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RPI 2026 Off-Season: Please Pardon Our Appearance As We Upgrade This Area

Today is 6 June 2026. There are 120 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 4 October 2026 for the start of next season.
 
Ralph Baer said:
It looks like RPI read your post.

www.instagram.com

RPI Women’s Hockey on Instagram: "A quick peek at the first half of the construction project that will bring updates to Houston Field House this fall season. New ice surface and cooling system, as well as new NHL-level boards, and upgraded concourse

492 likes, 7 comments - rpiwhockey on June 4, 2026: "A quick peek at the first half of the construction project that will bring updates to Houston Field House this fall season. New ice surface and cooling system, as well as new NHL-level boards, and upgraded concourse around the rink.".
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
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Love to see it! It’s about time this is getting done. No more shitty ice halfway through the period. Hopefully the schedule and new recruits drops soon.
 
Today is 7 June 2026. There are 119 days (17 weeks) until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 4 October 2026 for the start of next season.
 
sezenack said:
I wonder if they announce the transfers as part of this too
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I wonder too. My guess is yes.

It did surprise me that the instagram posts don't say anything about each of them, but we know more than they would likely write anyway. There certainly are people who follow them on Instagram and don't read USCHO or your cohorts' Field House posts. IMHO this is the best recruit class since at least Pirri and D'Amigo and probably since Oates et al.
 
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Ralph Baer said:
I wonder too. My guess is yes.

It did surprise me that the instagram posts don't say anything about each of them, but we know more than they would likely write anyway. There certainly are people who follow them on Instagram and don't read USCHO or your cohort's Field House posts. IMHO this is the best recruit class since at least Pirri and D'Amigo and probably since Oates et al.
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It’s the best recruit class I’ve seen in a while. I would agree since Pirri and D’Amigo. Although that class was rated much higher due to the higher NHL picks. Appert could really bring in talent to Troy. Needless to say I think this year’s class is super talented! This year’s class just proves how good of a recruiter lang and co are. I’m excited for the future.
 
Engineers said:
It’s the best recruit class I’ve seen in a while. I would agree since Pirri and D’Amigo. Although that class was rated much higher due to the higher NHL picks. Appert could really bring in talent to Troy. Needless to say I think this year’s class is super talented! This year’s class just proves how good of a recruiter lang and co are. I’m excited for the future.
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It is hard to compare classes from different eras. With the opening of the CHL, the overall quality of recruits has improved. Pirri, D'Amigo et al. were higher ranked compared to other schools' classes entering in 2009, but this class appears to be better. It's also not clear to me how classes of different sizes should be compared.
 
Will be interesting to see if Evaschesen is drafted in a few weeks. That would be a nice cherry on top for the staff.
 
Ralph Baer said:
It is hard to compare classes from different eras. With the opening of the CHL, the overall quality of recruits has improved. Pirri, D'Amigo et al. were higher ranked compared to other schools' classes entering in 2009, but this class appears to be better. It's also not clear to me how classes of different sizes should be compared.
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This year’s class is definitely deeper. I can’t wait for the season to start. Very exciting times
 
Today is 8 June 2026. There are 118 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 4 October 2026 for the start of next season.
 
Engineers said:
It’s the best recruit class I’ve seen in a while. I would agree since Pirri and D’Amigo. Although that class was rated much higher due to the higher NHL picks. Appert could really bring in talent to Troy. Needless to say I think this year’s class is super talented! This year’s class just proves how good of a recruiter lang and co are. I’m excited for the future.
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Agree with most of what you said but if indeed SA could really bring talent to Troy, why was our overall won loss record under his leadership so dismal? And why did not make trips to Lake Placid (or the few years to Atlantic City) for the ECAC playoffs? As far as i can see, his biggest successes in hockey were advancing his own career up the ladder to assistant at Buffalo under Lindsay Ruff and not accomplished in Troy. His tenure at RPI started about the same time as new coaches at Union and Yale and both squads won NCAA championships.
 
DrDemento said:
Agree with most of what you said but if indeed SA could really bring talent to Troy, why was our overall won loss record under his leadership so dismal? And why did not make trips to Lake Placid (or the few years to Atlantic City) for the ECAC playoffs? As far as i can see, his biggest successes in hockey were advancing his own career up the ladder to assistant at Buffalo under Lindsay Ruff and not accomplished in Troy. His tenure at RPI started about the same time as new coaches at Union and Yale and both squads won NCAA championships.
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The depth of his classes was lacking a bit (and waned as the years went on). Look at some of the old point totals of the teams, you'd have 3 guys with 40 points and no one else with more than 14. Those guys would then graduate, and the next core of players wasn't ready to assume those roles. What has me excited about Eric's class here is there isn't a single weak point or not even a question mark. I'm not sure who I'd rank last in the class if I had to try.
 
DrDemento said:
Agree with most of what you said but if indeed SA could really bring talent to Troy, why was our overall won loss record under his leadership so dismal? And why did not make trips to Lake Placid (or the few years to Atlantic City) for the ECAC playoffs? As far as i can see, his biggest successes in hockey were advancing his own career up the ladder to assistant at Buffalo under Lindsay Ruff and not accomplished in Troy. His tenure at RPI started about the same time as new coaches at Union and Yale and both squads won NCAA championships.
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He didn’t get much help from the top. Often having to be more than a head coach. He made the NCAA Tournament and had many years with his teams ranked in the top 20 and a few times in the top 10. That hasn’t happened since. His teams especially in the beginning had 3-5+ NHL picks on the roster. Either way that’s behind us and I’m super excited for what coach lang can do. He’s a great coach and we’re lucky to have him.
 
rpi82 said:
What is the "upgraded concourse around the rink"?
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I don't have specific knowledge, but i believe that as part of the new ice/boards/glass installation that the walkway ring around the ice will be a bit different, including the removal of some seats ...but again, I'm working from dim memories of brief glances at renderings...
 
Engineers said:
He didn’t get much help from the top. Often having to be more than a head coach. He made the NCAA Tournament and had many years with his teams ranked in the top 20 and a few times in the top 10. That hasn’t happened since. His teams especially in the beginning had 3-5+ NHL picks on the roster. Either way that’s behind us and I’m super excited for what coach lang can do. He’s a great coach and we’re lucky to have him.
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I agree with all of this. And while not wanting to re-litigate the Appert era, it should be mentioned that he was literally working alone in all phases of the hockey program....with zero help from the admin. Union and Yale both benefitted from a) strong institutional support and b) fundraising.

Sometimes change is good .... it certainly has worked out for Seth. RPI screwed up hiring his successor and we've paid the price for several years.
Good things are ahead under Lang's leadership !
 
Engineers said:
He didn’t get much help from the top. Often having to be more than a head coach. He made the NCAA Tournament and had many years with his teams ranked in the top 20 and a few times in the top 10. That hasn’t happened since. His teams especially in the beginning had 3-5+ NHL picks on the roster. Either way that’s behind us and I’m super excited for what coach lang can do. He’s a great coach and we’re lucky to have him.
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Absolutely had his work cut out for him as he got nothing or perhaps less than nothing from the top. But i do not recall more than 1 NCAA appearance and I do not remember any top 10 ratings. i do recall purchasing tickets for Atlantic City every year for the ECAC playoffs and giving them away each time. A few of us can go way back through the various coaching eras and I have to say that we can remember so much better before the last 25 years (and of course, some really bad times also but they did not seem to last as long). I will say that we seem to be on the right track now and I have not been this optimistic in a very long time.
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
And while not wanting to re-litigate the Appert era . . .
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Let's please not! Or the Smith era! We've litigated sufficiently here in past threads--and I was certainly a contributor to the interminable proceedings!

Ultimately, Dave and Seth's win-loss records speak for themselves. On the other elements of their coaching, you can be the judge. It's also fair to say that neither enjoyed the level of support from the administration that appears to be happening now.

Better days are ahead.
 
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