2021–22 Providence Friars men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Providence Friars Men's ice hockey season is the 71st season of play for the program. They represent Providence College in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 38th season in the Hockey East conference. They are coached by Nate Leaman, in his 11th season, and play their home games at Schneider Arena.

2021–22 Providence Friars
men's ice hockey season
Conference7th Hockey East
Home iceSchneider Arena
Rankings
USCHO#20
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall22–14–2
Conference12–11–1
Home14–4–2
Road7–9–0
Neutral1–1–1
Coaches and captains
Head coachNate Leaman
Assistant coachesRon Rolston
Joel Beal
Bruce Irving
Captain(s)Michael Callahan
Alternate captain(s)Max Crozier
Parker Ford
Kohen Olischefski
Providence Friars men's ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season edit

Providence began the season well, winning its first three games and headed into the Ice Breaker Tournament ranked in the top 10. Unfortunately, when the Friars faced other highly ranked opponents, they weren't able to sustain the same level of success. They finished last in the tournament but recovered a week later with a win over Denver. They regained their spot in the top-10 and held it until early November when they were swept by defending national champion Massachusetts. The two losses were very harmful to Providence since their record left them with little opportunity for improvement over the next month. The Friars did win the succeeding six games, however, because all of them were to unranked teams (some of whom had terrible records) they actually fell in the rankings, dropping down to 13th by the beginning of December.

The team finally got a chance to climb back into postseason contention when they met Northeastern. Unfortunately, just as they had against the Minutemen, Providence dropped both games to the Huskies and fell further down the standings. The Friars performed well in their four other games during the month but none were against ranked teams.

COVID-19 ended up causing Providence to cancel a few games at the beginning of January and the team looked out of sorts afterwards. Providence played inconsistently over the second half of the year. While the team did record impressive wins against upper-echelon clubs, the bright spots couldn't cover up the fact that, in a down year for Hockey East, the Friars finished in the bottom half of the standings.

Providence entered postseason play with only a slim chance for an at-large bid. The Friars would likely need to make the conference championship game to have any hope at making the tournament but even that would not be a guarantee. They dominated Vermont in the opening match, outshooting the Catamounts 40–18, but only scraped by with a 2–1 victory. The lack of scoring continued in the quarterfinals when they took on Massachusetts. They continued to send a barrage of shots on goal, firing 47 in total, but again could only manage 2 goals. The Minutemen, however, had no trouble getting the puck past Jaxson Stauber and notched 4 on only 19 shots and ended the Friars' season.

Departures edit

Player Position Nationality Cause
Jack Adams Forward   United States Graduate transfer to Notre Dame
Anton Martinsson Goaltender   Sweden Graduation (retired)
John McDermott Forward   United States Graduation (retired)
Gabriel Mollot-Hill Goaltender   Canada Graduate transfer to Guelph
Albin Nilsson Forward   Sweden Transferred to Niagara
Jason O'Neill Forward   United States Graduation (retired)
Greg Printz Forward   United States Graduation (signed with San Diego Gulls)
Tyce Thompson Forward   United States Signed professional contract (New Jersey Devils)
Matt Tugnutt Forward   Canada Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads)

Recruiting edit

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Austin Cain Goaltender   Canada 25 Ottawa, ON; graduate transfer from Western Michigan
Michael Citara Forward   United States 19 New Hope, PA
Riley Duran Forward   United States 19 Boston, MA; selected 182nd overall in 2020
Alex Esposito Forward   United States 25 West Haven, CT; graduate transfer from Vermont
Tomas Mazura Forward   Czech Republic 21 Pardubice, CZE; selected 162nd overall in 2019
Cody Monds Forward   Canada 20 Brockville, ON
Kohen Olischefski Forward   Canada 23 Abbotsford, BC; graduate transfer from Denver
Guillaume Richard Defenseman   Canada 18 Quebec City, QC; selected 101st overall in 2021
Will Schimek Defenseman   United States 20 Mendota Heights, MN

Roster edit

As of August 12, 2021.[1]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1   Jimmy Scannell Senior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1999-06-13 Medfield, Massachusetts Thayer (USHS–MA)
2   Luke Johnson Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-01-07 Edina, Minnesota Sioux City (USHL)
3   Davis Bunz Graduate D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1998-09-04 Middleton, Wisconsin Central Illinois (USHL)
4   Guillaume Richard Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2003-02-10 Quebec City, Quebec Tri-City (USHL) CBJ, 101st overall 2021
5   Ben Mirageas Graduate D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-05-08 Newburyport, Massachusetts Chicago (USHL) NYI, 77th overall 2017
6   Cam McDonald Junior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-02-03 Eagle River, Alaska Muskegon (USHL)
8   Riley Duran Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-01-25 Woburn, Massachusetts Youngstown (USHL) BOS, 182nd overall 2020
9   Patrick Moynihan Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-01-23 Millis, Massachusetts USNTDP (USHL) NJD, 158th overall 2019
10   Kohen Olischefski (A) Graduate F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-02-01 Abbotsford, British Columbia Denver (NCHC)
11   Michael Citara Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2002-04-22 New Hope, Pennsylvania Sioux Falls (USHL)
12   Nick Poisson Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-08-15 Vancouver, British Columbia Prince George (BCHL)
13   Craig Needham Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-03-31 Medford, Massachusetts Youngstown (USHL)
14   Matt Koopman Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998-05-01 Marblehead, Massachusetts Waterloo (USHL)
15   Tomáš Mazura Freshman F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 2000-09-23 Sezemice, Czech Republic HIFK U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) EDM, 162nd overall 2019
16   Kyle Koopman Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-05-01 Marblehead, Massachusetts West Kelowna (BCHL)
17   Chase Yoder Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-05-28 Fairview, Texas USNTDP (USHL) PIT, 170th overall 2020
18   Jamie Engelbert Junior F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-06-21 Cobourg, Ontario Cobourg (OJHL)
19   Cody Monds Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2001-02-09 Brockville, Ontario Fargo (USHL)
20   Parker Ford (A) Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-07-20 Wakefield, Rhode Island Sioux City (USHL)
21   Brett Berard Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2002-09-09 East Greenwich, Rhode Island USNTDP (USHL) NYR, 134th overall 2020
22   Uula Ruikka Sophomore D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-05-28 Oulu, Finland Chicago (USHL)
23   Michael Callahan (C) Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1999-09-23 Franklin, Massachusetts Youngstown (USHL) ARI, 142nd overall 2018
24   Max Crozier (A) Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2000-04-19 Calgary, Alberta Sioux Falls (USHL) TBL, 120th overall 2019
25   Luke Perunovich Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-05-12 Edina, Minnesota Northeast (NAHL)
26   Alex Esposito Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-06-03 West Haven, Connecticut Vermont (HEA)
28   Garrett Devine Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-11-25 Windsor, Colorado South Shore (NCDC)
29   Will Schimek Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2001-05-22 Mendota Heights, Minnesota Sioux Falls (USHL)
30   Jaxson Stauber Junior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-04-27 Plymouth, Minnesota Sioux Falls (USHL)
33   Austin Cain Graduate G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1996-09-12 Kanata, Ontario Western Michigan (WCHA)

Standings edit

Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SOW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#12 Northeastern 24 15 8 1 1 1 1 47 68 46 39 25 13 1 99 68
#10 Massachusetts * 24 14 8 2 2 3 1 46 77 54 37 22 13 2 117 88
#13 Massachusetts Lowell 24 15 8 1 1 0 1 46 62 48 35 21 11 3 102 74
#19 Connecticut 24 14 10 0 2 1 0 41 73 61 36 20 16 0 109 89
Boston University 24 13 8 3 3 2 0 41 69 58 35 19 13 3 107 89
Merrimack 24 13 11 0 1 3 0 41 70 70 35 19 15 1 109 99
#20 Providence 24 12 11 1 1 1 1 38 61 52 38 22 14 2 118 82
Boston College 24 9 12 3 0 1 1 32 67 77 38 15 18 5 114 123
New Hampshire 24 8 15 1 2 2 0 25 47 71 34 14 19 1 76 95
Vermont 24 6 16 2 3 1 2 20 41 72 35 8 25 2 59 101
Maine 24 5 17 2 2 3 1 19 54 80 33 7 22 4 74 111
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results edit

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 2 4:00 PM Army* #12 Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 7–0  0 1–0–0
October 7 7:00 PM Merrimack #11 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN Stauber W 5–2  2,587 2–0–0 (1–0–0)
October 9 7:05 PM at American International* #11 MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Stauber W 5–1  577 3–0–0
Ice Breaker Tournament
October 15 5:07 PM vs. #1 Minnesota State* #10 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota (Ice Breaker Semifinal)   Stauber L 2–5  [a] 3–1–0
October 16 8:37 PM at #5 Minnesota Duluth* #10 AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota (Ice Breaker Consolation)   Stauber L 2–3  5,738 3–2–0
Regular Season
October 22 7:00 PM #8 Denver* #12 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 6–5  2,637 4–2–0
October 24 5:00 PM at New Hampshire #12 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire   Stauber W 2–0  3,458 5–2–0 (2–0–0)
October 29 7:00 PM New Hampshire #8 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN+ Stauber W 6–1  2,227 6–2–0 (3–0–0)
October 30 7:00 PM at New Hampshire #8 Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire   Stauber L 1–2  3,134 6–3–0 (3–1–0)
November 5 7:00 PM at #12 Massachusetts #7 Mullins CenterAmherst, Massachusetts NESN Stauber L 0–1  4,485 6–4–0 (3–2–0)
November 6 7:00 PM #12 Massachusetts #7 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN+ Stauber L 1–5  3,169 6–5–0 (3–3–0)
November 12 7:00 PM American International* #12 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 2–1 OT 1,753 7–5–0
November 13 7:00 PM Connecticut #12 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 6–4  2,572 8–5–0 (4–3–0)
November 19 7:35 PM at Vermont #12 Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont   Stauber W 4–3  2,421 9–5–0 (5–3–0)
November 20 7:05 PM at Vermont #12 Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont   Stauber W 2–0  2,298 10–5–0 (6–3–0)
November 26 4:00 PM Dartmouth* #14 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN Stauber W 7–4  1,969 11–5–0
November 27 7:00 PM at Brown* #14 Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island (Mayor's Cup) NESN+ Cain W 4–0  842 12–5–0
December 3 7:00 PM #16 Northeastern #13 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber L 0–2  2,762 12–6–0 (6–4–0)
December 4 7:00 PM at #16 Northeastern #13 Matthews ArenaBoston, Massachusetts NESN+ Stauber L 1–4  2,638 12–7–0 (6–5–0)
December 10 7:00 PM Princeton* #16 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN+ Stauber W 7–0  2,129 13–7–0
December 11 7:00 PM Princeton* #16 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 3–2  1,920 14–7–0
Holiday Face–Off
December 28 5:07 PM vs. Bowling Green* #16 Fiserv ForumMilwaukee, Wisconsin (Face–Off Semifinal) BSD, BSN, BSO, BSW Stauber W 6–2  - 15–7–0
December 29 8:37 PM vs. Wisconsin* #16 Fiserv ForumMilwaukee, Wisconsin (Face–Off Championship) BSN, BSO, BSW Stauber T 2–2 SOL 6,225 15–7–1
Regular Season
January 14 7:00 PM at Merrimack #17 J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Stauber L 2–3  1,587 15–8–1 (6–6–0)
January 15 5:30 PM Merrimack #17 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber L 1–2  2,128 15–9–1 (6–7–0)
January 21 7:00 PM Boston College #18 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 7–0  5,390 16–9–1 (7–7–0)
January 22 7:00 PM at Boston College #18 Conte ForumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts NESN Stauber T 1–1 SOW 3,187 16–9–2 (7–7–1)
January 28 7:00 PM at #9 Massachusetts #17 Mullins Center • Amherst, Massachusetts NESN+ Stauber W 2–1  4,493 17–9–2 (8–7–1)
January 30 3:00 PM at Boston University #17 Agganis Arena • Boston, Massachusetts NESN Stauber L 2–5  2,228 17–10–2 (8–8–1)
February 4 7:05 PM at Connecticut #17 XL CenterHartford, Connecticut NESN+ Stauber L 1–2  3,647 17–11–2 (8–9–1)
February 5 7:00 PM Vermont #17 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN Stauber W 4–1  2,834 18–11–2 (9–9–1)
February 11 7:00 PM #20 Boston University #17 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island NESN+ Stauber L 1–4  2,394 18–12–2 (9–10–1)
February 18 7:15 PM at #16 Massachusetts Lowell #19 Tsongas CenterLowell, Massachusetts   Stauber L 2–3  4,243 18–13–2 (9–11–1)
February 19 7:00 PM #16 Massachusetts Lowell #19 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 3–2  2,453 19–13–2 (10–11–1)
February 25 7:00 PM Maine #19т Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 4–2  1,996 20–13–2 (11–11–1)
February 26 7:00 PM Maine #19т Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island   Stauber W 3–2 OT 2,042 21–13–2 (12–11–1)
March 4 7:00 PM USNTDP* #19 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island (Exhibition)   Cain L 4–5   
Hockey East Tournament
March 9 7:00 PM Vermont* #20 Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island (Opening Round)   Stauber W 2–1  1,095 22–13–2
March 12 7:00 PM at #12 Massachusetts* #20 Mullins CenterAmherst, Massachusetts (Quarterfinals)   Stauber L 2–4  2,422 22–14–2
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[2]

Scoring statistics edit

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Brett Berard LW 36 18 20 38 37
Nick Poisson F 37 10 25 35 22
Parker Ford C/RW 38 13 14 27 31
Patrick Moynihan C 38 11 14 25 24
Max Crozier D 32 7 16 23 16
Riley Duran C 38 10 9 19 18
Kohen Olischefski RW 38 8 10 18 0
Jamie Engelbert C 38 7 11 18 14
Cody Monds RW 32 5 10 15 8
Guillaume Richard D 36 3 11 14 26
Michael Callahan D 38 3 11 14 16
Matt Koopman C 35 5 7 12 2
Chase Yoder F 38 5 6 11 14
Uula Ruikka D 32 0 8 8 12
Cam McDonald D 38 3 4 7 20
Jaxson Stauber G 37 0 5 5 0
Davis Bunz D 38 0 5 5 20
Ben Mirageas D 16 3 1 4 21
Michael Citara RW 28 3 1 4 6
Alex Esposito RW 23 1 3 4 6
Craig Needham C 30 1 3 4 6
Tomas Mazura C 8 1 1 2 2
Garrett Devine F 7 1 0 1 2
Taige Harding D 15 0 1 1 6
Jimmy Scannell G 2 0 0 0 0
Luke Perunovich D 2 0 0 0 2
Luke Johnson D 3 0 0 0 0
Austin Cain G 4 0 0 0 0
William Schimek D 8 0 0 0 8
Total 118 197 315 339

[3]

Goaltending statistics edit

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Austin Cain 4 75 1 0 0 0 31 1 1.000 0.00
Jimmy Scannell 2 3:09 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00
Jaxson Stauber 23 2203 21 14 2 77 898 4 .921 2.10
Empty Net - 17 - - - 5 - - - -
Total 38 2299 22 14 2 82 930 5 .919 2.14

Rankings edit

Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Final)
USCHO.com 12 11 10 12 8 7 12 12 14 13 16 16 16 17 18 17 17 17 19 19 19 20 20 20 - 20
USA Today 14 11 10 14 8 8 13 11 14 13 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[4]

Awards and honors edit

Player Award Ref
Max Crozier Hockey East Third Team [5]
Brett Berard

Players drafted into the NHL edit

2022 NHL Entry Draft edit

Round Pick Player NHL team
6 193 Chris Romaine Colorado Avalanche

† incoming freshman [6]

References edit

  1. ^ "2020–21 Roster". friars.com. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  2. ^ "Providence 2021-22 Team Schedule". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Providence College 2021-2022 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  5. ^ "Hockey East Names 2021-22 Men's All-Star Teams". Hockey East. March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2022 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  1. ^ Spectators were in attendance, but the exact number was not reported.