2021–22 RPI Engineers men's ice hockey season

2021–22 RPI Engineers
men's ice hockey season
Conference6th ECAC Hockey
Home iceHouston Field House
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall18–23–3
Conference10–12–0
Home9–10–1
Road9–12–2
Neutral0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachDave Smith
Assistant coachesMathias Lange
Chuck Weber
Jake Marrello
RPI Engineers men's ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

The 2021-22 RPI Engineers Men's ice hockey season was the 102nd season of play for the program and the 60th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Engineers represented Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and played their home games at Houston Field House, and were coached by Dave Smith, in his 4th season.

Season

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Rensselaer returned to the ice after losing all of last season to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team began the year with a decent start, albeit against fairly weak competition. But looked to be in good standing after taking down Clarkson in early November. However, the following week, the Engineers were embarrassed by Cornell 3–11, the program's worst loss in decades.[1] Afterwards, the defense recovered but the team was soon beset by a lack of offense over a several week span. RPI ended their first half with a 2–6 run with the only saving grace being that five of those losses were to non-conference teams.

After returning from the winter break, Rensselaer was forced to postpone or cancel several games in early January due to an increase in positive COVID-19 tests. When they did began playing games, the team also found itself in need of a new starting goaltender as presumptive primary netminder, Linden Marshall, had not performed well enough to retain the job. Newcomer Jack Watson was a bit inconsistent in his early appearances, but he possessed a higher ceiling than Marshall and Dave Smith eventually settled on the freshman as the starter. The offense also saw a steady improvement after returning to action but remained hot and cold for the remainder of the regular season. RPI would regularly follow stunning victories with confounding losses and ended the year just under .500. However, with a 6th-place finish, they did at least receive a home site for the first round of the conference tournament.

Despite having Marshall in net for the regular season finale, Watson led the Engineers into the postseason. Despite vastly outshooting Dartmouth in the opening match, RPI fell 2–3. The offense continued to pressure the Big Green net in the next two games and took advantage of several power play opportunities, riding their special team to consecutive wins and advancing to the quarterfinals. Rensselaer took control of the first game when they gained a 3–0 lead early in the third period. Watson kept Harvard off of the scoresheet despite a barrage of shots but, after the Crimson pulled their goaltender, the tide began to turn. RPI was swarmed over by Harvard and surrendered 3 goals in the final 4 minutes, all with the aide of an extra attacker. The momentum remained with their opponents and the Engineers allowed the winning goal just 2 minutes into overtime.

The second game did not have quite as much drama but it still saw Harvard tying the game late and force overtime once more. Watson was again called upon to stop a multitude of Crimson shots but this time he held his ground in the extra frame and sent the match into a second overtime. John Beaton saved the Engineer's season with the winner and set up a deciding third game. Watson was up to the task, holding Harvard to 2 goals, but the offense was not. RPI was stymied by the Crimson defense and the team fell 1–3.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Cory Babichuk Defenseman  Canada Transferred to Vermont
Alec Calvaruso Goaltender  United States Graduate transfer to American International
Danny DiGrande Forward  United States Transferred to Canisius
Brady Ferner Defenseman  United States Transferred to North Dakota
Billy Jerry Forward  United States Graduate transfer to Long Island
Tommy Lee Forward  Canada Signed professional contract (Åmåls SK)

Recruiting

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Jack Agnew Defenseman  Canada 19 Oakville, ON; transfer from Boston College
Anthony Baxter Defenseman  Canada 23 Oakville, ON; graduate transfer from Massachusetts Lowell
Jakob Lee Forward  Canada 22 Owen Sound, ON; transfer from Merrimack
Reid Leibold Forward  United States 19 Ashburn, VA
T. J. Walsh Forward  United States 21 Shrewsbury, MA; transfer from Northeastern
Jack Watson Goaltender  Canada 21 Toronto, ON

Roster

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As of August 19, 2021.[2]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 British Columbia Linden Marshall Graduate G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-07-21 Victoria, British Columbia Trail (BCHL)
2 Tennessee Simon Kjellberg Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2000-02-17 Nashville, Tennessee Dubuque (USHL) NYR, 163rd overall 2018
3 Finland Lauri Sertti Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-07-11 Espoo, Finland Amarillo (NAHL)
4 Colorado Mason Klee Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-10-04 Morrison, Colorado Sioux Falls (USHL)
5 Ontario Anthony Baxter Graduate D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-11-26 Oakville, Ontario UMass Lowell (HEA)
6 Ontario Jack Agnew Sophomore D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2001-10-22 Oakville, Ontario Boston College (HEA)
7 Michigan Nick Bowman Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-12-19 Shelby, Michigan Coulee Region (NAHL)
8 Manitoba James McIsaac Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-04-29 Winnipeg, Manitoba Brooks (AJHL)
9 Virginia Reid Leibold Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2001-10-23 Ashburn, Virginia Maryland (NAHL)
10 Michigan Dylan Davies Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2001-02-09 Traverse City, Michigan Sioux Falls (USHL)
11 Finland Ottoville Leppänen Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-06-18 Espoo, Finland Blues U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)
13 Massachusetts T. J. Walsh Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2000-04-29 Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Northeastern (HEA)
14 Illinois Zach Dubinsky Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-03-14 Highland Park, Illinois Omaha (USHL)
15 Finland Altti Nykänen Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-09-26 Vihti, Finland Bishop's College (CISAA)
16 California Rory Herrman Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1999-03-16 Poway, California Fargo (USHL)
17 Ontario John Beaton Sophomore F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2000-10-30 Stittsville, Ontario Youngstown (USHL)
18 Ontario Jakob Lee Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-02-12 Owen Sound, Ontario Merrimack (HEA)
19 Virginia Ture Linden Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-07-06 Great Falls, Virginia Lone Star (NAHL)
20 California Henri Schreifels Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2000-07-01 Newbury Park, California Victoria (BCHL)
21 Texas Louie Helsen Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1998-06-08 Dallas, Texas Amarillo (NAHL)
23 Minnesota Jake Johnson Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-08-13 Bloomington, Minnesota Cedar Rapids (USHL)
24 Virginia Jack Brackett Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2000-12-31 Manassas, Virginia Maryland (NAHL)
25 Ontario Ryan Mahshie Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1999-04-05 Stoney Creek, Ontario Brooks (AJHL)
26 Pennsylvania Shane Sellar Graduate F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-06-14 Carlisle, Pennsylvania Dartmouth (ECAC)
27 Quebec Jake Gagnon Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1999-11-04 Pointe-Claire, Quebec Wellington (OJHL)
28 New Jersey Kyle Hallbauer Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-03-02 Howell, New Jersey Lone Star (NAHL)
30 Michigan Brett Miller Sophomore G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-04-26 Northville, Michigan Austin (NAHL)
34 Ontario Jack Watson Freshman G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2000-03-14 Toronto, Ontario Coquitlam (BCHL)
39 Slovakia Jakub Lacka Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-11-20 Bratislava, Slovakia Central Illinois (USHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#8 Quinnipiac 22 17 4 1 0 1 1 54 71 14 42 32 7 3 139 53
#17 Clarkson 22 14 4 4 0 2 3 51 86 47 37 21 10 6 123 85
#15 Harvard * 22 14 6 2 0 0 2 46 69 46 35 21 11 3 116 82
Cornell 22 12 6 4 2 1 0 39 73 47 32 18 10 4 100 72
Colgate 22 9 9 4 1 0 3 33 55 57 40 18 18 4 111 112
Rensselaer 22 10 12 0 0 0 0 30 58 63 44 18 23 3 114 119
Union 22 9 11 2 3 1 0 27 52 66 37 14 19 4 89 110
St. Lawrence 22 7 10 5 2 0 2 26 44 60 37 11 19 7 72 110
Brown 22 6 12 4 0 1 2 25 36 61 31 7 20 4 50 100
Princeton 22 7 14 1 0 1 0 23 54 89 31 8 21 2 70 122
Yale 22 7 14 1 3 1 1 21 38 60 30 8 21 1 55 90
Dartmouth 22 5 15 2 0 3 1 21 45 71 32 7 22 3 69 110
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 2 4:00 PM at Union* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York (Exhibition)     W 5–2  0
Regular Season
October 8 7:00 PM Bowling Green* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall T 2–2 OT 484 0–0–1
October 9 7:00 PM Bowling Green* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall L 2–3 OT 361 0–1–1
October 15 7:00 PM Canisius* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall W 7–3  370 1–1–1
October 16 7:00 PM Canisius* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Watson L 2–3 OT 304 1–2–1
October 23 7:00 PM at Vermont* Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont   Marshall W 2–1  2,882 2–2–1
October 29 7:00 PM at Union Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Marshall W 4–2  1,738 3–2–1 (1–0–0)
October 30 7:00 PM Union Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall W 3–0  693 4–2–1 (2–0–0)
November 5 7:00 PM St. Lawrence Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall L 3–4  344 4–3–1 (2–1–0)
November 6 7:00 PM Clarkson Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall W 3–1  261 5–3–1 (3–1–0)
November 12 7:00 PM at Colgate Class of 1965 ArenaHamilton, New York   Marshall L 2–5  350 5–4–1 (3–2–0)
November 13 7:00 PM at #13 Cornell Lynah RinkIthaca, New York   Marshall L 3–11  2,322 5–5–1 (3–3–0)
November 19 7:00 PM Long Island* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall W 7–2  404 6–5–1
November 20 8:00 PM at Long Island* Northwell Health Ice CenterEast Meadow, New York   Marshall T 2–2 OT 137 6–5–2
November 26 7:00 PM #16 Northeastern* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall L 1–2  32 6–6–2
November 28 3:00 PM at #16 Northeastern* Matthews ArenaBoston, Massachusetts NESN Marshall L 1–2  1,387 6–7–2
December 3 7:00 PM #4 Quinnipiac Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall L 0–2  252 6–8–2 (3–4–0)
December 4 7:00 PM Princeton Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall W 4–1  297 7–8–2 (4–4–0)
December 10 11:07 PM at Alaska* Carlson CenterFairbanks, Alaska   Marshall W 4–1  1,134 8–8–2
December 11 11:07 PM at Alaska* Carlson CenterFairbanks, Alaska   Marshall L 0–4  1,325 8–9–2
December 14 11:07 PM at Alaska* Carlson CenterFairbanks, Alaska   Marshall L 2–3  1,033 8–10–2
December 15 11:07 PM at Alaska* Carlson CenterFairbanks, Alaska   Marshall L 1–4  1,205 8–11–2
December 30 2:00 PM Vermont* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Watson W 3–2  2,195 9–11–2
January 2 2:05 PM at Army* Tate RinkWest Point, New York   Marshall T 3–3 OT 1,712 9–11–3
January 16 7:00 PM at Clarkson Cheel ArenaPotsdam, New York   Miller L 0–5  2,069 9–12–3 (4–5–0)
January 17 7:00 PM at St. Lawrence Appleton ArenaCanton, New York   Watson W 4–0  412 10–12–3 (5–5–0)
January 21 7:00 PM Yale Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Watson L 3–5  0 10–13–3 (5–6–0)
January 22 7:00 PM Brown Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall L 2–3  0 10–14–3 (5–7–0)
January 25 7:00 PM at Harvard Bright-Landry Hockey CenterBoston, Massachusetts   Watson W 2–0  781 11–14–3 (6–7–0)
January 29 2:00 PM vs. Union* Times Union CenterAlbany, New York (Mayor's Cup)   Watson L 0–2  4,222 11–15–3
February 1 7:00 PM at Dartmouth Thompson ArenaHanover, New Hampshire   Watson W 2–0  101 12–15–3 (7–7–0)
February 4 7:00 PM at Princeton Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey   Watson L 2–3  1,141 12–16–3 (7–8–0)
February 5 7:00 PM at #2 Quinnipiac People's United CenterHamden, Connecticut   Marshall L 0–1  0 12–17–3 (7–9–0)
February 11 7:00 PM #16 Cornell Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Watson W 6–2  200 13–17–3 (8–9–0)
February 12 7:00 PM Colgate Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Watson L 2–3  430 13–18–3 (8–10–0)
February 18 7:00 PM at Brown Meehan AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island   Watson W 4–2  291 14–18–3 (9–10–0)
February 19 7:00 PM at Yale Ingalls RinkNew Haven, Connecticut   Watson L 2–5  984 14–19–3 (9–11–0)
February 25 7:00 PM Dartmouth Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall W 6–3  200 15–19–3 (10–11–0)
February 26 7:00 PM Harvard Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Marshall L 1–5  478 15–20–3 (10–12–0)
ECAC Hockey Tournament
March 4 7:00 PM Dartmouth* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (First Round game 1)   Watson L 2–3  800 15–21–3
March 5 7:00 PM Dartmouth* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (First Round game 2)   Watson W 3–2  851 16–21–3
March 6 7:00 PM Dartmouth* Houston Field HouseTroy, New York (First Round game 3)   Watson W 5–3  579 17–21–3
Rensselaer Won Series 2–1
March 11 7:00 PM at Harvard* Bright-Landry Hockey CenterBoston, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal game 1)   Watson L 3–4 OT 778 17–22–3
March 12 7:00 PM at Harvard* Bright-Landry Hockey CenterBoston, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal game 2)   Watson W 4–3 2OT 765 18–22–3
March 13 4:00 PM at Harvard* Bright-Landry Hockey CenterBoston, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal game 3)   Watson L 1–3  477 18–23–3
Rensselaer Lost Series 1–2
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[3]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Ture Linden F 44 20 19 39 10
Ottoville Leppänen F 42 9 21 30 31
Simon Kjellberg D 43 8 19 27 16
Jakub Lacka LW 42 8 17 25 16
Zach Dubinsky F 44 10 10 20 24
Ryan Mahshie D 38 7 13 20 4
Justin Addamo RW 42 14 5 19 43
T. J. Walsh LW 36 4 15 19 4
Jake Johnson D 40 2 14 16 26
Anthony Baxter D 41 2 13 15 40
John Beaton C 41 4 9 13 8
Shane Sellar F 39 7 5 12 10
Lauri Sertti D 40 2 6 8 59
Jakob Lee C 27 4 3 7 25
Kyle Hallbauer D 39 2 5 7 25
Robert Herrman F 33 3 3 6 6
Jack Brackett F 26 2 3 5 6
Mason Klee D 36 2 3 5 14
Jack Agnew D 41 1 4 5 8
James McIsaac C/RW 11 1 1 2 0
Jake Gagnon F 20 1 1 2 0
Dylan Davies D/F 8 0 2 2 6
Reid Leibold F 6 1 0 1 6
Nick Bowman F 22 0 1 1 8
Altti Nykänen F 2 0 0 0 0
Brett Miller G 6 0 0 0 0
Louis Helsen D 9 0 0 0 0
Henri Schreifels F 18 0 0 0 0
Jack Watson G 22 0 0 0 0
Linden Marshall G 26 0 0 0 0
Bench - - - - - 0
Total 114 190 304 397

[4]

Goaltending statistics

[edit]
Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Jack Watson 22 1103 9 9 0 44 519 3 .922 2.29
Linden Marshall 26 1491 9 13 3 63 535 1 .895 2.53
Brett Miller 6 62 0 1 0 5 35 0 .875 4.79
Empty Net - 23 - - - 5 - - - -
Total 44 2684 18 23 3 119 1089 4 .901 2.66

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[5]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Ture Linden ECAC Hockey Second Team [6]

References

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  1. ^ "Rensselaer Men's Hockey Results by Season" (PDF). RPI Engineers. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  2. ^ "RPI Engineers – 2020–21 Men's Hockey Roster".
  3. ^ "Rensselaer 2021-22 Team Schedule". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "RPI (Rensselaer Polytech. Inst.) 2021-2022 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  5. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "ECAC Hockey Announces 2022 First-Team All-League". ECAC Hockey. March 10, 2022. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.