A very happy new year to everyone, and what a crazy year it was for the RPI men’s hockey program. We’ve documented it all here, and we hope you have enjoyed the coverage. To wrap up the year and to thank everyone for their support, we wanted to turn it over to you guys and take in some mailbag questions. Here are our best thoughts on your pressing questions surrounding the program:
Will Matthew Jovanovic see more playing time in the second half of the season? - Toga
Stephen: All along the plan was to bring Jovanovic along slowly and gradually get him back into the swing of things. After all, he went 4.5 years without playing a single competitive hockey game. Now that he has played a couple of games, we do expect that he will start seeing some more ice time as the season goes on. When he has played, he’s looked pretty solid, and he has clear talent with his size and skating ability. One thing that Chris has also said about him is that he also just seems to have very good feel for the game. He’s probably not going to be an every night player, but we expect he will play more than 2 games in the second half. He is a player we’d circle for an offseason breakout, but it probably won’t happen as soon as the next few weeks.
What’s it going to take for RPI to turn its season around in the final 16 regular season games? - Ed
Stephen & Chris: Honestly, this probably isn’t the answer that you’re looking for, but RPI isn’t going to turn this season around. Rebuilds are a process, and RPI is very early on in it. The team simply isn’t good enough to turn around the year to finish in the top 4 of the league. If it did happen, it would be driven by excellent goaltending by Krawchuk in net and improvements from the top 9 forwards who have not produced much like Wallace, Buckley, Tinling, Rullers and Tapper. A reasonable goal for the 2nd half would be to build enough sustainable momentum to earn home ice in the ECAC playoffs and/or win a playoff game.
Is Coach Lang still living in a hotel room? - John
Stephen: This is a funny question. As far as we know, yes. Keep grinding Coach… it’ll all be worth it.
Is RPI going to recruit out of the ECHL like some of the other NCAA schools are doing? - John
Stephen: This is pretty doubtful. First of all, this is probably going to be only a one-year thing. All the former pro players currently in the NCAA (or being added to rosters midseason) are former major junior players who never got to take advantage of the rule change. Current major junior players can just go directly to the NCAA. Second of all, the players that have been added to rosters were late adds to replace last minute departures. Arizona State lost Cole Spicer in the summer and thus had a spot to fill, which they used on Jack Beck. Quinnipiac lost Ben Saunderson, who decided to go to USports instead, and they filled his spot with Graham Sward. The midseason addition of Mats Lindberg for Colorado College is because they lost a defenseman, Max Burkholder, for the season due to injury. RPI doesn’t have any long-term injuries that we are aware of, so this is highly unlikely. Expect Lang & co. to continue targeting the CHL for the roster overhaul.
Prior to the season, I had expected RPI to be able to score in bunches but struggle defensively. It now seems as though that may have been too optimistic. What do you see as the primary reason behind the scoring struggles (roster, system, something else)? - Brown Hockey Blog
Stephen: This team was never going to be one that was dynamic offensively, but we did expect them to score more than this. Depth was supposed to be the strength of the forward group, while the lack of top end talent would hold them back. So far, it has played out like that. However, the depth hasn’t been quite as strong as expected, and the top 6 is scoring even less than expected despite already being viewed as a weakness. Dovar Tinling and Jagger Tapper have taken steps back production-wise compared to last year, while Tyler Wallace and Rainers Rullers haven’t scored as much as expected going into the year. That’s about it; they need more production from the top 6.
Looking beyond the raw results. Do you see this year as a net positive, negative, or neutral so far, given the massive roster overhaul and new coach/system needing to be implemented? - Mike
Stephen & Chris: Definitely a net positive. With all that you mentioned, it was definitely going to be a tough year, but we have seen a good system and nice flashes from some young players. We think the roster was collectively overrated by the fanbase in the offseason off the sheer hope that Lang was a miracle worker. There is a lot of pieces we like, young ones especially, but the group lacks firepower and that has held them back. 7-28 on this year’s roster is better than last year’s in my opinion, but they don’t have anyone of the caliber of Caron, Muzzatti, Gilson, and others from last year. This takes time to build, a lot of it has to come from juniors recruiting and is tough to just poach out of the portal for a school like RPI. The calendar year has been a massive win given the coaching change, I’d say the season has been about neutral or slightly above what I expected. In early 2026? The wins to look for are more HFH news, a strong 2nd half, and roster improvement in the portal.
Who on RPI is most poised for a breakout second half? - Anonymous
Stephen: Our answers are probably all different. For me (Stephen), I’d say Buckley; his metrics are excellent with tons of shots and chances generated. The puck just hasn’t been going in the net. With his shot, I expect that’ll return to the mean.
Chris: Tinling. He’s just better than what we’ve seen so far. I imagine he’s had to shoulder a lot as a Captain and one of the main guys trying to integrate the new players and establish a culture. He also has had to move off his primary position (center) and get established on the wing. Regardless, he is better than the 4 points he has turned in thus far.
I think Tyler Wallace will do more not just in the 2nd half but hopefully in his senior year here too. He has 4 goals and 4 assists at the midway point but has clearly been on RPI’s best play driving line so far. They are different players, but in terms of career production I have always comped him to Austin Heidemann as a reference coming from the Atlantic. Austin started slow moving up from Mercyhurst but grew all the way into RPI’s leading point getter in 23-24 with 27 points. I think Wallace can follow a similar track.
While we are all excited about the recent recruiting wins, what are you most looking forward to seeing from the team on the ice as the season continues? -Matt
Chris: For me personally, the systems that Lang has implemented have looked solid so far. They have been competitive with most of the top teams, the PK has improved significantly as have the goalies, and their breakouts are effective. The team just seems to lack the talent to possess the puck for long enough right now. Thus, I am focused on more individual improvement in the 2nd half and want to see some of the younger players grow into building blocks for the program as they think about how to attack the portal in the spring. It would take a lot of pressure off the staff in the spring if the likes of Buckley, Sitar, Sobieski, Rullers, etc. establish themselves as top-flight players that can be built around.
What is the status of the Field House renovation? - Michael
Chris: The school has definitely kept this buttoned up and we understand the fear of it just being something that is “in the works” forever and ever. To make matters worse, Union just unveiled their fancy new arena this fall right across town. We understand the frustration. I don’t know the exact dollar amount, but somewhere in the $5-$10 million range ($7 sounds right to me), is being put into the Houston Field House this spring. It is supposed to be for ice and board renovations, refrigeration, and other maintenance to the overall facility. At the golf outing this summer, they were showing mock-ups for the proposed overhaul of the facility that would be north of $50 million, for new seats, locker rooms, weight rooms, lounges, and a new lobby. In essence, this would be your shiny new arena that the fans could enjoy. The fact of the matter is that this is going to take some pretty big donors, even with hockey being a big priority to Schmidt and Bowers. I imagine Dr. Bowers is working hard to get fundraising efforts in order because it is in her best interest to add a revival of the hockey program and an HFH renovation to her resume as AD. I do take solace in the fact that Schmidt, Bowers, and Lang are all highly incentivized to get this done. For now, though, we’re in stay tuned mode.