Know Your Enemy: Quinnipiac

Quick. Besides Union, what was the only other ECAC team to make it to 20 wins last season? OK, you've already seen the title and the logo below tends to draw your eye's attention right away, so you've already figured out the answer, but would you have said Quinnipiac before opening this page? Probably not, but they're it - Cornell and Colgate topped out at 19 wins each. They're a team that tends to quietly surpass expectations, and they did it again last season, especially outside the conference.

Quinnipiac
Nickname: Bobcats
Location: Hamden, CT
Founded: 1929
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2002
Last Frozen Four: None
Coach: Rand Pecknold (19th season)
2011-12 Record: 20-14-6 (9-8-5 ECAC, 5th place)
Series: Quinnipiac leads, 7-6-6
First Game: October 16, 1999 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: February 19, 2010 (Troy, NY)
Last QU win: February 17, 2012 (Troy, NY)

2012-13 games: December 1, 2012 (Troy, NY); January 11, 2013 (Hamden, CT)

Key players: D Loren Barron, sr.; D Zack Currie, sr.; D Mike Dalhuisen, sr.; D Zach Davies, sr.; G Eric Hartzell, sr.; F Jeremy Langlois, sr.; F Connor Jones, jr.; F Kellen Jones, jr.; F Jordan Samuels-Thomas, jr.; D Zach Tolkinen, jr.; F Matthew Peca, so.; G Michael Gartieg, fr.; F Zach Luczyk, fr.; F Travis St. Denis, fr.

Key losses: F Scott Zurevinski, D Mike Glaicar, F Yuri Bouharevich, F Spencer Heichman

Previous KYE installment:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12

The Bobcats survived a bit of a scare last month when it was reported that Pecknold, the guy who practically built Quinnipiac hockey from scratch, was offered the vacant head coaching position at UMass. The school threw together what was termed an "aggressive counter-offer" and Pecknold will stay in Hamden earning a little extra dough. As UMass fans can tell you, July (and for the Q, it surely would have been into August) is not the time to be looking for a new head coach - especially considering what there is to work with at "The Bank."

One of the most striking features of Quinnipiac last year was their ability to strike from just about anywhere. As a matter of fact, every single forward on the team, and all but two defensemen, had at least two goals on the season last year. That's impressive just by itself. Then throw in the fact that the Bobcats' top five point producers (any of which would have led the Engineers in scoring last year) are all returning this season, and you've got some good mojo. The attack is led by the Jones twins (Kellen with 14 goals and Connor with 13), Langlois (17 goals), and Peca (8 goals and 31 assists).

Meanwhile, their defense returns almost entirely intact with the exception of the defensive-minded and tough Glaicar. Hartzell had another solid year in net for the Bobcats, and now holds down the fort for his senior season with four classmates in front of him on the blue line and, speaking to the future, plays mentor to a prospect in Gartieg who is coming off a season in which he was the first-choice goaltender for a Penticton Vees team in the BCHL that put together a flat-out moronic record of 54-4-0-2 last season on their way to the Canadian national junior championship, the Royal Bank Cup.

The Bobcats get to tap not only Penticton's goaltending but also their scoring prowess, as St. Denis was one of Gartieg's teammates last season, finishing fourth on the Vees in scoring. He adds to an already dangerous lineup, and the Q also brings in Samuels-Thomas, a Winnipeg Jets draftee who returns to his home state after two seasons at Bowling Green (2010 and 2011) in which he led the Falcons in scoring - you may remember him from the final RPI tournament in 2010, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.

How does it all add up? This team is ready to rock. They're absolutely stacked offensively and they should at the very least be competent on defense and probably more. Given that the team tied for fourth place in the standings last year and ended up hosting a first round game on fewer league wins (for the second time), anything less than the program's first ever first-round bye has got to be viewed as a failure this year, and if there's one team that comes in with the bonafides to chase down Union, it may well be the Bobcats.

As far as the Engineers are concerned, they lost a heart-breaker to the Q last year in Hamden when Bouharevich scored with 2 seconds left in regulation, then got out worked in Troy. Quinnipiac are the likely favorites when they face each other this season, but the relatively short turnaround time of just over a month could be a little advantageous - less time for injuries to heal means both sides will probably see largely the same team they faced off with in December once they see each other in Connecticut. Also, it should be pointed out, if Quinnipiac lands that bye this year and RPI doesn't, it'll leave the Engineers as the only team never to claim it since the league expanded to a 12-team playoff in 2003. Something to chew on.

Know Your Enemy: Princeton

The post-Gadowsky era in New Jersey did not exactly start off with a bang, more resembling the doormat Tigers team of the early 2000s than the power contenders that the now-Penn State head coach turned them into by the end of that decade. Still, Gadowsky himself started off slowly at Old Nassau, so Bob Prier certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Princeton
Nickname: Tigers
Location: Princeton, NJ
Founded: 1746
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2009
Last Frozen Four: None
Coach: Bob Prier (2nd season)
2011-12 Record: 9-16-7 (6-12-4 ECAC, 11th place)
Series: RPI leads, 63-31-9
First Game: January 18, 1952 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: February 5, 2011 (Princeton, NJ)
Last PU win: February 18, 2012 (Troy, NY)

2012-13 games: November 30, 2012 (Troy, NY); January 12, 2013 (Princeton, NJ)

Key players: G Mike Condon, sr.; F Rob Kleebaum, sr.; F Will MacDonald, sr.; F Eric Meland, sr.; D Michael Sdao, sr.; F Jack Berger, jr.; G Sean Bonar, jr.; F Andrew Calof, jr.; D Jeremy Goodwin, jr.; D Kevin Ross, jr.; F Aaron Kesselman, so.; F Michael Ambrosia, fr.; D Kevin Liss, fr.; F Kyle Rankin, fr.; F Michael Zajac, fr.

Key losses: D Derrick Pallis, F Marc Hagel

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12

The number one element in Princeton's struggles last season was by and large their youth - those two key losses that you see represent 2/3 of the Tigers' entire graduating class, and besides Pallis' defensive ability, there's not much going by the wayside for the upcoming season.

For RPI, Princeton's struggles last year are largely irrelevant, because despite the weak record, two of those nine wins came against the Engineers, and they were in games that were not terribly close. The first was a 5-3 loss at Princeton in which the Tigers' scoring duo of Calof and Berger notched a pair of goals each, and the second was a 6-2 implosion on Senior Night in Troy that continued Princeton's domination in the Collar City and another two goals for Calof.

Princeton has not lost in Troy since November 3, 2006, which gives them five straight wins, which came at a combined difference of 25-6, including two shutouts. So no matter how well the Tigers are doing, the Engineers had better come ready for a street fight on the last day of November.

As to the team itself, Calof was not a revelation last year, essentially repeating his solid freshman year with a great sophomore season, leading his team in scoring for a second straight year. Berger, on the other hand, was vastly improved from a slow freshman season. Kleebaum and Sdao were the team's other scoring threats, the latter bringing the heat from the blue line.

As talented as those guys were, Calof led the team with only 31 points and the scoring was very bunched up at the top. Defense was largely an issue as well, as the Tigers were near the very bottom nationally - 50th - in keeping the puck out of the net. Bonar and Condon split time in net, neither putting up numbers that they had put up in previous years.

The bottom line? Princeton needs to improve at spreading the wealth when it comes to scoring, and they've got to be much better defensively. That is going to have to come largely from the returning players, but as a bonus, there won't be a great many freshmen to assimilate into the program. There's something to be said for an already established team cohesiveness, even if that team struggled last year. If another year older makes the Tigers another year stronger, they could put themselves into the hunt for home ice in the first round. If they rely too much on points from Calof and Berger, they're going to do little more than tread water.

Know Your Enemy: Harvard

Yes, Virginia, you can manage to win only 8 games out of 22 on the ECAC schedule and pick up a first-round bye - something that might bring some smiles to an RPI team that managed 7 last year and was on the road in the first round. That's just what the Harvard Crimson managed to pull off last season, however, finishing ahead of no less than six teams that had 8 or more wins in league play (hint: the 9 ties had an awful lot to do with it).

Harvard
Nickname: Crimson
Location: Cambridge, MA
Founded: 1636
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 1 (1989)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2006
Last Frozen Four: 1994
Coach: Ted Donato (9th season)
2011-12 Record: 13-10-11 (8-5-9 ECAC, 3rd place)
Series: Harvard leads, 46-35-5
First Game: December 27, 1951 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: January 21, 2011 (Troy, NY)
Last HU win: November 6, 2010 (Boston, MA)

2012-13 games: November 10, 2012 (Boston, MA); February 1, 2013 (Troy, NY)

Key players: D Danny Biega, sr.; F Marshall Everson, sr.; F Alex Fallstrom, sr.; F Conor Morrison, sr.; D Brendan Rempel, sr.; D Dan Ford, jr.; G Raphael Girard, jr.; F Colin Blackwell, so.; D Max Everson, so.; F Patrick McNally, so.; G Steven Michalek, so.; F Kyle Criscuolo, fr.; F Brian Hart, fr.; F Brayden Jaw, fr.; F Jimmy Vesey, fr.

Key losses: F Alex Killorn, D Ryan Grimshaw, F Eric Kroshus, F Daniel Moriarty, F Colin Moore

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12

Befitting the fact that Harvard tied an awful lot of games - setting an NCAA record for ties in a season, with the truncated Ivy League schedule, no less - the Crimson tied both of their games against RPI.

We mentioned frequently last season that the number of ties Harvard put up last year indicated that they were a tough team to put away, but also that they were still somewhat lacking offensively to put their opponents away. The Crimson relied largely on four players to put points on the board last season - Killorn, Biega, Fallstrom, and Marshall Everson. Killorn finished a very solid career at Harvard with a 46-point season, but the other three return with a number of good candidates that could potentially help the team offensively. That list includes Hart, a 2nd round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vesey, who went in the 3rd round to the Nashville Predators. The duo were the first two ECAC players selected in this year's draft.

Defensively, Michalek got more time between the posts last season but it was Girard who had the better stats and it was Girard who the team leaned on down the stretch as the Crimson took a post-Beanpot run at the NCAA tournament, putting together a 5-3-1 record after their 3rd place showing at the Garden.

The Crimson survived Yale in the quarterfinals and dispatched Cornell 6-1 in the semis before falling to Union in the ECAC championship - a game in which Harvard scored the first goal of the game early in the third period, but held the lead for all of 37 seconds. Still, the showing definitely highlighted a Harvard team that was clearly hitting its stride at the right time, especially considering that they outscored their opponents 14-3 in the two games immediately preceding the matchup with the Dutchmen.

Coming into last year, Harvard seemed to be the team with the hottest hot seat for its coach, but the school's first winning season in four years, a solid playoff run, and a much anticipated class of freshmen is certainly enough for now to keep Ted Donato in Cambridge. Killorn is the biggest loss, but there's enough coming in to expect that the Crimson will certainly be in the hunt for a first-round bye this season, and if things land just right, they could well be among the teams offering a challenge at the top.

Penn State: Light in the Darkness

It's hard to get past it in hindsight.

At the press conference in State College, PA that began the shake-up of the college hockey universe on September 17, 2010, the benefactors of varsity hockey at Penn State, Kim and Terry Pegula, sat flanked by two individuals for whom it made perfect sense to be there - athletic director Tim Curley and university president Graham Spanier. Both men discussed the excitement they felt to be making a step forward, bringing big time college hockey to a sixth Big Ten campus in two years' time.

Fast forward almost two years. Watching the announcement now, knowing the secret both men had been hiding for over a decade, and the impact isn't quite the same. Now, with Spanier fired, Curley on a leave of absence and under indictment, and the school's premier athletic program under a crippling sanction announced earlier this week by the NCAA and the Big Ten, varsity hockey at Penn State will take the ice for the first time in three months under a cloud of shame that now hangs over the entire school.

And the school itself may not yet be out of the woods. As former NCAA.org blogger John Infante says, Penn State may yet be subject to sanction by the federal Department of Education for violations of the Clery Act, which requires schools receiving federal financial aid to publicly report any crime on or near campus. The potential penalties include significant fines or even a prohibition from receiving federal aid, a move which would be akin to a "death penalty" for the entire school.

Could the Penn State scandal have an impact on college hockey? Some have asked if the harsh sanctions applied to the school's cash cow athletic program could produce problems for its 28 other varsity programs, potentially including the new kinds on the block in men's and women's hockey. The short answer, at least as it pertains to hockey, is: probably not. Hockey in Happy Valley is fortunate to be the child of private investment, for both scholarships and new facilities. Construction continues unabated on Pegula Ice Arena, which is slated to be done in about a year, just in time for the start of the hockey version of the Big Ten. The only real fallout from the NCAA sanctions (and the scandal itself) is how potential recruits view the school's reputation in the future.

The only thing hockey fans would have to fear is that "death penalty" from the federal government - an occurrence that would potentially undermine the school in a fundamental manner to make athletics there very difficult to maintain in any real capacity. That would probably lead to some very intense pressure by the other Big Ten schools on fellow conference institutions without varsity hockey due to the irreparable destruction of existing hockey conference bonds making status quo ante bellum highly unlikely (no fewer than 19 programs are slated to change conferences next year).

Honestly, though, it's not even worth pondering that scenario for a couple of reasons. First, it's more frequently an exercise left to those who continue to resent Penn State for helping to alter the college hockey landscape that people had gotten used to; really, those resistant to change. Second, Penn State is likely "too big to fail," as Infante said of them, and it's unlikely the government would intentionally cripple such a large school, putting literally tens of thousands of students' academic careers into chaos.

I prefer to turn the question on its head. Perhaps college hockey can have an impact on the Penn State scandal.

There's no doubt that Penn State is enduring the darkest moments in its 157-year history. Powerful people at the school chose to look the other way while a monster committed unspeakable crimes against the most innocent members of society. Those people have now been removed, responsible parties punished or on their way to punishment, and the program which benefited most from the cover-up has been set back at least five years, and likely well over a decade.

But hockey is a unique sport. It's quite niche, given the fact that the usual east/west split is the Ohio/Pennsylvania border rather than the Mississippi River, and the fact that Alabama-Huntsville continues to be viewed as something of an oddity. Small schools regularly compete with large schools, and sometimes, they even win. And above all, it can be akin to a family, something which anyone who's been to even one Frozen Four can attest. Scholarship scandals tend to be on the rare side, and sanctions are unusual - only two Division I programs have ever had to vacate Frozen Four appearances, and none since 1992.

So we think back to that day two years ago when Penn State and the rest of the college hockey world was excited for varsity hockey in State College, a place that had already proven itself with rabid support for a club program and represented the first major university coming into the sport in decades. Look past the guilty parties that were part of that announcement and see through to the promise of a brighter future for a place in need of some serious healing. Consider Guy Gadowsky, the man who made Princeton hockey relevant again, who always brings to town a team that plays a style that's fun to watch.

Penn State comes to the Capital District in late November to take on Union, right after Thanksgiving. RPI has that weekend off. Let's head up Route 7, welcome college hockey's newest kids on the block, and hope and pray that the potential for excellence on the ice in central Pennsylvania can be the start of a new and positive chapter for a once-great institution that lost its way.

And, while you're thinking about Penn State, why not surf on over to Thank You Terry, a Penn State hockey blog worth bookmarking. Headed up by the very well written Kyle Rossi, if you've got any misgivings about Penn State's hockey future, you'll be sure to lose them by checking out his excellent advocacy.

Know Your Enemy: Dartmouth

Every time it seems like Dartmouth is on the verge of possibly breaking through, they seem to suffer a setback of some kind, and last year was mostly a setback for the Big Green, who were second only to RPI in the category of biggest disappointments when compared to pre-season expectations for last season. Like the Engineers, most expected the Big Green to compete for the bye, instead they lost the fight for home ice in the first round.

Dartmouth
Nickname: Big Green
Location: Hanover, NH
Founded: 1769
Conference: ECAC (Ivy League)
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 1980
Last Frozen Four: 1980
Coach: Bob Gaudet (16th season)
2011-12 Record: 13-16-4 (8-11-3 ECAC, 9th place)
Series: RPI leads, 41-31-5
First Game: January 17, 1908 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: February 11, 2012 (Hanover, NH)
Last DC win: January 6, 2012 (Troy, NY)

2011-12 games: November 9, 2012 (Hanover, NH); February 2, 2013 (Troy, NY)

Key players: D Mike Keenan, sr.; F Dustin Walsh, sr.; D Taylor Boldt, jr.; F Matt Lindblad, jr.; G Cab Morris, jr.; F Eric Robinson, jr.;  F Jesse Beamish, so.; F Brandon McNally, so.; F Eric Neiley, so.; F Tyler Sikura, so.; F Jack Barre, fr.; F Nicholas Bligh, fr.; F Connor Dempsey, fr.; G Jim Kruger, fr.

Key losses: F Doug Jones, D Connor Goggin, D Jim Gaudet, F Nick Walsh, G James Mello, G Jody O'Neill, F Paul Lee

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12

Also like RPI, Dartmouth managed to end their season on a high note by emerging from the first round of the ECAC playoffs, surprising a lot of observers with a sweep at St. Lawrence.

They also had freshmen and sophomores among their top performers, which bodes well for the future. Sikura was the co-leader on the team in points with 25 (along with Jones), while Robinson led the team in goals with 12. Five of the top six scorers on the team were freshmen and sophomores.

Besides having to depend on the less-experienced players for offense, the Big Green were hamstrung by a defense that was frequently fairly porous. Mello and O'Neill, both of whom had stretches in their collegiate careers where they were considered upper echelon ECAC goaltenders, backstopped a defense that was just 47th (out of 58) in the nation at 3.09 goals per game. O'Neill's numbers were close to where they were when he was ECAC Rookie of the Year, but Mello got the majority of the playing time.

Morris, his game-stealing theatrics against the Engineers on national television in January notwithstanding, did little to impress in the limited time that he has seen in the last two seasons. The win over RPI remains his only career ECAC victory. It remains to be seen if Morris is the answer in net for Dartmouth or whether Kruger (from the high-level BCHL) or incoming classmate Charles Grant (who comes in from the rather weak junior league in the Canadian Maritimes) will get opportunities.

Another problem the Big Green had to deal with was the injury to Montreal Canadiens draft pick Dustin Walsh, which limited him to just eight games on the year, the last one being the aforementioned victory over RPI in which the junior notched an assist before being shut down for the year. Walsh led the team in scoring at that point despite missing six games up to that point in the season, and if he could have maintained his points per game average through an entire season, would have been one of the top scorers in the league. His return should be a shot in the arm for Dartmouth as well.

Defense is likely to be the main concern in Hanover this year. While the Big Green have a number of solid scoring threats (especially with Walsh's return), they bring back only three defensemen who saw an appreciable amount of ice time last season and have question marks in net. If they're going to win games this season, they're going to need to come out ahead in the track meets that teams with good offense and rough defense frequently find themselves in.

Your 2012-13 RPI Engineers

This morning, RPI released its yearly announcement of the incoming freshman class. With the roster apparently set for the 2012-13 campaign, it's time to take an in-depth look at the Engineers, with some early guesses on what to expect in the coming year.

Eight players who were on last year's roster will not return - seven seniors and one early departure. Given that RPI is expected to lose five players in each of the next two seasons, that's quite a lot at once. That also means that this year's team will still be a little bit young, with only 10 juniors and seniors combined.

The departing players are replaced with nine freshmen from a class (of 2016) that looks to have at least a few names that could develop into standouts in Troy. Last year's highly anticipated freshman class had just three players from the USHL and none from the BCHL, arguably the top two junior leagues in North America in a class of eight. This year's crop features five alumni from those leagues.

Forwards

Gone: Alex Angers-Goulet, Patrick Cullen, Joel Malchuk, Josh Rabbani, Justin Smith.

Returning: Greg Burgdoerfer, Ryan Haggerty, Brock Higgs, Jacob Laliberte, C.J. Lee, Mark McGowan, Matt Neal, Marty O'Grady, Johnny Rogic, Zach Schroeder, Matt Tinordi.

Arriving: Milos Bubela, Andrew Commers, Travis Fulton, Mark Miller, Mike Zalewski.

A pair of problems had the RPI offense hamstrung for much of the season - early on, the almost total lack of goal scoring put a serious hamper on the team leading to a serious lack of competitiveness, and later on, the inability of the younger forwards to get into a scoring groove (or avoid injury).

The Engineers lose five forwards, but offensively are not really that worse off than they were last season. Angers-Goulet and Malchuk may represent RPI's biggest losses up front if only because of their prowess on the penalty kill. Besides that, you're looking at a group of players who, with the exception of Malchuk, were healthy scratches on multiple occasions. Smith was known to be a solid locker-room presence but he suited up only 42 times in his four-year career, and only 9 times last season. Cullen found his groove in a line with Higgs and Tinordi late in the season, but was a frequent healthy scratch in the middle of the season and never quite got back to where he had been in his promising freshman year. Rabbani was rarely seen after January. Even Angers-Goulet was a healthy scratch down the stretch.

Given that offensive outlook from the seniors, it could be argued that the Engineers were offensively young last year, and that will continue to be the case this season with Lee and O'Grady standing out as the only offensively inclined senior forwards on team with 16 forwards, 10 of which will be either freshmen or sophomores. That somewhat explains the issues that the sophomore class, last year's freshmen, had despite a boatload of expectation surrounding them. Many considered Laliberte's freshman year disappointing since he failed to put up the gaudy numbers he had become known for in juniors, but he was injured early in the season and struggled to bounce back from it. McGowan and Neal also had early season injuries, Haggerty got sick and missed a few games, and Schroeder's season was ended in the first round of the playoffs with an injury he will have to work to overcome early in the coming season.

Those players will undoubtedly be part of RPI's offensive bedrock in the coming season, especially considering that they all were basically part of it last year when they were healthy. Joining them are a freshman class that arrives without the same level of fanfare as last year's forwards, but with some individual standouts. Most notable among the additions is Zalewski, whose outstanding output in the always-tough BCHL portends a smooth transition to the college game, potentially as an immediate impact scorer. Miller, as we have mentioned before, is something of an unknown quantity given his USHL record, but Seth Appert has said on more than one occasion that he expects him to be a solid contributor. Commers comes from St. Thomas Academy in Minnesota, where he formerly played with Schroeder and put down similar numbers in his senior year. Fulton averaged close to a point-and-a-half per game in the OJHL, which is where Neal and McGowan put up solid numbers in the past.

Practically since his commitment last September, it had been anticipated that Riley Bourbonnais would be part of this year's class, but Appert insisted in an interview with the Troy Record in back in May that he had always planned for him to arrive in Troy in 2013. That opened the door for Slovakia's Bubela to come to Troy this season, and as a World Junior Championship alum with USHL experience, he has the high-level competition experience necessary to come in and contribute immediately. There was question about whether he'd passes the NCAA clearinghouse - star European players sometimes run into trouble getting clearance to play college hockey because youth and junior teams in Europe sometimes intermingle with semi-professional ranks, and the NCAA is always on the lookout for players who were paid or played with players who were paid. We'll likely never hear for certain on passage before the season starts, but his inclusion in the official recruiting press release at least indicates that the school is confident that it will happen, if it didn't already.

Defensemen

Gone: Mike Bergin, Pat Koudys.

Returning: Nick Bailen, Luke Curadi, Bo Dolan, Guy Leboeuf, Curtis Leonard.

Arriving: Craig Bokenfohr, Chris Bradley, Phil Hampton.

The situation on the blue line has been interesting to say the least. Coming into last season, the possibility existed that the Engineers would not lose anyone at all heading into 2012 given that Bergin, the only senior on the roster, had a medical redshirt available due to his mostly lost freshman season in 2008-09. Since then, it had been understood for a while that Bergin will not return next season (confirmed when he signed a pro contract in Sweden last month) and in late April it became known that Pat Koudys had elected to return to juniors in anticipation of playing his last two years of eligibility elsewhere (most likely in the ECAC, given his field of study).

The d-corps has been in a serious state of flux pretty much ever since Bryan Brutlag was moved to forward during the 2009-10 campaign, perpetuated by the defection of highly anticipated recruit Nick Quinn to major junior before he ever donned an Engineers sweater and the inability of the team to draw a walk-on to the roster last year. Thus, for the past two-and-a-half seasons, RPI has been shorthanded on defense, frequently carrying only seven defensemen at any given time, which created a decided lack of competitiveness for ice time and almost zero cushion for injuries.

That issue may now be resolved with three freshmen coming in to replace the two departures. Of the three, Bradley is easily the most anticipated by default (since he committed in September 2010 while Bokenfohr and Hampton committed in February 2012 and May 2012 respectively), but his talent and size should make him an immediate impact player for RPI in much the same way as Leonard last season. If he lives up to the hype, we should expect to see him playing on any night where he's healthy along with Bailen and Leonard.

Curadi, Dolan, and Leboeuf all have shown the definite ability to be lineup regulars, especially late in the season when they along with Bailen, Bergin, and Leonard were the usual six starters. At least one of them will likely join the aforementioned three as a regular starter, perhaps two, but the presence of Bokenfohr (who comes to RPI from the AJHL, which isn't too shabby itself) and Hampton, two guys with some pretty good potential, could definitely create the competition for ice time that will help build a solid defensive effort.

Goaltenders

Gone: Jeremy Coupal.

Returning: Bryce Merriam, Scott Diebold.

Arriving: Jason Kasdorf.

The Engineers will have a somewhat unusual situation in net next season with three goaltenders capable of holding down the #1 spot on a Division I team on the roster instead of the usual scheme of two and a walk-on practice goalie. This is, in some respects, a by-product of Allen York's decision to forego his senior season and sign an NHL deal after the 2010-11 season, which necessitated the arrival of Diebold for last year.

Kasdorf had always been expected to be York's replacement on the roster, instead he now replaces Coupal, the man who started RPI's club program, joined the varsity as the practice goalie as a junior, and now moves on to take up a position as volunteer assistant coach at Bemidji State.

Merriam will almost certainly begin his senior season as the team's top goaltender, but that position isn't necessarily going to be his by default - with two other D-I talents on the roster, he will probably have to be sharper than he was late in the year to keep that role. While his GAA was a respectable 2.36 last season, his save percentage of .908 left a little to be desired. His numbers were definitely boosted by a torrid streak of hot goaltending in late January that powered three straight wins with only one goal allowed.

If he played like that regularly, there'd be no question about who the Engineers were relying on this season, but as it stands, the door is open for Diebold (whose freshman numbers were both below that of Merriam's but whom also showed flashes of brilliance) or Kasdorf (whose single USHL campaign was rough to say the least, but comes in as RPI's lone NHL draftee) if Merriam falters even a little bit, especially late in the season  as happened with senior Mathias Lange in York's freshman year.

It's always worth taking a look at the longer-term picture as well, so here's quick look at where we stand with recruiting down the road.

2013-14
Out: Merriam, Burgdoerfer, Lee, O'Grady, Bailen
In: F Riley Bourbonnais, F Jake Wood, F Jimmy DeVito, F Drew Melanson?

Recruiting for 2013 seems all but done. In all likelihood, we'll see one defenseman sometime in the next year, and that's probably it unless the roster expands or we see early departures. Merriam is likely to be replaced by a walk-on goaltender, with Diebold and Kasdorf to run things this season. At present, the thought on Melanson is that he will likely spend this season honing his skills in the USHL this year, especially since there are already three confirmed forwards to replace the three that are graduating, none of which are likely to get pushed to 2014.

All four recruits and potential recruits will be playing in the USHL next year. As we've mentioned before, Bourbonnais is projected to be a solid points producer, and an extra year in Cedar Rapids will likely help his adjustment to the college game. The bruising DeVito will play a third season with Chicago. Wood will join Lincoln after being drafted in the 3rd round of this year's USHL Draft (the team's second pick of the draft), while it sounds like Melanson will forego his senior season at Delbarton HS in New Jersey to play for the always solid Omaha Lancers.

2014-15
Out: Higgs, Rogic, Tinordi, Leboeuf, Dolan
In: D Charles Manley, F Evan Tironese,  F Drew Melanson?

Oddly (for RPI, anyway), recruiting may be coming close to a close for 2014 as well. Assuming Melanson is coming this season (a strong likelihood unless Appert feels he needs to bring him in earlier to keep him in the fold), the Engineers need just one forward and one defenseman to replace its departing players two years out. Not a bad place to be two-and-a-quarter years before this class arrives on campus.

Know Your Enemy: Union

If you ever needed proof that anything is possible, ask someone who's been following the ECAC since the early 1990s if they ever thought Union would ever see a Frozen Four berth. For those of you who watched Union turn in terrible season after terrible season after terrible season after playoff choke, you can now officially remind yourself of this whenever you are down on your team: Union College played in the Frozen Four.

Union
Nickname: Dutchmen
Location: Schenectady, NY
Founded: 1795
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2012
Last Frozen Four: 2012
Coach: Rick Bennett (2nd season)
2011-12 Record: 26-8-7 (14-4-4 ECAC, 1st place)
Series: RPI leads, 45-28-10
First Game: February 26, 1904 (Albany, NY)
Last RPI win: November 13, 2010 (Troy, NY)
Last UC win: March 10, 2012 (Schenectady, NY)

2012-13 games: November 2, 2012 (Troy, NY); November 3, 2012 (Schenectady, NY); January 26, 2013 (Albany, NY)

Key players: F Wayne Simpson, sr.; F Kyle Bodie, sr.; D Greg Coburn, sr.; D Shawn Stuart, sr.; D Ryan Forgaard, sr; F Daniel Carr, jr.; F Josh Jooris, jr.; F Matt Hatch, jr.; D Mat Bodie, jr.; G Troy Grosenick, jr.; D Shayne Gostisbehere, so.; F Max Novak, so.; D Tim Boyle, fr.; F Theo DiPauli, fr.

Key losses: F Jeremy Welsh, F Kelly Zajac, D Nolan Julseth-White

Previous KYE installments:

• 2010-11
• 2011-12

Union's rise to the final weekend of the college hockey experience certainly wasn't overnight and, by the time they were playing there, the only people who should have been genuinely surprised are the people who routinely write off the ECAC as a league that just doesn't compete come late March. If there's one thing that characterized Union last year - and two years ago as well, for that matter - it's that they were a team that pretty much excelled at everything without quite being the best at anything, although statistically there wasn't a better defensive team last year with the Dutchmen clocking in at an eye-popping 1.83 goals per game.

They scored goals (6th in the nation). They converted on the power play (4th in the nation). They killed penalties (12th in the nation). There just weren't a lot of holes in Union's game last year because they played as a team and they refused to let anyone take them out of their game. And if you noticed above, the team's going to be largely the same as last year's, too.

There's no question that the offense will take a hit with Welsh's early jump to the NHL - he became the first Union alum in the NHL since the school's D-I move when he played in Carolina's final game of the regular season last year, picking up 4 penalty minutes - and Zajac's graduation (the Devils took a flyer on him). However, there is still plenty of offense in Schenectady to cushion the blow, especially with Carr, Simpson, and Jooris. It also opens room for Novak, who had a solid freshman campaign.

Defensively, Julseth-White was a rock but he wasn't the only one. With Grosenick sticking around after his unexpectedly monstrous sophomore season and basically all of the top defenders returning (especially Gostisbehere, whose tremendous freshman season saw him drafted in the 3rd round of the NHL Draft in June by Philadelphia), and the addition of fourth round draft selection Boyle (Ottawa), there's little reason to expect that Union will take much of a fall from where they were last year, especially if Forgaard stays healthy.

There's no question that Grosenick is going to need to replicate his numbers from last year to give the Dutchmen a shot at making another deep run into the NCAA tournament, but even if he's a little off, there's little doubt that Union has the talent to be the best in the ECAC for a third consecutive season. They are very well placed to compete over the next two years and possibly beyond, having locked up Rick Bennett through the end of the decade. That'll make for three very tough games for RPI - coming off a season where RPI lost five times to the same team for the first time in school history - but it's also never a bad thing to be paired with a tough team as your travel partner, something which we used to lament on a regular basis.