# 2020–21 Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey season

The 2020-21 Merrimack Warriors Men's ice hockey season was the 66th season of play for the program, the 32nd at the Division I level, and the 32nd season in the Hockey East conference. The Warriors represented Merrimack College and were coached by Scott Borek, in his 3rd 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 Merrimack'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.
Due to cancellations and rescheduling Merrimack began the season playing ranked teams in eight consecutive games. As a result, the team's record was a paltry 1–7. Despite the losses, the team was able to keep the score close in most games and used the experience to improve in the second half of the season. Merrimack ended the regular season on a 4–4–2 run, not a particularly stellar record, but a vast improvement over their start. The Warriors had risen to 9th in the conference and were getting ready to play Vermont on the final week of the regular season. Unfortunately, several members of the team entered COVID-19 protocols on March 4. As a result, not only was the Vermont series cancelled but, since the team could not feasibly receive a clean bill of health before the Hockey East Tournament began on March 10, Merrimack had to withdraw from postseason play and end their season.
James Corcoran and Jordan Seyfert sat out the season.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Joey Cassetti | Forward | United States | Transferred to Miami |
| Tyler Drevitch | Forward | United States | Graduation (Signed with Wheeling Nailers) |
| Tyler Irvine | Forward | United States | Graduation (Signed with Binghamton Devils) |
| Griff Jeszka | Forward | United States | Graduation (Signed with Worcester Railers) |
| Sami Tavernier | Forward | France | Graduation (Signed with Syracuse Crunch) |
| August Von Ungern-Sternberg | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Rostock Piranhas) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Zachary Borgiel | Goaltender | United States | 20 | Fort Gratiot, MI |
| Alex Jefferies | Forward | United States | 18 | Lunenburg, MA; selected 121st overall in 2020 |
| Filip Karlsson-Tägtström | Forward | Sweden | 21 | Stockholm, SWE |
| Jakob Lee | Forward | Canada | 21 | Owen Sound, ON |
| Conor Lovett | Forward | United States | 19 | Franklin, MA |
| Mick Messner | Forward | United States | 21 | Madison, WI; transfer from Wisconsin |
| Max Newton | Forward | Canada | 22 | Vancouver, BC; transfer from Alaska |
| Kevin Sadovski | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Palm Coast, FL |

## Roster

As of February 12, 2021.

## Standings

2020–21 Hockey East 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 | OTW | OTL | SOW | HEPI | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #6 Boston College | 21 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 58.61 | 82 | 46 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 91 | 58 |
| #11 Boston University | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 56.36 | 49 | 37 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 52 | 45 |
| #1 Massachusetts * | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 55.44 | 76 | 42 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 103 | 48 |
| Connecticut | 22 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 52.01 | 69 | 63 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 70 | 69 |
| #16 Providence | 23 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 50.80 | 63 | 61 | 25 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 71 | 67 |
| Northeastern | 20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 49.94 | 68 | 60 | 21 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 69 | 64 |
| #19 Massachusetts–Lowell | 16 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48.00 | 46 | 53 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 59 | 63 |
| Maine | 15 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 46.66 | 41 | 61 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 43 | 68 |
| Merrimack | 18 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45.38 | 47 | 66 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 47 | 66 |
| New Hampshire | 21 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 43.66 | 51 | 83 | 23 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 60 | 88 |
| Vermont | 12 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38.02 | 17 | 37 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 42 |
| Championship: March 20, 2021 No Regular Season Champion Awarded * indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| December 5 | 4:30 PM | at #8 Massachusetts | Mullins Center • Amherst, Massachusetts | NESN+ | Borgiel | L 1–3 | 0 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| December 6 | 4:35 PM | vs. #8 Massachusetts | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | W 3–2 | 0 | 1–1–0 (1–1–0) |
| December 12 | 6:05 PM | at #17 Northeastern | Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | NESN | Kobryn | L 2–8 | 0 | 1–2–0 (1–2–0) |
| December 13 | 4:05 PM | vs. #17 Northeastern | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | L 3–6 | 0 | 1–3–0 (1–3–0) |
| January 9 | 7:05 PM | at #14 Northeastern | Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 1–4–0 (1–4–0) |
| January 10 | 3:05 PM | vs. #14 Northeastern | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Kobryn | L 2–3 | 0 | 1–5–0 (1–5–0) |
| January 16 | 7:00 PM | at #3 Boston College | Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts | NESN | Borgiel | L 1–2 | 0 | 1–6–0 (1–6–0) |
| January 17 | 4:05 PM | vs. #3 Boston College | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | L 3–5 | 0 | 1–7–0 (1–7–0) |
| January 22 | 7:00 PM | at New Hampshire | Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire | | Borgiel | W 5–2 | 0 | 2–7–0 (2–7–0) |
| January 23 | 4:05 PM | vs. New Hampshire | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 0 | 2–7–1 (2–7–1) |
| January 29 | 3:05 PM | vs. Connecticut | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | L 1–6 | 0 | 2–8–1 (2–8–1) |
| January 30 | 3:00 PM | at Connecticut | Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum • Storrs, Connecticut | | Kobryn | L 2–6 | 0 | 2–9–1 (2–9–1) |
| February 6 | 2:05 PM | vs. #16 Providence | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | L 1–5 | 0 | 2–10–1 (2–10–1) |
| February 7 | 2:00 PM | at #16 Providence | Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island | | Borgiel | W 3–2 | 0 | 3–10–1 (3–10–1) |
| February 19 | 4:00 PM | at New Hampshire | Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire | | Borgiel | T 3–3 $^{SOL}$ | 0 | 3–10–2 (3–10–2) |
| February 20 | 4:05 PM | vs. New Hampshire | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | W 6–2 | 0 | 4–10–2 (4–10–2) |
| February 26 | 4:05 PM | at #8 Boston University | Agganis Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | | Huhtamaa | W 5–2 | 0 | 5–10–2 (5–10–2) |
| February 27 | 4:05 PM | vs. #8 Boston University | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | | Borgiel | L 2–4 | 0 | 5–11–2 (5–11–2) |
| Hockey East Tournament ||||||||||
| Participation Cancelled ||||||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Filip Forsmark | LW/RW | 18 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 16 |
| Liam Walsh | LW | 17 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 10 |
| Alex Jefferies | LW | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| Declan Carlile | D | 14 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Logan Drevitch | LW | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Zach Vinnell | D | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| Patrick Holway | D | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 22 |
| Ben Brar | F | 15 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| Chase Gresock | F | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| Max Newton | F | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| Zach Uens | D | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Dominic Dockery | D | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| Regan Kimens | LW | 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Conor Lovett | F | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 23 |
| Patrick Kramer | C | 17 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Mac Welsher | C | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Ryan Nolan | F | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Mick Messner | LW | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Liam Dennison | D | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Christian Simeone | F | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jere Huhtamaa | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Kobryn | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Sadovski | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hugo Esselin | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Filip Karlsson-Tägtström | C | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jacob Modry | D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tyler Heidt | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jakob Lee | C | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Zachary Borgiel | G | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | - | 18 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Total | | | 47 | 86 | 133 | 185 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Jere Huhtamaa | 3 | 141 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 67 | 0 | .905 | 2.97 |
| Zachary Borgiel | 15 | 792 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 41 | 310 | 0 | .883 | 3.10 |
| Troy Kobryn | 3 | 147 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 73 | 0 | .839 | 5.72 |
| Empty Net | - | 11 | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 18 | 1092 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 66 | 450 | 0 | .872 | 3.63 |

## 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 | 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.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Alex Jefferies | Hockey East Rookie Team | |