TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team will be honoring members of the 1995 ECAC Hockey Championships team on the 25th Anniversary of its Lake Placid triumph, during the first intermission of Saturday’s 43rd Annual Big Red Freakout!
“It’s exciting to be coming back to campus to see former teammates and celebrate on the campus where is so many positive memories were made,” said former goaltender Mike Tamburro, Class of 1996. “My teammates and I love RPI.”
“There is such love for the program from the hockey alumni, added third-year head coach Dave Smith. “They each had a great experience and to be able to come back to campus 25 years later as the ECAC Champions is a special time. They love to share the memories with our program and we love hearing them.”
Tamburro, the eventual 1995 ECAC Hockey Tournament Most Valuable Player, led the sixth-seed Engineers to a quarterfinal series victory over Harvard, before topping Colgate, 2-1, in the semifinal, setting up a matchup with Princeton for the conference title. Having lost to and tied the Tigers earlier in the year, RPI ran away with a 5-1 victory for its first championship since its national title-winning 1985 season. Forward Tim Regan and defenseman Adam Bartell earned All-Tournament Team honors along with Tamburro.
The 1994-95 Engineers went 19-14-4 overall and were led offensively by Bryan Richardson, who had 23 goals and 24 assists for 47 points in 36 games. Craig Hamelin (15 goals, 29 assists) had 44 points, while Regan (12 goals, 19 assists) added 19 points. Tamburro started 25 of the team’s 37 games, posting a 13-8-4 record with a 2.92 goals against average and a .914 save percentage and one shutout. Bryan Masotta (5-6-0) had a 4.26 goals against average and an .870 save percentage.
Overall, around 40 alums are expected to be in attendance this weekend, including a number of players from the 1985 National Championship team. The Engineers take on Dartmouth College on Friday (7pm) and the University of Vermont on Saturday (7pm).
