2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 25th season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 11th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University and were coached by Jason Lammers, in his 4th season.

2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles
men's ice hockey season
Conference9th Atlantic Hockey
Home iceDwyer Arena
Rankings
USCHO.comNR
USA Today/
US Hockey Magazine
NR
Record
Overall7–12–3
Conference3–9–3–0–2–1
Home3–6–1
Road4–6–2
Neutral0–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachJason Lammers
Assistant coachesIan Burt
John Lidgett
Mark Phalon
Captain(s)Chris Harpur
Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey seasons
« 2019–20 2021–22 »

Season

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As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Niagara's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

Niagara had a difficult start to their season, with the team's defense unable to withstand sustained pressure for most of their games. By mid-January the team was near the bottom of the conference with just 2 wins in 13 games. To make matters worse, the Purple Eagles weren't able to play any games for 6 weeks due to COVID cancellations. When they finally managed to play again they decided to use Chad Veltri as their starting goaltender. In the final two weekends of the regular season the choice appeared to work out as Niagara split both weekends while Veltri recorded the only shutout for the Purple Eagles on the campaign.

Niagara entered the postseason as the 9th seed and needed to beat Mercyhurst to keep their season alive. After the Lakers scored the first two goals of the game it looked like NU would have an early summer but Veltri withstood a barrage of shots from Mercyhurst over the final 38 minutes and allowed Niagara to crawl its way back and win on a late marker from junior transfer Walker Sommer. In the quarterfinals, the Purple Eagles had to face Robert Morris, a team that had won all four meetings to that point. The Colonials won the first game but they needed overtime to do so. In keeping the game close, Veltri game his team an opportunity to win and the sophomore netminder remained hot in game 2 as well; Veltri faced 51 shots over an 80-minute span and the frantic pace appeared to wear on Robert Morris who weren't able to get a single shot on goal in over 7 minutes of play in the second overtime. Instead, it was Niagara who fired 5 shots on goal with the last tying the series at 1-all. Veltri was again front and center for the team in the deciding game, facing 45 shots in regulation. Niagara built a 2-goal lead and held it until just 12 seconds remained in the game, when RMU scored their only goal on the night, allowing Niagara to pull off a huge upset in the conference tournament.

In the semifinals, Niagara had to get past league-leading American International, who had not played a game since the end of January due to their own series of cancellations. Veltri continued to keep the Purple Eagles in contention, stopping everything in the first two periods and giving the team a lead entering the third, but AIC's slumbering offense awoke in the final frame, scored two goals, and ended Niagara's improbable run.

Trevor Poeze and Patrick Pugliese sat out the season.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Ryan Cook Defenseman   United States Graduation (Signed with Huntsville Havoc)
Noah Delmas Defenseman   Canada Graduation (Signed with Kansas City Mavericks)
Tyler Hayes Defenseman   United States Graduation
Stephen Kleysen Defenseman   Canada Left program
Nic Mucci Forward   Canada Left program
Ben Sokay Forward   Canada Graduation
Kris Spriggs Forward   Canada Graduation
Cole Weaver Goaltender   United States Left program

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Matt Cameron Forward   United States 20 Berwyn, PA
Mike Corson Goaltender   United States 21 Darien, IL; transfer from Denver
Croix Evingson Defenseman   United States 23 Anchorage, AK; Selected 211st overall in 2017; transfer from Massachusetts–Lowell
Christian Gorscak Forward   United States 20 Jeannette, PA
Josef Myšák Defenseman   Czech Republic 21 Litvinov, CZE
Trevor Poeze Forward   Canada 21 Mississauga, ON
Jesse Pomeroy Defenseman   Canada 21 Prince George, BC
Patrick Pugliese Goaltender   United States 21 Pasadena, CA
Carter Randklev Forward   United States 20 Moorhead, MN
Walker Sommer Forward   United States 24 Avon, OH; transfer from Air Force

Roster

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As of October 14, 2020.[3]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1   Patrick Pugliese Freshman G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-07-20 Pasadena, California New Jersey (NAHL)
2   Jesse Pomeroy Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-05-25 Prince George, British Columbia Drayton Valley (AJHL)
3   Reed Robinson Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1998-03-11 Rockwall, Texas Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL)
4   Chris Harpur (C) Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1996-09-13 Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Cowichan Valley (BCHL)
5   Croix Evingson Junior (RS) D 6' 5" (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1997-08-28 Anchorage, Alaska UMass Lowell (HEA) TBL, 211st overall 2017
7   Jordan Wishman Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-11-22 Des Moines, Iowa Dubuque (USHL)
8   Walker Sommer Junior (RS) F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1996-04-29 Avon, Ohio Air Force (AHA)
9   Eric Cooley Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998-05-05 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)
10   Carter Randklev Freshman F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 163 lb (74 kg) 1999-11-05 Moorhead, Minnesota Fargo (USHL)
11   Scott Persson Sophomore D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2000-08-17 Kristianstad, Sweden Lone Star (NAHL)
12   Jason Pineo Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1998-02-23 Toronto, Ontario Oakville (OJHL)
13   Zac Herrmann Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-11-06 Lancaster, New York Odessa (NAHL)
14   Ryan Naumovski Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1999-07-28 Shelby Township, Michigan New Jersey (NAHL)
15   Matt Cameron Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-06-08 Berwyn, Pennsylvania New Jersey (NAHL)
16   Jared Brandt Senior (RS) D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1995-10-26 St. Louis, Missouri Miami (NCHC)
17   Luke Edgerton Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-05-01 Wheeling, West Virginia Jersey (NCDC)
18   Dylan Mills Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1999-08-18 Cottage Grove, Minnesota Sioux City (USHL)
19   Ryan Cox Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-07-23 St. Albert, Alberta Sherwood Park (AJHL)
20   Christian Gorsack Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 2000-06-08 Jeannette, Pennsylvania Johnstown (NAHL)
21   Justin Kendall Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1998-05-07 Holmen, Wisconsin Coulee Region (NAHL)
22   Alex Truscott Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1998-03-23 Draper, Utah Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
23   Cam Cook Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1997-11-13 Halifax, Nova Scotia Shreveport (NAHL)
24   Josef Myšák Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1999-09-08 Litvínov, Czech Republic Austin (NAHL)
25   Jon Hill Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1998-10-09 Whitby, Ontario Brockville (CCHL)
26   Brandon Stanley Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 1997-05-03 Sioux Lookout, Ontario Philadelphia (NAHL)
27   Jack Billings Senior (RS) F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-10-04 Oak Lawn, Illinois Salve Regina (CCC)
28   Jack Zielinski Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1996-08-08 Richmond, Virginia Lone Star (NAHL)
29   Ludwig Stenlund Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-04-16 Skellefteå, Sweden Madison (USHL)
31   Chad Veltri Sophomore G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-06-03 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Youngstown (USHL)
33   Brian Wilson Senior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-09-27 Pickering, Ontario Powell River (BCHL)
35   Mike Corson Junior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-04-22 Darien, Illinois Denver (NCHC)
37   Trevor Poeze Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-07-17 Mississauga, Ontario Kanata (CCHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OW OL SW PTS PT% GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#15 American International †* 12 11 1 0 1 0 0 32 .889 47 18 19 15 4 0 67 40
Army 15 10 4 1 3 1 1 30 .667 42 33 22 15 6 1 71 48
Robert Morris 15 10 5 0 2 1 0 29 .644 58 48 24 15 9 0 85 69
Canisius 13 8 5 0 1 1 0 24 .615 42 34 17 11 6 0 59 46
RIT 13 7 5 1 0 0 1 23 .590 43 40 20 9 9 2 68 70
Sacred Heart 13 6 6 1 1 2 0 20 .513 35 38 18 6 10 2 43 59
Mercyhurst 16 7 8 1 1 1 1 23 .479 54 50 21 8 12 1 64 67
Bentley 15 4 11 0 1 5 0 16 .356 35 48 16 5 11 0 42 51
Niagara 15 3 9 3 0 2 1 15 .333 39 53 22 7 12 3 57 70
Air Force 13 3 9 1 2 1 0 9 .231 32 49 14 3 10 1 35 56
Holy Cross 12 3 9 0 2 0 0 7 .194 22 38 16 4 12 0 30 52
Championship: March 20, 2021
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
December 5 5:05 PM at RIT Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York   Veltri T 3–3 SOL 0 0–0–1 (0–0–1)
December 6 5:05 PM vs. RIT Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Veltri L 1–5  0 0–1–1 (0–1–1)
December 9 5:00 PM vs. #7 Clarkson* Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Corson W 4–1  0 1–1–1
December 16 5:05 PM at Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania   Veltri T 3–3 SOL 0 1–1–2 (0–1–2)
December 18 7:00 PM vs. Mercyhurst Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Veltri L 4–7  0 1–2–2 (0–2–2)
December 22 3:00 PM vs. RIT Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Veltri L 4–5  0 1–3–2 (0–3–2)
December 29 5:00 PM at #10 Clarkson* Cheel ArenaPotsdam, New York   Corson L 3–6  0 1–4–2
December 31 2:00 PM vs. Robert Morris Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Corson L 1–6  0 1–5–2 (0–4–2)
January 2 5:00 PM vs. Air Force Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Corson W 7–2  0 2–5–2 (1–4–2)
January 4 5:05 PM vs. Air Force Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Corson T 1–1 SOW 0 2–5–3 (1–4–3)
January 7 5:00 PM vs. #20 Robert Morris Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Corson L 2–3 OT 0 2–6–3 (1–5–3)
January 9 7:35 PM at #20 Robert Morris Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania   Corson L 4–5 OT 0 2–7–3 (1–6–3)
January 10 4:00 PM at #20 Robert Morris Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania   Wilson L 2–6  0 2–8–3 (1–7–3)
February 19 7:05 PM at Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania   Veltri L 0–1  0 2–9–3 (1–8–3)
February 20 7:00 PM vs. Mercyhurst Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Veltri W 2–1  0 3–9–3 (2–8–3)
February 26 7:30 PM vs. Canisius Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Veltri L 1–5  0 3–10–3 (2–9–3)
February 27 7:05 PM at Canisius LECOM HarborcenterBuffalo, New York   Veltri W 4–0  0 4–10–3 (3–9–3)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 8 5:00 PM at Mercyhurst* Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey First Round)   Veltri W 3–2  163 5–10–3
March 12 5:00 PM at Robert Morris* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 1)   Veltri L 2–3 OT 0 5–11–3
March 13 7:05 PM at Robert Morris* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 2)   Veltri W 3–2 2OT 0 6–11–3
March 14 7:05 PM at Robert Morris* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals Game 3)   Veltri W 2–1  0 7–11–3
Niagara Won Series 2–1
March 19 2:00 PM at #15 American International* MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Semifinals)   Veltri L 1–2  0 7–12–3
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

[4]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Walker Sommer C 18 8 7 15 19
Ludwig Stenlund C 17 7 7 14 2
Jack Billings F 20 7 6 13 6
Ryan Naumovski F 22 3 10 13 0
Croix Evingson D 21 1 11 12 16
Ryan Cox F 22 7 4 11 18
Jared Brandt D 18 2 7 9 10
Eric Cooley RW 21 4 4 8 18
Chris Harpur D 15 0 8 8 38
Justin Kendall F 19 3 4 7 6
Brandon Stanley F 17 2 5 7 14
Christian Gorscak F 21 2 5 7 8
Luke Edgerton F 16 1 5 6 0
Carter Randklev F 13 3 2 5 6
Josef Mysak D 17 2 3 5 12
Zach Herrmann D 14 1 3 4 6
Jason Pineo C 21 3 0 3 8
Matt Cameron F 4 1 1 2 0
Jesse Pomeroy D 13 0 2 2 4
Dylan Mills C 6 0 1 1 2
Reed Robinson F 2 0 0 0 0
Brian Wilson G 3 0 0 0 0
Cam Cook F 4 0 0 0 0
Scott Persson D 7 0 0 0 2
Mike Corson G 8 0 0 0 0
Jon Hill D 12 0 0 0 6
Chad Veltri G 14 0 0 0 0
Alex Truscott F 15 0 0 0 2
Jack Zielinski D 16 0 0 0 17
Jordan Wishman D 18 0 0 0 12
Bench - - - - - 10
Total 57 95 152 242

[5]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Chad Veltri 14 828 5 7 2 36 385 1 .914 2.61
Mike Corson 8 439 2 4 1 24 224 0 .903 3.28
Brian Wilson 3 88 0 1 0 9 28 0 .757 6.10
Empty Net - 15 - - - 1 - - - -
Total 10 1371 7 12 3 70 637 1 .901 3.06

Rankings

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

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[6]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Josef Mysak Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team [7]

References

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  1. ^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "2020-21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "Niagara Purple Eagles (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "Niagara Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  6. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.