Captain Possibly Being Honored

Good news for Captain Kirk:

KIRK MacDONALD A FINALIST FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD FOR MEN'S HOCKEYTROY, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete KirkMacDonald has been named a finalist for the 2006-07 Men's Hockey Lowe'sSenior CLASS Award. A senior captain, he is one of ten finalists for theaward, which was initially developed in response to the trend of collegebasketball players leaving school early to turn professional. This is thefirst year the award has been extended to men's hockey.A forward from Victoria, B.C., MacDonald is Rensselaer's leading scorer with26 points, including a team-best 12 goals, in 31 games. Eight of his goalshave come on the power play - which ranks 17th in the nation - and one was agame-winning marker. He also has 20 penalties for 40 minutes. In hiscareer, MacDonald, the team's Most Valuable Player in 2004-05 and asecond-year captain, has 102 points (47 goals, 55 assists) in 135 games.MacDonald is a management major who has been on the Dean's List on multipleoccasions. He is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee(SAAC) and he will be inducted into Olympia, Rensselaer's student-athletehonor society. A cancer survivor, MacDonald is also very active in the community, havingserved in numerous charitable and volunteer activities during his career atRensselaer, including:. Helping organize a season-long campaign to raise funds for cancerresearch and awareness of the importance of being tested and educated abouttesticular cancer. At each home game during the 2005-06 season, two membersof the team volunteered to have their heads shaved if a minimum of $100 wasraised per player. Over $11,000 was donated to the Lance ArmstrongFoundation. The gift was one of the largest ever donated by a college ofRPI's size through a grass roots campaign; . Helping organize and obtaining prizes for raffles to help raisefunds for cancer research and to raise awareness; . Serving as a spokesman at RPI and at other local colleges for cancerawareness; . Serving as a member of the committee and Master of Ceremonies forthe inaugural American Cancer Society Relay for Life at Rensselaer, whichraised over $124,000; . Being named to the American Cancer Society Youth Council for NewYork and New Jersey; . Volunteering for the Troy Turkey Trot & as a youth hockey coach; . Helping organize a food drive to benefit Unity House of Troy byreplenishing the organization's shelves after Thanksgiving; . Currently working on the Second Annual American Cancer Society Relayfor Life at RPI.In addition to being named a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award,MacDonald is also a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award as well asthe 2007 NCAA Skills Competition. He also won the 2007 Rensselaer AlumniAssociation Community Service Award.CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying inSchool. The award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor theattributes of college senior athletes who remain committed to theiruniversity and pursue the many rewards that a senior season can bringVoting for the finalists - who were chosen based on personal qualities thatdefine a complete student-athlete (classroom, character, community, andcompetition) - will be done nationwide by fans, coaches, media, andsponsors. Fan balloting begins on March 10 at www.seniorclassaward.com.

Quiet Before The Storm

Here we go- another weekend in the ECACHL. The playoffs are coming- here is what rpi fans gave to look forward to.

Brown @ Rensselaer: RPI has indeed played quite well despite prima facie appearances, and with home ice only two points away, Brown may fall victim to home-ice energy. 3-2 Engineers.

Yale @ Rensselaer: Yale goes into the postseason on a mini-high, as Alec Richards saves the day in hostile territory. 3-2 Eli.

Rensselaer: The Engineers have surrendered 48 goals in their last 10 losses, all since the winter break. Their four wins in that time have each been by one goal. In those losses, the average difference has been a full 3.6 goals, with only one empty-net goal against. On the other hand, the 'Tute is 2-0-8 in overtime games; hard to hope for much better.

RPI looking beyond the Ls
Many teams would be content taking a point from the North Country this season.
Rensselaer and head coach Seth Appert were not.
"I'm disappointed," he said.
St. Lawrence won 6-3, exploding for three goals in the last seven minutes of the game following the Engineers' game-tying goal five minutes into the frame. Clarkson drew their contest even with four seconds remaining on the clock in the 3-3 tie.
"We don't have the ability to score a lot of goals," Appert assessed, "our strength has been winning the close games."
In discussing the significant margin of the team's recent losses, Appert pointed out that when losing close games, you have to take risks that will certainly make the team more vulnerable to counterattacks.
Plus, he said, "in the majority of our recent losses, we've out-chanced our opponents."
The state of his inherited team is one of a young and inexperienced defense, and a talented but productively limited offense. Hence, Appert adjusted his strategy to a quasi-possession game, maintaining the up-tempo style that he prefers despite the lack of intimidating scorers.
Oren Eizenman is doing his part though. Coming back off an injury, he had "probably his best weekend of the year" last week, said his coach.
The Engineers play two at the Houston Field House with postseason home-ice in sight.

0-1-1

Well not quite the trip envisioned by the RPI faithful but clearly this is a team on the cusp but not there yet. Hopefully SA will get the lads tuned up for a respectible showing in the ECAC's

North Country

Here comes RPI! Well, they could use a sweep this weekend and certainly the quality of opponents they face this weekend will make that a difficult task. But it will be interesting to see if Appert really has em revved up for the ECAC playoffs or if this is a quick swan song....

As always, from USCHO:

Rensselaer @ St. Lawrence: How can you not pick the Saints right now? Even I can't not pick them! 5-3 SLU.

Rensselaer @ Clarkson: Against my instinct, I'll stick with my early-season love for the new RPI: 4-2 Engineers.

Mixed Bag Again

Another win/loss weekend for the lads of Troy. RPI currently sits 9th in the ECAC and would face Princeton without home ice advantage if the playoffs were to commence today.

The good news is that RPI is only 2 points out of the 8th spot which could be made up this week guaranteeing RPI home ice advantage. Either way though, you have to wonder about Lange.

As anyone knows, I have been a big supporter of Lange based on his performance last year and felt his one game in one game out rotation Appert has been doing all season has been hurting his consistency. Yet, when he played back to back games he was great in the first and then yees- 6-1 loss in the second!

I am not ready to give up on Mathias but he needs to show me something in the last part of the season and the playoffs....

RPI Get Ready

Here we go- the weekend is here- grab a beer! And grab some RPI hockey. The predictions come from USCHO:

Colgate @ Rensselaer: RPI has been struggling for offense, and Colgate has taken the concept of defense to a whole new level (11 goals against in the last six games). Sorry Engineers, but this isn't your night. 4-2 Raiders.

Cornell @ Rensselaer: RPI has looked solid lately, and Cornell has struggled to put pucks in the net with any consistency. I think home ice could be the difference in a defensive struggle. 3-2 Rensselaer.

Also some good quotes from Appert:

"I don't think you can analyze hockey the same way as baseball or football," said Rensselaer head coach Seth Appert, who uses the same basic stats that can be found in most comprehensive game notes.
The Engineers, according to their coach, have 10 set objectives for which they strive every game. These include such straightforward goals as winning the third period, blocking more shots (by percentage) than their opponent, winning 55 percent of faceoffs, and winning the special-teams battle.
"I think when we hit six or seven of those, we're undefeated," said Appert.

Well 0-2 after this weekend although everyone who listened or saw the games said htey are playing much better. It still seems RPI is a few seasons away at this point.

I will let Kevin's email update all of you on the weekend that was and the weekend that will be:

The Engineers went 0-2-0 last week against Dartmouth and Harvard. Junior Jordan Alford (Red Deer, AB) posted 24 saves in Friday’s 5-2 loss against the Big Green and sophomore Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria) stopped 20 shots in a 3-1 loss to the Crimson. Rensselaer is now 8-13-7 overall with a 4-8-4 ECACHL mark and returns to action this weekend when it hosts Colgate (Friday) and Cornell (Saturday). Both games begin at 7pm and can be heard live on 91.5, WRPI and at www.wrpi.org. Live stats for both games will be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/rpi/mhockey/.

Friday night's game against Colgate is Ned Harkness Night when the former legendary coach of the Engineers will be added to the prestigious Ring of Honor at the Houston Field House. Saturday's game against Cornell is the 3rd Annual White Out, to which all fans are encouraged to wear white. During the first intermission of that game, senior forward Kirk MacDonald will be presented with his Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist trophy.

The hockey team will also raffle off signed NHL jerseys at both games this weekend, with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. In addition, the Engineers will donate their half of the 50-50 drawing.

RPI On The Move?

According to USCHO:
RPI on the move
The Engineers took four points on the road from Yale and Brown last weekend, and hit Dartmouth and Harvard this week to conclude a four-game road trip.
"Our attention to detail is becoming a lot better," said coach Seth Appert of his team's newfound confidence. "We had trouble earlier on with our physical intensity and our execution ... sometimes we'd be too intense [and make aggressive mistakes] and not execute."
Appert will stick with his rotation of Mathias Lange and Jordan Alford, content with the results so far.
"Jordan had two big road wins [at Union and Yale] ... and Lange had a tough win on the road against Brown."
Catalysts of the team's success have been senior defenseman Jake Luthi and redshirt senior Kirk MacDonald. Luthi leads the team in points (22) and assists (19), while MacDonald has been "everything we'd want in a player this year."
"His leadership and passion are infectious," said Appert of his captain.
As far as this weekend is concerned, "Harvard and Dartmouth put a whoopin' on us [at home]," said Appert. "They embarrassed us on our home ice ... and dominated both games."
While the coach wouldn't go so far as to call it a chance at redemption, the weekend's results will go a long way in indicating exactly what kind of team — and what kind of tenacity — Rensselaer really has this season.

I certainly think RPI has a long way to go this season to cash in the promise of the start of the season but let's seem em beat up on Big Green and the Crimson!

Here are the USCHO predicitions:

Rensselaer @ Dartmouth: RPI is streaky so far this year, but it's the ECACHL — everyone's streaky. I'm not going to bail on the Engineers as my surprise team of the season just yet. 4-2 RPI.

Rensselaer @ Harvard: RPI cools Harvard, if only temporarily. 3-2 Engineers.

Oates Frustrated

This from the TU:

Oates fond of RPI
Former Engineer most proud of his diploma

By PETE DOUGHERTY, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
TORONTO -- Adam Oates doesn't keep many artifacts from his hockey career around his Palm Springs, Calif., home. One item he does have hanging, though, is his RPI diploma.
Oates, 44, played three seasons at the Troy school before moving on to a potential Hall of Fame pro career, which ended in 2004 with 1,420 points -- 15th on the NHL's all-time list.
"It took me four summers," said Oates, who received a degree in management. "It was very important to me. It's still one of the only things I have up on the wall of my house."
Oates was named honorary captain for this year's American Hockey League All-Star Classic, played here Monday night. His passion now is golf, but Oates, a native of Weston, Ontario, who helped RPI to the 1985 NCAA hockey championship, gets briefed on his alma mater by Dino Macaluso, a former player and his financial advisor.
"RPI is very frustrating to me," said Oates, who would like to see more of an emphasis -- especially financial -- placed on hockey. "I owe them a lot because it was an important time in my life, but I also thought I have given a lot back to the school in terms of recognition.
"You have a fantastic school that I know is an academic school, and no matter what happens, it will be an academic school. Harvard can win 10 titles in a row in every sport and it's going to be Harvard. RPI is going to be no different."
Expansion anticipated AHL president/CEO Dave Andrews said he anticipates a 29-team AHL next season, up two.
The Colorado Avalanche, which currently supply half of the Albany River Rats' roster, announced earlier this month that they will house their players in Cleveland, where a group of investors bought the dormant Utah franchise. The team will be called the Lake Erie Monsters.
The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to move their affiliation from Norfolk to Rockford, if the Illinois city can acquire a franchise. A dormant franchise in Cincinnati is targeted. The Edmonton Oilers or Florida Panthers are possible tenants for Norfolk.
Roster retooling possible
The AHL's agreement with its players association expires Sept. 1. Andrews said the subjects of expanded game rosters (currently 17 skaters and two goalies are permitted to dress) and schedule reduction may be discussed.

A Corner Turned?

Well, needless to say I have been very pesmistic on this blog over the past few weeks as I feel RPI has not cashed in on its early season promise and slide to the back of the pack of the ECAC.

This weekend showed the grit of the lads against their Ivy League breathern with wins of 2-1 and 4-3 over Yale and Brown. Here are the game recaps via USCHO:

Yale: http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20062007/m/01/26/rpi-yu.php
Brown: http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20062007/m/01/27/rpi-bn.php

Orneals had 2 goals and an assist and its fair to say RPI needs him healthy along with Captain Kirk in order to make any run at all.

It seems that Appert is content on rotating the goalies. One has to think he will choose one eventually and I am all in favor of Mathias. We will see what happens- go Rippeee!

Game Time

Ok- time for another weekend. If we can't take some points off these Ivy League chumps I don't know what's what. As always, here are USCHO's predictions for the weekend:

Rensselaer @ Yale: Yale's been going in the wrong direction, while RPI might be onto something again. 4-2 Engineers.

Rensselaer @ Brown: RPI resurgence is at hand. Brown can't outscore the 'Tute in this one, 5-3 for a happy weekend in Troy.

And even more on RPI from the ECACHL's blogger:

As coach Seth Appert sees it, the Engineers have hit the floor, and are already back into a climb.
"We've made good strides the last few weeks," he said. "We hit bottom that Harvard/Dartmouth weekend [January 5-6], but we've made good strides since about halfway through the Dartmouth game."
Appert cited a serial killer as the source of the team's frustrations: consistency.
"We lacked consistency in our mental and physical efforts," he said. "The combination has been elusive at times."
But the first-year boss reassured that the killer wouldn't inflict more than a wound on his team.
"There is frustration, of course. The players want to win, the coaches want to win. But it's how you deal with that frustration ... the players chose not to break up or splinter, but stay together." Morale, he said, is solid.
With four road games in a row up ahead, the travel time may be just what the 'Tute needs. Yale and Brown this weekend will serve as hearty appetizers, while the Engineers might hope to seek a measure of redemption — at least from within themselves — with the Harvard-Dartmouth trip next weekend.
"Sometimes it's good to get on the road," Appert said, "away from the distractions. It will be some good time to spend together [as a team]."
Rensselaer is still running with Mathias Lange and Jordan Alfond alternating between the pipes. Neither is putting up All-American numbers, but Appert is content with their efforts.
"Our young defense [three freshmen, one sophomore] is sometimes leaving them in tough situations. For the most part, [the goalies] have been pretty consistent."
Senior defenseman Jake Luthi's three goals and 19 assists leads the team in points, while four different players' seven goals lead the team in that category.
"Our depth is a strength," said Appert. "We don't have, right now, that many guys that we know night to night will put points on the board. We have to score by committee, win by committee."
And with any luck, rise by committee.

0-1-1

Nice, get blown out in the first game and then let a lead evaporate during the freakin Feakout and settle for a tie!

Clarkson still sucks!

I am not sure what to say at this point. Maybe the team can get a late season surge going here and do something in the ECAC playoff but probably not.

On the positive front, it sounds like the recruits are coming in for RPI but no ones out of the CHL. I think Appert has start to shaking those bushes to really up the talent level.

500 Hockey Here We Come!

Sorry for not posting after the Union split last weekend but upon reading the stories and box scores it dawned on me that this is the season RPI will ahve the rest of the way 500 hockey and probably bounced in the first round. No I am not being pessimistic, I think Appert is a good coach and once he gets his players in here, this team will be a force in the ECAC.

Its just right now there are too many injuries, too many young players and too new a system to get this together for this season.

It still doesn't mean I won't be cheering for Ripeee! Here is USCHO's take on the weekend:

Clarkson @ Rensselaer: RPI dodged a major bullet in splitting with Union last weekend. Clarkson is the warm-up act to the Big Red Freakout ... will this be a big turnaround weekend or not for the 'Tute? Clarkson says no. 5-1 Knights.

St. Lawrence @ Rensselaer: If RPI loses the Freakout, I'll ... be seriously disappointed ...? Gotta pick the Engineers in front of the crazies. 4-2 RPI.

The Weekend Is Here, Time To Drink Some Beer

I have no confidence in RPI at the moment so I am going to drink a few beers and hope for the best- here, of course, is USCHO's take on the weekend:

Union @ Rensselaer: Rivalry weekend! If RPI can't win this game, their season might be — for all intents and purposes — done for. There is no way the Engineers will come out at less than 100%. Should be a heck of a fight... here's to underdog optimism, 4-2 'Tute.

Rensselaer @ Union: Heaven help me, I'm taking the home team again. Mrazek et al. split the weekend, 3-1.

Got Smoked

Wow- that is all I can say. I mean, did the team even show up to play? The Harvard loss was bad enough but then to get housed 6-2 by the Big Freaking Green? Disappointed and stunned am I.

I thought that this weekend, when the ECAC schedule would really start heating up for RPI and would show what they could do and this is the result, I am very pessimistic for the rest of the season.

I am not sure what the fix is. Obviously Captian Kirk is pulling is weight but what is going on in goal and on D? Very discouraging results, anyone care to cheer me up?

Weekend Is Here

Ok- its Friday- time for RPI to gear up for ECAC play. We will see if they can turn around this ship or not. Of course, the weekend predictions come from USCHO.com:

Harvard @ Rensselaer: One win in your last ten games is not good. (Lookin' at you, RPI.) At least the Engineers got five points during that stretch, or the situation could really be dire. I'm not one to dismiss my convictions before the final gun, so I'm thinking that Appert will have his charges refocused for the second half against an up-and-down Crimson side. 3-2 'Tute.

Dartmouth @ Rensselaer: Dartmouth: hungry to win, Rensselaer: not looking too convincing entering the break. I'll pick the road upset in this one as the Visitors get a much-needed midseason insurance point. 2-1 Green.

We Are Not Elite

I use "we" in the royal sense of course but man did RPI NOT show up this weekend in Vt. It was a good litmus test playing against one of the top teams in the country and then against a ECAC foe and RPI did not show up in either game. I think Lange is the answer in goal but I don't think this is RPI's year. Hopefully Appert will get the recuits in here to play well in his system.

Of course, its not all RPI's fault. There are 2 major cogs still injured and the team only recently got back Capitain Kirk. Still, I am not holding my breath as RPI really gets into the meat of their ECAC season this weekend.

RPI Wins!

Yeaa!!! Way to go Mathias!!!! I think he should be the starter. He was great last year and did right by RPI on SAturday. Now a long layoff until the next game. The USCHO recap is below:

RPI Downs Mass.-Lowell
Compiled by USCHO Staff
TROY, N.Y. — Paul Kerins and Matt Angers-Goulet both had a goal and an assist to lead Rensselaer to a 2-1 win over Mass.-Lowell at the Houston Field House.
The Engineers broke out on top at 4:43 of the first period when Kerins deflected a low Reed Kipp shot past Lowell goaltender Vinny Monaco. Kipp, who took a slapshot from between the circles at the blueline, collected a pass from the left point from Angers-Goulet, who earned the secondary assist.
Angers-Goulet doubled RPI’s lead when he scored on a wristshot from the left faceoff circle on a two-on-one at 10:12 of the first frame. Kerins, who scored his fifth goal of the season earlier in the period, made the head-man pass to Angers-Goulet, who also tallied his fifth goal. Kipp, a defenseman, earned his second assist of the game on the play.
The River Hawks pulled to within one goal when sophomore forward Nick Monroe scored on a backhander under the cross bar from the bottom of the right faceoff circle at 9:49 of the third period. Mark Roebothan earned the primary assist and Cleve Kinley the secondary. For Monroe, the goal was his first of the season.
Mathias Lange earned the win in goal by making 22 saves, including 10 in the third period. Monaco finished with 23 saves.
Rensselaer (5-5-6), which snapped a seven-game winless streak (0-4-3), is next in action on December 29 against the University of Vermont in the Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup at 7pm. Mass.-Lowell (3-10-4), which is now winless in nine games (0-8-1), plays Brown on December 29 in the Wells Fargo Denver Cup beginning at 6:30pm.

UMASS Next

Ok- its go time for RPIee. Let's see if they can bounce back from this 2 week slide and take it to UMass Lowell. The key is that if they get a lead HOLD ON TO IT! And stop taking penalties.

Go Red!!

RPI Is In Trouble

Ok tie to Qpac and lose to Princeton? WTF???? RPI seems to be regressing from just a few weeks ago. After reading the summaries of the games I think the same things that have been plaguing RPI all season continue on. Where for art though Appert? Was this team just playing above its head for the first month of the season and this is what we should expect going forward or is the team better than this?

Thoughts?