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1984–85 RPI Engineers men's ice hockey season

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1984–85 RPI Engineers
men's ice hockey season
National champion
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament, champion
ECAC Hockey, champion
ECAC Hockey tournament, champion
NCAA tournament, champion
Conference1st ECAC Hockey
Home iceHouston Field House
Record
Overall35–2–1
Conference20–1–0
Home18–1–1
Road13–1–0
Neutral4–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachMike Addesa
Captain(s)Mike Sadeghpour
RPI Engineers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1983–85 1985–86 »

The 1984–85 RPI Engineers men's ice hockey team represented the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in college ice hockey. In its 6th year under head coach Mike Addesa the team compiled a 35–2–1 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the sixth time.[1] The Engineers defeated Providence 2–1 to win the championship game at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

Season

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New ECAC

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After a year in which Rensselaer set a new program record with 32 wins and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20 years,[2] RPI found themselves scrambling to adjust their schedule. All Six teams from the East Region of ECAC Hockey, along with newly admitted Lowell, broke away to from a new conference. While many of the higher-profile programs left, the reduction to 12 teams allowed the remaining ECAC members to play an even schedule for the first time in league history; all teams played one another twice, once at home and one on the road, except for Army who only played other ECAC members once. As part of the new scheduling arrangement, Rensselaer was paired with Vermont and the two teams would travel at the same time to visit the same region. For example, RPI's first conference road game was against Yale in Connecticut while at the same time Vermont played Brown in Rhode Island. The next night Rensselaer and Vermont swapped opponents which allowed all teams to reduce travel time while still fulfilling their new scheduling guidelines.

Early season hiccup

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The Engineers began the season with two strong home wins against Canadian teams but then immediately stumbled against St. Lawrence in their conference opener. The team recovered with a win over Clarkson the following night then hit the road for a set of games against North Dakota. RPI returned to the northeast after another weekend split and was able to finally win a weekend after getting a tough fight from Brown. Rensselaer ended the first part of their season with a fairly easy pair of games where they seemed to find the consistency that had served them well the year before.

Holiday Tournament

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For the 34th annual Rensselaer Holiday Tournament, RPI dominated Miami in the semifinal before facing their third Canadian team of the season and managed to down Toronto in the final to take their third consecutive tournament title. When the team returned to its regular schedule the following weekend they fought a series of close games, including a surprising strong effort from Division III Union, but RPI escaped an embarrassing fate to raise their record to 13–2.

ECAC dominance

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After that scare the Engineers didn't have another close game for almost two months, winning every game by at least 3 goals until their final game of the regular season, a 5–4 win over Cornell. After opening their conference schedule with a loss Rensselaer had won its final 20 conference games, the second best streak and the second most wins in conference history (both behind only 1970 Cornell) and the third highest winning percentage in ECAC history. Leading the way for the conference's top offense was junior center Adam Oates who had already set a new program record with 83 points the previous season and was well on his way to improving on the mark. RPI also possessed the #2 defense in the country, allowing only 54 goals in 21 conference games and were backstopped by Buffalo Sabres draft pick Daren Puppa.

ECAC tournament

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Searching for their second consecutive ECAC crown, Rensselaer ran through Princeton in the quarterfinal series and then headed to Boston where Puppa stifled the opposition, allowing only one goal in each of the final two games which the Engineers ended triumphantly. Puppa was named as tournament MOP and with their 32–2 record Rensselaer received the #1 eastern seed to go along with their automatic tournament berth.

NCAA tournament

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With the higher seed, Rensselaer played host to Lake Superior State in the Quarterfinals and opened by setting a new franchise record, with their 33rd win of the season, taking the contest 7–3. Because the Quarterfinal series was a total goal affair RPI would advance so long as could keep the second game close and a 3-3 tie was well within their margin for error. Because the Lakers could not win the series regardless of an overtime result no extra time was played and the game ended after regulation along with RPI's 30-game winning streak.

Rensselear headed to Detroit for the Frozen Four and met the previous season's runner-up, Minnesota–Duluth. In what became one of the more memorable games RPI and Duluth began fighting one another almost from the drop of the puck; the two teams got into a scrape then ended up with double matching minors and both teams played 3-on-3. during that time the Engineers opened the scoring with Tim Friday's fifth goal of the season. Afterwards RPI got into trouble with two consecutive penalties to give UMD a 5-on-3 advantage but their defense was able to hold the fort and prevent the Bulldogs from evening the score.[3]

In the second period Mark Baron scored twice in 30 seconds to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. John Carter tied the game with a power play goal off a rebound before George Servinis gave the lead back to Rensselaer. The game was then tied for the fourth time when Brett Hull scored a breakaway goal and the two teams headed into intermission.

In the third, while killing a penalty, Servinis found himself on a partial breakaway but the puck got too far in front of him. Duluth goalie Rick Kosti charged out of the net to knock the puck away but Servinis reached it first and deflected the puck just enough for Kosti to miss it with his stick. Kosti's momentum carried him into Servinis but the RPI forward was able to stay on his skates, the same could not be said for Duluth defender Jim Johnson who went tumbling head over heels into the boards and allowed Servinis to shoot the puck into the vacated net. Duluth tied the game again when 1985 Hobey Baker Award winner Bill Watson shot his own rebound in behind Puppa. UMD's second lead of the game came from a Bob Herzig shot in the high slot that went under Puppa's glove. With regulation winding down and their chances dwindling, RPI fought to keep the puck alive in the Duluth end and, after a pass from behind the net, the puck pinballed off a Duluth skate right to Ken Hammond who slid the puck into the net.

The two teams continued to battle for the first two 10-minute overtimes but at the end of the second tempers flared and the teams ended up with a slew of penalties. The third overtime period began 3-on-3 and after two minutes the teams played 4-on-4, but because Duluth had taken one additional penalty, the Engineers found themselves on a power play from a penalty that had happened 4 minutes earlier. The Bulldogs were able to survive most of the disadvantage but with only 15 seconds left in the penalty Carter fired a shot from the point that deflected off a Duluth stick and into the net, ending the game that saw RPI setting a new Frozen Four record with 16 penalties (followed closely by Duluth's 14).[4]

Championship

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Rensselaer made their first championship appearance in 31 years with only Providence standing in their way. The Friars were coming off their own triple overtime victory in the semifinal but had an extra day to recover from the exertion. The extra playing time didn't seem to faze the Engineers, however, as RPI opened the scoring with a power play goal less than 5 minutes into the game.[5] Rensselaer dominated the play but couldn't get the puck past Chris Terreri on any of their other 13 shots of the period and had to settle for a 1–0 lead after 20 minutes. It was more of the same in the second period but, after giving Providence a brief 5-on-3 advantage, George Servinis scored his second short-handed goal of the Frozen Four at the tail-end of the second penalty to give the Engineers a two-goal cushion. After that Terreri stood on his head and turned aside every RPI shot that came his way. Even with a 2–0 lead Rensselaer looked to be overpowering the Friars, leading in the shot total 31 to 12 after 40 minutes. Providence responded in the third, firing 10 shots at Puppa with Paul Cavallini finding the twine on the power play, but it was too little too late and when the final horn sounded RPI had won their second national title.

Awards and honors

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Unsurprisingly Chris Terreri was given the tournament MOP, the last player to do so who did not play for the championship team, but four Engineers did make the All-Tournament team: Tim Friday, Ken Hammond, Adam Oates and George Servinis. Oates finished the season third in the nation in scoring with 91 points and first in points per game (2.39), narrowly outpacing Bill Watson's 2.36 ppg mark. Oates' scoring prowess earned him a spot on the AHCA All-American East First Team along with Hammond while John Carter made the Second Team.[6] All three made the All-ECAC First Team[7] while Daren Puppa, despite finishing second in the nation with 30 wins and third with a 2.56 goals against average received no further mention beyond tournament MOP.

While the national championship in itself was the main goal for the Engineers, the fact that they won against one of the Hockey East teams that had broken away from ECAC Hockey over the previous summer probably made the victory just that much sweeter.

Standings

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Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Rensselaer†* 21 20 1 0 40 139 54 38 35 2 1 245 100
Harvard 21 15 5 1 31 99 58 32 21 9 2 147 96
Clarkson 21 15 6 0 30 87 59 34 21 10 3 143 104
Cornell 21 14 6 1 29 101 78 30 18 10 2 145 115
Yale 21 13 7 1 27 93 78 31 19 11 1 148 122
St. Lawrence 21 12 9 0 24 75 70 32 17 13 2 122 122
Colgate 21 9 12 0 18 75 77 32 14 18 0 122 122
Princeton 21 7 12 2 16 58 74 28 12 14 2 96 105
Brown 21 6 15 0 12 59 81 26 9 17 0 76 102
Vermont 21 4 17 0 8 46 97 29 8 21 0 75 128
Dartmouth 21 3 17 1 7 49 122 24 5 18 1 63 139
Army^ 11 0 11 0 0 29 60 30 17 13 0 150 121
Championship: Rensselaer
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
^ Army played a half schedule

Schedule

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Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Regular Season
November 3 vs. Guelph* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 13–6  1–0
November 10 vs. Concordia* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 9–3  2–0
November 16 vs. St. Lawrence Houston Field HouseTroy, New York L 3–5  2–1 (0–1)
November 17 vs. Clarkson Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 5–3  3–1 (1–1)
November 23 at North Dakota* Winter Sports BuildingGrand Forks, North Dakota L 6–7 OT 3–2 (1–1)
November 24 at North Dakota* Winter Sports BuildingGrand Forks, North Dakota W 8–2  4–2 (1–1)
November 30 at Yale Ingalls RinkNew Haven, Connecticut W 7–3  5–2 (2–1)
December 1 at Brown Meehan AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island W 4–3 OT 6–2 (3–1)
December 7 vs. Army Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 8–0  7–2 (4–1)
December 8 vs. Princeton Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 12–4  8–2 (5–1)
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament
December 28 vs. Miami* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (Tournament Semifinal) W 9–1  9–2 (5–1)
December 29 vs. Toronto* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (Tournament championship) W 4–2  10–2 (5–1)
January 4 at Harvard Bright-Landry Hockey CenterBoston, Massachusetts W 5–4  11–2 (6–1)
January 5 at Dartmouth Thompson ArenaHanover, New Hampshire W 5–2  12–2 (7–1)
January 8 at Union* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York W 3–2 OT 13–2 (7–1)
January 11 vs. Cornell Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 6–2  14–2 (8–1)
January 12 vs. Colgate Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 6–0  15–2 (9–1)
January 18 vs. Michigan* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 5–2  16–2 (9–1)
January 19 vs. Michigan* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 5–1  17–2 (9–1)
January 25 at Vermont Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont W 7–3  18–2 (10–1)
January 26 vs. Vermont Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 8–2  19–2 (11–1)
February 1 at Clarkson Walker ArenaPotsdam, New York W 7–4  20–2 (12–1)
February 2 at St. Lawrence Appleton ArenaCanton, New York W 7–4  21–2 (13–1)
February 8 vs. Brown Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 7–2  22–2 (14–1)
February 9 vs. Yale Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 8–2  23–2 (15–1)
February 15 at Princeton Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 6–3  24–2 (16–1)
February 22 at Dartmouth Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 11–1  25–2 (17–1)
February 23 at Harvard Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 4–1  26–2 (18–1)
March 1 at Colgate Starr RinkHamilton, New York W 8–2  27–2 (19–1)
March 2 at Cornell Lynah RinkIthaca, New York W 5–4  28–2 (20–1)
ECAC tournament
March 8 vs. Princeton* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (ECAC Quarterfinal game 1) W 7–2  29–2 (20–1)
March 9 vs. Princeton* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (ECAC Quarterfinal game 2) W 11–4  30–2 (20–1)
Rensselaer Wins Series 2-0
March 9 vs. Cornell* Boston GardenBoston, Massachusetts (ECAC Semifinal) W 5–1  31–2 (20–1)
March 10 vs. Harvard* Boston GardenBoston, Massachusetts (ECAC championship) W 3–1  32–2 (20–1)
NCAA tournament
March 16 vs. Lake Superior State* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (National Quarterfinal game 1) W 7–3  33–2 (20–1)
March 17 vs. Lake Superior State* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (National Quarterfinal game 2) T 3–3  33–2–1 (20–1)
Rensselaer Wins Series 10-6
March 23 vs. Minnesota–Duluth* Joe Louis ArenaDetroit, Michigan (National Semifinal) W 6–5 3OT 34–2–1 (20–1)
March 24 vs. Providence* Joe Louis ArenaDetroit, Michigan (National championship) W 2–1  35–2–1 (20–1)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.
Source:

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Roster and scoring statistics

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No. Name Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts PIM
12 Adam Oates Junior C Weston, ON Ontario 38 31 60 91 29
15 John Carter Junior LW Winchester, MA Massachusetts 37 43 29 72 52
7 Mark Jooris Junior F Burlington, ON Ontario 35 23 37 60 22
9 George Servinis Junior LW Toronto, ON Ontario 35 34 25 59 44
16 Bob DiPronio Sophomore F Waltham, MA Massachusetts 37 13 26 39 38
26 Ken Hammond Senior D London, ON Ontario 38 11 28 39 90
17 Neil Hernberg Sophomore F Hingham, MA Massachusetts 38 18 17 35 22
2 Tim Friday Senior D Burbank, CA California 36 5 29 34 26
22 Mike Dark Junior D Sarnia, ON Ontario 36 7 26 33 76
8 John Tiano Junior F Winthrop, MA Massachusetts 36 13 16 29 28
14 Terry Butryn Sophomore F Beamsville, ON Ontario 38 12 15 27 30
21 Mike Sadeghpour Senior F Lexington, MA Massachusetts 26 5 16 21 21
11 Kraig Nienhuis Junior LW Sarnia, ON Ontario 36 11 10 21 55
20 Trini Iturralde Sophomore LW Revere, MA Massachusetts 35 5 15 20 11
5 Mike Robinson Sophomore D Boxborough, MA Massachusetts 37 3 14 17 37
13 Maurice Mansi Freshman F Montreal, PQ Quebec 21 4 6 10 12
18 Rick Tosto Freshman F Dearborn Heights, MI Michigan 25 3 5 8 10
19 Tom Hussey Freshman F Aurora, ON Ontario 15 1 3 4 10
28 Jeff Prendergast Junior D Toronto, ON Ontario 30 1 3 4 10
4 Pierre Langevin Senior D Saint-Leonard, PQ Quebec 28 1 2 3 26
23 Mike Marcolin Senior D Toronto, ON Ontario 2 0 2 2 2
3 Jeff Whiteside Senior D Rexdale, ON Ontario 9 0 2 2 16
6 Marc Foland Sophomore D Boxborough, MA Massachusetts 13 1 1 2 2
30 Mike Poisson Sophomore G Amesbury, MA Massachusetts 5 0 0 0 0
31 Brian Jopling Sophomore G Bridgewater, MA Massachusetts 12 0 0 0 0
1 Daren Puppa Sophomore G Kirkland Lake, ON Ontario 32 0 0 0 2
Bench 38 14
Total 245 387 632 685

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Goaltending statistics

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No. Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
31 Brian Jopling 12 453 5 1 0 18 150 0 .893 2.38
1 Daren Puppa 32 1830 30 1 1 78 708 2 .901 2.56
30 Mike Poisson 5 26 0 0 0 4 13 0 .765 8.61
Total 38 2311 35 2 1 100 871 2 .897 2.60

(E1) Rensselaer vs. (E4) Providence

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March 30[10] Rensselaer 2 – 1 Providence Joe Louis Arena


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st RPI Neil HernbergPP DiPronio and Hammond 4:29 1–0 RPI
2nd RPI George ServinisGW SH unassisted 23:49 2–0 RPI
3rd PC Paul CavalliniPP Army and Rooney 50:00 2–1 RPI
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st PC Mike Brill Cross-Checking 2:44 2:00
RPI Maurice Mansi Tripping 7:23 2:00
PC Gord Cruickshank Tripping 9:07 2:00
RPI Kraig Nienhuis Unnecessary Roughness 11:10 2:00
PC Peter Taglianetti Unnecessary Roughness 11:10 2:00
PC Gord Cruickshank Holding 16:12 2:00
PC Peter Taglianetti High–Sticking 18:30 2:00
2nd RPI Mark Jooris Hooking 20:38 2:00
RPI Mike Sadeghpour Cross-Checking 22:06 2:00
PC Nowel Catterall Slashing 36:12 2:00
RPI Ken Hammond Holding 38:30 2:00
3rd PC Rene Boudreault Slashing 42:12 2:00
PC Nowel Catterall Delay of Game 47:39 2:00
RPI John Carter Hooking 48:33 2:00

Players drafted into the NHL

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= NHL All-Star team = NHL All-Star[11] = NHL All-Star[11] and NHL All-Star team = Did not play in the NHL
Round Pick Player NHL team
5 94 Steve Moore Boston Bruins
9 176 Rob Schena Detroit Red Wings
10 198 Maurice Mansi Montreal Canadiens
12 251 John Haley Edmonton Oilers

† incoming freshman

Adam Oates, undrafted by his 22nd birthday, was able to sign a professional contract after forgoing his final year of eligibility. The $1.1 million deal he inked with Detroit was the most lucrative contract for a rookie at the time and the arms race for Oates' services led directly to the NHL instituting the Supplemental Draft.[12] The secondary draft was used for players who were otherwise ineligible for the standard NHL Entry Draft.

[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rensselaer Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "Rensselaer Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  3. ^ "Game replay: March 29th, 1985. R.P.I. and Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal game in Detroit, MI". Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. February 27, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  4. ^ "R.P.I. GAINS FINAL IN 3D OVERTIME, 6-5". The New York Times. March 30, 1985. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "1985 NCAA Championship Game". RPI Hockey History. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  6. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  8. ^ "RPI Engineers Men's Hockey All Time Seasons" (PDF). RPI Engineers. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  9. ^ "RPI Engineers Year-By-Year Scoring Statistics" (PDF). RPI Engineers. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "1985 NCAA Championship Game". RPI Hockey History. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.
  12. ^ Kane, Mike (September 18, 1986). "Oates hopes to pay Detroit dividend on investment". Schenectady Gazette. p. 34. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  13. ^ "1985 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved August 18, 2019.