[log in to unmask] (Kenneth W. Johnson, Laura U. Nowack) wrote: >RPI/Rensselaer has traditionally (from my memory anyways) always played >better after Christmas. We'll see if that holds true this year. Would >anyone like to go further and speculate why? Two immediate reasons: 1. Kyle Ferguson will be eligible to play. 2. Alain St. Hilaire will return sometime in January. St. Hilaire has improved the most of all the freshmen since the start of the season. In fact, he may be the only Engineer to markedly improve his game from week to week. Ferguson will provide a big, fast forward that the Engineers do not currently possess. Other reasons: 3. The schedule settles down to a routine. 4. The team gets a chance to regroup from some of the beatings they've taken. No, I don't mean #4 in a humorous tone. As for #3, even when I was just a fan, playing these odd Sunday and Tuesday games threw me off my schedule. It does so to a greater degree as a sportscaster. I can only assume it has the same effect on the players. Starting with the Tournament, RPI plays Friday & Saturday except for the two weekends they play Union. Getting into a regimented schedule will, I believe, benefit this young team. In regards to #4, RPI has never really had a chance to get its head together after getting shelled and I don't believe the series against Air Force has produced anything positive except two wins on the overall record. After losing two games that were potentially winnable to start out the season, the Engineers were shellacked by BG, then dropped a winnable game to Army. After getting slaughtered by Colgate, they got killed by Clarkson then lost another winnable one against SLU. The only non-laughable win was versus Dartmouth, which followed a well-played game against Vermont. It's as if RPI needs to play at least one game after a beating to get back their confidence, then the next game they have a chance. The two weeks off, with some time at home, will help seperate the first half of the season from the second, and maybe let the Engineers start out with a cleaner slate. We shall certainly find out. See you on Saturday Ken. Kurt Stutt [log in to unmask] HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.