# 2022–23 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season was the 43rd season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the 20th in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Golden Griffins represented Canisius College and were coached by Trevor Large, in his 6th season.

## Season

Canisius got off to a slow start, only winning two of their first 10 games. Neither the team's primary starter, Jacob Barczewski, nor the backup, John Hawthorne played particularly well but they were not receiving much help from the defense. Early in the season, Canisius was routinely getting outshot in their games by allowing the opposition to assail their cage. To make matters worse, the offense failed to capitalize in several games where the goaltenders turned in decent performances. The Griffins did not seem to shake out of their funk until November when they swept a series from defending league champion American International.
In early December, the team got a surprise victory by taking down league-leading RIT in overtime. The rematch showed that the team still had a ways to go as Canisius was swamped 4–10 by the Tigers. Due to the closure of the Buffalo airport, caused by heavy snowfall, the series with Air Force on December 30–31 was postponed. It was later rescheduled for February 13 and 14 and, as a result, the series with Sacred Heart was pushed back a day to February 18–19.
The Griffins kept plugging away and got stronger on both offense and defense as the season went along. The team pulled itself up into the top half of league standings with a strong finish. After another split with RIT, Canisius went 6–2 over the final four weeks to reach 4th in the Atlantic Hockey standings, earning themselves a home site for the quarterfinals.
Against Army, the Griffins continued the trend of allowing a bevy of chances. The Black Knights fired 37 chances on goal to 27 for Canisius; however, Barczewski was strong in net and only allowed two to get past him. A 5-goal output from the offense was more than enough to give the Golden Griffins a leg up in the series; however, the scoring flagged in the rematch. Canisius was badly outshot and wasted a masterful performance in goal when Barczewski stopped the first 34 chances that came his way. Army scored on their 35th attempt; it came in overtime and tied the series at 1-all. With their season on the line, Canisius fought back in the rubber match and finished with the shot advantage. Barczewski again allowed nothing past him in regulation and, since he got some goal support this time, helped finish off Army with his second shutout of the season.
Canisius faced a scrappy Niagara club that punched above its record in the semifinals. The Griffs offense was a bit sluggish and could only manage a single goal, leading to a 1–2 defeat. Ordinarily, that would have been the end of Canisius' season; however, Atlantic Hockey had changed the playoff format for this season and turned the semifinal round into a best-of-three series. With Barczewski remaining a rock in goal, the offense returned for the rest of the series and the trio of Keaton Mastrodonato, Ryan Miotto and David Melaragni combined for 10 points to lead Canisius to their second title game in three seasons.
Only Holy Cross stood in the way of the Griffins second trip to the NCAA tournament and the team could not have asked for a better performance by the defense. Canisius allowed just 24 shots from the Crusaders and Barczewski stopped them all. A second-period goal from Nick Bowman was all the offense the team needed and two empty-net marker sealed the game, sending the Golden Griffins to the tournament.
As the team with the lowest ranking, Canisius was given the 16th and final seed for the tournament. As a result, they were set to play the nation's top team, Minnesota. Knowing that they needed to play a near-perfect game if they had a chance at upsetting the vaunted Gophers, Canisius played well at the start of the game. While they took a penalty in the first 5 minutes and allowed a Minnesota power play goal, the Griffins tied the game just 3 minutes later to make sure that they kept contact with the Gophers. Early in the second period, Nick Bowman gave the Griffins the lead on a highlight-reel goal. Canisius continued to play well but could not stop the Minnesota offense from scoring twice before the end of the period. As they entered the third Canisius was just a shot away from tying the game. While they had also been outshout, it was a relatively small gap of just 15–19. The Griffins were well positioned for a potential upset but they would have to continue to play the Gophers tough over the final 20 minutes. Freshman Stefano Bottini got a bit too reckless and, when he went to hit Jackson LaCombe in the corner, left his feet and hit the Gopher defenseman in the head. Bottini received a match penalty and handed the Gophers a 5-minute power play. It took less than a minute for Minnesota to make Canisius pay and they ended up scoring twice on the man-advantage. With the game now getting away from them, Canisius had to abandon any real defensive system they had and try to score three goals in the final 15 minutes. However, all that did was allowed the highly talented Gophers to pour on an avalanche of goals and bury the Griffins. Minnesota scored a further 4 goals, ending the game with 8 unanswered markers to walk away with a win.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Austin Alger | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) |
| Alex Ambrosio | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Corsaires de Nantes) |
| Derek Hamelin | Defenseman | Canada | Graduate transfer to Alaska Anchorage |
| Matt Ladd | Goaltender | United States | Graduate transfer to Lindenwood |
| Lee Lapid | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Cincinnati Cyclones) |
| Mitchell Martan | Forward | Canada | Graduate transfer to Bemidji State |
| Joey Matthews | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits) |
| Nick Parody | Defenseman | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Niclas Puikkonen | Forward | Sweden | Left program (retired) |
| Cory Thomas | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) |
| Jake Witkowski | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Connor Zilisch | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Hunter Andrew | Forward | Canada | 19 | Virden, MB |
| Markus Boguslavsky | Forward | Canada | 23 | Calgary, AB; transfer from Boston University |
| Stefano Bottini | Forward | Switzerland | 20 | Lugano, SUI |
| Nick Bowman | Forward | United States | 24 | Shelby Township, MI; graduate transfer from Rensselaer |
| Tyrell Buckley | Defenseman | Canada | 25 | Penticton, BC; graduate transfer from Michigan Tech |
| Brenden Datema | Defenseman | United States | 23 | Sterling Heights, MI; transfer from Michigan Tech |
| Grant Loven | Forward | United States | 24 | East Grand Forks, MN; graduate transfer from St. Thomas |
| Christian MacDougall | Forward | Canada | 21 | Toronto, ON |
| Cody Schiavon | Forward | Canada | 22 | West Kelowna, BC; transfer from Vermont |
| Oliver Tarr | Forward | Canada | 20 | Uxbridge, ON |
| Erik Urbank | Forward | United States | 23 | Orchard Park, NY; graduate transfer from Dartmouth |

## Roster

As of 1 August 2022

## Standings

2022–23 Atlantic Hockey Standingsvte :
| | 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 | OW | OL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| RIT † | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 85 | 55 | 39 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 127 | 100 |
| American International | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 87 | 62 | 39 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 124 | 98 |
| Sacred Heart | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 87 | 72 | 37 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 107 | 112 |
| Canisius * | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 76 | 71 | 42 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 118 | 119 |
| Army | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 72 | 81 | 37 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 98 | 119 |
| Niagara | 26 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 73 | 86 | 40 | 19 | 18 | 3 | 119 | 129 |
| Holy Cross | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 73 | 71 | 41 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 98 | 119 |
| Mercyhurst | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 77 | 80 | 36 | 10 | 23 | 3 | 98 | 122 |
| Bentley | 26 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 61 | 89 | 34 | 11 | 21 | 2 | 81 | 124 |
| Air Force | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 63 | 87 | 36 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 95 | 128 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (DeGregorio Trophy) * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular season ||||||||||
| October 7 | 7:00 p.m. | at Penn State* | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | BTN+ | Barczewski | L 2–5 | 6,182 | 0–1–0 |
| October 8 | 6:00 p.m. | at Penn State* | Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania | BTN+ | Hawthorne | L 5–7 | 6,343 | 0–2–0 |
| October 14 | 7:00 p.m. | at Ferris State* | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Hawthorne | W 5–3 | 1,643 | 1–2–0 |
| October 15 | 7:00 p.m. | at Ferris State* | Ewigleben Arena • Big Rapids, Michigan | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 1–4 | 1,656 | 1–3–0 |
| October 18 | 7:00 p.m. | Rensselaer* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Hawthorne | W 3–2 | 647 | 2–3–0 |
| October 21 | 7:00 p.m. | Miami* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Hawthorne | L 3–5 | 973 | 2–4–0 |
| October 22 | 4:00 p.m. | Miami* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 0–2 | 657 | 2–5–0 |
| October 28 | 7:00 p.m. | at Sacred Heart | Total Mortgage Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 3–6 | 754 | 2–6–0 (0–1–0) |
| October 29 | 4:00 p.m. | at Sacred Heart | Total Mortgage Arena • Bridgeport, Connecticut | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 1–3 | 584 | 2–7–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 4 | 7:00 p.m. | Holy Cross | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 1–3 | 707 | 2–8–0 (0–3–0) |
| November 5 | 4:00 p.m. | Holy Cross | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Hawthorne | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 919 | 2–8–1 (0–3–1) |
| November 11 | 7:00 p.m. | American International | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 5–2 | 605 | 3–8–1 (1–3–1) |
| November 12 | 3:00 p.m. | American International | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 3–2 | 603 | 4–8–1 (2–3–1) |
| November 25 | 1:00 p.m. | Army | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Hawthorne | T 2–2 $^{SOW}$ | 589 | 4–8–2 (2–3–2) |
| November 26 | 1:00 p.m. | Army | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Hawthorne | L 1–3 | 627 | 4–9–2 (2–4–2) |
| December 2 | 7:00 p.m. | at RIT | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 2,628 | 5–9–2 (3–4–2) |
| December 3 | 7:05 p.m. | RIT | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 4–10 | – | 5–10–2 (3–5–2) |
| December 10 | 2:00 p.m. | at Maine* | Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine | ESPN+ | Barczewski | L 0–3 | 3,333 | 5–11–2 |
| January 13 | 7:00 p.m. | at Army | Tate Rink • West Point, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 0–2 | 1,769 | 5–12–2 (3–6–2) |
| January 14 | 4:00 p.m. | at Army | Tate Rink • West Point, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 5–4 | 1,564 | 6–12–2 (4–6–2) |
| January 20 | 7:00 p.m. | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 5–1 | 1,450 | 7–12–2 (5–6–2) |
| January 21 | 4:00 p.m. | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Barczewski | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 1,300 | 7–12–3 (5–6–3) |
| January 27 | 7:00 p.m. | Niagara | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 5–2 | 1,236 | 8–12–3 (6–6–3) |
| January 28 | 7:00 p.m. | Niagara | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 2–5 | 1,121 | 8–13–3 (6–7–3) |
| February 3 | 7:05 p.m. | #18 RIT | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 2–3 | 785 | 8–14–3 (6–8–3) |
| February 4 | 7:00 p.m. | at #18 RIT | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 3,252 | 9–14–3 (7–8–3) |
| February 10 | 7:00 p.m. | at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 4–3 | - | 10–14–3 (8–8–3) |
| February 11 | 4:00 p.m. | at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Hawthorne | W 2–0 | 473 | 11–14–3 (9–8–3) |
| February 13 | 9:00 p.m. | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Barczewski | L 1–2 | 1,067 | 11–15–3 (9–9–3) |
| February 14 | 9:00 p.m. | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Hawthorne | W 4–1 | 962 | 12–15–3 (10–9–3) |
| February 18 | 7:00 p.m. | Sacred Heart | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 6–4 | 973 | 13–15–3 (11–9–3) |
| February 19 | 4:00 p.m. | Sacred Heart | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Hawthorne | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 813 | 13–16–3 (11–10–3) |
| February 24 | 7:00 p.m. | at Holy Cross | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 3–0 | 576 | 14–16–3 (12–10–3) |
| February 25 | 7:00 p.m. | at Holy Cross | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Hawthorne | W 6–3 | 304 | 15–16–3 (13–10–3) |
| Atlantic Hockey tournament ||||||||||
| March 3 | 7:00 p.m. | Army* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 5–2 | 231 | 16–16–3 |
| March 4 | 7:30 p.m. | Army* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 0–1 $^{OT}$ | 361 | 16–17–3 |
| March 5 | 5:00 p.m. | Army* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Quarterfinal Game 3) | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 3–0 | 216 | 17–17–3 |
| March 10 | 6:05 p.m. | Niagara* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Semifinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Barczewski | L 1–2 | 546 | 17–18–3 |
| March 11 | 7:35 p.m. | Niagara* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Semifinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 5–1 | 500 | 18–18–3 |
| March 12 | 7:05 p.m. | Niagara* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Semifinal Game 3) | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 4–2 | 457 | 19–18–3 |
| March 18 | 7:05 p.m. | Holy Cross* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Championship) | FloHockey | Barczewski | W 3–0 | 1,805 | 20–18–3 |
| NCAA tournament ||||||||||
| March 23 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. #1 Minnesota* | Scheels Arena • Fargo, North Dakota (West Regional Semifinal) | ESPN2 | Barczewski | L 2–9 | 5,061 | 20–19–3 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Keaton Mastrodonato | C | 42 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 30 |
| Ryan Miotto | F | 42 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 29 |
| David Melaragni | D | 41 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 24 |
| Randy Hernández | RW | 40 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 6 |
| Nick Bowman | F | 35 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 27 |
| Jackson Decker | D | 41 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 14 |
| Max Kouznetsov | C/LW | 42 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 25 |
| Danny DiGrande | C | 27 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 27 |
| Erik Urbank | RW | 34 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 20 |
| Simon Gravel | C/RW | 31 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 9 |
| Grant Loven | C | 32 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 18 |
| Alton McDermott | RW | 27 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 10 |
| J. D. Pogue | LW | 32 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 64 |
| Markus Boguslavsky | C/RW | 37 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 41 |
| Brenden Datema | D | 30 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 35 |
| Stefano Bottini | LW/RW | 32 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 55 |
| Hudson Lambert | D | 35 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 13 |
| Cody Schiavon | D | 26 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 |
| Tyrell Buckley | D | 38 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| Lincoln Erne | D | 41 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Hunter Andrew | F | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Matt Vermaeten | F | 22 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Oliver Tarr | RW | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Cooper Haar | LW | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Keegan Langefels | D | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Jack Lyons | D | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jacob Barczewski | G | 32 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Houston | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian MacDougall | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| John Hawthorne | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 118 | 204 | 322 | 539 |
Source:

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals against | Saves | Shut-outs | SV % | GAA |
| Alex Houston | 1 | 0:06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.00 |
| Jacob Barczewski | 32 | 1882:42 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 83 | 934 | 3 | .918 | 2.65 |
| John Hawthorne | 13 | 655:10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 29 | 300 | 1 | .912 | 2.65 |
| Empty Net | - | 18:16 | - | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 42 | 2556:14 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 119 | 1234 | 4 | .912 | 2.79 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (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 | - | 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 | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Jacob Barczewski | Atlantic Hockey Most Valuable Player in Tournament |
| Jacob Barczewski | Atlantic Hockey Third Team |
| Keaton Mastrodonato | Atlantic Hockey Third Team |
| Jacob Barczewski | Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |
| Jackson Decker | Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |
| Keaton Mastrodonato | Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |
| Nick Bowman | Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |