Rensselaer Releases 2008-09 Schedule

TROY, N.Y. -- The 2008-09 schedule for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team has been finalized.  The Engineers, who open their 107th season on October 11, will play 35 games, including 19 contests in the Capital Region.  Sixteen will be at the Houston Field House on the RPI campus.

Click here for complete schedule as PDF

Highlights of the Engineers' slate include five teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last spring, games in eight different states and one in Canada, and four tournaments.  RPI's own holiday tournament - the oldest college hockey holiday tournament in the nation - will again feature shootouts in all four games, as necessary, and the Engineers will play the 7pm game on the second night regardless of the outcome of its opening round contest.

Rensselaer's season opener is Saturday, October 11, when it travels north of the border to play Vermont at Le Colisee in Quebec City (4pm).  The Engineers make their home debut the next evening against the USA Under-18 National Team in an exhibition game at 5pm.

After a game at perennial power New Hampshire on October 17, RPI is right back in action the next night, hosting Bentley on Homecoming Weekend.  A Tuesday night home game against Massachusetts comes on October 21 before Rensselaer competes in the 3rd Annual Governor's Cup at the Times Union Center in Albany on October 24-25.  RPI, the two-time defending champions, opens against area-rival Union and faces either Colgate in a rematch of the last two championship games or Robert Morris the next night.  Those games are non-league affairs.

Rensselaer kicks off its ECAC Hockey schedule on Tuesday, November 4, at Harvard before the Crimson visit the Field House for the 6th Annual Black Friday on November 7.  Dartmouth, the Crimson's travel partner, is in Troy the next night.

RPI's next four games are also at home, including league contests against Princeton and Quinnipiac.  The 58th Annual Rensselaer Holiday Tournament closes out the homestand on November 28-29.  This year's field features Mercyhurst, Northeastern and Princeton with RPI opening against Mercyhurst at 7pm.  Rensselaer plays either Northeastern or Princeton, who played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, in Saturday's second game.  All four games could have five-minute overtimes followed by a shootout to determine the winner, if necessary.

Rensselaer plays its next eight games on the road with an 18-day layoff after the first four. The Engineers travel to Yale and Brown on December 5-6 and Miami, another NCAA Tournament team, for a two-game non-league set on December 13-14.  RPI returns to the ice in Colorado at the Wells Fargo Denver Cup on January 2-3 - opening against Boston University - before playing at league opponents Quinnipiac and Princeton on January 9-10.

The Engineers return to the Houston Field House on January 16 against Colgate and January 17 versus Cornell before playing its next three games on the road.  A trip to the North Country for games against St. Lawrence (Jan. 23) and Clarkson (Jan. 24) is followed by a contest at Dartmouth on January 30.

RPI hosts it's area-rival, Union, on February 6 before traveling to Schenectady to face the Dutchmen the next night.

Rensselaer is home for four of its final six games, beginning with a game against Brown in Troy on February 13 to kick off alumni weekend.  The annual alumni game is the next day at noon with the 32nd Annual Big Red Freakout! that night at 7pm against Yale.  Following a weekend in Central New York, the Engineers host Clarkson on February 27 and St. Lawrence on February 28.  The contest against the Saints will be Senior Appreciation Night.

Rensselaer finished the 2007-08 season with an overall record of 11-23-4, including a 6-13-3 league mark.  The 2008-09 Engineers return 19 players from that team while adding nine newcomers. 

2008-09 SCHEDULE NOTES: The Engineers' annual Red/White Game is October 4 at 5pm, followed by the annual Skate with the Engineers at 7:15pm ... Rensselaer plays 13 non-league games, including five at home ... Clarkson, Denver, Miami, New Hampshire and Princeton all played in the 2008 NCAA Tournament ... The Engineers are 4-0-1 all-time on Black Friday ... Rensselaer and Union play a home-and-home series for the fourth straight season ... RPI is 18-8-5 all-time in the Big Red Freakout! ... Based on the known opponents, the Engineers play four games against Hockey East foes, two games against a CCHA opponent and Atlantic Hockey teams and 23 against ECAC Hockey teams ... Rensselaer plays two games on Tuesdays, 15 on Fridays, 16 on Saturdays and two on Sundays ... The Engineers play seven regular season games in October and November, four in December, nine in January and eight in February ... Rensselaer plays in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island as well as in Canada ... The ECAC Playoffs run from March 6 to March 21, beginning with the best-of-three first round match-ups March 6-8 ... The league semi-finals and finals are March 20-21 at the Times Union Center ... The NCAA Tournament runs from March 27 to April 11 ... The 2009 Frozen Four is at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. ... All RPI's games are broadcast live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and www.wrpi.org ... All home games are webcast by B2 Networks.