Preview: RPI vs Clarkson/SLU
The Engineers return to ECAC play looking for valuable points
Let’s get back to hockey! I don’t know why this two-week break has felt like a lifetime, but I feel like I haven’t seen the Engineers on the ice in forever. They will make their return to league play this weekend as Clarkson and St. Lawrence venture their way to the Capital Region for two. Let’s look at the matchups and check back in on where the Engineers stand so far in this young season.
Clarkson Preview:
I reckon Clarkson has had this one circled on the calendar for 8 months now, more specifically after RPI ended their season at Cheel last March. There has been quite a bit of turnover in Golden Knights land since we last saw them, headlined by a new bench boss, J.F. Houle. Houle is a Clarkson hockey guy through and through, he played at Clarkson in the 90s and assisted there for several years after his pro career. He bounced around minor league hockey before landing a gig with the Laval Rocket of the AHL a few years ago. Clarkson hired him this summer after the surprise departure of long-time coach Casey Jones, and the news was praised in hockey circles.
Houle retained a good amount of Clarkson’s roster, so a lot of the faces we have come to know (Martino, Taylor, Richardson) are still around. Transfers Ryan Bottrill from Brown and Garrett Dahm from Mercyhurst have both contributed for the Knights, as has goaltender Ethan Langenegger who came over from Lake Superior State. Their scoring has been very balanced so far and they have gotten shutdown defense like you would expect of a Clarkson team.
Clarkson sits at 6-3-1 with a resume so far indicating that they are a top-half team in college hockey this year and confirmed by the USCHO poll where they received 20 votes this week. Their most notable wins were a road weekend sweep of Michigan Tech, who is also receiving votes, and a road win at UVM. They pose a tough test like always for RPI, and a win over the Golden Knights to get on the board in ECAC play would be a big deal.
SLU Preview
Brent Brekke’s Skating Saints figure to be one of the middle-of-the-pack teams that RPI will compete with all year for those coveted home playoff games. They got off to a nice start at 3-1 and 4-2 but dropped three consecutively including an ugly loss to Stonehill. Stephen picked them 10th in his preview and cited a lack of offense as a main reason that they could be held back. They’ve gotten some production from the top of their lineup including Tomas Mazura and Gregory Lapointe, but they lack the depth Clarkson has. Felikss Gavars is probably their top offensive talent and figures to be a big piece for the Saints as the year goes on.
I admittedly have not watched the Saints yet this year, but I am a bit confused by their goaltending situation. Ben Kraws was excellent last year before signing a contract, so they brought in Dominic Basse from St. Cloud State to replace him. Basse hadn’t seen any action until their last game against Stonehill, instead it had been Mason Kucenski in the first 8 games. Kucenski played very well, but it did seem before the year that it was Basse’s net. I am assuming he is working back from an injury, but this will be something to monitor this weekend.
Regardless of who is in net, on home ice this is absolutely a game RPI can pick up. There should be a high degree of urgency no matter the outcome Friday. Either the Engineers upset Clarkson and can bid for a home ice sweep and get a big win streak going, or they will come into the game 0-3 in league play and should be desperate to get on the board.
Keys for RPI
1. Health, Health, Health
This year has been tough to get a gauge on because I think there have been a ton of flashes of great play to get excited about. I am very pleasantly surprised by the contributions of the newcomers so far. Will Gilson has been one of the best defensemen in the country statistically. Elliott McDermott has not been far behind. Rainers Rullers, Felix Caron, and Jagger Tapper have made immediate impacts up front. But the Engineers have had a LOT of injuries. Sutter Muzzatti was returning from surgery and then suffered a scary cut in the Union game. Dovar Tinling got hurt against Niagara and has missed time. Mat Bourgault and Jordan Tonelli haven’t played. Nate Sullivan has missed time. Lucas Matta and Brody Maguire have had to play on the 4th line numerous times, and line combinations have had to jumble. I think there is a lot of potential especially offensively for this team, but we need to see them closer to full strength to truly have a full assessment.
2. Defense and PK
The defense has done a much better job helping the forwards generate offense, specifically Gilson, McDermott, and Smolinski. But RPI is still giving up too many goals and needs to have fewer breakdowns in its own end. The PK is at 73%, which has become a concerning theme the last few years. Clarkson especially plays a tight defensive game and I wouldn’t expect RPI to put up 5 goals against them, so they will need to improve in their own end to win. Furthermore, allowing 4 PP goals like they did against Union will not lead to success in league play. This needs to be a point of emphasis.
3. Find One More Line
When the injuries started to pile up, I was concerned RPI wouldn’t have enough depth in the middle 6 to produce offensively. That has thankfully not been the case, mostly because the Beaton-Rullers-Gagnon line has been so effective. Hotson and Lee’s line has produced, especially when they have Tinling who should hopefully return soon. In the top 9 that should leave Tapper-Muzzatti-Caron or something close to it as the last group. Without a doubt it has been tough to generate chemistry with all the injuries. But if the staff can find the right combination to support a hopefully healthier Muzzatti, the team will benefit a great deal.
As always, I do not have any knowledge of who is healthy and who isn’t, but I will give two lineup combinations I would like to see:
With Tinling: With Sullivan: (No Tinling)
Hotson-Tinling-Lee Hotson-Lee-Caron
Muzzatti-Tapper-Caron Brackett-Muzzatti-Tapper
Beaton-Rullers-Gagnon Beaton-Rullers-Gagnon
Brackett-McNeil-Payant McNeil-Payant-Sullivan
McDermott-Gilson
Bergmanis-Goffredo
Ozolins-Smolinski
These league points are valuable and very important to build momentum early in the year. RPI is 4-1 in non-conference, but league play is of course the priority. Let’s get some momentum going at home and carry it the rest of the way into Christmas break! Let’s go red!
