There was no shortage of questions surrounding the RPI hockey program as they entered year two under Eric Lang. 14 new faces and still deep in the culture building phase of the program will do that to you. But on opening weekend in front of a healthy homecoming weekend crowd, these youthful Engineers showed flashes of what Lang’s vision of the program appears to be. Friday night’s 3-0 shutout win was exciting, meaningful, and a flag planted in the ground that this group means business. It’s not the finished product, not even remotely close. But you saw more glimpses of the vision across the board. It would have been nice to convert Saturday’s 2-1 3rd period lead into a sweep, but there will be many lessons for this young group to learn from it. All in, from the results on the ice, to the unveiling of the Houston Field House renovations, and the enhanced marketing and buzz around the program, this weekend was an unequivocal win.
5 Things:
#1: Nate Krawchuk may be a top 20 goaltender in the country.
Maybe higher than that too. Nate’s 36 save shutout on Friday was one of the best displays of goaltending I’ve seen in an RPI uniform in years. Any questions about his hot finish to last year’s season were totally answered by his efforts this weekend. I still think Ethan McCallum will get some run, but RPI is going to need Chucky to keep building upon this great start.
#2: RPI’s one-two punch at Center is very real.
RPI scored 5 times this weekend and 4 of them came from Filip Sitar and Rainers Rullers. Add in Rullers’ hat-trick in the exhibition against Army, and well, you do the math. Lang really needs those two to carry the load up front and they got off to an excellent start. Beyond the goal scoring though, they both made their presence known in the defensive end. Sitar in particular is a true 200-foot center with a complete game, who brought such a calming presence to his line with two of the younger guys. And Rullers, who looks like RPI’s best player so far, has been outstanding.
#3: Forward depth looks a little thin.
My biggest concern with this group after Smith and Evaschesen decommitted from the program was the depth at forward. Looking back on this weekend, that unfortunately was the case. Beyond Sitar and Rullers’ big weekends, I thought Goukler made a big impact. Only Jack Brackett has rivaled his speed of recent memory, and Goukler is way more skilled. Gavin made a few plays, Tapper was steady, but beyond that the forwards were quiet. It’s hard to tell how skilled OSU’s defense was, so I think next weekend against LIU will give us some helpful data points to assess the unit. Nonetheless, it can’t just be Sitar and Rullers offensively.
#4: Development was noticeable.
I’ve been having a hard time articulating this thought since the weekend, but I felt like every time one of the returners touched the puck I breathed a sigh of relief. Which I think is best illustrated through Sobieski and Klassek, who had excellent first years but were spotty defensively. This weekend though, I thought they were erasers in their own end, initiated on offense, and consistently made the smart play. I’ve hit on Rullers, Sitar, and Krawchuk now too, and I even thought Buckley was a step faster. We’ve seen Lang’s recruiting ability, but I thought this weekend read very nicely for our first glimpse at player development under him. It will be a fun and important theme to monitor.
#5: Almost everything “non-hockey” was a step in the right direction.
We’ve talked a lot on here about the lack of support that the program has gotten over the years. And as the page turned to the Lang era, it felt like a good time for a top-down analysis of the way the program has been run. That’s what a new coach is supposed to do. Fast forward to Friday night, and I thought 18-months into Eric’s tenure, you could see tangible evidence of a program being run with more seriousness. The renovations to the Field House looked awesome. The athletic department running student season ticket promos to get more students in the stands. Consistent, exciting social media content all weekend to bring fans behind the scenes. It just feels like they’re finally getting the little things right, which may take time to feel an impact from but was an absolute necessity to change.
Much more work to be done, but last weekend was a win all things considered. The Engineers host LIU for two at the Field House this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for our preview. Let’s go red.
Went both nights and agree with your review especially on #14 Goulker was very impressive he's a speed demon. The one area I noticed this young team needs to find quicker is in the defensive end and neutral zone some unnecessary puck turn-overs think even on the 3-zip win I counted like 19 turnovers of the puck, and the same on 3-2 defeat(swear that OSU GW was offsides which surprised me and others that Lang didn't challenge? I'm sure Lang and crew have reviewed both games closely. And covert some those quick short to net breakaways score would've been a different outcome in second game. Another note noticed freshman defensemen #24 Burzynski struggled in game 1 but what was impressive Lang stuck with youngster with plenty of ice time for game 2... The future looks promising just got to get this core for all 4 years... More shots on net also please! HFH looks great the boards need some adjusting and agree nice see socials booming, new PA announcer appreciate his enthusiasm but....even seen the AD changing out trash bins, great to see her commitment she deserves a lot of credit going forward! Let's GO RED!