hockeyDB: Adam Oates | Brandon Pirri | Mathias Lange

TROY, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey alumni have excelled in a variety of roles in the professional ranks, in particular Adam Oates, Brandon Pirri and Mathias Lange. Each have enjoyed noteworthy accomplishments during the 2012-13 season with perhaps more to come.

"I am very proud of our alumni," said RPI head men's hockey coach Seth Appert. "The work Adam Oates did to turn around Washington has him in the running for the Jack Adams Award. Brandon Pirri led the AHL in scoring and continues to show why he is about to become a full-time NHL point-producer and Mathias Lange has earned the great honor of representing his country at the World Championships."

Oates '85 is the head coach of the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League and he has led the team into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following Wednesday's action, the Caps are tied with the New York Rangers in their best-of-seven series, 2-2.

Following a slow start by his team to open the season, Oates, a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who led the Engineers to the 1985 NCAA Championship, guided Washington to a 27-18-3 record and first place in the Southeast Division with 57 points. The Capitals, who were 8-1-1 in their final 10 games of the regular season, are the third seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Among the other accomplishments was helping forward Alex Ovechkin capture the NHL's Maurice Richard Trophy as the top goal scorer. He finished with 32 tallies in 48 games and was also third in the regular season with 56 points.

Washington and the Rangers resume their series with game five on Friday at 7:30pm in Washington.

Pirri '13, led the American Hockey League, the top developmental league in North America, in scoring with 75 points to win the John B. Sollenberger Trophy. The forward had 22 goals and a league-high 53 assists with a plus-11 in 76 games for the Rockford IceHogs. A third-year pro, he had 19 points, including 16 assists, in Rockford's last nine games. He also played a game for the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks during the 2012-13 season.

Pirri spent the 2009-10 season at Rensselaer, tallying 43 points, including 11 goals and 32 assists, in 39 games. He was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team.

A goalie, Lange '09, enjoyed his success internationally by earning playoff Most Valuable Player honors after backstopping his German League team, the Bietigheim Steelers, to the championship. He was then named to represent his native Austria in the IIHF World Championship, which are ongoing.