Dial It Back

The Engineers (0-3-0) open their home schedule with a doozy of a homestand - nine in 10 within the friendly confines of Houston Field House, with the oddball being the short journey to Houston Field House West just up Route 7 next weekend. That's more than half of the entire home schedule taking place within the next five weekends - only seven games remain on the regular season tableau after a weekend series with Ohio State on the 18th and 19th of November. It would be prudent for the team to produce some results in the next five weeks.

They get that mission underway tonight against Niagara (0-2-1) and tomorrow night against RIT (1-1-1). No offense to the Purps or the Tigers, but they're not quite Maine (who are off to a surprisingly strong start) and they're not quite North Dakota (enough said). Look at the last two weekends as a resistance run. Back when I ran cross-country in high school N years ago, we'd take a couple of practices and run down to the beach, where we'd do wind sprints while knee-deep in Lake George. It helped make running down a nature trail seem a whole lot easier.

If RPI can take a three really tough road games and play the same way at home against teams less likely to burn mistakes, less likely to simply outclass, and less likely to make life in general super difficult, it could be a strong bounce in the correct direction - and perhaps prove that losing your first three games isn't necessarily a season killer, especially if it prepares you for games that will ultimately matter more... games which start next weekend.

Continuing our selection of Tragically Hip pumpups, here's "Fifty Mission Cap," a song that relates the true story of hockey player Bill Barilko. If you don't know it, learn it. Certainly one that will help get the blood flowing as the Engineers return home after a couple thousand miles of road trip to start the year.

The Great Plains

Neither the men nor the women got off to the starts they wanted - but the women may have turned the corner a bit last night with a 3-0 victory at home against UConn, and the men have at least the opportunity to mimic last season with a tough game against the #1 team in the nation.

For the third straight year (2014 - Minnesota, 2015 - Boston College) the Engineers' second opponent of the year is the #1 team in the nation. For RPI (0-2-0), it's not looking like a game that's going to produce a result. The goal tonight against North Dakota (2-0-0) is to take strides from last week's pair of losses in Maine - get shots on goal. Finish when possible. Hopefully, don't get destroyed. Then take what you learn in playing against the very best and apply it at home next weekend against not the very best.

The women (2-4-1) got themselves off a five game winless streak with their first shutout of the season, at home against UConn last night, a 21-save shutout for Lovisa Selander that included the third goals of the season for both Makenna Thomas and Hannah Behounek. They'll be seeking an opportunity to complete their first weekend sweep since January (the Union home-and-home) on home ice this afternoon.

Yes, it's more Tragically Hip this weekend, and it's impossible not to use this tune. Sure, the Engineers have a pair of games that will be played farther west than this, but they'll never be closer to the magic longitude.

Bearing Down

Fair warning this season - there's probably going to be a lot of Tragically Hip in the pumpup rotation in the approaching months. That's just how it's going to be. I know our Canadian audience won't have much of a problem with that. Americans, just avail yourself the opportunity to soak in a band you should have been listening to years ago - their lead singer, Gord Downie, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an uncurable brain tumor recently and they just concluded what may be their final tour back in August.

Anyway. The women (1-3-0) were in Maine a couple of weeks ago and got their season off on the right foot with a victory, but they've dropped three in a row since, including both games at home to Ohio State. The Buckeyes are battle-tested, playing in a league that, to paraphase a coach out there in the midwest, is "women only." The ECAC's no slouch, but the WCHA is a war, night in and night out, which is a good reason why they've produced all but one of the women's hockey national champions. Robert Morris (2-0-0) may not be much of a respite for the Engineers, especially as they travel to Pittsburgh to do battle with the Colonials. RPI dropped a pair at home to RMU last season, and the Colonials are off with a road sweep of Providence to kick off their season. Another tough pair coming up for the Engineers this weekend.

The men (0-0-0) are two weeks behind the women in kicking off their season at Alfond Arena in Orono. It's never easy to go on the road and get two wins, but against the Black Bears (0-0-0), picked to finish last in Hockey East, RPI's probably going to want to at least pick up a split in this series if they want to start off on the right foot.

So for the first time this season - and sorry about missing the last two weeks - turn the speakers up and get in the mood for some hockey. Four games this weekend for the first time since February.

A Dream of Spring

How about looking at things this way: it may be a blessing in disguise that the Engineers were at home last weekend instead of this weekend.

Seriously.

Spin it any way you like, the home drought was real and it weighed on everyone's mind - even those who had never experienced it. And unlike in 2013, when RPI had a bye to the quarterfinals at home, the ECAC is deep this year - very deep.

Let's say the Engineers had been the ones to score first against St. Lawrence on Freakout! Eve. RPI finishes with 25 points, St. Lawrence with 23, the Engineers get the bye. They're playing at home this weekend, but it's against probably Clarkson. And the monkey is still there on the back.

Still think that's better than playing Brown and getting over that first hill?

Let's be brutally honest. The quarterfinals were going to be a bear no matter how you sliced it - being at home wasn't going to be some magic potion. So in that light, beating Brown last weekend, as difficult as that proved to be, might have been a bit of a boost heading into the quarterfinals.

Look, Harvard won't be easy. No one has pegged RPI as the favorites to finally hit Lake Placid and that's rightfully the case. The Crimson are very good, they're at home, they're rested, and they unleashed 50 shots the last time they played the Engineers.

But this is a team that is already farther than they were supposed to go when the season started. And they've got a difference maker in net.

Why not push this as far as we can?

It's been said over and over again. Lake Placid's eluded RPI longer than any other team in the league.

Go for broke. And return with your shield, or on it. Good luck, gentlemen. Blow our minds. And let all the children boogie.

(Yup, sticking with the power of Bowie.)

Heroes Are Born Here

We've been down this road before. You know the names.

For every George Servinis, John Carter, and Gordie Peterkin, there's a Christian Morrisette, there's a Chris Migliore, there's a Mike Tamburro.

You pull on that sweater in a game that has meaning, you give yourself that opportunity to become a hero. Some games have more meaning than others.

Tonight is one. Tomorrow will be another. God willing, there will be more.

It's been 12 years since a home playoff series win and another two on top of that for the last semifinals experience. It's embarrassing. That's nearly an entire generation. But what better opportunity for a nobody to become a somebody?

Doug Hearns took his shot on Ken Dryden, and in doing so ushered in a new era for RPI Hockey. This is a program that has been in need of that new era. And there are 26 men eligible to kick it off in that locker room. It's a team effort to ensure that one - or more - can be the one to write their name. The one that, 20 years from now, people will look back and say, "Hey, you remember when (HERO) scored that goal? Made that save? Threw that hit? Blocked that shot? The one that led to (GLORY)?"

This isn't the first time here at WaP that we've talked about the playoffs as a time when heroes are born. But just because we're still waiting, doesn't mean it's not true.

It can be true. Now. Even if it's not forever, it can just be tonight - and we'll be in need of another one tomorrow. Anyone ready to claim the mantle?

Let's Shock The World (Again)

Quinnipiac is good at hockey right now, there's no denying that. Whether it's the men or the women, they're dominating the ECAC and that's a long way from where they were a decade ago when they joined our little club.

But we haven't lost to them this year. Not yet, anyway.

It's going to be hard to keep that intact this weekend. The women put up a brave stand against the Bobcats in January, fighting their way to a 0-0 draw in Troy. It won't be nearly as "easy" to do that on the road tomorrow - but hopefully, if everything shakes out well, the playoffs won't still be on the line. They can help themselves with that by getting at least some result against an almost as difficult Princeton team tonight. (As an aside, don't expect Quinnipiac to let off the gas pedal tomorrow. Barring a miracle, they will have nothing to play for in terms of ECAC positioning, but they're still trying to fight off Clarkson in the Pairwise.)

Nine seconds. Before last weekend, that's as close as anyone came in regulation to handing Quinnipiac their first loss in ECAC play (and they still haven't lost one in regulation). Can home ice make the difference tonight? If so, RPI's back in the fight for the top four. If not, it's a three-game fight to the finish to ensure the best placement possible that has to start with a win over a Princeton team that's starting to swirl the bowl.

The last two weekends of the season always end up with heightened importance. There's been a stumble for the men of late. Now's not the time to lose one's head.

Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat

You have to play to your strengths, and you have to mitigate your weaknesses. For the men, that's standing strong on defense and getting enough offense to get by. They have done neither for the last two weeks and it's threatening to derail what had been an outstanding application this season.

Now mired in the mess that always is the middle of the ECAC in February, they're tied for 4th but sitting in 6th, a point away from 8th while sitting three points behind the tie for 2nd. At this point, 4th might be the best case scenario, especially considering the caliber of teams remaining. But that fight has got to begin this weekend on the road at a Harvard team licking its Beanpot wounds and a Dartmouth team that's looks erratic but actually has a pretty stark ECAC reality - they're 0-6-0 against the three teams ahead of them in the league standings (Quinnipiac, Yale, and Harvard) and 9-1-0 against everyone else (who loses to Union? Honestly?). They've been winning the games they're supposed to win. Considering they've already beaten RPI, and on the road, Saturday's game counts there too.

Opportunity knocks for the women tonight. Three points ahead of Cornell and firmly holding the tiebreaker with the Big Red, they are essentially four points up and they've got a big matchup tonight at home against Harvard. I know what you're thinking - Harvard's a national power. Well, this year... look, it's not so cut and dried. They only beat the Engineers 2-1 at home back in November, and more to the point - they TIED BROWN. At home. Last weekend. That's not a team that's firing on all cylinders, and the Engineers get them at home tonight. With every point precious, now's the time to strike. Dartmouth awaits on Saturday and their season has been in a complete spiral for two and a half months. Their win over Brown last Saturday was their first W in that entire time span.

More Megadeth? Sure, why not. Two in three weeks, but that was old Megadeth, and this is new Megadeth. And I've tied it in nicely this week, too.

Making It Mean

It's Freakout! weekend again. We hardly need to elaborate.

But for the men, there's an important point that needs to be made. After this weekend, the next three games are Harvard on the road, Dartmouth on the road, Quinnipiac at home (as in #1 Quinnipiac). That's a tough slog for anyone. And here's RPI. 1 point out of 2nd (Harvard), 1 point ahead of 4th (Yale). Points are going to be hard to come by in the next three games after this weekend - not that they're impossible or anything, just that they're not going to be quite as forthcoming as they should be at home on Freakout! weekend against a St. Lawrence team that's winless in 6 of their last 7 on the road and a Clarkson team that was 2-6 in the eight games before their current 5-game unbeaten streak (four of which were at home, three of those against Brown, Colgate and a free-falling Cornell).

No points are easy. It's just... RPI could probably use a bit of a cushion, and now, if they're going to be a serious player for a bye.

The women have a war on their hands for a playoff spot, and if they don't have one by season's end, they'll have to stare at being swept on the season by Yale as the culprit. And the North Country is never a picnic. But they've nabbed a win over Clarkson this season and St. Lawrence is but a point ahead in the standings. We've seen results from longer odds before.

February's always a time to be a mean team to play against. Let's get mean.

By the way... Tom is currently (as of this afternoon) doing an Ask Me Anything on the college hockey Reddit. Drop by and ask him, er, anything. 

They're All Important

It's another ECAC weekend, which means its another big weekend. They just don't stop coming, do they?

The women have a crucial home weekend against Colgate and Cornell - two of the teams they're fighting with for a playoff spot (although Colgate is very much improved). They dropped a tough one on Tuesday against Yale, so this is now even more crucial than it otherwise would have been. The Tute nabbed three points on the road against the Big Red and Raiders back in October. If they can get things done at home, the future looks a lot brighter. There just aren't a lot of good opportunities to get points in the last three weeks of the season, so each and every point this weekend is precious, especially against the Big Red.

It's the same old story for the men. Friday is a game against Brown they have to win. They just have to. The Bears are in last place. First-round bye teams don't lose to last place teams, but that's exactly what (should have) happened at home when these teams faced off. Instead, RPI is now winless in three tries against Brown, and they have got to get the job done tonight. Tomorrow's the flipside. Want to stay in the top 4? Gotta get a result against Yale again. Keep that momentum going and play well against good teams the way they have been.

Reaching back for this week's pumpup. No theme here, really, just something to get the blood pumping. Unless you want to explore the idea that a hockey game has a metaphorical relation to battle and war, go ahead. No one's stopping you.

Crossroads of a Season

Tonight, the Engineers get to take their best shot at the top - Quinnipiac. The Bobcats have been totally unreal this season, sitting a monumental 7 points ahead of RPI in 1st place and basically playing king of the mountain with the rest of college hockey. First in the RPI, first in KRACH, first in the Pairwise, first in the polls. They've lost only once all year. It ain't going to be easy. But glory awaits tonight in Hamden if the Engineers can do what they've done all year - find ways to win, and take down top-end squads. They did it at home just last weekend. Doing it on the road would be a huge (and we mean huge) boost, both in the ECAC and in the Pairwise.

RPI hasn't beaten Union three times in the same season since 1997, and even that year they were 3-1-1 against the Dutchmen (they swept a home playoff series, because that's what they did back then). Even when Union was horrible, they still found ways to produce a result against RPI. And these last couple of years, even more so than usual, you can just throw the records out the door. They don't even matter a little bit when these teams play. Both teams have a shot at skating away with the Mayor's Cup.

And last year, at least, it represented a bad turning point for the Engineers. Coming in on a 3-game winning streak after finally snapping a long 9-game losing streak and easily playing some of their best hockey of the season, RPI took a 3-2 edge into the 3rd period and promptly gave up six goals in 20 of the most painful minutes of hockey you'll ever see - and kicking off a brand new 9-game winless streak that wasn't broken until the last night of the regular season.

On the surface, there's not much to this weekend. An odd mid-week league game at a team RPI hasn't beaten since 2010, and then a non-conference game on neutral ice. But mark my words. Two losses at the end of this weekend will sour everyone on this team, while two wins would turn some serious heads. The final results of these two games won't have much more of a lasting impact than in how it propels the Engineers into the remainder of the season.

On the women's side, it's a road trip to Brown and Yale, and a couple of games the Engineers have got to come up with points in if they want to stay in the playoff hunt. Brown should present more of a challenge than Union did last week, but only slightly. Points lost there would hurt a lot. Yale, on the other hand, is a primary competitor for a playoff - and RPI's already coughed up a pair of points to the Bulldogs this year. This weekend's a crucial one in the playoff hunt for sure - they won't have nearly as many opportunities for easy points after this one's over.

No team wants to be peaking in January, but it's clear both teams have a lot to play for and need to be on top of their game now, more than ever before this year.

None Shall Pass

No pumpup? No problem.

Missed posting this pumpup yesterday due to some family obligations, but the Engineers, both teams, made the song I was planning to use look mighty prescient.

A 2-0 win for the ladies over Union was followed by a 1-0 win for the gentlemen over Cornell. Lovisa Selander and Jason Kasdorf became the first RPI netminding duo to post shutouts on the same day since Brianna Piper and Bryce Merriam did it on November 12, 2011 - which also happens to be the same day the men last won a game 1-0.

Now, we see if the teams can engineer the first double sweep since October 19-20, 2007, when the men swept Army and Sacred Heart while the women swept Maine - it's never happened that both teams have swept an ECAC weekend at the same time.

Let's make some history tonight, eh?

ECAC Immersion

Well, that's all. The next time RPI hockey, men's or women's, takes on a team from outside the ECAC, it'll be October - or, God-willing, March. It's time to do battle.

Tonight, the men finish a long road-trip - literally - by concluding their Midwestern journey in the most natural of places, New Jersey. And we've said it before and will say it again: if you're going to be a top 4 team, there are games that you absolutely must win in order to prove it. Tonight, even on the road at Princeton, is one of those nights. The Tigers aren't as bad as they were last season and are probably better than their record (they've been in a few nailbiters). Nevertheless, tonight looms as not only a winnable game, but one a team claiming top honors should win.

Tomorrow and Saturday, the women host Quinnipiac and Princeton in what could be the most difficult home weekend of the year - the Bobcats are #1 in the ECAC by winning percentage, and Princeton's #2. As we've often mentioned when it comes to weekends like, this, these are bonus points up for grabs. Gotta snag some of these where possible if you're going to make the playoffs, and what better place to do that than Houston Field House?

Anyway... the fight to the finish begins now, and here's the fun part.

Kill The Chicken

Oh, right. Hockey.

So, the first set of the New Year is always an interesting story. The team's been off for a few weeks on holiday break and you never know how much momentum they can carry into those first couple of games. They're almost always against non-conference opponents, which is good because you want whatever questions there are to be answered after break taken care of before getting back into league games. For RPI, that happens next weekend when they host Cornell and Colgate, but this weekend, it's a trip to Ohio to take on the most common non-conference opponent of the Appert era, the Miami RedHawks.

Now, this is an opponent that, in six games over the last decade, has pretty much destroyed the Engineers left and right. The goal tally over the last six is 28-8, including 3-2 and 3-0 wins for Miami in Troy last year on these exact same days.

The good news? Well, heading into the break, these two teams were going in opposite directions, and it's the opposite of what that 28-8 goal line would suggest. RPI concluded 2015 by going unbeaten in 12 of their last 14 games (9-2-3), while Miami has won only two of their last 11 contests (2-8-1).

But the questions remain... what teams are we going to see coming out of break? Miami's home ice advantage makes this a pretty interesting matchup if momentum stays as it was. To be extremely fair to the RedHawks, the NCHC is brutal. A team that would be among the top in other leagues might be languishing in that conference - and their non-conference record is 3-1-1, the lone loss coming against Providence. But they also finished their 2015 schedule getting swept at Colorado College - that would be 0-13-0 to start the season Colorado College - and will be without one of their top players with Louie Belpedio representing the Stars and Stripes in Finland with the World Junior team.

So it'll be intriguing to see what happens. Can RPI end the schneid against Miami? Will the momentum continue?

(Note to our Miami friends: we have a long, sordid history with the name "Redhawks." Or maybe it only felt long. The title of this post is something we used to chant at "our" own mascot about 15 years ago, though thankfully we never had to do it in hockey.)

Stick tap to our friend Bob for this return-to-play pumpup.

Devilish

So, what do we know about Arizona State? The basic details.

* They're not as young as you'd think. At an average age of 22 years and 2 months, the Sun Devils are tied for the 17th oldest team in the nation in just their first Division I season. (RPI's average age is 21 years and 7 months.)

* Still, they've got a lot of freshmen. 15 of them on their 33 man roster, although one is redshirting.

* Nearly all of them, including the ones who were brought up from their club team, played junior hockey at a fairly high level - many from the USHL, NAHL, and the BCHL.

* They've won three games against Division I opponents - one against Alaska on "neutral" ice in Anchorage, two against Lake State in Sault Ste. Marie.

* Pounded arch-rivals Arizona (still a club team) 8-1 in their first game, and annihilated D-III Southern New Hampshire by a 16-3 margin in two games. They're very legit D-I already.

* Led Clarkson 2-1 in Potsdam in the 2nd period before falling 3-2 and then 4-1 the next night.

* According to KRACH, they're at least better than Sacred Heart, Canisius, Niagara, and American International already. Two of those have been to the NCAA tournament recently.

So if you're expecting the Engineers to just waltz into this one without cares, rack up goals, and go home happy, you're probably going to be disappointed.

First off, that really doesn't happen with RPI - they do have an earned reputation for playing to the level of their opponent, which is something they should probably focus on this weekend - play their game, not the opponent's game.

Second, Arizona State's certainly not bad. They've only been shut out twice, and one of those was Quinnipiac.

But... Jason Kasdorf and Cam Hackett are probably the best two goaltenders they've seen since playing Michael Garteig and the Bobcats. Especially if Kasdorf can keep up his momentum from his amazing 43-save comeback against Harvard, and if Hackett can keep playing like he's been playing, it's probably going to be a long weekend for the Sun Devils.

RPI's focus has got to be on not having a letdown against a team they know they should be able to beat. That's been the struggle in recent years. End the calendar year on a positive note and come back in three weeks picking up where they left off. That's what we need to see - so they certainly need to show off a little devil here tonight.

Break the Ceiling

It's been a fun couple of months in Engineer Nation. The women turned some heads by picking up points they weren't supposed to at Colgate and Cornell, and then against Clarkson. The men... well, they were written off at the start of the season, then beating Boston College was a fluke, and now... well, now they're where they are now.

This is a crucial weekend for the women's team. Yale and Brown at home. If they want playoffs this year, the Engineers have got to pick up these points - the entirety of league weekends may not get any easier than this duo at the Field House. RPI is winless in their last four (five if you count the exhibition in Montreal) since upsetting Clarkson, but this is definitely a weekend to prove that the Engineers' quick start to the ECAC schedule was no fluke - or at least not as big as it was portrayed at the time. If you're going to be a young team might as well be a young team that's unwilling to wait their turn.

For the men, we've known since the beginning that as much as the team's obviously better than the so-called experts thought coming in, they're probably not the very apex of the ECAC, either. Still, here we are, the beginning of December, and it's still RPI sitting atop the league standings (with Quinnipiac, of course, a team that's proven their bonafides more than the Tute has). That's probably not going to last that much longer - but even if it's just one more night with a win over a Dartmouth team that has frequently struggled on both ends of the ice this year, why not? The longer they stay there, the better the end result's going to be no matter what. Points are points, and they're easier to come by at home than they are on the road. So even with Harvard tomorrow night - let's go for broke!

Fun little tune for this week's pumpup. Been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks and the lyrics are at least somewhat relevant too, so here's your earworm. This is definitely neo-80s style, but it was only released a couple of months ago. Enjoy.

An Odd Weekend

Yes, it's an odd weekend of hockey. Non-conference stuff in the middle of November tends to be that way.

Tonight, it's a one-night stand for the men in the Boston suburbs as they get ready for a payback game with Bentley. Let's be honest. Bentley didn't just beat the Engineers twice in Troy last year. They embarrassed them - although some of that was on RPI for embarrassing themselves in their own building. What better time to head down to give the Falcons a home game than to show off how much has changed in the last year-plus since these teams last met? RPI rides a six-game unbeaten streak heading into this weekend, and as mentioned last week, this is a game that a team that fancies itself a contender in the ECAC needs to win. Bentley's certainly not a pushover, though, so bear that in mind.

On Sunday afternoon, the women head north of the border for the first time to clash with the McGill Martinets. It's an exhibition till, so the results are ultimately irrelevant, but hopefully it's a great experience for the Engineers, an opportunity to try out new ideas and new line combinations in a competitive game before they head back into a four-game homestand, including the last chunk of their ECAC schedule for 2015.

Finally, on Tuesday, it's New Hampshire for the men. Tuesday games are old hat for the Wildcats (they usually play a few of them in Hockey East play), but they're more infrequent for RPI. UNH isn't off to a great start and they're having a hard time keeping the puck out of the net. At home, the Engineers might even be the favorites. So there it is. Another pair of games ripe for the picking for an RPI team that is starting to get a little healthier, too. Can they extend the unbeaten streak to seven and eight?

Prove It Again

Well, another week has passed, and the Engineers are still tied for first place in the ECAC on the men's side. Huzzah. Now comes the real test on whether they can stay.

Yale is 1-0-1 on the young ECAC season - the RPI has two games in hand over them, but they won both of those games. But the Engineers aren't part of the real discussion just yet. That's because Yale is still unbeaten overall as well (3-0-1) and have looked very good while doing it. The one blemish against the Bulldogs is a tie against Harvard, another team that has looked very, very good (and is in fact tied with RPI for first place). You see the issue by now. Yale and Harvard tying each other, that's no knock on either of them. The Engineers, meanwhile, still need a signature win to join the conversation.

The opportunity presents itself tonight as the #10 Bulldogs come to Troy. When it comes to upsets in the Appert era, Yale has provided more than their share, although the Bulldogs have certainly had RPI's number of late. Yale swept by a combined 9-3 score last year, and 8-2 a year before that. In 2012-13, though, it was 10-2 RPI. The Bulldogs frequently seem to avoid having to face off against Jason Kasdorf - over the last two seasons, only the most recent game came against the Engineers' top netminder. They're likely to avoid him again tonight, although Cam Hackett showed off some skill over the weekend in the North Country. This shouldn't be as easy as it's been in the last couple of seasons.

Tonight's game is a tough one, but Saturday's against Brown has to be one where RPI takes points - probably both - if they want to be taken seriously. Last year, they were swept by the Bears for the first time in almost 20 years. That's a stain that needs to be washed away if they are to prove they're a better team than they were last season. Brown is 0-3 to start the season and they've given up 19 goals in three games - by comparison, RPI has given up 25 in 9. Get it done.

The women face an even more daunting challenge this weekend as they travel to face probably the most difficult back-to-back pairing in the ECAC this season, Dartmouth and Harvard. Their upset win over Clarkson on Saturday last weekend made the loss to St. Lawrence tough to swallow, but it did prove that good goaltending can keep any team in any game long enough to do some damage, and that's exactly what the Engineers got from ECAC Goalie of the Week Lovisa Selander. If she can build on her outstanding weekend, good things are in store going forward for this team. It may not be this weekend, but it'll be soon.

Dropping the beat for this weekend's pumpup.

Small Sample Sizes

Hey, look! The women are in 2nd place in the ECAC! Tied for second, technically, with Harvard and Dartmouth, but they've got a game in hand over both teams, so... yeah!

And wow! Just like last year, the men are in 1st place! Tied for first, technically, with Harvard (freakin' Harvard), but hey, better than the alternative!

OK, so it's really not that impressive just yet for either team. But the road has to start somewhere, and it's started very well for both squads - unbeaten last weekend. That's the first time that's happened since December 7-8. 2012, when the men won at Yale and tied at Brown while the women swept those teams at home.

There's only way to stay on the perch - keep it up. The women have a difficult task in front of them at home against the North Country. The better bet is tonight against St. Lawrence, but the Saints don't seem to be that big of a slouch. Sure, they're 4-6-1, but four of those losses were to Clarkson and Boston College. No shame there. And then tomorrow is Clarkson... and Clarkson's a wrecking ball so far this year (no, that's not the pumpup).

The men get to return to the North Country for the fourth time in calendar year 2015 to take on nationally ranked Clarkson tonight and nationally ranked St. Lawrence tomorrow. This weekend marks the ECAC debuts for both teams and is never easy for the Engineers, but they could well be without leading scorer Evan Tironese, who took a hit that was a five-minute boarding call in most leagues but apparently a legal hit in the ECAC against Union last Saturday, and also without Milos Bubela, who is frequently a dangerous scoring threat.

In honor of this weekend's games against the North Country, here's a reach back to the past for an ode to alien landings, which wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen up there.


PROGRAMMING NOTE: In case you missed it on Twitter, WRPI won't be in the North Country this weekend. It was pretty much the perfect storm in terms of announcers being unavailable, and one that hopefully won't happen again, but it's pretty much the risk you run when you have a broadcast that's basically unpaid (we get reimbursed for travel expenses and that's it) and entirely produced by working professionals. However, the good news is that the women's hockey game tonight and hopefully tomorrow afternoon as well will be broadcast. Huzzah!

Haters Gonna Hate

"We hate them, they hate us, that's all there really is to it."

I've mentioned this quote in the past - uttered by an RPI Engineer who will forever remain anonymous. It's pretty much a perfect one-sentence coverage of RPI-Union. As much as RPI hated Clarkson for generations, there was never as much mutual hatred as there has been in RPI-Union for years (Clarkson always saved that for St. Lawrence).

Records are irrelevant this weekend - if you need proof, just look at last year's ECAC home-and-home. The defending national champions against a team that just got swept at home against Bentley. So of course the team that got swept at home against Bentley swept all four points. Union's victory over RPI last year in the Mayor's Cup - an equally bizarre outcome, especially considering the condition of both teams heading into it - was the Dutchmen's first win over RPI in four tries.

And it means there's some payback owed. Whoever lost the last round always owes some payback. Period.

It's the opening weekend of ECAC play for the women, too, as they travel to take on a Cornell team that's not quite as mighty as they had been in recent years (they just got taken behind the woodshed by a current power team, Boston College, in Ithaca, 12-1 in two games), and a Colgate team that has been a major competitor for playoff positions in those same years.

Important? All ECAC games are important. But this weekend, both teams face games that, for one reason or another are just a little more important.

Stick tap to Tyler Hinman for this week's pumpup.

Michigan Plays Here Tonight

Check this out - before this weekend, Michigan hadn't played in an ECAC building in almost 30 years. That's a long time. So while we can partially thank Col. Knowlton's move to make road wins more important in the PairWise Rankings, we also have to give kudos to Seth Appert, whose deal with Red Berenson brought the Wolverines out to take on both of the Capital District teams this weekend in exchange for four home games for Michigan - the two against RPI last year, and two against Union next year.

It was a barn burner in an actual barn last night as Michigan and Union skated to a 5-5 draw in Schenectady, a game in which the Dutchmen blew a two-goal lead in the third period (sound familiar?). The Engineers cannot afford to get themselves into a track meet like that if they have a hope of even matching Union's draw against the Wolverines - the offense just isn't in a position to go blow for blow just yet.

The name of the game is defense. And if the defense that beat Boston College shows up tonight, or any night, anything can happen for this team. Anything at all - much of it great.

It's just one night this week. Tonight.