7-3)

6. Quinnipiac - 18 pts (7-7-4)

7. St. Lawrence - 17 pts (8-9-1)

8. Yale - 15 pts (7-10-1)

9. Dartmouth - 15 pts (6-9-3)

10. Princeton - 13 pts (5-10-3)

11. RPI - 13 pts (5-10-3)

12. Brown - 12 pts (5-11-2)

RPI at Harvard
ECAC Game - Bright Hockey Center (Boston, MA)
2/10/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 2, Harvard 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

USCHO

Troy Record

Albany Times Union
The Harvard Crimson

RECORD: 7-19-3 (4-10-3 ECAC, 11 pts)

RPI at Dartmouth
ECAC Game - Thompson Arena (Hanover, NH)
2/11/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT:  RPI 2, Dartmouth 1

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

RECORD: 8-19-3 (5-10-3 ECAC, 13 pts)

Upcoming games

16 Feb - Quinnipiac

17 Feb - Princeton (Senior Night)

24 Feb - at Colgate

25 Feb - at #12 Cornell

02 Mar - ECAC First Round, Game 1 (site/opponent TBD)

Men's Hockey - Rensselaer Holiday Tournament (26/27 Nov)

It wasn't easy, but the streak is finally over for the Engineers in their own tournament. Given that it had been nine years since RPI won the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament - which has been known by many names over the 60 straight seasons it has run, it probably wasn't ever going to be simple for the Engineers to skate off with the title, even with the relatively weak field most observers saw coming to Troy. The Engineers had to fight back from a pair of 2-goal deficits on Friday but beat UConn 6-5, then had to bounce back from yet another late goal in the title game to win in overtime over Bowling Green, 3-2.

UConn
Lee/Polacek/Cullen
Helfrich/Higgs/O'Grady
Rabbani/Malchuk/Brutlag
Angers-Goulet/Rogic/Halpern

Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Bailen
Leboeuf/Dolan

Merriam

The big news on Friday before the game was sophomore Bryce Merriam getting his first action of the season in net, but also of note were the jumbling of lines. Tyler Helfrich was moved off the top line for the first time this season with the hopes of helping to develop a bigger second line scoring threat. Higgs was moved onto that line as well, moving Angers-Goulet down to the fourth line.

The Engineers dominated the first period, throwing an impressive 20 shots on net against UConn goaltender Garrett Bartus, but he was up to the task, making 20 saves. Instead, it was the Huskies that would take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, scoring their goal on an odd-man rush created by a bad transition from the Engineers.

RPI got a rough start to the second period, failing to follow up on the dominance of the first that had fans expecting that the game was still in hand despite trailing by a goal. The Huskies started turning the shot disparity around and ultimately took a 2-0 lead on a power play goal following an interference call against Pat Koudys.

Things finally got going less than a minute later. Jeff Foss whipped a head-man pass up to Alex Angers-Goulet, who streaked up the boards and came in on Bartus all alone, putting it home to make it 2-1 just 55 seconds after the second UConn goal. Later in the period, Bryan Brutlag scored on a rip from near the blue line that tied the score at two. Things seemed to be going well for the Engineers as the third period began.

But early in the third period, RPI would go down again, and it happened in much the same fashion as the first goal of the game. UConn broke out of its own zone very well, getting an odd-man rush and scoring on a shot that Merriam probably would want to have back, regaining the lead at 3-2. About four minutes later, the Huskies had their two-goal lead back after the Engineers failed to clear the puck. Another shot that Merriam probably should have gotten to popped the top of the net to make it 4-2. Coach-for-a-night Bryan Vines called timeout to try and stem the tide.

The second comeback, like the first one, began in short order. About a minute and a half later, the Engineers cut the deficit in half with a rebound goal scored by Helfrich, and the momentum definitely began to go in RPI's direction. It started to look like the tying goal was inevitable.

Then the energy was sucked out of the building in a hurry. Patrick Cullen and C.J. Lee crashed the net in search of that tying goal, and Cullen, carrying the puck, was upended by a defender taking out his legs. Cullen went flying through the air, striking Lee in the head with his skate, and Lee crumpled to the ice in a hurry. The game was delayed for almost 15 minutes as trainers and EMTs attended to Lee, who had been knocked out for a short time. As a precaution, Lee was put into a neck brace, placed on a backboard, and stretchered off the ice. The Field House was extremely quiet throughout the ordeal.

Once the teams got back to it, however, the Engineers proved that they hadn't lost their momentum. Just seconds after the game resumed - and indeed, only about a minute-and-a-half of game time after the Helfrich goal - the tying goal came from Chase Polacek, who put back a rebound off a Mike Bergin shot to bring the game level once again.

RPI took the lead on one of the worst giveaways you will ever see. With UConn holding the puck in their own zone and every Engineer but Angers-Goulet falling back, the Huskies promptly passed it directly to Angers-Goulet, who was standing directly in front of the crease. Before Bartus could react to the turnover, Angers-Goulet had already rifled it past him for an unassisted goal to put RPI up 5-4. But the Huskies weren't done. After an RPI giveaway in the neutral zone, UConn entered the zone one-on-one and scored on another shot York probably would have had, knotting things a third time, 5-5.

The response was relatively quick, and it was assisted by a pair of calls against UConn. The first was an interference call shortly after the ensuing center ice faceoff that put RPI on the power play, and Chase Polacek converted, threading the needle between Bartus and the post to put RPI back up 6-5. The second penalty came with less than 3 minutes left in the game, giving the Huskies little opportunity to come back. They did give the Engineers fits with the goaltender pulled - something isn't new for RPI this year - but the home team survived to advance to the title game after a wild, back and forth affair.

Merriam made 30 saves on the night, but many of the goals were relatively soft. It was reminiscent of his rough outing against Princeton in last year's Freakout.

Lee was taken to Albany Med, where a battery of tests were run, all thankfully negative.

The Engineers advanced to take on Bowling Green on Saturday. The Falcons had been 5-1 winners over Alabama-Huntsville in the first game of the tournament.

Bowling Green
Cullen/Polacek/Brutlag
Angers-Goulet/O'Grady/Helfrich
Tinordi/Higgs/Halpern
Rabbani/Rogic/Smith

Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Bailen
Leboeuf/Dolan

York

Lee was back at Houston Field House on Saturday night, having been diagnosed with a concussion but alert and otherwise fine. He was held out on Saturday and will be held out this coming weekend as a precaution, just to make sure there are no lingering effects - see the interview linked below.

With Lee out, Seth Appert needed to jumble the lines once again. Bryan Brutlag was moved to the top scoring line for the first time, and Marty O'Grady centered the second line in place of Joel Malchuk, who apparently also had his bell rung in the UConn game.

Allen York was always likely to play the second night, especially if the Engineers were playing for a title, but given Merriam's struggles, it was practically a sure thing.

The first period was a relatively placid and ultimately boring affair. Both teams had one power play, neither of which got anything going. BGSU led 5-3 in shots after the period, which underscores the lack of scoring chances either way.

The scoring started early in the second instead, as Tyler Helfrich put back a shot from Marty O'Grady to make it 1-0. Just over a minute later, Nick Bailen, playing against his former team, brought the puck up ice and whipped a wrister from the top of the right faceoff circle, finding the back of the net to give RPI a 2-0 lead.

Bowling Green cut the lead in half on the power play late in the period as sophomore Jordan Samuels-Thomas, the Falcons' top scorer, scored on an odd bounce that found its way behind York to make it 2-1.

The Falcons controlled play throughout the third period, and the longer time went by, it was becoming fairly obvious that the Engineers were going to need a third goal in order to be able to breathe easy. After both teams had only one penalty each in the first two penalties, both took three apiece in the third, including a pair of matching minors that set up four-on-four situations, but BGSU outshot RPI 13-5 in the third. With the 2-1 score holding into the final minute, Bowling Green pulled the goaltender and held the RPI zone, and once again, the inability to clear the puck came back to haunt the Engineers. Brutlag nabbed the puck with about 12 seconds left but couldn't get it out, turning it over to Brett Mohler, who found David Solway. Solway (who originally joined Nick Bailen in leaving Bowling Green before changing his decision upon a firm commitment from the school to its program) ripped a shot with less than 10 seconds left in regulation that beat York to tie the game - reminiscent of the Union game in Lake Placid and the Harvard game.

RPI was determined to get it back. Off the overtime faceoff, Chase Polacek had a scoring opportunity that drew a faceoff in the BGSU zone, and while the Falcons won that faceoff, they couldn't clear the zone as expected, and Polacek zipped the puck behind the defense to Bryan Brutlag, who scored to alleviate his error just 30 in-game seconds after Bowling Green had tied it to give RPI the overtime victory, 3-2, and their first RPI Tournament title since 2001.

Brutlag was named the MVP of the tournament for his two goals and one assist on the weekend. Also named to the all-tournament team was Allen York for his 24 save showing on Saturday, Nick Bailen (1 goal, 2 assists) and Jeff Foss (2 assists, +3) were the all-tournament defensemen, and Chase Polacek (2 goals, 1 assist) and Tyler Helfrich (2 goals) were all-tournament forwards. The only non-RPI player on the all-tournament team was Jordan Samuels-Thomas of BGSU (2 goals, 1 assist on the weekend).

Things get serious this week, as the Engineers depart on what is arguably the most difficult road weekend on the ECAC schedule - that is, of course, given that RPI and Union, unlike the rest of the league, don't have to worry about the newly dreaded weekend in the Capital District. Yale (8-1-0) is first on the docket this Friday, and while the Engineers are no longer the top defensive team in the nation after giving up 5 goals to UConn on Saturday (that's actually Union now), RPI will be the most difficult defense that the Bulldogs have faced to date. Brown (3-2-3) have proven that they are no slouches this season either, having forced high-ranking UNH and BU to have to come from behind in order to settle for ties in the last two weeks, and we saw at the end of last season what they are capable of. Points this weekend will be made of gold, because Yale and Brown are likely to be tough for other teams to beat in their building (much like Dartmouth).

This may be one of the biggest travel partner weekends in recent memory in the ECAC - it includes all three of the ECAC's ranked teams (more on that in a moment) with the fourth nearly ranked. With a big non-conference game at home against BU right around the corner the following weekend, these next two weeks could be a big coming out party for the Engineers if all goes swimmingly well.

Other junk - The tournament victory moved the Engineers up the ladder in the USCHO poll for the second consecutive week, drawing 231 votes to land as the 16th ranked team in the nation this week. #2 Yale (up one, beat Sacred Heart at home) and #13 Union (no change, idle) are the only other ECAC teams ranked this week. Once again, #2 Boston University (no change, tied Brown at home) is the only other opponent on the RPI schedule this year that is ranked this week, BU and Yale both received 901 votes (with one first place vote going to BU) to tie for #2. Other RPI opponents receiving votes this week were Dartmouth (21), Brown (15), Clarkson (2), Niagara (2), and Colorado College (1).

With the ECAC table getting very unbalanced - as usual, Princeton (due to their exam schedule), Harvard (due to the Beanpot and their exam schedule), Quinnipiac and Dartmouth (as travel partners) have an inordinate number of games played compared to most of the remainder of the league. So we've added the usual ranking by winning percentage to assist you in interpreting the ECAC table.

ECAC Standings
1. Dartmouth - 5-2-1 (11 pts)
2. Princeton - 5-2-0 (10 pts)
3. Yale - 4-0-0 (8 pts)
4. Quinnipiac - 3-3-1 (7 pts)
5. Brown - 2-1-1 (5 pts)
6. Union - 2-1-1 (5 pts)
7. Clarkson - 2-2-1 (5 pts)
8. RPI - 2-2-0 (4 pts)
9. St. Lawrence - 2-3-0 (4 pts)
10. Cornell - 2-4-0 (4 pts)
11. Harvard - 2-6-0 (4 pts)
12. Colgate - 0-5-1 (1 pt)

Adjusted Standings
1. Yale (1.000)
2. Princeton (.714)
3. Dartmouth (.688)
4. Brown (.625, 4 GP, +3 GD)
5. Union (.625, 4 GP, +1 GD)
6. RPI (.500, 4 GP)
7. Clarkson (.500, 5 GP)
8. Quinnipiac (.500, 7 GP)
9. St. Lawrence (.400, 5 GP)
10. Cornell (.333)
11. Harvard (.250)
12. Colgate (.083)

UConn at #17 RPI
RPI Holiday Tournament First Round - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/26/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 6, UConn 5

BOX SCORES

• College Hockey Stats
• USCHO

RECAPS

• RPI
• Troy Record
• Albany Times-Union
• Schenectady Gazette
• Hartford Courant

VIDEO

• Goals (no audio)
• Full game (RPI TV)
• Schenectady Gazette (interviews)

RECORD: 6-3-3 (2-2-0 ECAC, 4 pts)

Reale Deals
1. F Chase Polacek, 2 G
2. F Alex Angers-Goulet, 2 G
3. F Bryan Brutlag, 1 G, 1 A

Bowling Green at #17 RPI
RPI Holiday Tournament Championship - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
11/27/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Bowling Green 2 (OT)

BOX SCORES

• College Hockey Stats
• USCHO

RECAPS

• RPI
• USCHO
• Troy Record
• Albany Times-Union
• Schenectady Gazette

VIDEO

• Goals (no audio)
• Full game (RPI TV)
• C.J. Lee interview (Schenectady Gazette)
• Post game interviews (Schenectady Gazette)

RECORD: 7-3-3 (2-2-0 ECAC, 2 pts)

Reale Deals
1. F Bryan Brutlag, GWG
2. D Nick Bailen, 1 G
3. G Allen York, 24 saves

Upcoming games
03 Dec - at #2 Yale
04 Dec - at Brown
11 Dec - #2 Boston University
19 Dec - US Junior National Team (exhibition)
30 Dec - at Alabama-Huntsville

Men's Hockey - at Northeastern, Bentley (15/16 Oct)

A week after a successful (if not materially successful) trip to Colorado, the RPI season rolled on with the only away/home weekend of the season with another interesting matchup in Boston before heading home for reunion weekend and an early evening game to kick off the Houston Field House schedule. It was a "three point weekend" for the Engineers, as they earned a tie for the second consecutive game against Northeastern, 2-2, before beating Bentley 3-0 on Saturday night.

Northeastern
Helfrich/Polacek/Lee
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Cullen/Higgs/O'Grady
Rabbani/Rogic/Burgdoerfer

Bergin/Foss
Koudys/Kennedy
Leboeuf/Bailen

York

The Northeastern Huskies came into the season with fairly high expectations in Hockey East, with the coaches of the league believing they can finish somewhere in the middle of the table as one of the best teams outside of the league's traditional "Big Four" of BC, BU, UNH, and Maine. Given the Engineers' similar aspirations (picked fifth in the ECAC), this promised to be a game of very evenly matched teams, and it played out that way for the most part.

Penalties were an issue for both teams in Colorado, and it was no different in this game, especially in the first period as the Engineers and Huskies both took 5 minor penalties in the first 20 minutes with three power plays each. RPI would score on their third chance on the man advantage, taking their first lead of the season as Bryan Brutlag scored from Tyler Helfrich and Nick Bailen on a two-man advantage that was brilliantly executed. But three minutes later, on a delayed penalty to Greg Burgdoerfer, Northeastern scored after an extended 6x5 opportunity to tie the score, and then went on the power play to boot thanks to the new rule requiring penalties to be assessed even after goals on delayed calls.

Northeastern came out firing in the second period, earning an even strength goal on a blast from the point by 6'7" behemoth Jamie Oleksiak to put the Huskies up 2-1. From there, penalties continued to rule the day. Burgdoerfer took his third penalty of the night less than a minute after the Husky goal, which would pretty much end his night as he didn't see the ice much after that. The chippiness started getting nasty shortly thereafter, as Northeastern's Zak Stone was issued five for a hit from behind and a game misconduct for a hit that left Alex Angers-Goulet prone on the ice for a few minutes. That long power play was mitigated shortly thereafter by a too many men call on RPI (served by Johnny Rogic who, along with Burgdoerfer, became scarce after the first period). A second penalty to NU a minute later eventually gave the Engineers a long 5x3 power play, but unlike their first period opportunity, they were unable to convert.

After a questionable "instigating" call on Brutlag (who apparently was managing to instigate from being flat on the ice, where he was put at the end of the play), the Engineers were the beneficiary of a questionable call on Northeastern, and they capitalized on the ensuing power play as Chase Polacek scored from a pretty extreme angle, almost on the goal line, for his first goal of the year to tie the game at two.

The referees looked as though they wanted to swallow the whistle in the 3rd period, but early on Northeastern's Randy Guzior made a dangerous play, checking Brutlag into the RPI bench from behind, and he earned the 2nd major penalty of the night for Northeastern. But as on the first major, the Engineers squandered the opportunity with penalties of their own, actually giving the Huskies a 4x3 power play after penalties to Marty O'Grady and Jeff Foss. All told, both teams were assessed a total of 13 penalties, although the Huskies ended up with far more in minutes thanks to the two majors. Neither team scored for the duration of the penalties, and after that, the whistles were put away.

The goaltenders put on a show in the third period, with Allen York making a total of 7 saves, while Northeastern's Chris Rawlings made 9 of his own. The Engineers got a late power play on a blatant hooking call, but it was evened up about a minute later with a tripping call against Helfrich. Neither team was able to break the deadlock, though RPI did manage 3 shots in the overtime period. Overall, an evenly played game marred by lots of penalties, but an even tie with neither team really having much to be disappointed with in the result.

Bentley
Lee/Polacek/Helfrich
Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag
Rabbani/Higgs/O'Grady
Tinordi and Halpern

Koudys/Kennedy
Bergin/Foss
Leboeuf/Bailen
Dolan

York

The next night, Seth Appert came out with an interesting combination of 7 defensemen (the entirety of the RPI defensive corps) and 11 forwards, leaving Bo Dolan as an extra defenseman and only three centers - Polacek, Malchuk, and Higgs - dressed with Matt Tinordi seeing his first action as an Engineer. Rogic and Burgdoerfer, who did not see action in the second half against Northeastern, were in the stands, as was Patrick Cullen, who had not in three games been the force RPI partisans had hoped he would be.

Once again, it was penalties, penalties, penalties in the first period, especially for RPI. Four penalties gave Bentley two 5x3 chances of a minute or more, but the Engineers stood firm down two men. The Falcons were aggressive both on and off the power play, putting 8 shots on Allen York in the first period. The penalty killing necessitated a focus on defense in the first period, and the Engineers did not score on 7 shots.

A late penalty to Bentley in the first period carried over into the second, and on the fresh ice, it was Chase Polacek scoring his second of the weekend to put RPI on the board on the man advantage. The Engineers' penalties suddenly dried up for the remainder of the game, as they took only one penalty in both the 2nd and 3rd period, but now it was the Falcons' turn to take a slew of penalties. Tyler Helfrich converted on another opportunity midway through the 2nd period to make it 2-0, and after missing a wide-open net on Friday and again earlier in the game on Saturday, C.J. Lee finally got the proverbial monkey off his back, scoring early in the 3rd period for his first collegiate goal to make it 3-0.

Meanwhile, Allen York was lights out. Bentley fed him a steady diet of shots all game long, but the junior netminder was up to the task. 8 more shots in the 2nd period and 7 in the 3rd gave him a 23-save shutout, the third of his career. It was also the 20th victory of his career.

Bentley is a team that has potential to be outstanding within Atlantic Hockey in the near future, but they are young and were definitely a team RPI needed to beat. The Engineers are now 1-1-2 on the season. They executed well against the Falcons, getting a good combination of offense and defense, where they needed more offense in the first three games they played but were very much in those games thanks to their defense.

Next on the docket are RIT and Niagara, two teams both looking for their first wins of the season in a psuedo-travel partner weekend as both teams also face Union in Schenectady. These are also games the Engineers should win if they hope to make splashes in the ECAC this season, developing that finishing touch on offense while maintaining a solid defensive front. The combination, applied within the ECAC, would make them a very dangerous team to play.

Other junk - RPI gained votes in the weekly USCHO.com poll, earning 27, up from 13 last week, tying them with Ferris State for the unofficial #23 in the nation. Ranked ECAC teams this week are #5 Yale (no change, idle), #13 Cornell (down one, idle), and #18 Union (down two, lost to #14 Alaska and beat Alaska-Anchorage). Also ranked are #8 Boston University (up two) and #19 Colorado College (down one). Also receiving votes were Colgate (25), RIT (10), and Quinnipiac (2).

The RPI penalty kill has been incredibly effective, even despite its frequent use. That's obviously not something that they should be relying on as often as they have been, but it's good to know it's there. The Engineers are 27 for 29 on the penalty kill, a 93.1% rate that has them ranked 6th in the nation on the kill. Only Boston College (23/23, 100%) and Notre Dame (21/22, 95.5%) have a better kill percentage with 20 or more penalty kill opportunities, and only Michigan (26/30, 86.7%) has had more opportunities overall.

Of course, the Engineers have had plenty of power play chances too, and their combined 57 special teams chances in just four games is tops in the nation, only Maine and Wisconsin with 53 each also have more than 50.

Allen York has a shutout streak of 90:36 heading into this weekend's games, which goes back to 4:24 of the 2nd period in Boston. His 1.45 GAA is 8th in the nation, his .947 save percentage is 9th, and his 248:32 of time in net is more than any other goaltender thus far this season. He has been nothing short of superb for the Engineers in all four of their games thus far.

The Lee/Polacek/Helfrich combination has been pretty sensational - Polacek does what he does, but Lee and Helfrich are not squandering their opportunities playing with the team's star, as they are helping drive the Engineers' efforts on offense. Although the goals haven't been there for the most part, the Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Brutlag combination is also showing signs of life. If they can start producing, that would go a long way toward being the "answer" to the Pirri and D'Amigo departures.

An interesting tidbit from Saturday night's game - former Engineer C.J. Hanafin '05 is now an ECAC linesman, and he worked the Bentley game in that capacity.

Four RPI home games will now be broadcast on Time Warner Cable in the Albany area, with two of them being picked up for broadcast across North America on the NHL Network. This Saturday's game against Niagara and the January 29 game against Yale will be available exclusively on TW3, while the December 11 game against BU and the February 12 game against Cornell will air on NHL Network. The latter two games will now start at 3:30pm to accommodate the NHL Network's schedule. Tim Heiman '10 and Kevin Broad '07 will be on the call for all four games.

RPI at Northeastern
Nonconference Game - Matthews Arena (Boston, MA)
10/15/10 - 7:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Northeastern 2

BOX SCORES

• College Hockey Stats
• USCHO

RECAPS

• RPI
• USCHO
• Troy Record
• Albany Times-Union

RECORD: 0-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)

Reale Deals
1. G Allen York, 26 saves
2. F Chase Polacek, 1 G
3. F Bryan Brutlag, 1 G

Bentley at RPI
Nonconference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/16/10 - 5:00pm

RESULT: RPI 3, Bentley 0

BOX SCORES

• College Hockey Stats
• USCHO

RECAPS

• RPI
• USCHO
• Troy Record
• Schenectady Gazette
• Albany Times-Union

RECORD: 1-1-2 (0-0-0 ECAC)

Reale Deals
1. F Tyler Helfrich, 1 G, 2 A
2. G Allen York, SO, 23 saves
3. F Chase Polacek, 1 G, 2 A

Upcoming games
22 Oct - RIT
23 Oct - Niagara
30 Oct - vs. #18 Union (Lake Placid, NY)
05 Nov - at Dartmouth
06 Nov - at Harvard