RPI Engineers men's ice hockey

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RPI Engineers
RPI Engineers.svg
University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Conference ECAC
Head coach Seth Appert
6th year, 52–95–18
Arena Houston Field House
Capacity: 4,800
Location Troy, New York
Colors Cherry and White

             

NCAA Tournament Champions
1954, 1985
NCAA Tournament Frozen Four
1953, 1954, 1961, 1964, 1985
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1953, 1954, 1961, 1964, 1984, 1985, 1994, 1995, 2011
Conference Tournament Champions
1984, 1985, 1995
Conference Regular Season Champions
1952, 1953, 1954, 1984, 1985
Current uniform
ECAC-Uniform-RPI.png

The RPI Engineers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The Engineers are a member of ECAC Hockey (ECACHL). They play at the Houston Field House in Troy, New York.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] History

Men's ice hockey at RPI dates back to 1901 and is one of the oldest. [3] The team played as an independent NCAA Division I team from its inception in 1901 through 1938.[4] The team resumed after World War II for the 1949-50 season and in the following season Rensselaer joined Clarkson, Colgate, Middlebury, St. Lawrence, and Williams to form the Tri-State League for the 1950-51 season.[5] The next three seasons, 1952-1954 team won the Tri-State League season championships. RPI's first NCAA Tournament berth in 1953, coming in third and the following season, in 1954, the team won its first NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship.[6] After a 6-year drought the program again made the NCAA Tournament in 1961, finishing 4th.[7] The 1960-61 season would be the last season RPI competed in the Tri-State League as RPI and fellow Tri-State League members Clarkson and St. Lawrence, joined the new ECAC Hockey League.[8]

Depending on how the rules are interpreted, the RPI men's ice hockey team may have the longest winning streak on record for a Division I team; in the 1984-85 season it went undefeated for 30 games, but one game was against the University of Toronto, a non-NCAA team. Continuing into the 1985-86 season, RPI continued undefeated over 38 games, including two wins over Toronto.[9] Adam Oates and Daren Puppa, two players during that time, both went on to become stars in the NHL. Joe Juneau, who played from 1987 to 1991, also spent many years in the NHL. Graeme Townshend who also played in the late 1980s, had a brief NHL career. He is the first person of Jamaican ancestry to play in the National Hockey League.

[edit] Results by season (2006–11)

Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Seth Appert (ECAC) (2006–Present)
2006–07 Seth Appert 10-18-8 6-11-5 T-8th
2007-08 Seth Appert 11-23-4 6-13-3 10th
2008-09 Seth Appert 10-27-2 6-15-1 11th
2009-10 Seth Appert 18-17-4 10-9-3 T-5th
2010-11 Seth Appert 20-13–5 11-9-2 T-4th NCAA Regional Semifinals
2011-12 Seth Appert 3-15-0 1-6-0 12th
Seth Appert: 52-95-18 40-61-14
Total: 52-95-18

      National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion
      Conference regular season & conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

[edit] Traditions

The hockey team plays a significant role in the campus's culture, drawing thousands of fans each week to the Houston Field House during the season. The team's popularity even sparked the tradition of the hockey line, where students lined up for season tickets months in advance of the on-sale date. Today, the line generally begins a week or more before ticket sales.[10] Another tradition since 1978 has been the "Big Red Freakout!" game held close to the first weekend of February. Fans usually dress in the schools colors Red and White, and gifts such as tee-shirts are distributed en masse. In hockey the school's biggest rival has always been the upstate engineering school Clarkson University.

The Puckman Mascot

The official nickname of some of the school's Division III teams was changed in 1995 from the Engineers to the Red Hawks. However the hockey, football, cross-country, tennis, and track and field teams all chose to retain the Engineers name. The Red Hawks name was, at the time, very unpopular among the student body; a Red Hawk mascot was frequently taunted with thrown concessions and chants of "kill the chicken!" In contrast, the official hockey mascot known as The Puckman has always been very popular. The Puckman is an anthropomorphic hockey puck with an engineer's helmet.


[edit] Current roster

As of September 9, 2011. [1]

Goaltenders
# St/Pr/Co Player Year Hometown Previous Team NHL rights
32 Pennsylvania Bryce Merriam Junior Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Topeka (NAHL) None
34 New York Scott Diebold Freshman Buffalo, New York Tri-City (USHL) None
35 Quebec Jeremy Coupal Senior Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec Tilton School (USHS–CT) None
Defensemen
# St/Pr/Co Player Year Hometown Previous Team NHL rights
3 Florida Guy Leboeuf Sophomore West Palm Beach, Florida Cornwall (CJHL) None
4 Ontario Pat Koudys Sophomore Smithville, Ontario Burlington (OJHL) WPG, 147th overall 2011
5 Connecticut Luke Curadi Freshman Cheshire, Connecticut Dubuque (USHL) None
8 Ontario Mike Bergin Senior Ottawa, Ontario Smiths Falls (CJHL) DAL, 209th overall 2008
10 Ontario Curtis Leonard Freshman Napanee, Ontario Wellington (OJHL) None
11 Minnesota Bo Dolan Sophomore St. Paul, Minnesota Penticton (BCHL) None
29 New York Nick Bailen Sophomore Fredonia, New York Indiana (USHL) None
Forwards
# St/Pr/Co Player Year Hometown Previous Team NHL rights
7 Minnesota Zach Schroeder Freshman Prior Lake, Minnesota St. Thomas Academy (USHS–MN) None
9 Ontario Matt Neal Freshman Minesing, Ontario Stouffville (OJHL) None
12 British Columbia Johnny Rogic Sophomore North Vancouver, British Columbia Alberni Valley (BCHL) None
13 Manitoba Joel Malchuk Graduate Brandon, Manitoba Dauphin (MJHL) None
14 New York Greg Burgdoerfer Junior East Setauket, New York Des Moines (USHL) None
15 Ontario Jacob Laliberté Freshman Rockland, Ontario Cornwall (CCHL) None
17 Nova Scotia Justin Smith Senior Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia Langley (BCHL) None
18 Quebec Alex Angers-Goulet Senior Saint-Augustin, Quebec Langley (BCHL) None
19 Washington, D.C. Patrick Cullen Senior Washington, D.C. Indiana (USHL) None
21 Ontario Mark McGowan Freshman Toronto, Ontario Oakville (OJHL) None
22 New York C.J. Lee Junior Staten Island, New York Green Bay (USHL) None
23 Ontario Brock Higgs Sophomore Kingston, Ontario Kingston (OJHL) None
24 California Josh Rabbani Senior Woodland Hills, California St. Louis (NAHL) None
27 Ontario Marty O'Grady Junior London, Ontario Wellington (OJHL) None
28 Maryland Matt Tinordi Sophomore Severna Park, Maryland Olds (AJHL) None
39 Connecticut Ryan Haggerty Freshman Stamford, Connecticut US NTDP (USHL) None


[edit] References

[edit] External links

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