Bob Croce has a nice little piece on Capital District native J.C. Ruid,
forward for the Vermont Catamounts.  Since being moved to the #1 line with
(of course) Eric Perrin and Martin St. Louis his production has soared.  The
change was made on Jan. 27, the night the Catamounts destroyed the RPI
Engineers 6-1.  Ruid, a native of Ballston Lake (near Saratoga), had two goals
in that game.
 
According to Ruid, "That was such a great feeling, because my friends and
family were all there, and I grew up watching RPI play a lot of games.  It's a
great place to watch and play a game."  Ruid, who prepped at Hochkiss School,
was recruited by RPI, but chose Vermont because of its atmosphere.
 
Croce notes the crowds at Gutterson Fieldhouse are the best in the ECAC.
 
Ruid is a 6'4" 210 "bull" who protects his two illustrious linemates from
Laval, Quebec, Perrin and St. Louis, each of whom stands barely 5'9" tall.
St. Louis (18-38-56) and Perrin (21-31-52) are currently 1-2 in the ECAC
scoring race.
 
Vermont's coach Mike Gilligan explains, "Every team that we have played has
been identifying that line and checking them and slowing them down, so I just
put a bigger guy with them and JC has really responded."
 
Ruid has 8 goals since moving to the #1 line.
 
"Playing with those guys is great because they're just so skilled, and I'm
really getting a lot of opportunities," said Ruid.
 
"He's not just a bigger guy, he's a skilled big guy," Gilligan said.  "He's
done a tremendous job to the point where I had put him on the power play."
 
Said Ruid, "When hd did that, it just gave me so much more confidence.  It
doesn't get much better than playing with Dominique Ducharme and Mike Larkin
and Martin and Eric."
 
Ruid is currently one of the hottest forwards in the ECAC, scoring two goals
against Harvard last weekend.
 
"I hope I can continue playing with those guys the next couple of seasons,
too," Ruid said.  "I can't think of a better situation for myself."
*******************************************************
Brian Morris                Go RPI!  Home ice is in sight!
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]