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.