2021–22 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season explained

The 2021–22 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season was the 42nd season of play for the program, the 24th at the Division I level, and the 19th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Golden Griffins represented Canisius College and were coached by Trevor Large, in his 5th season.

Season

Canisius got off to a good start, winning games against three non-conference opponents and tying Clarkson, who finished the season in the top-20. Despite showing promise early, the Golden Griffins played inconsistently once their conference schedule began. While they led the Atlantic Hockey standings early, the team could only complete two weekend sweeps all season.

Canisius received very capable goaltending from Jacob Barczewski but their offense was hit-or-miss. The Golden Griffins were limited to less than 3 goals in 18 games during the season with their leading goal-scorer, Max Kouznetsov, hitting just 12 for the year. In spite of their occasional offensive struggles, Canisius benefitted from Atlantic Hockey being a mediocre conference and finished in second place.

The Golden Griffins opened their postseason run with a home date against Mercyhurst but their offense failed them at the worst time. Canisius fired 63 shots on goal in two games but could only get a single marker in each contest. They lost the series, including a double overtime match in game 1, and would have to wait for another year.

Departures

David Baskerville	Forward	Graduation (retired)
Logan Gestro	Defenseman	Graduation (retired)
Matt Long	Forward	Graduation (retired)
Grant Meyer	Forward	Graduation (retired)
Kevin Obssuth	Forward	Transferred to Wentworth
MacGregor Sinclair	Forward	Transferred to Wisconsin–Superior
John Stampohar	Defenseman	Transferred to Wisconsin–Superior
Jami Virtanen	Forward	Signed professional contract (Ässät)
Blake Wareham	Defenseman	Graduation (signed with Danbury Hat Tricks)
Tucker Weppner	Goaltender	Graduation (retired)

Recruiting

Alex Ambrosio	Forward	24	Burnaby, BC graduate transfer from Lake Superior State
Danny DiGrande	Forward	24	Macomb, MI transfer from Rensselaer
John Hawthorne	Goaltender	19	Chemainus, BC transfer from Northern Michigan
Randy Hernández	Forward	22	Miami, FL transfer from Robert Morris
Alexander Houston	Goaltender	19	Canton, OH joined mid-season
Keegan Langefels	Defenseman	21	Eden Prairie, MN
Joey Matthews	Defenseman	24	Columbia, IL graduate transfer from Dartmouth
Alton McDermott	Forward	20	Oakville, ON
Cory Thomas	Defenseman	23	St. Brieux, SK graduate transfer from Vermont
Matthew Vermaeten	Forward	20	Ottawa, ON
Jake Witkowski	Forward	24	Melrose, MA graduate transfer from Boston University

Roster

As of August 23, 2021.^[1]

Schedule and results

Scoring statistics

	30	11	15	26	20
	32	12	11	23	20
	33	11	12	23	29
	31	5	17	22	31
	33	11	10	21	18
	35	7	11	18	24
	35	3	13	16	28
	35	2	14	16	41
	32	7	7	14	12
	32	5	6	11	14
	30	6	4	10	42
	28	2	7	9	6
	17	4	4	8	12
	31	3	5	8	4
	21	2	6	8	6
	32	0	5	5	48
	10	2	2	4	2
	24	1	3	4	12
	24	0	4	4	8
	34	2	1	3	39
	25	1	2	3	4
	13	0	3	3	0
	15	1	1	2	6
	8	1	0	1	2
	29	0	1	1	2
	1	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0
	4	0	0	0	0
	8	0	0	0	17
	10	0	0	0	0
	10	0	0	0	15
Total		99	164	263	464

^[2]

Goaltending statistics

	11	388	3	1	2	15	217	0	.935	2.32
	29	1688	13	14	1	68	814	1	.923	2.42
	1	59	0	1	0	4	39	0	.907	4.05
Empty Net	-	16	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-
Total	35	2136	16	16	3	97	1070	1	.917	2.70

Rankings

See main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey 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	22	23	24	25 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	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	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.^[3]

Awards and honors

Jacob Barczewski	Atlantic Hockey First Team	^[4]
Keaton Mastrodonato	Atlantic Hockey Second Team	^[5]
David Melaragni	Atlantic Hockey Third Team	^[6]

Notes and References

Web site: 2020–21 Ice Hockey Roster . Canisius College . July 18, 2017.
News: Canisius College 2021-2022 Skater Stats . Elite Prospects . March 7, 2020.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces 2021-22 All-Conference Teams . Atlantic Hockey . March 16, 2022 . March 16, 2022.
Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces 2021-22 All-Conference Teams . Atlantic Hockey . March 16, 2022 . March 16, 2022.
Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces 2021-22 All-Conference Teams . Atlantic Hockey . March 16, 2022 . March 16, 2022.