RPI Engineers men's ice hockey

RPI Engineers
University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Conference ECAC
Head coach Seth Appert
11th year, 14519648 (.434)
Captain(s) Riley Bourbonnais
Jimmy DeVito
Alternate captain(s) Parker Reno
Arena Houston Field House
Capacity: 4,800
Surface: 200' x 85'
Location Troy, New York
Colors Cherry and White[1]
         
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.[2][3]

History

Men's ice hockey at RPI dates back to 1901 and is one of the oldest programs in the country.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] After a 6-year drought the program again made the NCAA Tournament in 1961, finishing 4th.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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 (1979–89, 2006–16)

Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Mike Addessa (ECAC) (1979–1989)
1979–80 Mike Addessa
1980–81 Mike Addessa
1981–82 Mike Addessa
1982–83 Mike Addessa
1983–84 Mike Addessa
1984–85 Mike Addessa 35–2–1 20–1–0 1st NCAA National Champions
1985–86 Mike Addessa
1986–87 Mike Addessa
1987–88 Mike Addessa
1988–89 Mike Addessa
Mike Addessa: 35–2–1 20–1–0
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
2015–16 Seth Appert 18–15–7 8–7–7 T-5th
Seth Appert: 144–193–47 82–104–34
Total: 179–195–48

      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.[7] 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 August 30, 2016.[8]

# S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Ontario Hackett, CamCam Hackett Sophomore G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 211 lb (96 kg) 1996-06-01 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Lincoln (USHL)
2 Minnesota Reno, ParkerParker Reno Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1995-01-20 Edina, Minnesota Edina (USHS–MN)
3 Minnesota Samec, T. J.T. J. Samec Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 1995-05-03 Edina, Minnesota Brookings (NAHL)
4 New Jersey Grant, TommyTommy Grant Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1994-04-04 Sparta, New Jersey Bay State (USPHL)
5 New York (state) Manley, CharlieCharlie Manley Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1996-07-15 Orchard Park, New York Estevan (SJHL)
9 Minnesota Moore, MeirsMeirs Moore Sophomore D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1994-12-04 Duluth, Minnesota Victoria (BCHL)
11 British Columbia Tironese, EvanEvan Tironese Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1995-08-02 Qualicum Beach, British Columbia Alberni Valley (BCHL)
12 Sweden Liljegren, ViktorViktor Liljegren Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1994-04-28 Stockholm, Sweden Fairbanks (NAHL)
13 Alberta Wilson, JaredJared Wilson Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 199 lb (90 kg) 1994-08-27 Calgary, Alberta Vernon (BCHL)
14 New York (state) Bourbonnais, RileyRiley Bourbonnais Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1993-08-08 Rochester, New York Lincoln (USHL)
16 Ontario Hayhurst, JacobJacob Hayhurst Freshman F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 166 lb (75 kg) 1997-01-20 Mississauga, Ontario Cedar Rapids (USHL)
17 Arizona Burgess, ToddTodd Burgess Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1996-04-03 Scottsdale, Arizona Fairbanks (USHL) OTT, 103rd overall 2016
18 Austria Reisinger, MaxMax Reisinger Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 199 lb (90 kg) 1995-09-22 Walding, Austria Minot (NAHL)
19 Ontario Prapavessis, MikeMike Prapavessis Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1996-01-07 Oakville, Ontario Toronto Patriots (OJHL) DAL, 105th overall 2014
20 Illinois DeVito, JimmyJimmy DeVito Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1994-04-02 Bloomingdale, Illinois Lincoln (USHL)
22 Ontario Bell, BradleyBradley Bell Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1996-05-29 Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury (NOJHL)
23 Minnesota Nanne, LouLou Nanne Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 1994-05-28 Edina, Minnesota Sioux Falls (USHL) MIN, 188th overall 2012
24 Ontario Reilly, WillWill Reilly Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 1997-07-23 Toronto, Ontario Nanaimo (BCHL)
25 New Jersey Melanson, DrewDrew Melanson Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1995-01-10 Paramus, New Jersey Waterloo (USHL)
27 Ontario Wood, JakeJake Wood Senior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 173 lb (78 kg) 1993-08-06 Georgetown, Ontario Lincoln (USHL)
28 Sweden Öhrvall, JesperJesper Öhrvall Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 163 lb (74 kg) 1994-11-19 Halmstad, Sweden Fairbanks (NAHL)
29 New York (state) Polino, PatrickPatrick Polino Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 171 lb (78 kg) 1995-04-11 Buffalo, New York Lincoln (USHL)
35 Minnesota Perry, ChaseChase Perry Freshman G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1996-02-08 Saint Paul, Minnesota Wenatchee (BCHL) DET, 136th overall 2014
39 Florida Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-12-15 Miami, Florida Sioux City (USHL)

References

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