{"id":84515,"date":"2018-02-22T07:00:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=84515"},"modified":"2020-08-24T15:16:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T20:16:59","slug":"week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mike<\/a>
Mike Prapavessis leads all RPI defensemen in scoring with 17 assists in 32 games this season (photo: Bradley K. Olson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The results might not be there.<\/p>\n

Even so, Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about trying to play a perfect game,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t won as much, but the effort has been there, the attitude has been there. We\u2019re working on finding a win, getting that spark.”<\/p>\n

The Engineers lost a pair of road games last week, falling to Princeton 7-2 Friday and then losing 4-1 against Quinnipiac Saturday. RPI concludes the regular season with home games against Cornell and Colgate this weekend, and then will head on the road for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is going to change for us,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI don\u2019t feel like we\u2019re a home or a road team, we\u2019re just trying to push to play the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith said communication is an important part of playing the right way. That\u2019s something that RPI has worked on all year as it heads towards the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the one thing that to a man we believe in is that we know how to play, but it takes everybody,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAs a team, we continue to work on the team aspect and trusting each other and communicating with each other. Those things are never going to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning to communicate on the ice comes with experience, and that\u2019s something a lot of players who played against Quinnipiac Saturday don\u2019t have a lot of.<\/p>\n

Defensemen Jared Wilson and Mike Prapavessis were the only seniors to play against the Bobcats, and the three juniors in the lineup \u2013 Brady Wiffen, Tommy Grant and Evan Tironese \u2013 have been on the team for three years, but none have played a full three seasons. Wiffen was ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA and sat out his freshman year, while Grant and Tironese both have had season-ending injuries in their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of [learning to communicate] comes from being young and the confidence that it takes for a veteran guy who has been there and done that,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPrapavessis and Wilson, they communicate a lot. The other guys are learning that and doing the best they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

One young player who has made an impact recently is freshman forward Donovan Ott, who recorded two goals and an assist last weekend. They were the first points of his collegiate career, which began last month when he joined RPI after playing the first part of the season for the Johnston Tomahawks of the North American Hockey League.<\/p>\n

His arrival helped offset the departures of freshmen Troy York and Gavin Payne, who left the program over the winter break.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still picking up the pace and the tempo, but he\u2019s good around the net and he\u2019s got a good IQ,\u201d Smith said of Ott.<\/p>\n

Cornell hits a bump, still emerges with four points<\/h4>\n

The scoreboard shows a four-point weekend for the Big Red, but a closer look reveals it could have ended differently.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Cornell beat Brown 2-1 despite putting forth what coach Mike Schaefer called a \u201clackadaisical effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was one of the worst games we\u2019ve had this year as far as our effort,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cA little bit of selfishness crept into our game [Friday]. We wanted to score and we didn\u2019t know how to do it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Cornell trailed Yale 2-1 early in the third, but rallied with two late goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a fun hockey game to play in,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cThe effort and compete level that we had for sixty minutes was really outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The win against the Bulldogs gave the Big Red their first unbeaten season in Ivy League play since 1995-96.<\/p>\n

Cornell has continued to play well despite the loss of forward Mitch Vanderlaan to injury. The junior co-captain hasn\u2019t played since getting hurt blocking a shot on Feb. 3, but Schaefer hopes to have him back for the postseason.<\/p>\n

The Big Red were also without two of its top defensemen Saturday against the Bulldogs, as Brendan Smith and Alec McCrea were out of the lineup. Forward Alex Rauter, who saw time at defense last season, shifted to the backend for Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Still, a four-point weekend is impressive, especially in the stretch run. The two wins look even bigger for Cornell given how well second-place Union has played recently.<\/p>\n

The Dutchmen enter the final weekend of the regular season on a five-game winning streak and are four points behind the Big Red. Cornell can clinch first place with a win or a tie or a Union loss or tie this weekend. The two teams conclude the regular season Saturday night at Messa Rink.<\/p>\n

Seeding Possibilities<\/h4>\n

Cornell, Union, Clarkson, and Harvard have all clinched a first-round bye entering the final weekend of the regular season in ECAC Hockey.<\/p>\n

However, there is still plenty to be determined in the middle part of the standings, as three points separate fifth place Dartmouth from ninth place Quinnipiac.<\/p>\n

Here are the current standings and each team\u2019s possible finish, courtesy of the league office:<\/p>\n

Cornell 1-2 (clinches No.1 with a win or tie or a Union loss or tie)
\nUnion 1-3
\nClarkson 2-4
\nHarvard 3-4<\/p>\n

Dartmouth 5-9 (clinches home ice with one point)
\nColgate 5-9 (clinches home ice with three points)
\nPrinceton 5-9 (clinches home ice with four points)
\nYale 5-9 (clinches home ice with four points)<\/p>\n

Quinnipiac 5-9
\nBrown 10-11
\nRensselaer 10-12
\nSt. Lawrence 11-12<\/p>\n

Around the League<\/h4>\n

\u2022 Union\u2019s dominance against Princeton continued last weekend. The Dutchmen beat the Tigers 4-1 Saturday and are now 17-0-3 in their last twenty games against Princeton. Union\u2019s last loss to the Tigers came on March 15, 2009.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The US hockey team might not have medaled at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but it was Harvard forward Ryan Donato had an impressive tournament. The junior lead the team with five goals, one more than his father Ted scored during the 1992 games. Ted Donato was in attendance to watch his son play this week, and also watch Keith Allain, who was a member of the team\u2019s coaching staff this year and also in 1992, when Ted played for Team USA.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Colgate sophomore Colton Point has been one of the top goalies in the country, but he hasn\u2019t played since Feb. 3 against Union. The Raiders are 1-2-1 with Point out. A Colgate spokesperson could not disclose a timetable for Point to return, but did say the Raiders hoped to have him back soon.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Harvard\u2019s Adam Fox (player) Cornell\u2019s Matthew Galajda (rookie) and Dartmouth\u2019s Devin Buffalo (goalie) were named the league\u2019s weekly award winners on Tuesday. Fox scored his first three goals of the season Friday against St. Lawrence, while Galajda and Buffalo each went undefeated over the weekend and posted a .944 and .948 save percentage, respectively. This is the third time in the last four weeks that Galajda was named the conference\u2019s rookie of the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":112550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[846],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-22T13:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-24T20:16:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nate Owen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nate Owen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/\",\"name\":\"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark - College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-22T13:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-24T20:16:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc0085013a2f0bd1f841d734928302f\"},\"description\":\"The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg\",\"width\":660,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\",\"name\":\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"description\":\"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc0085013a2f0bd1f841d734928302f\",\"name\":\"Nate Owen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/e24681756c9384119a6e2bdf12234b71\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b17ef77dd02a159f8bc4ce5dc6995ec2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b17ef77dd02a159f8bc4ce5dc6995ec2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nate Owen\"},\"description\":\"ECAC Hockey Columnist Nate Owen is the ECAC Hockey columnist for USCHO. He has written for the site since 2009, and has covered the ECAC since 2011.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/nate-owen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark - College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark - College Hockey | USCHO.com","og_description":"The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515","og_site_name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/","article_published_time":"2018-02-22T13:00:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-24T20:16:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":660,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nate Owen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@USCHO","twitter_site":"@USCHO","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nate Owen","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/","name":"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark - College Hockey | USCHO.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-22T13:00:34+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-24T20:16:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc0085013a2f0bd1f841d734928302f"},"description":"The results might not be there, but Rensselaer coach Dave Smith has been impressed with the work his team has put in as the regular season draws to a close this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/41777October-15-2016-1.jpg","width":660,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2018\/02\/22\/week-ecac-hockey-rensselaer-hoping-effort-attitude-will-provide-postseason-spark\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hoping effort, attitude will provide postseason spark"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/","name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dfc0085013a2f0bd1f841d734928302f","name":"Nate Owen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/e24681756c9384119a6e2bdf12234b71","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b17ef77dd02a159f8bc4ce5dc6995ec2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b17ef77dd02a159f8bc4ce5dc6995ec2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nate Owen"},"description":"ECAC Hockey Columnist Nate Owen is the ECAC Hockey columnist for USCHO. He has written for the site since 2009, and has covered the ECAC since 2011.","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/nate-owen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112551,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84515\/revisions\/112551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84515"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=84515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}