Today's Podcast: Joe Yerdon

No, you aren't reading that wrong. We're having a podcast today!

After a month of technical issues, we're confident we have the means to produce a stable podcast, and we do so this afternoon at 5:30 pm ET with our guest Joe Yerdon, who writes for NBC's Pro Hockey Talk.

Since NBC began airing college hockey on the newly christened NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus), Joe has added a bit of NCAA knowledge to his usual NHL repertoire, penning the weekly "Back to Class," recap on Mondays and providing a preview of the Friday night game of the week on Friday mornings. And look who's starring in this week's edition - it's Cornell at RPI, marking the second time in five weeks that NBC's cameras will be at Houston Field House.

We'll talk with Joe about the Cornell matchup and get his thoughts on the 35th annual Big Red Freakout! which is this coming Saturday against Colgate. Can Seth Appert, fresh off his first Freakout! victory last year against #1 Yale, make it two in a row against ranked opponents in the BRF?

To listen in, click Listen to Without a Peer in the upper right hand corner of the page at the appropriate time, or listen on demand at any time.

Glad to have Without a Peer Radio back on the air.

"Hell on Ice"

We've got a special guest pump-up today. Joe Yerdon, the editor-in-chief of NBC Sports' ProHockeyTalk, has penned an awesome bit about the fan experience at Houston Field House on this big weekend. Read it all the way though, and think about it when you enter the hallowed grounds tonight.

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Some of us RPI faithful that call the north side of Houston Field House our home during the season have long been critical of our fellow fans on the south side. We've given them pet names, it's true. They're the "boring side" or the "library side" or just rather plainly referred to as the "townie side" of the field house.

Fans that call that side of the old barn home get their dander up when it's referred to as such and with good reason for themselves because they've always been one of the few and proud that try to carry over the traditions of the student side to the traditionally older side of the building. In virtually every year anyone that tries to do that is either met with indifference or scowls of disapproval, each reaction being it's own brand of let down.

Things have changed this year though. Maybe it's the new paint job or Shirley's new party cabana where Section One used to be, or even the brighter lighting in the old house but whatever difference in reactions there used to be aren't as apparent anymore. Fans on both sides of the field house are boisterous now. The applause, the chants, the taunts... All of it are being heard in stereo by the opponents as opposed to the student side mono sound of the past.

What gives? How did this incredible change of events go down seemingly overnight? Is this what happens when you've got a team winning virtually all the time at home and enjoying one of their best seasons in recent memory? Perhaps that's the case, but I'm pinning this sea change in attitude on something else: Pride.

It's about pride in the team in how they've come together this season after an off-season that seemed remarkably bleak seeing two of the most talented players in recent memory leave after one year to start their professional careers.

It's about pride in a team with a storied program with a ton of history; history that now gets shown to those who are old school people with the program or who are new to everything RPI. Just look at that video they play before the team comes out for introductions and before the start of the third period.

RPI teams of old (well, 1985 at least) and RPI teams of modern times are represented in that video and so are the fans, fans who made the trip to Detroit both in 1985 and last season at the Great Lakes Invitational. RPI isn't just that little tech school in upstate New York, they're the school that brings a dedicated pack of fans who get as loud and supportive as any you'll find around all of NCAA hockey.

Most of all, it's the sudden development of new "traditions" amongst the fans. The standing ovation slow-clap call to arms that takes place before the team takes the ice before the game and before the star of each period. It's a simple but effective way for the fans to get themselves into the game and show the guys on the ice that they're as ready for the game as they are.

The rallying cries that come from Section 17 be it from folks in the First Church of RPI Hockey or the scattered members of the Collar City Madmen, they're all united under the same cause: Supporting RPI hockey as loudly and obnoxiously as possible and that's something that everyone has picked up on. Doesn't matter if the game is in Troy, Schenectady, Hanover, Cambridge, or Ithaca.

On the road, there's no north or south side there, there's just cherry and white. This season, that's something that's finally being adopted in the friendly confines of Houston Field House. There is no more "library side" vs. student side bickering. This time around, the fans are all united under Puckman so when the slow clap starts, and the cheers begin , it only means one thing for the opponents. It means everyone is ready to go and it's going to be hell on ice for the next 60 minutes.

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Amen, Joe. Amen.

Now, onto the task at hand.

Brown likes to play a physical game, and when other teams get goaded into taking stupid penalties because of it, that's when they pounce. If the opposition doesn't get rattled, they've got nowhere to turn to.

In light of the need for calm from our guys even while we reach a fever pitch in the stands, let's all relax and chill with a classic Phish jam. It just happens to be one that includes a relevant question for Brown's captain about two minutes in.

Today's Podcast: Ed Weaver, Joe Yerdon

Time for our weekly podcast! We go live for the week at 1 pm Eastern today.

We've got a couple of guests returning to the WaP podcast this week. We'll talk to Ed Weaver of the Troy Record and get his insight into the Engineers' play last weekend in their first full ECAC home weekend of the season, and find out the prospects for this weekend at Cornell and Colgate.

Joe Yerdon of NBC Sports' ProHockeyTalk also drops by today. He'll give us a look at some of the top college alums in the NHL and we'll ask his opinion of the way the ECAC has played out so far this season.

And... wow! The women have made it six in a row against Dartmouth and Harvard. Tom breaks down the ladies' home sweep and tries to answer the magic question: never mind getting a win, can the Engineers do what so few teams have done, and even score on the Big Red?

Remember, that's 1 p.m. today for the podcast (click "Listen to Without a Peer" in the upper right hand corner at the appropriate time), but of course, you can check us out at any time on demand, and it's especially easy if you're a subscriber on iTunes - our podcasts will automatically download for you, usually within a few hours.

Last week, we had Cap Carey on as our guest and after the Engineers lost to Clarkson, we started noticing a trend. When we've had beat writers and radio personalities specifically attached to the Engineers' opponents on in the past, they've gone out and lost to them - losing to Carey's Knights, Chip Malafronte's Bulldogs, Brendan Roche's Crimson, and Ken Schott's Dutchmen. Then, I guess, you can throw in Joe Paisley's Tigers, since we tried to have him on but had technical difficulties. Is there a pattern developing? Well, if there is, it's not happening this week, eh? EH?

I digress. Check out what Cap had to say last week on demand below.

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