# 2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey season was the 58th season of play for the program and the 8th season in the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes represented the Ohio State University and were coached by Steve Rohlik, in his 8th season.

## 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 Ohio State's players would lose a season of play. 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.
Ohio State had a rather bad season. The team started with middling performances and got progressively worse as the season went along. The Buckeyes' offense was hampered by the loss of their top two scorers from the year before (through graduation) but their defense was just as poor if not worse. OSU was shut out 8 times during the season and, despite some impressive performances, averaged less than two goals per game. The team allowed an average of 3.72 goals against (only three teams averaged worse) nearly a goal and a half more than they had the year before. With both their offense and defense heading in the wrong direction, Ohio State finished with its worst record in 26 years. The team somehow managed not to finish last in the Big Ten but, after being shutout by Michigan in the conference quarterfinals, that was little consolation.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Wyatt Ege | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with HK Nitra) |
| Miguel Fidler | Forward | United States | Graduation |
| Ronnie Hein | Forward | United States | Graduation |
| Tanner Laczynski | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Philadelphia Flyers) |
| Sam McCormick | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Jokers de Cergy) |
| Carson Meyer | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Cleveland Monsters) |
| Matt Miller | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers) |
| Gordi Myer | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Matt Cassidy | Forward | United States | 21 | Medford, NJ; transfer from Quinnipiac |
| Mark Cheremeta | Forward | United States | 21 | Parkland, FL; transfer from Boston University |
| Ryan Dickinson | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Brighton, MI |
| Joe Dunlap | Forward | United States | 20 | Windham, NH |
| Patrick Guzzo | Forward | United States | 18 | Marysville, MI |
| Evan McIntyre | Defenseman | Canada | 19 | Oakville, ON |
| Travis Treloar | Forward | Sweden | 19 | Kalmar, SWE |
| Dominic Vidoli | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Strongsville, OH; transfer from Boston University |

## Roster

As of September 17, 2020.

## Standings

2020–21 Big Ten ice hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 Wisconsin † | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | .722 | 92 | 52 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 118 | 80 |
| #7 Minnesota * | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | .727 | 69 | 44 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 117 | 64 |
| #9 Michigan | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | .550 | 69 | 45 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 91 | 51 |
| #17 Notre Dame | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | .542 | 65 | 53 | 29 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 84 | 78 |
| Penn State | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .389 | 48 | 68 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 81 |
| Ohio State | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | .273 | 39 | 82 | 27 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 53 | 101 |
| Michigan State | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .250 | 32 | 70 | 27 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 40 | 77 |
| Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and Results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| November 23 | 8:34 PM | at #8 Minnesota | #10 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | BTN | Nappier | L 1–4 | 0 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 24 | 8:34 PM | at #8 Minnesota | #10 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | BTN | Nappier | L 0–2 | 0 | 0–2–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 28 | 5:30 PM | vs. Michigan State | #10 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 0–3–0 (0–3–0) |
| November 29 | 5:30 PM | vs. Michigan State | #10 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | W 4–2 | 0 | 1–3–0 (1–3–0) |
| December 3 | 5:30 PM | vs. #14 Wisconsin | #13 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | W 4–2 | 0 | 2–3–0 (2–3–0) |
| December 4 | 5:32 PM | vs. #14 Wisconsin | #13 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | ESPNU | Nappier | L 1–3 | 0 | 2–4–0 (2–4–0) |
| December 12 | 7:06 PM | at #15 Notre Dame | #14 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | Nappier | L 0–3 | 0 | 2–5–0 (2–5–0) |
| December 13 | 5:06 PM | at #15 Notre Dame | #14 | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana | NBCSN | Nappier | W 3–2 | 0 | 3–5–0 (3–5–0) |
| December 17 | 5:30 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #18 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | T 4–4 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 3–5–1 |
| December 18 | 5:30 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #18 | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | L 2–3 | 0 | 3–6–1 |
| January 8 | 5:30 PM | vs. Penn State | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | W 6–3 | 0 | 4–6–1 (4–5–0) |
| January 9 | 5:30 PM | vs. Penn State | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | L 2–5 | 0 | 4–7–1 (4–6–0) |
| January 15 | 5:30 PM | at #9 Michigan | | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | | Nappier | L 2–4 | 69 | 4–8–1 (4–7–0) |
| January 16 | 7:04 PM | at #9 Michigan | | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | | Nappier | L 0–5 | 70 | 4–9–1 (4–8–0) |
| January 23 | 4:00 PM | at Michigan State | | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | BTN | Nappier | W 5–1 | 123 | 5–9–1 (5–8–0) |
| January 24 | 4:00 PM | at Michigan State | | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | | Nappier | L 0–2 | 101 | 5–10–1 (5–9–0) |
| January 29 | 6:04 PM | vs. #4 Minnesota | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | BTN | Nappier | L 1–5 | 0 | 5–11–1 (5–10–0) |
| January 30 | 5:04 PM | vs. #4 Minnesota | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | BTN | Moyse | L 2–5 | 0 | 5–12–1 (5–11–0) |
| February 5 | 4:34 PM | vs. Notre Dame | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | L 1–6 | 0 | 5–13–1 (5–12–0) |
| February 6 | 1:34 PM | vs. Notre Dame | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Snowden | L 1–8 | 0 | 5–14–1 (5–13–0) |
| February 19 | 5:30 PM | vs. #7 Michigan | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | W 3–2 | 0 | 6–14–1 (6–13–0) |
| February 20 | 5:30 PM | vs. #7 Michigan | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | L 0–6 | 0 | 6–15–1 (6–14–0) |
| February 26 | 8:04 PM | at #5 Wisconsin | | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | | Nappier | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 6–16–1 (6–15–0) |
| February 27 | 5:04 PM | at #5 Wisconsin | | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | | Nappier | L 0–7 | 0 | 6–17–1 (6–16–0) |
| March 4 | 5:30 PM | vs. Arizona State* | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Nappier | W 8–3 | 60 | 7–17–1 |
| March 5 | 5:30 PM | vs. Arizona State* | | Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio | | Moyse | L 0–5 | 74 | 7–18–1 |
| Big Ten Tournament ||||||||||
| March 14 | 8:35 PM | vs. #6 Michigan* | | Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Quarterfinals) | BTN | Nappier | L 0–4 | 119 | 7–19–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Travis Treloar | C | 25 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 4 |
| Mark Cheremeta | LW | 27 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 4 |
| Quinn Preston | F | 27 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| Grant Gabriele | D | 27 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0 |
| Tate Singleton | F | 27 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 10 |
| Gustaf Westlund | C | 23 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 50 |
| Layton Ahac | D | 27 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 21 |
| Kamil Sadlocha | C | 26 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| Jaedon Leslie | F | 21 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| C. J. Regula | D | 23 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Ryan O'Connell | D | 27 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| Austin Pooley | C | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Collin Peters | F | 22 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 63 |
| Matt Cassidy | RW | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
| Evan McIntyre | D | 21 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| Patrick Guzzo | C/LW | 26 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Michael Gildon | LW | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Joe Dunlap | F | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Ryan Dickinson | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 |
| Dominic Vidoli | D | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Evan Moyse | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Snowden | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Jennings | C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| James Marooney | D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Dalton Messina | F | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Eugene Fadyeyev | F | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Tommy Nappier | G | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bench | - | - | - | - | - | 12 |
| Total | | | 53 | 89 | 142 | 357 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Tommy Nappier | 24 | 1334 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 73 | 700 | 0 | .906 | 3.28 |
| Evan Moyse | 5 | 185 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 81 | 0 | .862 | 4.21 |
| Ryan Snowden | 5 | 88 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 58 | 0 | .866 | 6.14 |
| Empty Net | - | 27 | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 27 | 1629 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 101 | 839 | 0 | .893 | 3.72 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 18 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 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.