RPI Engineers men's ice hockey

RPI Engineers
University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Conference ECAC
Head coach Seth Appert
7th year, 10513834
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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[3] After a 6-year drought the program again made the NCAA Tournament in 1961, finishing 4th.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] 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 (2006–15)

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
2013–14 Seth Appert 15–16–6 8–9–5 7th
2014–15 Seth Appert 12–26–3 8–12–2 9th
Seth Appert: 126–178–40 74–97–27
Total: 126–178–40

      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.[6] 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 December 23, 2015.[7]

# S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Ontario Hackett, CamCam Hackett Freshman G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1996-06-01 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Lincoln (USHL)
2 Minnesota Reno, ParkerParker Reno Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1995-01-20 Edina, Minnesota Edina (USHS–MN)
4 New Jersey Grant, TommyTommy Grant Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1994-04-04 Sparta, New Jersey Bay State (USPHL)
6 Ontario Hampton, PhilPhil Hampton Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 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 Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1993-12-01 Morrisville, North Carolina Jersey (USPHL)
9 Minnesota Moore, MeirsMeirs Moore Freshman D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1994-12-04 Duluth, Minnesota Victoria (BCHL)
11 British Columbia Tironese, EvanEvan Tironese Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1995-08-02 Qualicum Beach, British Columbia Alberni Valley (BCHL)
12 Sweden Liljegren, ViktorViktor Liljegren Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1994-04-28 Stockholm, Sweden Fairbanks (NAHL)
13 Alberta Wilson, JaredJared Wilson Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994-08-27 Calgary, Alberta Vernon (BCHL)
14 New York Bourbonnais, RileyRiley Bourbonnais Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1993-08-08 Rochester, New York Lincoln (USHL)
17 Slovakia Bubela, MilošMiloš Bubela Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1992-08-25 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia Dubuque (USHL)
18 Ontario Fulton, TravisTravis Fulton Senior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1992-10-24 Oakville, Ontario Vaughan (OJHL)
19 Ontario Prapavessis, MikeMike Prapavessis Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-01-07 Oakville, Ontario Toronto Patriots (OJHL) DAL, 105th overall 2014
20 Illinois DeVito, JimmyJimmy DeVito Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1994-04-02 Bloomingdale, Illinois Lincoln (USHL)
22 Ontario Bell, BradleyBradley Bell Sophomore D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1996-05-29 Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury (NOJHL)
23 Minnesota Nanne, LouLou Nanne Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1994-05-28 Edina, Minnesota Sioux Falls (USHL) MIN, 188th overall 2012
24 New York Bradley, ChrisChris Bradley (C) Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1993-05-20 Williamsville, New York Youngstown (USHL)
25 New Jersey Melanson, DrewDrew Melanson Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1995-01-10 Paramus, New Jersey Waterloo (USHL)
26 New York Miller, MarkMark Miller Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992-07-26 Massena, New York Omaha (USHL)
27 Ontario Wood, JakeJake Wood Junior F 5' 7" (1.7 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1993-08-06 Georgetown, Ontario Lincoln (USHL)
28 Sweden Öhrvall, JesperJesper Öhrvall Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1994-11-19 Halmstad, Sweden Fairbanks (NAHL)
33 Manitoba Kasdorf, JasonJason Kasdorf Senior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992-05-18 Winnipeg, Manitoba Des Moines (USHL) BUF, 157th overall 2011
35 Massachusetts Goodman, SamSam Goodman Senior G 5' 8" (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1993-12-25 Weston, Massachusetts Weston (USHS–MA)
37 California Clary, LonnieLonnie Clary Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1994-09-20 Riverside, California Fairbanks (NAHL)
39 Florida Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1995-12-15 Miami, Florida Sioux City (USHL)

References

External links

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