Chain Reactions

It's been a rough year in Pyongyang. Kim Jong-il died. They have a fat kid running the joint. Women are down to only 18 choices of hairstyle.

They had to light off a nuclear weapon last week to get attention.

Oh, and their hockey team is in 10th place, almost assuredly destined to finish the season outside the Top 4 for the first time since 1999.

It's been a very un-Big Red season for the Big Red.

By total points earned, the Central New York road trip is technically the easiest one in the league (the Capital District is the hardest), and despite past struggles which have seen the Engineers swept or picking up just one point on this trip 5 times in the last 10 years, they've won three straight games on this trip, including a sweep last year for the first time since 2001.

There's been some success lately against Cornell as well... don't look now, but RPI is unbeaten in three straight against the Big Red, who just snapped a practically unheard of seven-game losing streak last weekend by picking up three points against a Dartmouth team struggling to keep their heads above water and a last-place Harvard team.

Meanwhile, over in Hamilton, Colgate has seen a promising start fade significantly. They haven't won in six straight games, including four straight losses (0-4-2).

RPI is in 2nd place alone, but they need more points or they won't be there long. The sum of the situation means they need to keep the energy high and the nation's longest win streak alive. A sweep would clinch home-ice and almost certainly put the team on the brink of clinching a bye, if not actually clinching it.

Meanwhile, at home, the women play what amounts to a pair of playoff warmup games. Unable to move up or down from 7th place, the results this weekend don't have any impact on them in the slightest. Their opponents, also Cornell and Colgate, are fighting for position. The Cornell game gives the Engineers the opportunity to influence their playoff opponent, but it's impossible today to know exactly how influential it'll be.

And so, in honor of tonight's opponent and recent related news... we present this weekend's pumpup. Stay hot.