| In
This Issue:
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| Introduction
Well friends,
another season has come to a close. While There were high
hopes for both hockey teams this year, it's now time to
move past disapointing ends and on to new things. Fortunately,
RPI Pep Band Alumni (and Friends) is here to keep you company! |
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Men's
Hockey: RPI Looks to the Future
After finishing the season in a tie for 8th place and a
second consecutive first round exit, coach Seth Appert is
juggling things up.
Appert dismissed junior-to-be D Reed Kipp and sophomore
to be F Jordan Cyr from the team at the end of the season,
citing
his belief that neither will be able to adapt to his new,
up-tempo, WCHA-style game. They join seniors Kirk MacDonald,
Kevin Broad, Oren Eizenman, Tommy Green, Jake Luthi, and
Ryan Swanson in departing.
MacDonald was honored at the
end of the season as USCHO.com's Unsung Hero of the Year.
He was also the runner up for
the first ever Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
The team is
losing some familiar and cherished names, but the Class
of 2011 is looking exciting indeed.
F Joel Malchuk (Dauphin
Kings, MJHL - 5'10" 170, 7/16/88)
is the last of the Fridgen recruits. The MJHL is
one of the weaker Canadian leagues, but Malchuk has been
a force
there
for the most part, especially with his physical play.
In 63 total games with the Kings this year, Malchuk accumulated
30 goals and 45 assists, while taking 198 minutes
in penalties.
Some insiders have been comparing him to Brad Tapper
or Bruce Coles - a guy who can score but has a hard time
staying out
of the box.
F Ben Contini (North York Rangers, OPJHL
- 6'0" 175,
2/27/89) has also done well in a less respected Canadian
junior league, with 22 goals and 21 assists in 52
games. Contini's size plays to his benefit as well, and
like Malchuk
has had his share of penalties this season but not
anywhere near to the same extent.
D Bryan Brutlag (Academy
of Holy Angels, MNHS - 6'1" 190,
5/25/89) in my opinion is the rock that the future
of Engineer hockey will be built upon. A 1st Round USHL
draft pick, Brutlag
chose RPI over Minnesota and St. Cloud State because
both WCHA schools wanted him to spend a season in juniors
before
playing college, while RPI offered not only a superior
education, but immediate playing time. Having seen Brutlag
play, I can
confirm that he is the real deal - a defensive talent
that we have not seen in Troy since Brian Pothier. In 28
games
for AHA this season, Brutlag scored 4 goals, but
more importantly had 49 assists, many coming through setting
up highly touted
Minnesota recruit Taylor Mattson. A true power play
QB, he was the second highest scoring defenseman in the
state and
earned All-State honors, the only non-WCHA recruit
to earn the nod.
F Tyler Helfrich (Ft. McMurray Oil Barons,
AJHL - 6'0" 180,
7/2/88) split time this year between Prince George
of the BCHL and Ft. McMurray. Both the BCHL and AJHL are
considered
top quality leagues. Helfrich is perhaps one of the
most anticipated scorers of this year's class, with 35
goals and
51 assists in 64 games played between the two teams.
Helfrich should hopefully be able to step in and replace
either Eizenman
or MacDonald with relative ease as long as his transition
to the NCAA goes well.
C Scott Halpern (Bay State
Breakers, EJHL - 5'10" 170,
3/14/87) is apparently no relation to former Princeton
and current Dallas center Jeff Halpern, and he may take
a little
bit of time to adjust to play in the ECAC. Coming
out of the relatively weak EJHL, Halpern totaled 11 goals
and 17
assists in 48 games. The word on Halpern is that
he's good with faceoffs and is an excellent defensive forward,
which
should help out with the penalty kill immensely.
RW
Chase Polacek (Academy of Holy Angels, MNHS - 5'8" 170,
6/19/89) comes from the same place as Brutlag. Aside
from having the added benefit of coming to the Engineers
alongside
someone with whom he is already comfortable playing
with, Polacek brings with him 26 goals and 38 assists in
28 games
played, which ranked him 28th in the state of Minnesota
in scoring. Polacek was also an All-State honorable mention.
RW
Kevin Beauregard (Hartford Jr. Wolfpack, AtlJHL - 6'4" 209,
7/1988) is going to be one of the largest players
the Engineers have seen in some time. With Hartford, Beauregard
racked
up 17 goals and 29 assists in 45 games, but his biggest
contribution is undoubtedly going to be with his size -
his large frame
should hopefully be effective in helping him outleg
the opposition and muscle players off the puck down low.
D
John Kennedy (St. Louis Bandits, NAHL - 6'0" 190,
2/1/1987) is sure to be a fan favorite from the get
go - his full name is John F. Kennedy, Jr. As one of only
six
defensemen currently slated for next year's roster,
he's sure to see plenty of ice time and will be depended
on to
grow quickly. A classic stay-at-home defenseman,
Kennedy has tallied 3 goals and 13 assists in 65 games
in juniors
this year as of April 13th. Like Malchuk, he has
a penchant for the box - 134 penalty minutes this season,
which is a
rate of over 2 minutes per game. He's a good complment
to Brutlag's offensive-minded outlook. Kennedy is the latest
in the long line of African American players at RPI,
which
includes the aforementioned Bruce Coles and Grahme
Townshend.
Reportedly, Appert is also looking to add another
defenseman to the fold before completing recruiting
for this class. D Jeff Foss (Moorhead HS, MNHS -
6'2" 180,
12/12/88) is supposedly going to choose between RPI
and Colorado
College. D Ryan
Grimshaw (US National Development Program U-17 Team,
6'0" 1/28/90)
is being breathlessly discussed by Engineers fans
on the Internet as he has been the focus of intense
recruitment
effort by SA, but he would most likely be part of
the class of 2012.
Speaking of which, here's a quick
look at who Appert's already landed for the Class
of 2012...
- RW Justin Smith (New England Jr. Falcons,
EJHL - 6'2" 195,
4/4/88)
- LW Patrick Cullen (Washington Jr. Nationals,
AtlJHL - 6'0" 180,
2/7/89)
- D Mike Bergin (Smiths Falls Bears, CJHL
- 6'2" 185,
9/14/88)
Don't know as much about these guys yet.
We'll find out more next year, but the
early word is
that these
guys
are just
as exciting.
Here's the bottom line - Seth Appert is
definitely reaching into places where
RPI has not recruited
in some time,
and is already landing some big names.
We landed Brutlag over
some of the top teams in the country,
we're supposedly a finalist for the services
of another big name
in opposition to CC, a big-time WCHA
school, and we're
a serious contender
for a highly touted USNDPT player.
Next
year may still be tough, but there seems to be light
at the end of this tunnel...
Next year's schedule, as we
know it right now (subject to change)...
- Saturday, 06 October - Red and White Game/Skate with the Engineers
- Tuesday,
09 October - BENTLEY
- Friday, 12 October - vs. Minnesota
(Ice Breaker, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN)
- Saturday, 13 October -
vs. Boston College/Michigan (Ice Breaker, Xcel Energy
Center, St. Paul, MN)
- Friday, 19 October - at Army
- Saturday, 20 October - SACRED
HEART (Homecoming Weekend)
- Friday,
26 October - vs. Union (Governor's Cup, Albany,
NY)
- Saturday, 27 October - vs. Colgate/St.
Lawrence (Governor's Cup,
Albany, NY)
- Friday, 02 November - YALE
(Black Friday)
- Saturday,
03 November - BROWN
- Friday, 09 November - at
Harvard
- Saturday, 10
November - at Dartmouth
- Friday, 23 November - AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL (RPI Tournament)
- Saturday, 24 November - NOTRE DAME/ST. LAWRENCE (RPI
Tournament)
- Friday, 30 November
- at Princeton
- Saturday,
01 December -
at Quinnipiac
- Saturday, 15 December - MIAMI
- Sunday, 16 December - MIAMI
- Saturday, 29 December - vs. Colorado
College (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL)
- Sunday,
30 December - vs. Notre Dame/UMass (St. Pete Times
Forum, Tampa, FL)
- Saturday,
05 January
- vs.
Maine (Portland,
ME)
- Friday,
11 January
- CORNELL
- Saturday,
12 January
- COLGATE
- Friday,
18 January
- at
Union
- Saturday,
19 January
- UNION
- Friday,
25 January
- at
Clarkson
- Saturday,
26 January
- at
St. Lawrence
- Friday,
01 February
- QUINNIPIAC
- Saturday,
02 February
- PRINCETON
(Big Red
Freakout!)
- Friday,
08 February
- DARTMOUTH
- Saturday,
09
February
- HARVARD
(May
be
rescheduled
due
to
Beanpot)
- Friday,
15
February
-
at
Colgate
- Saturday,
16
February
-
at
Cornell
- Friday,
22
February
-
ST.
LAWRENCE
- Saturday,
23
February
-
CLARKSON
(Senior
Night)
- Friday,
29
February
-
at
Brown
- Saturday,
01
March
-
at
Yale
- 7-9
March
-
ECAC
First
Round
- 14-16
March
-
ECAC
Quarterfinals
- 21-22
March
-
ECAC
Final
Four
(Albany,
NY)
- 28-30
March
-
NCAA
Regionals
(Albany,
NY)
- 3-5
April
-
NCAA
Frozen
Four
(Denver,
CO)
Thus,
the
Engineers
will
have
at least
11
games
against
teams
that
played
in
the
2007
NCAA
Tournament,
and
possibly
a
12th.
That's
a
pretty
tough
schedule,
but
hopefully
it'll
be
a
trial
by
fire
for
the
Engineers
as
the
road
to recovery
continues. |
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Women's
Hockey: Ladies Hope to Build on Strong Finish
The women's hockey team got off to a slow start in 2006, their second season
in Division I, starting the year with only one win in their first nine
games. The ladies didn't let the slow start get them down, as they clawed
back with seven wins in their next 10 games, including league victories over
Quinnipiac, Cornell and a sweep or Capital Region rival Union. After
starting 2007 with a tie and a loss, the Engineers picked up their biggest
win of the season with a 5-3 victory over the then 10th ranked Tigers of
Princeton. RPI continued their winning ways, winning three of their next
five before falling in to a season-ending eight game slump, the last two in
the ECACHL quarterfinals to top-seeded Dartmouth.
Despite the slow start and the tough luck at the end of the season, the
Engineers came out of their first season in the ECAC with a lot of hope for
future years to come. Freshmen Whitney Naslund and Allysen Weidner, and
sophomore Jamie-Lynn Stewart led the way for RPI, scoring 30 goals and
assisting on 39 between the three of them. Sophomore Ashley Mayr led the way
in goal, playing in 32 games, racking up a 11-20-1 record with a 2.64 goals
against average and earning third team all ECACHL honors.
At the year ending banquet, five awards were given out. Freshman Laura
Gersten and Rossli Chace took home the Most Valuable and Most Improved
Player awards respectively. Senior Sarah Daniel, who ended her career with
52 goals and 39 assists, took home a hat trick of awards, winning the
Scholar-Athlete Award, Bill Cahill Memorial Award, and Willie Stanton Award.
Although it is not official the Engineers have three recruits coming in to
replace departing seniors Daniel and Ciara Libaridian. They are forward
Kendra Dunlop from Granum, Alberta, defenseman Victoria Germuska from
Tilsonburg, Ontario and goalie Sonja van der Bliek from Toronto, Ontario.
Germuska chose RPI after making visits to SLUt, Dartmouth and Harvard.
With 19 ladies returning next year is looking very promising for this young
but now experienced team.
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Changes
For Reunion Weekend File this one in the good news/bad news department. As many
of you know, Pub Night started off as a good way to tie in
with Reunion Weekend festivities and was a nice event to
help get our organization off the ground. As more emphasis
was placed on Freakout and Pep Band Alumni Night, interest
in Pub Night (and Reunion Weekend in general) declined. Give
our attendance for the event last year, RPI Pep Band Alumni
(and Friends) feels that Pub Night was fun while it lasted,
but it's time to try something new.
So the good news is that we're looking to be doing
something new this year, and we're looking for feedback
from our
membership to figure out what that something new is
going to be. We've
heard a number of ideas tossed about over the last few
months, ranging from a BBQ to a road trip to street
hockey. This is where you come in. And yes, that means it's time
for another poll. So please go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RPI_Pep_Band_Alumni/surveys?id=2187667
and let us know what you'd be interrested in. The event doesn't even have to
be during reunion weekend.
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Life Updates
This edition brings us an update from Yuri
Koester '05 (Trombone, Manager 2002-2004). Yuri, who works
for Tickets.com, is moving back to the Albany area in May
to support the Times Union Center as their Client Services
Representative. Be sure to say hi as he will be getting season tickets for the RPI games next season.
If you have a life update you'd like to share, please e-mail us at pepband@rpipepbandalumni.org.
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From
The Managers Hello
Alumni! Another hockey season draws to a close, and with
it you may expect the band to be winding down, but we’ve
been busy since hockey season was cut short at Colgate,
and still have several events coming up before the end
of the semester. But first, elections! Elections were held
on Saturday, March 24, and resulted in two new officers.
Mike Franke defeated Steve Malinski
in the conductor race, while Gary Russinko (two terms?!)
and Natalie Semczuk are now writing this column and will
be doing so for the next year. No need for any repeat introductions,
so here’s one
from Natalie: Hi! I'm Natalie and a freshman this year.
I'm dual majoring in Science, Technology & Society and Electronic Media,
Arts, & Communication (a mouthful!). I currently play
flute in the Pep Band, and am probably playing sax next
year. I'm excited about working with Gary for the rest
of this year and next - it should be a good season! Now back to the third person for a review of what the
band has been up to lately and a preview of what’s planned
in the coming months: The band traveled 5 times since the
last newsletter, playing men’s games at Union and
Brown, the men’s overnight
trip to Dartmouth and Harvard, and the first round of the
playoffs at Colgate. With playoff hopes dashed, the band
prepared for elections and the off-season, only to be contacted
by the Quinnipiac Pep Band and brought back into service
to help play at the ECAC championship game between QU and
Clarkson. Relations with other bands (Quinnipiac and Colgate in
particular) have been very good, while Clarkson’s band continues
to stay planted on the unfriendly side of the fence (especially
since we played opposite them in Albany). It remains to
be seen if that relationship will ever improve, but that’s
an issue for next year. :) The band will be expanding its horizons in the coming
weeks as it performs at the annual spring RMA concert at
Troy
Savings Bank Music Hall, Sunday April 22, at 1pm. 25 members
of the band will be performing some of our more technical
and intricate pieces (old and new) for the concert after
several rehearsals specifically working on them. We’re
excited to see how it turns out, as it will be a learning
experience for everyone involved. Finally, we plan on playing at Accepted Students Day
as has become tradition, to kick off our recruiting efforts
for the coming year. Admissions has indicated that the
number of attendees will be up significantly from past
years, so we’re hoping to get a good jump on generating
interest among the freshman class. We’ll likely cap
off the year with a performance at the Relay for Life as
we did last year, before heading into finals and the summer
break. As you can see, a lot’s happened since the last column,
and there’s a lot left to come. As always, if you
have any comments, suggestions, or questions, never hesitate
to contact us at pepband@rpi.edu. -Natalie & Gary The Managers
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Final
Notes So, to recap:
- Congratulations
Natalie and Gary on your election as Co-Managers for
the 07-08 season.
- Congratulations also go out to Mike Franke on his election
as conductor.
- If you haven't already done so, please go to the APB
Wiki at apbwiki.rpipepbandalumni.org
and contribute your stories.
- A quick reminder - if your e-mail address will be changing, please be sure to update your Yahoo profile with the group, or send me your new e-mail address so you can be added.
- We're looking for feedback on what event should replace
the Reunion Weekend Pub Night for 2007. Let us know what
you think at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RPI_Pep_Band_Alumni/surveys?id=2187667
- Want
to get involved in making RPI Pep Band Alumni (and
Friends) a success? If so, be sure to e-mail Chris at farrar@azhrei.net.
- Be sure to take a look at the Message
Boards and Photo
Gallery! Both can be
accessed using the same account. To sign up, check out
the instructions in
the files section of the Yahoo Group.
- Please send
any other ideas/comments/suggestions/whatever to Chris
and Terry at pepband@rpipepbandalumni.org.
Next
issue: Summer time, student orientation, football preview, and event news! |
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