I'm not doing a recap, but I'll make a few observations.
 
1. Dartmouth and Vermont are not very good teams.  Vermont is very small,
but without the speed to make up for it.  Dartmouth is very tentative
offensively.
 
2. The officiating this weekend was great.  Surprisingly Taylor reffed
both Friday's and Saturday's contests, and I was particularly pleased by
the style he chose to employ.  He actually let the boys do some hitting.
Yet neither game was ever close to getting out of hand, despite the
lopsided margins in each.  I didn't even have many quibbles with the
offsides.
 
3.  Since the Engineers were allowed to hit, they did.  Both did they
ever, especially against Vermont.  After Vermont took its momentary lead
in the second period, Fridge sent out the fourth line to apply some
physical presence.  They quickly re-adjusted the tempo as Catamount found
themselves against the glass, and James capitalized by scoring his first
Engineer goal.  After that the Engineers turned nasty, as some major hits
were leveled by all, even the smaller guys like Caley and Garver.  Caley
actually took out his man, allowing him to gain the puck down low.  A
quick pass across to Brad Tapper resulted in a very pretty score.  Pete
Gardiner also made a highlight film hit when the defenseman who was trying
to separate Gardiner from the puck ended up crumpled along the side
boards.
 
It was no exaggeration.  Everyone got into the act.  Eric Healy has now
become an all-around player as he never shies from laying the body on the
opponent.  And guys like Riva and Garver have built themselves up to the
point where they can't be bulled off the puck, and can even dish out some
punishment themselves.  It was no accident that RPI scored all those goals
in the third period.  They physically broke the Catamounts in the second.
 
3.  Laing had his best game so far on Saturday.  The first goal was soft.
Laing in fact admitted that, and added the second as well.  I'm not so
sure about the second, a wickedly hard blast from the low boards.  But
after the second Vermont goal, Laing came up with some very big
point-blank saves.  His puck handling also evidenced improvement.
 
4.  As noted before, RPI now has four lines.  The fact that Pete Gardiner
hasn't scored that much underlines how solid the lines have been.  It will
be tough to put Gardiner onto a line with a sniper like a Caley or a
Garver with all the great work the other centers are turning in.  Brad
Tapper looks like the real deal, best speed on the team and a real nose
around the goal.  So I doubt Gardiner will make it back to the second
line.  Fridge is blessed with these kinds of problems.
 
5.  Freshman Coupal surprised me with his play.  He looks very strong.  He
shrugged Catamount forwards off him like they were flies.  I frankly
didn't expect much from the Plattsburgh native, maybe some depth to the
bench.  But he looks like Fridge has found another strong smart skater.
That makes two quality imports in a year when I didn't expect any
additions.
 
6. The RPI defensemen are learning how to cut down on the number of shots
their goaltenders face.  Dartmouth had a ridiculously low 14 shots, only 6
through two periods.  Around the goal the RPI d's now make the poke checks
and block the shots that used to get through.  Perhaps more patience has
allowed the defenseman the opportunity to make little plays that help out
the goalies, rather than looking for the big take-aways or body checks
that flatten your man, but may leave someone else open.
 
7.  It's again deplorable what a patsy schedule the Engineers play.  After
playing the only two quality non-league opponents they face all year, BU
and UNH, they go against two lower echelon ECAC teams.  After that they
face a weak Union squad at the Knick, (will RPI score its first goal there
ever?) and then Division 1 wannabe Niagara at home next Saturday.  These
are not the kind of teams which help your SOS, let alone your competitive
confidence.  It is disheartening when your team is basically playing for
an NC$$ berth, not a #1 or #2 seed.  In order for RPI to gain a first
round bye they will most likely have to win the regular season and the
tournament.  They will not get a high seed based on their competitive
prowess.
 
8.  Pretty big crowd at Houston on Saturday night--around 5500.  There
were quite a few Catamount boosters in the crowd but I think a lot of RPI
fans turned out expecting to see a Vermont team like the past three years.
The Fieldhouse was still pretty quiet.  The crowd managed to drown out the
Vermont fan's "Go Cats Go" chant, but not much else.  Seems like the wild
students of the eighties are gone forever.
 
****************************************************************************
Brian Morris                   RPI Engineers--4-2, 2-0 in the ECAC
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