2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 25th season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 11th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University and were coached by Jason Lammers, in his 4th 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 Niagara'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. 
Niagara had a difficult start to their season, with the team's defense unable to withstand sustained pressure for most of their games. By mid-January the team was near the bottom of the conference with just 2 wins in 13 games. To make matters worse, the Purple Eagles weren't able to play any games for 6 weeks due to COVID cancellations. When they finally managed to play again they decided to use Chad Veltri as their starting goaltender. In the final two weekends of the regular season the choice appeared to work out as Niagara split both weekends while Veltri recorded the only shutout for the Purple Eagles on the campaign.
Niagara entered the postseason as the 9th seed and needed to beat Mercyhurst to keep their season alive. After the Lakers scored the first two goals of the game it looked like NU would have an early summer but Veltri withstood a barrage of shots from Mercyhurst over the final 38 minutes and allowed Niagara to crawl its way back and win on a late marker from junior transfer Walker Sommer. In the quarterfinals, the Purple Eagles had to face Robert Morris, a team that had won all four meetings to that point. The Colonials won the first game but they needed overtime to do so. In keeping the game close, Veltri game his team an opportunity to win and the sophomore netminder remained hot in game 2 as well; Veltri faced 51 shots over an 80-minute span and the frantic pace appeared to wear on Robert Morris who weren't able to get a single shot on goal in over 7 minutes of play in the second overtime. Instead, it was Niagara who fired 5 shots on goal with the last tying the series at 1-all. Veltri was again front and center for the team in the deciding game, facing 45 shots in regulation. Niagara built a 2-goal lead and held it until just 12 seconds remained in the game, when RMU scored their only goal on the night, allowing Niagara to pull off a huge upset in the conference tournament.
In the semifinals, Niagara had to get past league-leading American International, who had not played a game since the end of January due to their own series of cancellations. Veltri continued to keep the Purple Eagles in contention, stopping everything in the first two periods and giving the team a lead entering the third, but AIC's slumbering offense awoke in the final frame, scored two goals, and ended Niagara's improbable run.
Trevor Poeze and Patrick Pugliese sat out the season.
==Departures==
Player 	Position 	Nationality	Cause
Ryan Cook 	Defenseman	 	Graduation (Signed with Huntsville Havoc)
Noah Delmas 	Defenseman	 	Graduation (Signed with Kansas City Mavericks)
Tyler Hayes 	Defenseman	 	Graduation
Stephen Kleysen	Defenseman	 	Left program
Nic Mucci 	Forward 	 	Left program
Ben Sokay 	Forward 	 	Graduation
Kris Spriggs 	Forward 	 	Graduation
Cole Weaver 	Goaltender	 	Left program
==Recruiting==
Player 	Position 	Nationality	Age	Notes
Matt Cameron 	Forward 	 	20 	Berwyn, PA
Mike Corson 	Goaltender	 	21 	Darien, IL; transfer from Denver
Croix Evingson 	Defenseman	 	23 	Anchorage, AK; Selected 211st overall in 2017; transfer from Massachusetts–Lowell
Christian Gorscak	Forward 	 	20 	Jeannette, PA
Josef Myšák 	Defenseman	 	21 	Litvinov, CZE
Trevor Poeze 	Forward 	 	21 	Mississauga, ON
Jesse Pomeroy 	Defenseman	 	21 	Prince George, BC
Patrick Pugliese 	Goaltender	 	21 	Pasadena, CA
Carter Randklev 	Forward 	 	20 	Moorhead, MN
Walker Sommer 	Forward 	 	24 	Avon, OH; transfer from Air Force
==Roster==
As of October 14, 2020.
==Standings==
==Schedule and Results==
|-
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
|-
!colspan=12 style=";" | 
|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
|colspan=12|Niagara Won Series 2–1
==Scoring Statistics==
Name 	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	
 	C 	18 	8 	7 	15 	19
 	C 	17 	7 	7 	14 	2
 	F 	20 	7 	6 	13 	6
 	F 	22 	3 	10 	13 	0
 	D 	21 	1 	11 	12 	16
 	F 	22 	7 	4 	11 	18
 	D 	18 	2 	7 	9 	10
 	RW 	21 	4 	4 	8 	18
 	D 	15 	0 	8 	8 	38
 	F 	19 	3 	4 	7 	6
 	F 	17 	2 	5 	7 	14
 	F 	21 	2 	5 	7 	8
 	F 	16 	1 	5 	6 	0
 	F 	13 	3 	2 	5 	6
 	D 	17 	2 	3 	5 	12
 	D 	14 	1 	3 	4 	6
 	C 	21 	3 	0 	3 	8
 	F 	4 	1 	1 	2 	0
 	D 	13 	0 	2 	2 	4
 	C 	6 	0 	1 	1 	2
 	F 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	F 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	G 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	12 	0 	0 	0 	6
 	G 	14 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	F 	15 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	D 	16 	0 	0 	0 	17
 	D 	18 	0 	0 	0 	12
Bench	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	10
Total	 	 	57 	95 	152 	242
==Goaltending statistics==
Name 	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	 	
 	14 	828 	5 	7 	2 	36 	385 	1 	.914	2.61
 	8 	439 	2 	4 	1 	24 	224 	0 	.903	3.28
 	3 	88 	0 	1 	0 	9 	28 	0 	.757	6.10
Empty Net	- 	15 	- 	- 	- 	1 	- 	- 	- 	-
Total 	10 	1371 	7 	12 	3 	70 	637 	1 	.901	3.06
==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
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
Josef Mysak	Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team	
==References==
Category:Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey seasons
Niagara Purple Eagles 
Niagara Purple Eagles 
Niagara Purple Eagles