INCH Pre-Season All-America Teams

TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey student-athlete Chase Polacek has been named to the Inside College Hockey.com Pre-Season All-America First Team. Polacek is a senior forward on the Engineers.

A native of Edina, Minn., Polacek led ECAC Hockey in numerous categories on his way to capturing prestigious accolades last season, including ECAC Hockey Player of the Year, Hobey Baker Award finalist and National All-America. In 39 games he had 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points. Twenty-eight of his points (13 goals, 15 assists) came on the power play. He also had two shorthanded goals and a pair of game-winners.

Polacek, an assistant captain who played at Academy of Holy Angels prior to enrolling at Rensselaer, was a model of consistency, tallying at least one point in 29 games, including 15 contests with multiple points.

At season's end he ranked first in the league in points, points per game (1.33), power play points and shorthanded points (5). He was second in goals, power play goals and shorthanded goals and was fifth in assists. Nationally Polacek was third in power play goals, sixth in points per game, eighth in goals per game (0.67) and tenth in shorthanded goals.

This is the third pre-season honor for Polacek, who has 113 points (44 goals, 69 assists) in 117 career games. He was also selected to the All-ECAC Hockey Pre-Season Team and chosen to The Sporting News Pre-Season All-America First Team.

After traveling to Colorado College for two games last weekend, Polacek and the rest of the Engineers play two games this weekend. RPI is on the road at Northeastern on Friday night (7pm) before returning to the Houston Field House to face Bentley in the 2010-11 home opener on Saturday (5pm) as part of Reunion & Homecoming Weekend.

Tickets for Saturday's game are on sale at the Field House box office and by telephone at 518-276-6262.