Following last year's exhibition game with the Acadia Axemen, the Engineers were prohibitive favorites to win the national championship. Or at least, you would have thought so given game's turnout, the reaction to what was seen, and some of the expectations coming off of an NCAA tournament appearance. Two goals for Ryan Haggerty. A goal and two assists for Zach Schroeder. A 19-save shutout for Scott Diebold. All three of those stars of the game, part of an anticipated freshman class. A 7-0 demolition in front of a larger-than-usual exhibition crowd.
Our writeup was a little more reserved, given the general unpredictability of just what one can take away from an exhibition contest, which always features a longer bench than normal and plenty of different line permutations.
Acadia last year was coming off of a strong season and had been undefeated in their five prior exhibition matchups in Canada, so there was, at the time, every reason to believe the the Engineers had just laid the smackdown on a pretty solid team. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing of a harbinger whatsoever, as RPI took six games to score the seven goals they had tallied in the exhibition, four of them coming in just one of those six games. Meanwhile, the defense allowed four goals or more in five of the team's first eight contests.
Acadia, incidentally, went on to finish fifth in the eight-team Atlantic University Sport, making the playoffs but falling in a best-of-three quarterfinal series against fourth-ranked Prince Edward Island, two games to one. Still, the Axemen did turn out to be the only team to land two players on the AUS All-Stars first team, with Andrew Clark (who led the league in scoring) and Christopher Owens both earning the honor, and both players are back with the team this season, as is Evan Mosher, who allowed 7 goals on 34 shots against the Engineers last season. In fact, a good number of the same players that were in Troy last year with the Wolfville, Nova Scotia team will be back this season.
So what should we expect from Saturday's game? Well, expect an exciting opportunity to see this year's team for the first time. Expect a solid opportunity to see the freshmen play for the first time. Expect a fun night. And don't expect to translate what you see into anything you can apply for next week's games against the national runners-up, Ferris State.
Bear in mind not only last year's result and subsequent rough season, but consider also that the 2005-06 Engineers lit up the University of Ottawa by a 13-3 score on their way to a 14-17-6 season. In fact, since that game in 2005 (the first season opening exhibition game against a Canadian team since 1994), the Engineers are 2-1-1 in Canadian exhibitions - and the only times RPI skated to a winning season were following the tie (2009 against Prince Edward Island) and the loss (2010 against New Brunswick).
The last couple of years that I've put together the Know Your Enemy summer series, I batted around the idea of putting something together on RPI using the same formula and the same criteria. This year, with the relatively quiet summer we've had, I decided to give it a whirl. So here you go.
RPI
Nickname: Engineers
Location: Troy, NY
Founded: 1824
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 2 (1954, 1985)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2011
Last Frozen Four: 1985
Coach: Seth Appert (7th season)
2011-12 Record: 12-24-3 (7-12-3 ECAC, 10th place)
All-Time Record: 979-867-114 (954-794-108 in the modern era)
First Game: January 25, 1902 (Cohoes, NY)
First Win: February 26, 1904 (Albany, NY)
First Modern Era game: January 7, 1950 (Clinton, NY)
First Modern Era win: February 3, 1950 (Plattsburgh, NY)
Key players: D Nick Bailen, sr.; F C.J. Lee, sr.; G Bryce Merriam, sr.; F Marty O'Grady, sr.; F Brock Higgs, jr.; F Matt Tinordi, jr.; F Ryan Haggerty, so.; F Jacob Laliberte, so.; D Curtis Leonard, so.; F Mark McGowan, so.; F Zach Schroeder, so.; D Chris Bradley, fr.; G Jason Kasdorf, fr.; F Mike Zalewski, fr.
Key losses: F Patrick Cullen, D Mike Bergin, F Joel Malchuk
(I know, I know, I'm missing this potential impact freshman or that upperclassman primed to break out... I only assembled it the way I assembled the KYE teams, just to be fair. I'm sure I've left out some of the same for other teams.)
I'm going to dispense with the history lesson that accompanies these capsules when we're covering a team for the first time because... well, because our primary readership already knows these things. Not really worth rehashing last year's performance for the same reason.
So how does this year's RPI team stack up with the rest of the league? Honestly, it's tough to say for sure. The offense simply has to be a lot better than it was last year, because even though the Engineers bring back 9 of their top 10 scorers from last year (a better percentage than any other team in the league), none of them were scoring with great frequency to begin with last season. Surely, a great deal of the hope lies in the sophomore class of forwards, which last year formed the backbone of the team's scoring threat while going through the requisite growing pains you see from freshmen.
Defensively, RPI brings back enough to be competitive (especially bringing in an NHL draftee in Kasdorf between the pipes) with probably the fourth best returning D-corps in the league behind Union, Cornell, and Quinnipiac. Bergin was a leader defensively, but Bradley should be a solid replacement and the rest of the returning defense all have decent arguments for lots of playing time.
The offense will be key - last year's 2.00 goals per game average simply will not come close to cutting it, especially considering that it placed the Engineers 54th out of 59 Division I teams offensively. Injuries decimated an already fragile scoring scheme last year, so staying healthy will be key, but growth will be important too. Can the young forwards, still brimming with potential, get the job done this season?
Also worth noting - a 20-win season would put the program on the cusp of 1,000 wins, with 21 enough to roll the odometer. Is it in them? The conventional wisdom says it'll be tough. It's certainly going to be a matter of reaching potential this season, especially on offense. At this point, it's a wait-and-see attitude.
Once again, we've hit that time of year when many hockey fans switch from "There's so much offseason left!" to "Wait, the season's here already?" With the women's hockey team set to take the ice Friday night against UConn, let's do a quick rundown of this year's incoming class and the upcoming schedule. We'll summarize the league schedule in the coming weeks.
The Engineers add three forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie to the roster for 2012-13, replacing a talented senior class which included Sierra Vadner, Amanda Castignetti, Laura Guillemette, Alicia Miksic, Alisa Harrison, and Jill Vandegrift. The freshmen (and one transfer student) will be counted on to contribute early and often in order to help the upperclassmen build from last year's disappointing 9-21-4 record and make it back to the playoffs after last year's miss.
On the blue line, Delaney Middlebrook (who transferred in from the now-defunct Niagara University team) will join the team as a sophomore. A 2-year captain at her high school in Minnesota, Middlebrook was a high scoring defenseman who may help to add some points from the blue line. She will be joined by freshmen Brandi Banks and Jenn Godin, both of whom were named MVP of their respective teams prior to their arrival at RPI.
Up front, Alexa Gruschow and Lauren Wash join Mari Mankey (sister of junior forward Missy Mankey) in the freshman class. Gruschow played for the Washington Pride in the JWHL in addition to her high school's boys hockey team. She racked up 108 points in 62 games in 2011-12, with even more penalty minutes (110). Wash was a two-time captain and assistant captain for the New Jersey Rockets of the MAWHA, and led the league in game winning goals. Mankey was also a two-time captain and a top student at Hopkins HS in Minnetonka, MN.
After a trial-by-fire season in goal which saw freshmen Brianna Piper and Kelly O'Brien split time in net, the now-sophomore tandem will be joined by newcomer Sara Till from Rice Memorial HS in Burlington, who captained her team three years in ice hockey as well as a year in field hockey and was named team MVP of both teams as well as lacrosse. After last year's split time, and with Till thrown into the mix, it's anyone's guess as to how the goaltending duties will be divided as the season gets underway.
With no exhibition on the schedule this year, the Engineers will jump right into action this coming weekend with a home series against UConn before hitting the road to take on BU (who fell to Cornell in triple overtime of the NCAA Quarterfinals last season) and Northeastern. The last meeting between the Engineers and Huskies was a 5-1 thrashing by the home team in Boston.
The Engineers will host Union in a non-conference affair before opening up the ECAC schedule in the final week of October at SLU and Clarkson. A road trip to Burlington for a Halloween special against UVM will be followed up by a home series against Princeton and Quinnipiac, before a pair at home against Robert Morris and another on the road at Syracuse will round out the non-conference schedule.
From there, the bulk of the ECAC schedule remains, with a home pair against Providence on 1/11 and 1/12 providing the only other break in the conference action for the remainder of the season.
We'll take a look at the preseason polls in the coming weeks along with a preview of the ECAC schedule and recaps of the season's first games. Keep an eye out on Twitter at @without_a_peer for live tweets of home games once again this season, with score updates (and scattered live tweets) from road games as the season gets underway.
Here's our ballot for this year's ECAC media poll. No apologies. Consider this the power ranking for October - our first power ranking typically comes out at the end of November, since half the league really hasn't gotten underway yet by the end of October.
1. Union - Won everything there was to win in the ECAC last year, went to the Frozen Four, and lose very little. Nuff said.
2. Cornell - Really shouldn't have to explain this.
3. Quinnipiac - They look stupid good on paper, and they have a knack for overachieving vis a vis preseason expectations.
4. Harvard - Showed lots of potential late last year but they have to stop living on the edge.
5. Yale - Scoring talent is still there, answering the defensive call could make for an elite squad.
6. Colgate - Possibly too optimistic here, they have a ridiculous amount of scoring to replace.
7. St. Lawrence - Young guns are going to have to be big for the Saints.
8. RPI - Have to prove they're ready to vie for a top end spot again through growth of younger players, trying not to be too optimistic.
9. Dartmouth - Offense is there, but considerable defensive question marks cloud the outlook significantly.
10. Princeton - Much like RPI, a team with a great deal to prove with the capacity to do just that. Possibly too pessimistic here.
11. Clarkson - Some good upside here, but as mentioned Wednesday, painfully young.
12. Brown - A serious case of "show me something first."
As always, there are certain "bands" that teams seem to fit in that could be somewhat interchangeable. I like the top three as the clearly defined top-tier, but to be honest the rest of the league could (and probably will) be a tossup. And of course once the puck drops I'm sure we'll learn things about those top three, too.
Choices for All-ECAC:
G - Andy Iles, Cornell - Always going against the grain with our preseason goaltender selections. Grosenick will be the choice, but Iles deserves respect for the season he had last year.
D - Danny Biega, Harvard - Crimson's MVP, power play quarterback and also an offensive driver.
D - Mat Bodie, Union - Probably the best two-way defenseman in the league right now.
F - Kyle Flanagan, St. Lawrence - Averaging a point per game in his first three seasons. If only he had stayed healthy...
F - Connor Jones, Quinnipiac - Poised for a big year with a juggernaut supporting cast.
F - Andrew Miller, Yale - For three years he's been a top supporting cast member, is it time for his star turn?
Honorable mention: G Troy Grosenick, Union, D Shayne Gostisbehere, Union, F Kellen Jones, Quinnipiac, F Kenny Agostino, Yale.
Here it is - the last Know Your Enemy of 2012. You know what that means - hockey next weekend! For any team, it's difficult to rebound from losing an all-ECAC goaltender and your two top forwards (see also RPI, 2011-12). That's just what Clarkson is going to be tasked with accomplishing in the coming year, but unlike the Engineers, they will have to do it without having at least tasted the fruits of the NCAA tournament first.
Clarkson
Nickname: Golden Knights
Location: Potsdam, NY
Founded: 1896
Conference: ECAC
National Championships: 0
Last NCAA Appearance: 2008
Last Frozen Four: 1991
Coach: Casey Jones (2nd season)
2011-12 Record: 16-17-6 (9-9-4 ECAC, 6th place)
Series: Clarkson leads, 84-46-8
First Game: January 24, 1925 (Troy, NY)
Last RPI win: March 4, 2012 (Potsdam, NY)
Last CU win: March 3, 2012 (Potsdam, NY)
2012-13 games: February 9, 2013 (Potsdam, NY); March 1, 2013 (Troy, NY)
Key players: D Andrew Himelson, sr.; D Nik Pokulok, sr.; D Alex Boak, jr.; F Will Frederick, jr.; F Allan McPherson, jr.; F Ben Sexton, jr.; D James Howden, so.; D Sam Labrecque, so.; D Kevin Tansey, so.; F Joe Zarbo, so.; F Jeff DiNallo, fr.;F Christian Finch, fr.; G Andrew Hunt, fr.; F Patrick Megannety, fr.
Key losses: F Nick Tremblay, F Louke Oakley, G Paul Karpowich, F Corey Tamblyn, F Jake Morley, F Julien Cayer
The Golden Knights spent a good chunk of the season last year proving the doubters wrong and they appeared to be on the verge of pulling themselves right back up to the higher reaches of the league where they've traditionally been resident. Unlike their North Country rivals, the Knights breezed through the month of October with a lineup of mostly tomato cans (back-to-back-to-back weekend series with Sacred Heart, AIC, and Bentley don't get much more cupcake-y). That was parlayed into a solid start to the ECAC season, but inconsistency down the stretch doomed them to the same seventh place finish they'd had in 2010-11, and for the second year in a row they fell at home in the playoffs, this time in three games to RPI.
That seventh place finish did, at least, amount to more than most had expected from Clarkson heading into the season (both the media and the coaches had pegged them to finish in the bottom four), but it represented a tough end to a promising season, and this coming year could be difficult as well for the men from Potsdam as they lose their top two scorers in Tremblay and Oakley, and their goaltender in Karpowich, who was arguably the team's MVP last season after three tough prior seasons as the top choice netminder.
Tamblyn and Morley will also be missed up front, as the Knights lose four of their top six scoring forwards from last season. Juniors Sexton and McPherson have both put up two outstanding seasons thus far for Clarkson, but after that questions certainly abound. Can Zarbo live up to expectations and follow on from an OK freshman year? Can the three freshmen listed above translate big numbers in Ontario to terrific first years in college? They're probably going to have to.
The best thing Clarkson has going for them is definitely their defensemen. The six blueliners listed above not only played well last year, they were healthy and pretty much all of them played nearly the entire season, most missing only a couple of games, if that. Even comprised of three freshmen last season, they played very well and should have no trouble whatsoever being a cohesive unit this season.
They'll need to be strong, for sure. Behind them in net will, in all likelihood, be a freshman goaltender. Clarkson does have a senior netminder in Cody Rosen who is an NHL draft pick, but his selection in the 2010 draft caught pretty much everyone by surprise (including Rosen), and he enters his senior year with only 140:13 of playing time in three seasons as a third-string which followed a season in juniors as a backup. If he's not the choice, look for Hunt, a BCHL alum, to potentially take that top spot, though we shouldn't be too surprised to see fellow freshman Greg Lewis get his own shot. Either way, both goaltenders committed to Clarkson late - Hunt this past February, Lewis in March after the Knights' season ended.
This team looks painfully young, and unless the d-corps can carry a young and/or inexperienced goaltender night in and night out, this is a team that looks to have more in common with last year's RPI squad than any other in the league. With luck, that could mean a late season renaissance as the young ones mature, but it still seems like a tough thing to call this team a favorite for home ice in the first round.
Back in October 2009, when I launched Without a Peer, I was a recently returned from deployment veteran who was suddenly unemployed, still single, and for all intents and purposes living at home out of necessity. Needless to say, I had time on my hands. Lots of it. It's one of the reasons I started this blog, to be quite honest.
Today, I'm quite settled back into civilian life, employed, seeking a new home while renting, and engaged to be married. On top of that, I'm now a semi-regular commentator on WRPI for Engineers hockey. Whew. Quite a difference.
Don't worry, this isn't an elaborate goodbye speech. Without a Peer isn't going anywhere, and neither am I. But the reality is that there are certain things that I just am not going to have time for in the near future - which, hopefully, is an opening of opportunity rather than a closing door.
In 2010, when I added podcasts to the list of services WaP provides, I was basically still largely stuck in the same situation I had been a year earlier, only now I was living on my own. I had plenty of time to produce podcasts, scheduling guests, setting up content, and the like. Last year, now gainfully employed, I had a lot less time to do that. This year, beset with all kinds of planning to do for a new house and a wedding, I seriously doubt I'll be able to set aside time to put together a quality product - and rather than produce something that isn't worth listening to, I'd rather open the opportunity for others to take on a role.
I'm willing to help produce a weekly podcast, but I will be quite unavailable to host it this season - so if there's any interest out there, do drop me a line. Check out the link in the bar to the right.
I noticed last year that with the loss of time last season, not to mention the tough year both teams had on the ice, the frequency of crappy photoshops decreased significantly. I never intended for WaP to be a 100% straight-faced news and insight blog - I wanted to be sure to be making biased and humorous opinions as well. It's certainly not as easy to find the humorous side when the team's struggling and we never want to kick our guys and gals when they're down anyway. So in the future, I don't expect to be focusing as much on trying to put up zingers - unless, of course, the opportunity and inspiration arises.
You can, however, continue to expect the same type of analysis and coverage of both men's and women's hockey that we've offered in the past. We're still planning to have our groundbreaking live tweets (something which we pioneered for RPI hockey) as in the past, and don't forget to like us on Facebook, too.
Finally, I would like to thank you, our readers, for your continued support over the last three years. Gary and I couldn't have done it without you, since otherwise, we're just rambling to ourselves on the Internet.
We don't often mention this, but we do have some relatively minor costs associated with running the site - WaP will always be free and free of outside ads, but if you want to help out, feel free to hit the tip jar on the right.
The season's right around the corner, and we can't wait.
We're in full on preseason mode now - which means... content three times a week! Sweet!
So with that in mind, let's talk about something completely inconsequential.
We're all about being pumped up here at WaP. Our weekly pump ups before game weekends are practically legendary at this point, so we consider ourselves semi-experts at the art. For years, beginning circa 2000, the Engineers have been introduced to the sound of The Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius." It's a staple in sports circles, made famous by the still-amazing use of the song in the Chicago Bulls' starting lineup during their dynasty in the 1990s.
They still use it today, and it's still awesome.
RPI has used it for at least the better part of a decade, and... to be honest, we probably couldn't measure up to the original even if we tried, and it's starting to get a tad dated, especially now that we don't hit the lights over the stands anymore before the introductions begin.
Personally speaking, I was always a big fan of the band's "charge" during the introductions, but the realist in me knows that probably isn't coming back. So on the cusp of a brand new season... why not explore other options? We here at the pump up experts are here to help.
The Modern Lone Rider Option
We noticed a couple of years back that when the band was not in the house, the team frequently took the ice to "The Ecstasy of Gold" from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, written by Ennio Morricone. It's a pretty excellent choice, for sure, famously used by Metallica as they take the stage for a concert.
With that in mind, a couple of seasons back when we suggested a historical montage to play on the new scoreboard, we used Metallica's "S&M" live orchestra intro version, and it worked pretty well. There was indeed a montage that year, and a couple of times we heard that same version on the speakers during pre-game... but the crowd noise from the live recording was a bit distracting.
Here's a different take on "Ecstasy of Gold," though - Jay-Z, on his 2002 album "The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse" sampled the song for the title track, adding a piano, drums and some bass. The instrumental version of this song seems like it would work pretty well, allowing the announcer's voice-over to shine through while projecting the kind of rough-and-ready cowboy overtone with a modern twist. Listen below.
The Trendy But Still Badass Option
Released in 2003 but continuing to grow as a sports anthem, the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" is becoming more and more ubiquitous for its catchy and easy-to-vocalize riff, not to mention the braggadocio of its second line, which should be appealing to any sports fan ("a seven nation army couldn't hold me back"). Students in college football and basketball can frequently be seen bopping up and down while chanting the main riff, and it has even crossed into college hockey - the BC "Superfans" chant it during a penalty kill whenever the puck is outside the defensive zone.
I first heard the Glitch Mob's dubstep remix of this song in a movie trailer last spring, and it instantly popped into mind as a killer intro track. Again, minus the lyrics for the announcer's clarity, take a listen.
The Embracing Your Inner RPI Nerd Option
Come on now, this has got to at least be a possibility. At a school like RPI, where roughly 120% of the student population has viewed the Star Wars trilogies at least twice this calendar year, why wouldn't a heroic John Williams overture be on the docket?
There are only two real solid options, of course (unless one were to mix things up on Black Friday, for instance, with the Imperial March). The first would be the main title, but that's too easy. Instead, we submit the medley of the Throne Room fanfare from the first movie's final scene, which segues into the end title. Give a listen.
(YouTube won't let us embed this one. Try it out here.)
The Possibly Outdated Already But Inspirational Option
OK, I'm going to admit that I don't really have a strong argument for this choice. But still... there's something about this song that, played ahead of an athletic event, just seems to work. Lupe Fiasco's "The Show Goes On," released in late 2010, is basically a message tune - you're about to see something awesome, regardless of whether the team's coming off a win, loss or tie, the show goes on. It's got the requisite beat you can nod your head to while you cheer, too.
The instrumental alone wouldn't work too well in this case, given the song's required connotations... so here's a solid instrumental version that includes the song's hook.
(Same issue - YouTube won't let this embed. Here it is.)
The Super Modern and Worldly Option
Right, like this wasn't going to be a choice? What's not to love? The kids will love it. Students will mark out for it. Townies will... well, they're not going to get it, but it fits very well with the school's culture for sure.
We probably shouldn't really have to mention this song, especially after mentioning that the version below has no Korean rapping in it - again, for clarity.
So how about it? Any of these choices strike your fancy as an awesome crowdstarter for the new season? Vote below! And if you've got a better idea, we're certainly all ears. Comment below!
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