RPI Men prepare for 2018-19 season
TROY >> The RPI Men’s Hockey 2018-19 season will officially start October 12 at UMASS Amherst after a long off season preparing, rebuilding, and reorganizing for the Engineers.
“I think we’ve had a lot of growth since the guys came back and that’s important,” said RPI Head Coach Dave Smith. “We need to continue that and have a long term growth plan. The guys have brought energy and enthusiasm to have the same type of plan.”
The team is excited for a new season and have a lot to prove. LAST SEASON RPI finished last season 6-27-4. Certainly not a record the Engineers would have wanted. Add in a 4-16-2 conference record against ECAC opponents. It’s easy to harp on the negatives, but positives from last season were now junior Jacob Hayhurst’s 23 point season and now sophomore goalie Linden Marshall’s emergence as a mainstay in the net, both of whom will be touched on later.
Last season was not ideal. That’s not a stretch. RETURNERS Hayhurst returns after a 23 point season and is ready to take the reigns and continue the success he found last season.
“He’ll be in a role with a chance to succeed,” said Smith. “He’s been around the league and there should be no surprises for him. This is the time you see really good players rise to the next level and that’s what we’ll push Jacob to and challenge him to be the best he can be.”
On the leadership side of things, Tommy Grant will rock the “C” on his sweater. Will Reilly and Brady Whiffen will be the assistant captains.
“It’s been going real well,” said Reilly on the start of camp. “We’ve been here a long time, since August 12 — we have the same team standards and want to improve on last year.”
Whiffen and Grant are big frames for the RPI blue line and are joined by returning blue liners Meirs Moore, TJ Samec, and Mat Harris.
Returning offensive power along with Hayhurst and Whiffen is slim but consists of players like Billy Jerry (12 points last season), Todd Burgess (12 points last season), and Patrick Polino (11 points).
Despite reports, Evan Tironese (15 points last season) has not returned for the 2018-19 season.
NEWCOMERS RPI adds 12 to the roster for this season, which is on the higher side in comparison to other ECAC teams (Harvard added eight, Clarkson added eight, Union added six).
“It’s important to always be upgrading what you have and what comes in,” said Smith. “I think it’s the competitive nature of division one hockey.”
It’ll be exciting to see how those 12 newcomers will be implemented into Smith’s systems, which is still yet to be seen. Smith noted that it would be unfair to point out one or two guys before the Engineers even play a scrimmage.
“Opportunity is presented to them and everybody reacts a little bit different,” said Smith. “We’re telling them that the opportunity is right there and they need to enjoy it, grow with it, and once you have success, remember how hungry you were prior to that. I don’t think it’d be fair to say one guy is above another because it is all going to be seen when we play other team.”
Several transfers this season come from big time DI programs and hopefully will make significant upgrades in the roster.
Shane Bear transfers in from UMASS, where he will be going for game one. Along with Bear is Chase Zieky from Providence and Mike Gornall from North Dakota.
“A couple of them are coming from program that are used to high expectations and they’ve been there before,” said Smith. “They’ve seen it and they wanted to come here and leave their stamp on a program that also has had high expectations. They shouldn’t be surprised by anything. They’re anxious and with us everyday, we have to be patient with them.”
Other new guys are Nick Bowman (Coulee, NAHL), Tommy Lee (Chilliwack, BCHL), Brady Ferner (Sioux City, USHL), and Jake Johnson (Cedar Rapids, USHL).
GOALTENDING
Marshall emerged last season as a freshman and spent some time in the summer at the Chicago Blackhawks prospect camp. Marshall played in 29 games and kept a .904 save percentage and a 3.17 goals against. Don’t make any assumptions like I had, Marshall is not the official number one goalie for the Engineers.
“It is always going to be an open goalie battle. Always,” said Smith. “If a guy is number one and he’s not playing well, he’s not number one. Based on minutes played, and the trends from last year, absolutely we have high expectations for Linden.”
Senior Chase Perry continues to battle and keep a goalie competition strong, and the addition of Owen Savory will make the goalie position interesting for the Engineers.
“We also have high expectations of Chase Perry and if he’s not in he’s going to do everything he can to be ready for when he is in,” said Smith. “We believe Owen Savory, who is super athletic and has a super mindset, is in the same boat. Goaltending is no different except there is only one guy. Only one guy in the net at a time.”
••• It is tough to make a prediction on such a small sample size of a new team and a team that is going into just its second season with Smith at the helm.
Sunday, October 7, will be RPI’s preseason scrimmage against the University of Prince Edward Island.
The scrimmage will be much more telling.