RPI Engineers men's ice hockey

RPI Engineers

University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Conference ECAC
Head coach Seth Appert
7th year, 105–138–34
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
The RPI starting lineup before a November 2014 game against Michigan

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 (ECACH). They play at the Houston Field House in Troy, New York.[1][2]

History

Men's ice hockey at RPI dates back to 1901 and is one of the oldest programs in the country.[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.

Results by season (2006–13)

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 12-24-3 7-12-3 10th —
2012-13 Seth Appert 18-14-5 12-7-3 2nd —
Seth Appert: 99-136-31 58-78-20
Total: 99-136-31

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

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.

Current roster

As of April 26, 2015.[11][12]

# S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2 Minnesota Reno, ParkerParker Reno Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1995-01-20 Edina, Minnesota Edina (USHS–MN) —
4 Alberta Bokenfohr, CraigCraig Bokenfohr Junior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1992-03-11 Spruce Grove, Alberta Camrose (AJHL) —
5 Connecticut Curadi, LukeLuke Curadi (A) Senior D 6' 5" (1.96 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1991-05-14 Cheshire, Connecticut Dubuque (USHL) —
6 Ontario Hampton, PhilPhil Hampton Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1992-07-15 Oakville, Ontario Oakville (OJHL) —
7 Minnesota Schroeder, ZachZach Schroeder Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1992-09-07 Prior Lake, Minnesota St. Thomas Academy (USHS–MN) —
8 North Carolina Gillespie, KennyKenny Gillespie Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1993-12-01 Morrisville, North Carolina New Jersey (USPHL) —
9 Ontario Neal, MattMatt Neal (A) Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1991-11-22 Minesing, Ontario Stouffville (OJHL) —
10 Ontario Leonard, CurtisCurtis Leonard (C) Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992-09-23 Napanee, Ontario Wellington (OJHL) —
12 Sweden Liljegren, ViktorViktor Liljegren Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1994-04-28 Stockholm, Sweden Fairbanks (NAHL) —
13 Alberta Wilson, JaredJared Wilson Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994-08-27 Calgary, Alberta Vernon (BCHL) —
14 New York Bourbonnais, RileyRiley Bourbonnais Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1993-08-08 Rochester, New York Lincoln (USHL) —
15 Ontario Laliberté, JacobJacob Laliberté Senior F 5' 7" (1.7 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1990-09-15 Rockland, Ontario Cornwall (CCHL) —
17 Slovakia Bubela, MilošMiloš Bubela Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1992-08-25 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia Dubuque (USHL) —
18 Ontario Fulton, TravisTravis Fulton Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1992-10-24 Oakville, Ontario Vaughan (OJHL) —
19 Ontario Prapavessis, MikeMike Prapavessis Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-01-07 Oakville, Ontario Toronto Patriots (OJHL) DAL, 4th round 2014
20 Illinois DeVito, JimmyJimmy DeVito Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1994-04-02 Bloomingdale, Illinois Lincoln (USHL) —
21 Ontario McGowan, MarkMark McGowan (A) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1990-05-08 Toronto, Ontario Oakville (OJHL) —
22 Ontario Bell, BradleyBradley Bell Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1996-05-29 Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury (NOJHL) —
23 Minnesota Nanne, LouLou Nanne Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1994-05-28 Edina, Minnesota Sioux Falls (USHL) —
24 New York Bradley, ChrisChris Bradley Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1993-05-20 Williamsville, New York Youngstown (USHL) —
25 New Jersey Melanson, DrewDrew Melanson Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1995-01-10 Paramus, New Jersey Waterloo (USHL) —
26 New York Miller, MarkMark Miller Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992-07-26 Massena, New York Omaha (USHL) —
27 Ontario Wood, JakeJake Wood Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1993-08-06 Georgetown, Ontario Lincoln (USHL) —
33 Manitoba Kasdorf, JasonJason Kasdorf Junior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992-05-18 Winnipeg, Manitoba Des Moines (USHL) WPG, 6th round 2011
34 New York Diebold, ScottScott Diebold Senior G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1992-07-15 Buffalo, New York Tri-City (USHL) —
35 Massachusetts Goodman, SamSam Goodman Junior G 5' 8" (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Weston, Massachusetts RPI (ACHA) —

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rpiathletics.com/sports/2010/5/19/GEN_0519103709.aspx?
  2. ↑ http://insidecollegehockey.com/2Teams/ren.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.uscho.com/stats/teamYxY.php/rensselaer-engineers/mens-college-hockey/team,rpi/gender,m.html
  4. ↑ http://www.uscho.com/stats/teamYxY.php/rensselaer-engineers/mens-college-hockey/team,rpi/gender,m.html
  5. ↑ http://www.uscho.com/stats/teamYxY.php/rensselaer-engineers/mens-college-hockey/team,rpi/gender,m.html
  6. ↑ http://www.uscho.com/stats/teamYxY.php/rensselaer-engineers/mens-college-hockey/team,rpi/gender,m.html
  7. ↑ http://www.uscho.com/stats/teamYxY.php/rensselaer-engineers/mens-college-hockey/team,rpi/gender,m.html
  8. ↑ http://ecachockey.com/men/history/M_timeline.pdf
  9. ↑ "RPI Hockey FAQ". Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  10. ↑ "at the beginning of the Hockey Line". RPI History Revealed. 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  11. ↑ http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1415/rosters/renm
  12. ↑ http://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/roster/xxxx/48

External links