59 Teams in 59 Days Rensselaer

The 59 Teams in 59 Days tour continues with a trip to Troy, New York where we visit one of the finest engeneering institues in the country, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where today the RPI Engeneers are featured.

New head coach Seth Appert is coming in from Denver, where he was an assistant for Denver's two National Championships in 2003-2004, and 2004-2005. He is coming in with a team who finished 14-17-6 last year, and lost in the first round to Quinnipiac.

RPI will have some work to do this year. While leading scorer Kevin Croxton is gone, the Engeneers will have a couple of players who need to step up their game. Senior Oren Eizenman (the teams returning leading scorer), and Junior Jonathan Ornelas should improve their stats from last year. Expect some sleepers such as Sophomore Kurt Colling, and Freshman forward Paul Kerins to make a big impact this year.

Defensively, the Engenners will need to replace four Seniors from last years squad. Seniors Jake Luthi, and Ryan Swanson are the two returning regular players, while Sophomore Reed Kipp should see more ice time. There are three spots on Defense avilable, and it will be fought out by four incoming Freshman. Erik Burgdoefer, Jason Fortino, Christian Jensen, and Peter Merth will look to make an immediate impact on this young RPI defense. Expect RPI to struggle a little bit, but to improve each game.

Goaltending wise Sophomore Mathias Lange will get the start between the pipes. Lange could see his numbers falter a little bit from last year with three new defensemen. Last year Lange was 13-15-6 with two shutouts, and played in 2041 minutes. Lange has the potential to be a real good goaltender, but he might have to wait.

Overall I can't tell you whether or not RPI will be up in the ECACHL rankings, but they will improve each game. With a young team, Seth Appert will have a team for the future, but expect them this year to fight for home ice in the ECACHL playoffs.

The predicted ceiling for RPI is sixth in the ECACHL, while their gutter is ninth.

Tommorrow the RIT Tigers will be featured. RIT is one of two new teams in Atlantic Hockey (the other is Air Force). How will they fare in their first "real" year in Division I hockey? Find out tommorrow as the 59 Teams in 59 Days tour goes to Rochester as we hit day number 49 on the tour.