The reboot team: RPI hockey is starting from a crawl

Last March, RPI Athletics announced that the men’s hockey head coach Dave Smith would be leaving the program two years before his contract was set to expire. While no specific reason was given at the time for his dismissal, it was clear that a new direction for the team was in order—the home record last year was just 3-12-1, and the team hasn’t had a winning record since before the pandemic. The most recent push to reinvigorate the team has come in the form of Eric Lang, the former American International College head coach and brand new face in the ECAC division.

Lang has no easy task coming into RPI. Of the 28 players on the men’s hockey roster, just eight of them have returned from last year's campaign. Ten players have graduated from the 2024-25 roster, and another eight—including star player Sutter Muzzati—have transferred out. Replacing them are a mix of freshmen recruits and veteran transfer students from other colleges. The eclectic mix of new arrivals are still in the process of getting accustomed to both the RPI campus and Engineers hockey alongside Lang. The team also has three new coaches, including Lang, that bring with them new strategies and philosophies for playing on the ice. As Lang says, “it’s really 28 guys that have never played the way we want them to play…our systems are very different from what we’ve done in the past.”

“Crawl, walk, run.” Lang used this phrase as a mantra, showing his intent to systematically revamp the team from the ground up and mold the disjointed team from last season into a solid, disciplined outfit. Lang wants to focus on building a good foundation with solid basics first and foremost for his team. Tactically, he’s focused on getting his team to pursue the puck through all zones of the rink, dominating possession in the middle of the ice. He elaborated, “If we think [two plus two] is five, we can’t do any multiplication.”

Lang is not unfamiliar with the situation here in Troy. Lang spent the last nine years of his coaching career at American International College, a small college that just demoted its hockey program to Division II due to budgeting cuts. With limited resources, Lang transformed the team from a perennial basement dweller to a program that now boasts three regular season titles, four postseason titles, and three NCAA tournament appearances. In some ways, Lang’s arrival at Rensselaer mirrors his entrance at American International; a struggling team burdened by lack of support from the Jackson administration in prior seasons.

However, Lang has appreciated the support that RPI’s President Martin Schmidt and Director of Athletics Kristie Bowers have provided for the team. “It starts with those two,” Lang said in reference to Schmidt and Bowers, “it's like a dream team of an administration.” He aims to work with them moving forward to improve both the talent of the hockey team and RPI’s pride in it.

One thing he is not concerned about, for now, is wins and losses. Considering the schedule ahead of him, it would be smart not to be.

The Engineers’ season for this year would be a challenge even for a veteran team. Lang has noted games at home against #6 Boston College and away at #18 ranked Minnesota State, along with an exhibition game against #2 ranked Boston University in Massachusetts, all in the month of October alone. In the Eastern College Athletic Conference, familiar foes remain in #13 Quinnipiac and #17 Cornell.

Regardless of schedule difficulty, particular attention has been paid to league rivals Clarkson University and especially Union College. Lang has stressed that “we want to be the best team in this town,” noting the importance of taking back the Mayor’s Cup after losing it last year.

The upcoming season will not guarantee a team ready to go to the heights Lang has previously reached in American International. However, it is clear that Lang has his sights set on a long-term advancement of the program as he's used the transfer portal throughout the summer to recruit a host of players that have the potential to develop into a strong core. Lang has also made it clear that the team needs “to give our student body and our fans something exciting to come to the rink for,” along with critical matchups against team rivals.

Lang’s experience and passion for the game will be shown to the Rensselaer faithful for the first time on October 10 as the Engineers play the Miami Redhawks on home ice.