All-Time Captains

TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) head men's hockey coach Seth Appert has announced the team's captains for the 2011-12 season and four individuals will wear letters for the Engineers. Mike Bergin and Joel Malchuk will both wear a 'C' as captains, while Alex Angers-Goulet and Justin Smith will be assistant captains and wear an 'A' on their jerseys.

“I would like to congratulate Mike, Joel, Alex and Justin on earning the honor of wearing letters at RPI,” said Appert. “We are excited about the combined leadership of this group as we continually strive to push our program to further levels of expectation and excellence. All four young men have overcome adversity in their time on campus and together they represent the values of our program and what it means to be an Engineer.”

For the 2011-12 campaign, Bergin (Ottawa, ON/Smiths Falls Bears), Angers-Goulet (St. Augustin, PQ/Langley Chiefs) and Smith (Hammonds Plains, NS/Langley Chiefs) will be seniors, while Malchuk (Brandon, MB/Dauphin Kings) will be a graduate student. Bergin is a defenseman and the other three are forwards.

In 68 career games, Bergin has six goals and 24 assists for 30 points. Last season he had two goals and 16 assists for 18 points in 32 contests. A draft choice of the Dallas Stars, he played 30 games as a sophomore, tallying 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists), and six before being injured as a freshman.

Malchuk, who missed much of his freshman year due to injury, has played 100 career games, scoring 11 goals with 15 assists for 26 points. This past season he scored six times with nine assists for 15 points. Two of his goals came while shorthanded.

Angers-Goulet, whose brother Matt was a captain for the Engineers in 2008-09, is coming off a season in which he had 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists), including a shorthanded goal, in 36 games. He has played the most career games (108) and goals (18) of any returning player on the team. He is second in assists (26) and points (44).

Smith, who was a teammate of Alex Angers-Goulet prior to attending Rensselaer, played a season-high 10 games last season, bringing his career total to 33 games played. He has a goal and two assists in that span, including a helper as a junior.

The 2010-11 Engineers posted a 20-13-5 record, a national ranking for most of the season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The team recorded back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nearly 10 years (2000-01 & 2001-02) and ranked in the top-15 in the country in scoring defense (2.37 goals against average; 7th), penalty kill (84.3%; 12th) and winning percentage (.592; 15th).