2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season

2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins
men's ice hockey season
2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins; men's ice hockey season
Conference	4th Atlantic Hockey
Home ice	LECOM Harborcenter
Rankings
USCHO.com	NR
USA Today/; US Hockey Magazine	NR
Record
Overall	11–6–0
Conference	8–5–0–1–1–0
Home	6–1–0
Road	4–5–0
Neutral	1–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Trevor Large
Assistant coaches	Martin Hlinka; Taylor Nelson; Daniel Paille
Captain(s)	Grant Meyer
	Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey seasons; « 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season was the 41st season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 18th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Golden Griffins represented Canisius College and were coached by Trevor Large, in his 4th season.

The start of the college hockey season was delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, Canisius's first scheduled game was in late-November as opposed to early-October, which was the norm.

Season

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 Canisius' 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]

Even after being delayed, Canisius had the start of their season disrupted by cancellations and postponements. The Golden Griffins played two games over a 62-day period. In February the team was finally able to put a string of games together and showed themselves to be one of the better teams in the western pod of Atlantic Hockey teams. After a four-game winning streak, Canisius was nearing their first top-20 ranking in years but the team was swept by a down Air Force club.^[3] Due to Canisius having so few games on their schedule, the losses to Air Force meant that the team had little chance of making the NCAA Tournament without winning their conference tournament.

After the Golden Griffins dispatched RIT in the quarterfinals, they had to get past a very strong Army team to reach the championship. The two teams battled through a close game, needing overtime to decide the winner, and J. D. Pogue's marker sent the Griffs to the title game. Canisius was unable to overcome American International despite the Yellow Jackets facing their own COVID problems and had to settle for second place. Canisius had a slim chance of being selected as an at-large bid but when the tournament teams were released, Atlantic Hockey was essentially disregarded, with league-leading AIC being given the 16th and final space in the bracket.^[4]

The program has a great deal to be proud of from this season. The runner-up finish was the second best performance the team had ever achieved and, despite playing less than half as many games as the year before, Canisius won more games. With sophomore Jacob Barczewski establishing himself as the team's starting goaltender, the Golden Griffins are well-placed for next season.

John Stampohar and MacGregor Sinclair sat out the season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Matt Hoover	Forward	United States	Graduation (Signed with Utah Grizzlies)
Nick Hutchison	Forward	United States	Graduation (Signed with Adirondack Thunder)
Casey Jerry	Forward	United States	Graduation
Jesse Pereira	Forward	Canada	Graduation
Will Scherer	Defenseman	United States	Graduation
Matt Stief	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (Signed with Macon Mayhem)
Daniel Urbani	Goaltender	Canada	Graduation

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Jackson Decker	Defenseman	United States	21	Algonquin, IL
Cooper Haar	Forward	United States	21	Huntington Beach, CA
Max Kouznetsov	Forward	United States	19	Voorhees, NJ
Jack Lyons	Defenseman	Canada	21	Mississauga, ON
Niclas Puikkonen	Forward	Sweden	21	Stockholm, SWE
Jami Virtanen	Forward	Finland	20	Pori, FIN
Connor Zilisch	Forward	United States	21	Appleton, WI

Roster

As of September 17, 2020.^[5]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
4	Logan Gestro	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1996-02-09	South Lyon, Michigan	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
5	David Melaragni	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-03-30	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Cowichan Valley (BCHL)	—
8	Keaton Mastrodonato	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-09-24	Powell River, British Columbia	Alberni Valley (BCHL)	—
9	J. D. Pogue	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-06-23	Montreal, Quebec	Cornwall (NAHL)	—
10	Nick Parody	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-01-02	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Islanders (NCDC)	—
14	John Stampohar	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1998-09-24	Grand Rapids, Minnesota	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—
15	Grant Meyer (C)	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-03-21	Genoa, Ohio	Fargo (USHL)	—
20	David Baskerville	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-04-01	Buffalo, New York	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
23	Cooper Haar	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-04-26	Huntington Beach, California	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
24	Jackson Decker	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1999-03-19	Algonquin, Illinois	Chippewa (NAHL)	—
25	Matt Long	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-08-06	Orland Park, Illinois	Springfield (NAHL)	—
27	Ryan Miotto	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-07-11	Thorold, Ontario	Alberni Valley (BCHL)	—
28	Lee Lapid	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-01-11	Thornhill, Ontario	Toronto Patriots (OJHL)	—
30	Jacob Barczewski	Sophomore	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-01-07	O'Fallon, Missouri	Tri-City (USHL)	—
32	Tucker Weppner	Senior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1996-06-09	Williamsville, New York	Buffalo (OJHL)	—
33	Matt Ladd	Junior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-07-11	Getzville, New York	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
37	Kevin Obssuth	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-07-09	Morristown, New Jersey	Powell River (BCHL)	—
40	Niclas Puikkonen	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	1999-01-23	Stockholm, Sweden	Amarillo (AJHL)	—
44	Connor Zilisch	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	1999-08-07	Appleton, Wisconsin	Topeka (NAHL)	—
52	Blake Wareham	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-03-05	Park Ridge, Illinois	Janesville (NAHL)	—
53	Lincoln Erne	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-09-26	Blaine, Minnesota	Minot (NAHL)	—
58	Derek Hamelin	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1997-01-21	Mercier, Quebec	Langley (BCHL)	—
71	MacGregor Sinclair	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-08-28	Irma, Alberta	Battlefords (SJHL)	—
72	Max Kouznetsov	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-12-06	Voorhees, New Jersey	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
77	Jack Lyons	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-07-04	Mississauga, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
81	Mitchell Martan	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-06-30	Whitby, Ontario	Wellington (OJHL)	—
83	Austin Alger	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1997-09-23	Livonia, Michigan	Miami (NCHC)	—
89	Simon Gravel	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-04-10	Boucherville, Quebec	Brooks (AJHL)	—
91	Jami Virtanen	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2000-08-07	Pori, Finland	Ässät U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)	—
94	Hudson Lambert	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-08-17	Richmond Hill, Ontario	Brampton (OJHL)	—

Standings

2020–21 Atlantic Hockey Standings v t e
	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

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
November 27	5:05 PM	at Robert Morris	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania	Barczewski	W 5–2	0	1–0–0 (1–0–0)
November 28	7:05 PM	vs. Robert Morris	Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania	Barczewski	L 4–5	0	1–1–0 (1–1–0)
January 2	4:35 PM	vs. Mercyhurst	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York	Ladd	W 3–2	0	2–1–0 (2–1–0)
January 3	3:00 PM	at Mercyhurst	Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania	Ladd	W 3–0	127	3–1–0 (3–1–0)
January 30	5:00 PM	at RIT	Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York	Ladd	L 3–0	0	3–2–0 (3–2–0)
February 9	7:05 PM	at Mercyhurst	Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania	Barczewski	W 3–1	0	4–2–0 (4–2–0)
February 12	7:05 PM	vs. Robert Morris	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York	Ladd	W 5–3	0	5–2–0 (5–2–0)
February 13	7:05 PM	vs. Mercyhurst	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York	Barczewski	W 3–0	0	6–2–0 (6–2–0)
February 16	7:05 PM	vs. Mercyhurst	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York	Ladd	W 5–4 ^OT	0	7–2–0 (7–2–0)
February 19	9:05 PM	at Air Force	Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado	Barczewski	L 3–4 ^OT	100	7–3–0 (7–3–0)
February 20	7:00 PM	at Air Force	Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado	Ladd	L 1–5	100	7–4–0 (7–4–0)
February 26	7:30 PM	at Niagara	Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York	Barczewski	W 5–1	0	8–4–0 (8–4–0)
February 27	7:05 PM	vs. Niagara	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York	Ladd	L 0–4	0	8–5–0 (8–5–0)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 12	7:05 PM	vs. RIT*	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals game 1)	Barczewski	W 5–2	89	9–5–0
March 13	7:05 PM	vs. RIT*	LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals game 2)	Barczewski	W 6–2	109	10–5–0
Canisius Won Series 2–0
March 19	7:05 PM	vs. #19 Army*	MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Semifinals)	Barczewski	W 4–3 ^OT	0	11–5–0
March 20	7:00 PM	at #15 American International*	MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Championship)	Barczewski	L 2–5	0	11–6–0
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[6]

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Keaton Mastrodonato	C	17	9	9	18	4
Mitchell Martan	LW	16	6	9	15	21
Grant Meyer	RW	13	3	8	11	8
Lee Lapid	C	17	5	5	10	10
Simon Gravel	C/RW	13	5	4	9	0
Matt Long	F	15	3	6	9	10
Ryan Miotto	F	15	2	7	9	8
J. D. Pogue	LW	13	5	3	8	6
Logan Gestro	D	17	1	7	8	12
Max Kouznetsov	C/LW	17	4	3	7	8
Jami Virtanen	LW/RW	17	4	3	7	4
Austin Alger	F	17	3	4	7	6
David Melaragni	D	17	2	4	6	12
Cooper Haar	RW	13	1	4	5	6
Kevin Obssuth	LW	16	3	1	4	19
Jackson Decker	D	14	1	3	4	4
Derek Hamelin	D	15	0	4	4	4
Blake Wareham	C	17	0	4	4	0
Lincoln Erne	D	17	0	3	3	8
Niclas Puikkonen	C/W	6	1	1	2	0
Hudson Lambert	D	4	0	2	2	2
Jacob Barczewski	G	11	0	2	2	2
Jack Lyons	D	10	1	0	1	0
Tucker Weppner	G	1	0	0	0	0
Nick Parody	D	1	0	0	0	0
Connor Zilisch	F	2	0	0	0	0
David Baskerville	C	4	0	0	0	0
Matt Ladd	G	11	0	0	0	0
Bench			0	0	0	4
Total		17	59	96	155	154

^[7]

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Tucker Weppner	1	1:25	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.000	0.00
Jacob Barczewski	11	653	7	3	0	25	315	1	.926	2.30
Matt Ladd	7	376	4	3	0	18	189	1	.913	2.87
Empty Net	-	6	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
Total	17	1037	11	6	0	46	505	2	.917	2.66

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	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.^[8]

Awards and honors

Player	Award	Ref
Jacob Barczewski	Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Goaltending Award
Jacob Barczewski	Atlantic Hockey First Team	^[9]
Keaton Mastrodonato	Atlantic Hockey First Team	^[9]

References

^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll - February 15, 2021". USCHO. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
^ "Bracket Analysis: Success against best teams in your league guided NCAA Selection Committee; travel wasn't major consideration". USCHO. March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
^ "2020–21 Ice Hockey Roster". Canisius College. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
^ "Canisius Golden Griffins (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Canisius College 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.

[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] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll - February 15, 2021". USCHO. Retrieved March 23, 2021.

[4] "Bracket Analysis: Success against best teams in your league guided NCAA Selection Committee; travel wasn't major consideration". USCHO. March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.

[5] "2020–21 Ice Hockey Roster". Canisius College. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

[6] "Canisius Golden Griffins (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[7] "Canisius College 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

[8] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

[AHA2-9] "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.

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v t e Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey
Formerly the Canisius Ice Griffs
Playing venues	Dann Memorial Ice Rink (1980–1991) Buffalo State Sports Arena (1991–2014) LECOM Harborcenter (2014–present)
Head coaches	Brian Cavanaugh (1980–1982, 1983–2004) Carl Koeppel (1982–1983) Clancy Seymour (2004–2005) Dave Smith (2005–2017) Trevor Large (2017–present)
Seasons	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	NYCHA (1982–1986) ECAC West (1987–1998) MAAC (1998–2003) Atlantic Hockey (2003–2024) Atlantic Hockey America (2024–Present)
Rivalries	Niagara Purple Eagles Battle of the Bridge RIT Tigers
All-time leaders	Mike Torrillo (265 Points) Mike Torrillo (121 Goals) Derek Slater (45 Wins)
NCAA Tournament appearances	2013 2023
Conference Tournament titles	Atlantic Hockey: 2013 2023
Canisius University Buffalo, New York