Until a couple of weeks ago, the RIT hockey team was college hockey’s best-kept secret. After sweeping the Atlantic Hockey regular season and tournament titles, the Tigers truly announced themselves one week later with two wins at the NCAA East Regional over powerhouse programs Denver and New Hampshire.

Chris Tanev earned Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year honors.

A deeper look inside this RIT team reveals its own best-kept secret. Freshman defenseman Chris Tanev logs a lot of ice time and plays on the top defense pairing for RIT with All-American candidate Dan Ringwald. We spoke with Tanev about the excitement surrounding the Tigers, his transition to college hockey and other aspects about RIT.

Inside College Hockey: There was an awful lot of excitement on your campus when you got back from Albany. How has that been to experience? Your rink sells out all the time, so I guess that you can’t be too surprised about the fans.

Chris Tanev: It’s been good, been pretty crazy actually. All the fans are getting involved. The school is pretty upbeat and excited for us to play on Thursday.

INCH: Coming in as freshman you’ve been given a lot of responsibility and also the opportunity to play with Dan Ringwald. How was the adjustment and how was it to play with him?

CT: To start my first shift in college, I got scored on, the very first shift of the game [against Colgate at Blue Cross Arena]. I didn’t know how things were going to go after that. It was great playing with Ringer. He helped me adjust a lot and he’s been really great.

INCH: What are your keys to success, what happens when you are playing well?

CT: When I’m playing well, I’m moving my feet, moving the puck and getting the puck up ice. When I’m not playing well I think the puck tends to be in our end more. When I move my feet I can be the most effective when my feet are feeling good.

INCH: I think that’s also true for your other defensemen. Would you agree?

CT: We’re pretty mobile, I think. We play pretty good D but we like to move the puck. Watching tape on Wisconsin, they’re really mobile and they get up the ice fast. We’ll see how we react and defend against that tomorrow.

INCH: How are your forwards as far as helping out the defense?

CT: They’re good. We’ve been working on it the last two weeks, defending. We’ve seen them on tape and their defense like to jump in the play. We’ll be ready for it tomorrow, our forwards especially.

INCH: Tell us more about goalie Jared DeMichiel.

CT: He does everything. If you watch the last two games in particular, even the Atlantic Hockey playoff games he’s made really key saves that have got us going. He’s been making the key saves, he’s really good back there, plays the puck and communicates with us. He’s all you could ever want.

INCH: Going into the regional at Albany your team was so loose and just went to play to win without worrying about any of the pressures. Still loose, or starting to feel a little bit of pressure or anticipation for this weekend?

CT: We’re still loose. I think we’re excited or anxious to get going tomorrow but we’re still loose. Just having lots of fun out there.