The Rensselaer–Union men's ice hockey rivalry is a

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the

RPI Engineers men's ice hockey RPI may refer to: Universities * Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, US * Richmond Professional Institute, merged into Virginia Commonwealth University Science and technology * Raspberry Pi (RPi), a UK single-board computer * Ret ...

and Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey programs. The first meeting between the two occurred on February 26, 1904.

History

Rensselaer was one of the first schools outside of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

to play varsity ice hockey, holing their first game during the 1901–02 season. Two years later, The Cherry and White met their

capital district A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

counterparts for the first time. Because neither program had an on-campus rink, the game was played at the Empire Rink in nearby

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

. The converted

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

venue wasn't well suited for ice hockey and only used sparingly by RPI. Both programs were forced to suspend operations over the next few years due to warm winters that prevented natural ice surfaces from being usable. They renewed their series in 1908, however, Union played just one game over the following two years before shuttering the program for a decade. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Union restarted its program and the two eventually began to play annually. Helping the budding rivalry were on-campus rinks that had been built in the interim. While both venues were of the open-air variety, they were a vast improvement over the previous situation. Unfortunately, just as the rivalry was beginning to grow, financial difficulties brought on by

The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

caused Rensselaer to suspend its program in 1931. The Engineers attempted to return in the mid-30's but were only able to play 4 total games before having to halt once more. Union continued on in their rival's absence but they too were forced to suspend play after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Once the war was over, the Skating Dutchmen tried to rekindle the program but their poor facilities became an issue. Inconsistent weather conditions wreaked havoc with open-air rinks and it had become apparent that Union could need an enclosed arena if they were to continue playing hockey. After only being able to play a single game in 1949, the program suspended until a permanent solution could be found. Coincidentally, the following year Rensselaer finally returned to the ice when the Houston Field House was completed. Rensselaer was able to use the new rink to great effect and became a preeminent program for a time. They won the 1954 National Championship under

Ned Harkness Nevin Donald Harkness (September 19, 1919 – September 19, 2008) was an NCAA head coach of ice hockey and lacrosse at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University and of ice hockey at Union College. Harkness was also head coach ...

and were a founding member of

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

several years later. In the mid-70's, after more than 25 years without a game, Union College resurrected its ice hockey program. The completion of the Achilles Rink in 1975 gave the Dutchmen the home they had needed while Harkness set about rebuilding the program from scratch. When Union returned, however, they did so at the Division II level and were able to immediately become a successful team. While there was an expectation that the program would soon make the jump to the top level, school administrators had other ideas. A dispute between Harkness and the college caused the coach to leave mid-way through his third season and set the program back by several years. It would be seven years before the Dutchmen would post another winning record and any rumors about their promotion to Division I were quashed. in spite of the difficulties for Union, the program was able to restart its rivalry with Rensselaer in 1981. The two played at least one annually over a decade with the Engineers, predictably, dominating the play. When Union finally made the jump to Division I in 1991, they joined the Engineers in ECAC Hockey, where they have remained ever since (as of 2022). Since becoming conference rivals, the two have played at least twice every year. They have also met several times during the conference postseason. In 2006, the two began jointly hosting the Governor's Cup, a four-team in-season tournament. The series was discontinued after the third edition. The trophy that was used was called the 'Mayor's Cup'. Rather than discard the award, it was used for a new annual game held at the end of January. The first two meetings were at the

Herb Brooks Arena The Herb Brooks Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Lake Placid, New York. This surface, along with the USA Rink, was built for the 1980 Winter Olympics. About The arena hosted various events during the 1980 Winter Olympics, most famously the ice ...

before being moved to the

MVP Arena The MVP Arena (originally Knickerbocker Arena, and then the Pepsi Arena and Times Union Center) is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York. It is configurable and can accommodate from 6,000 to 17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacit ...

in Albany.

Game results

Full game results for the rivalry, with rankings beginning in the 1998–99 season.

Series facts

References

External links

RPI Engineers men's ice hockey

Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rensselaer-Union men's ice hockey rivalry College ice hockey rivalries in the United States ECAC Hockey RPI Engineers men's ice hockey Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey 1904 establishments in New York (state)