# 2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 28th season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level and the 14th in Atlantic Hockey. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University, played their homes games at the Dwyer Arena and were coached by Jason Lammers in his 7th season.

## Season

Niagara lost more than half of its players in the offseason but the biggest void was in goal. In losing their starter and likely replacement, the team brought in graduate transfer Jarrett Fiske to compete with Ryan Ouellette for the starting role. Fiske had a rather poor start to the season, surrendering 5 goals in 40 minutes to Omaha. Ouellette then became the starter for about a month but could not establish himself in the position. Fiske regain the starting job in early November and performed much better the second time around. He remained the primary netminder for the remainder of the year with Ouellette and Mitchell Day filling in now and again.
The offense, too, was in need of new leadership and got a boon with freshman forwards Tyler Wallace and Jack Richard. The two newcomers combined with upperclassmen Jay Ahearn and Carter Randklev to lead the offense and keep the team competitive on most nights.
After an up-and-down opening to the year, Niagara went through a very poor stretch in December and January, going 1–6 and putting themselves behind the 8-ball. They were able to arrest their slide with a win over RIT, the best team in the conference, and went 8–3–2 down the stretch. The improved play didn't quite get the team a bye into the quarterfinal round but it did afford them with home ice in the opening round of the playoffs.
Niagara opened its postseason with a fairly easy win over Army despite Richard being ejected for slew-footing in the first period. The major penalty resulted in the only goal for Army but otherwise didn't affect the outcome of the game. Niagara then faced Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals and found a opponent in the midst of a losing skid. The Eagles took full advantage and flew through the Pioneers' defense. Niagara scored 11 goals in two games, give Fiske all the goal support he needed for a sweep. Randklev was particularly outstanding, recording 6 points in the two games.
In the semifinals, Niagara found itself opposite RIT, who had lost the season series to the Purple Eagles despite finishing first in the standings. Niagara was hoping for more of the same but the Tigers did not take the underdogs lightly and kept to their defensive structure. Niagara piled on the shots in the opening game, recording 39 in regulation, but were only able to get one into the RIT cage, and even then they needed an extra attacker. The second saw RIT jump out to a 3–0 lead in the first period and Niagara had no answer. The Eagles were able to cut into the advantage in the final frame but it was too little too late and Niagara ended its season with a pair of losses.
Due to a snowstorm, the game against Mercyhurst scheduled on January 13 was postponed to a later date.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Lucas Bahn | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Matt Cameron | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Casey Carreau | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks) |
| Ryan Cox | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye) |
| Jack DeBoer | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with EHC Neuwied) |
| Mike Egan | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Pensacola Ice Flyers) |
| Zane Kindrachuk | Forward | Canada | Left program (retired) |
| Ryan Naumovski | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Augustana |
| Albin Nilsson | Forward | Sweden | Graduate transfer to Miami |
| Jason Pineo | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Wichita Thunder) |
| David Posma | Defenseman | Canada | Left mid-season (returned to juniors) |
| Jake Sibell | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to St. Thomas |
| Brandon Stanley | Forward | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Chad Veltri | Goaltender | United States | Graduate transfer to Robert Morris |
| Jordan Wishman | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Mitchell Day | Goaltender | United States | 21 | St. Louis, MO |
| Jarrett Fiske | Goaltender | United States | 24 | Erie, PA; graduate transfer from American International |
| Aron Jessli | Forward | Norway | 18 | Lørenskog, NOR |
| Steven Kesslering | Forward | Canada | 21 | Viceroy, SK |
| Jaedon Leslie | Forward | Canada | 25 | St. Albert, AB; graduate transfer from Ohio State |
| Cole Mickel | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Broomfield, CO |
| Alex Murray | Defenseman | United States | 23 | Glenview, IL; transfer from Miami |
| Connor Mylymok | Forward | Canada | 23 | Jackson, MS; transfer from Alaska |
| Luke Mylymok | Forward | Canada | 21 | Wilcox, SK; transfer from Minnesota Duluth |
| Jack Richard | Forward | Canada | 20 | Stoney Creek, ON |
| Tyler Wallace | Forward | Canada | 21 | Calgary, AB |

## Roster

As of September 15, 2023.

## Standings

2023–24 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 |
| #17 RIT †* | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 102 | 64 | 40 | 27 | 11 | 2 | 156 | 96 |
| Holy Cross | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 46 | 78 | 62 | 39 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 116 | 93 |
| Sacred Heart | 26 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 75 | 70 | 36 | 14 | 19 | 3 | 91 | 113 |
| Air Force | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 88 | 75 | 38 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 115 | 119 |
| American International | 26 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 79 | 68 | 40 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 119 | 111 |
| Bentley | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 69 | 58 | 35 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 95 | 82 |
| Niagara | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 78 | 79 | 39 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 111 | 122 |
| Canisius | 26 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 73 | 87 | 37 | 12 | 21 | 4 | 103 | 126 |
| Mercyhurst | 26 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 77 | 91 | 35 | 9 | 22 | 4 | 98 | 126 |
| Army | 26 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 66 | 96 | 35 | 10 | 23 | 2 | 93 | 139 |
| Robert Morris | 26 | 7 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 60 | 95 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 3 | 94 | 142 |
| Championship: March 23, 2024 † 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 |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| October 7 | 5:00 pm | Royal Military College* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York (Exhibition) | FloHockey | Ouellette | W 8–3 | 461 | |
| October 8 | 3:00 pm | Canisius* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Ouellette | L 2–5 | 28 | |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 13 | 8:07 pm | at Omaha* | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Fiske | L 1–8 | 6,393 | 0–1–0 |
| October 14 | 8:07 pm | at Omaha* | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Ouellette | L 1–2 | 6,240 | 0–2–0 |
| October 21 | 7:00 pm | Mercyhurst | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Ouellette | T 3–3 $^{SOL}$ | 988 | 0–2–1 (0–0–1) |
| October 27 | 7:00 pm | at Sacred Heart | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut | FloHockey | Ouellette | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 2,852 | 1–2–1 (1–0–1) |
| October 28 | 6:00 pm | at Sacred Heart | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut | FloHockey | Ouellette | L 1–4 | 2,538 | 1–3–1 (1–1–1) |
| November 3 | 7:00 pm | Air Force | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Ouellette | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 637 | 1–4–1 (1–2–1) |
| November 4 | 7:00 pm | Air Force | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–3 | 755 | 2–4–1 (2–2–1) |
| November 10 | 7:00 pm | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Ouellette | L 2–6 | 1,346 | 2–5–1 (2–3–1) |
| November 11 | 4:00 pm | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | L 1–2 | 890 | 2–6–1 (2–4–1) |
| November 17 | 7:00 pm | Robert Morris | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 6–2 | 1,066 | 3–6–1 (3–4–1) |
| November 18 | 7:00 pm | at Robert Morris | Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 667 | 4–6–1 (4–4–1) |
| November 24 | 7:00 pm | at Colgate* | Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York | ESPN+ | Fiske | W 5–2 | 804 | 5–6–1 |
| November 25 | 7:00 pm | at Colgate* | Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York | ESPN+ | Ouellette | L 1–2 | 603 | 5–7–1 |
| December 1 | 7:00 pm | at Holy Cross | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 737 | 6–7–1 (5–4–1) |
| December 2 | 4:00 pm | at Holy Cross | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Fiske | L 1–4 | 807 | 6–8–1 (5–5–1) |
| December 7 | 7:00 pm | at Robert Morris | Clearview Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania | FloHockey, SNP | Fiske | L 1–4 | 514 | 6–9–1 (5–6–1) |
| December 9 | 7:00 pm | Robert Morris | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Ouellette | L 1–3 | 693 | 6–10–1 (5–7–1) |
| December 29 | 7:00 pm | Miami* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 605 | 7–10–1 |
| December 30 | 5:00 pm | Miami* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | L 0–3 | 733 | 7–11–1 |
| January 5 | 9:00 pm | at #6 Denver* | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Fiske | L 2–5 | 5,854 | 7–12–1 |
| January 6 | 8:00 pm | at #6 Denver* | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Day | L 1–6 | 6,255 | 7–13–1 |
| January 11 | 7:00 pm | #19 RIT | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 3–1 | 754 | 8–13–1 (6–7–1) |
| January 19 | 7:00 pm | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–2 | 1,161 | 9–13–1 (7–7–1) |
| January 20 | 7:00 pm | Canisius | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Fiske | W 6–4 | 902 | 10–13–1 (8–7–1) |
| January 25 | 7:00 pm | at USNTDP* | USA Hockey Arena • Plymouth, Michigan (Exhibition) | | Day | T 2–2 $^{SOW}$ | 724 | |
| February 1 | 7:00 pm | #19 RIT | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | T 4–4 $^{SOW}$ | 807 | 10–13–2 (8–7–2) |
| February 3 | 5:05 pm | at #19 RIT | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | L 2–4 | 4,123 | 10–14–2 (8–8–2) |
| February 6 | 6:00 pm | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Rivalry) | FloHockey | Day | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 792 | 11–14–2 (9–8–2) |
| February 9 | 7:00 pm | American International | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–2 | 651 | 12–14–2 (10–8–2) |
| February 10 | 7:00 pm | American International | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | T 4–4 $^{SOL}$ | 749 | 12–14–3 (10–8–3) |
| February 16 | 7:00 pm | Army | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | W 6–3 | 1,002 | 13–14–3 (11–8–3) |
| February 17 | 5:00 pm | Army | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | L 0–3 | 1,004 | 13–15–3 (11–9–3) |
| February 20 | 7:00 pm | at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 924 | 14–15–3 (12–9–3) |
| February 22 | 7:00 pm | Mercyhurst | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York | FloHockey | Fiske | L 1–6 | 719 | 14–16–3 (12–10–3) |
| February 24 | 7:00 pm | at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–3 | 1,002 | 15–16–3 (13–10–3) |
| Atlantic Hockey Tournament ||||||||||
| March 2 | 7:00 pm | Army* | Dwyer Arena • Lewiston, New York (First Round) | FloHockey | Fiske | W 4–1 | 710 | 16–16–3 |
| March 8 | 7:00 pm | at Sacred Heart* | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Fiske | W 6–3 | 2,354 | 17–16–3 |
| March 9 | 7:00 pm | at Sacred Heart* | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Fiske | W 5–1 | 2,639 | 18–16–3 |
| March 15 | 7:05 pm | at #19 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York (Semifinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Fiske | L 1–4 | 2,564 | 18–17–3 |
| March 16 | 7:05 pm | at #19 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York (Semifinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Fiske | L 2–5 | 3,284 | 18–18–3 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Carter Randklev | F | 37 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 39 |
| Tyler Wallace | C | 39 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 17 |
| Jay Ahearn | F | 34 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 26 |
| Jack Richard | F | 34 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 33 |
| Gļebs Prohorenkovs | F | 39 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 21 |
| Lars Rødne | LW | 34 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 4 |
| Shane Ott | F | 38 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Luke Mylymok | C/W | 38 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 20 |
| Olivier Gauthier | LW | 39 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 33 |
| Alex Murray | D | 22 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 10 |
| Noah Carlin | D | 27 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
| Josef Myšák | D | 37 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 28 |
| Connor Mylymok | LW | 37 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 61 |
| Noah Hackett | F | 29 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Jonathan Ziskie | D | 27 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Lane Brockhoff | D | 37 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 54 |
| Johnny Wescoe | F | 19 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Cole Mickel | D | 28 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Ethan Lund | D | 33 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Drew Vieten | F | 21 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 21 |
| Aron Jessli | LW | 28 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| David Posma | D | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Jarrett Fiske | G | 29 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Christian Gorscak | F | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Max Ruoho | D | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jaedon Leslie | F | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Mitchell Day | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Ouellette | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 111 | 193 | 304 | 438 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Jarrett Fiske | 29 | 1673:26 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 76 | 788 | 0 | .912 | 2.72 |
| Ryan Ouellette | 8 | 436:34 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 188 | 0 | .904 | 2.75 |
| Mitchell Day | 6 | 221:47 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 113 | 0 | .883 | 4.06 |
| Empty Net | - | 29:31 | - | - | - | 11 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 39 | 2361:18 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 122 | 1089 | 0 | .899 | 3.10 |

## 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 |
| 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 (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 Hockey | 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 11 and 25. Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

## 2024 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 4 | 106 | Trevor Hoskin $^†$ | Calgary Flames |
† incoming freshman