2022–23 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

The Purple Eagles kicked off their season with a trip west that resulted in a surprise sweep of Omaha. While riding high on the rare victories, the defense slipped after the team returned home and allowed nearly 5 goals against per game over the next five games. Niagara recovered by the end of October and then went on a 5-game winning streak to pull themselves out of the Atlantic Hockey cellar. Due to expected heavy snowfall in the Buffalo area, the game against St. Lawrence was moved from November 19 to January 5.[1]

Niagara ended the first half of the season with a sluggish performance by their offense but they still possessed a winning record. The Purple Eagles opened the second half by splitting a pair of non-conference series. Unfortunately, the team remained inconsistent for the remainder of the year. While they were able to sweep a ranked RIT squad, they were in turn dropped by both Bentley and Holy Cross in the back half of the year. The result was that Niagara finished 6th in the conference standings despite seeing improvements across the board.

The team began the postseason on the road and dropped the first match to Sacred Heart. Afterwards, Chad Veltri turned in a masterful performance in goal and allowed just 4 goals on 70 shots. Carter Randklev's 5-point effort in the deciding game sent the Purple Eagles into the semifinal where the team faced local rival Canisius.[2] Veltri continued to stand on his head and led the Purple Eagles to a 2–1 victory over the Golden Griffins. Ordinarily, that would have been enough to send the team to the league championship, however, Atlantic Hockey had changed the playoff format prior to the season. WHile the First Round games had been eliminated, the semifinal round was extended to be a best-of-three series like the quarterfinal.[3] This meant that Niagara had to win a second match against Canisius to advance. Unfortunately, the Griffins were able to rally from the loss in game 1 and stormed back with two wins to knock Niagara out of the postseason.

While the end of their campaign was disappointing, the team had taken a big stride forward. Niagara had scored 37 more goals and though they allowed 7 more goals against, they had done so in 4 additional games. The Purple Eagles also posted their first winning season in a decade; a successful season despite the ending.[4]

As of June 30, 2022.[5]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Jonathan Ziskie	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-03-19	Macomb, Michigan	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
3		Lucas Bahn	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-09-11	Henderson, Tennessee	Alabama–Huntsville (NCAA)	—
4		Gļebs Prohorenkovs	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-11-12	Riga, Latvia	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
5		Noah Carlin	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-13	Marine City, Michigan	Omaha (USHL)	—
7		Jordan Wishman	Graduate	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-11-22	Des Moines, Iowa	Dubuque (USHL)	—
8		Albin Nilsson	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-09-18	Ljungby, Sweden	Providence (HEA)	—
9		Jay Ahearn	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-23	Staten Island, New York	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
10		Carter Randklev	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	1999-11-05	Moorhead, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
11		Olivier Gauthier	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-04-09	Ferme-Neuve, Quebec	Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)	—
12		Jason Pineo	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-02-23	Toronto, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
13		Drew Vieten	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-01-10	Calabasas, California	Wichita Falls (NAHL)	—
14		Ryan Naumovski	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-07-28	Shelby Township, Michigan	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
15		Matt Cameron	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-06-08	Berwyn, Pennsylvania	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
16		Zane Kindrachuk	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2000-01-04	Calgary, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
17		Max Ruoho	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-03-05	Madison, Wisconsin	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
18		Mike Egan	Graduate	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1997-08-24	Billerica, Massachusetts	Babson (NEHC)	—
19		Ryan Cox	Graduate	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-07-23	St. Albert, Alberta	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
20		Christian Gorsack	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-06-08	Jeannette, Pennsylvania	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
21		Shane Ott	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-21	Centennial, Colorado	Janesville (NAHL)	—
22		Lane Brockhoff	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2000-04-11	Edberg, Alberta	Camrose (AJHL)	—
23		Lars Rødne	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-22	Stavanager, Norway	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
24		Josef Myšák	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-09-08	Litvínov, Czech Republic	Austin (NAHL)	—
25		Johnny Wescoe	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	2001-01-06	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Rockets (NCDC)	—
26		Brandon Stanley	Graduate	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	1997-05-03	Sioux Lookout, Ontario	Philadelphia (NAHL)	—
27		Jack DeBoer	Graduate	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	2000-08-17	Madison, New Jersey	Boston University (HEA)	—
28		Ethan Lund	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-03-16	Calgary, Alberta	Brooks (AJHL)	—
29		David Posma	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-08-27	Pomona, New York	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
30		Jake Sibell	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-01-03	Isanti, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
31		Chad Veltri	Senior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-06-03	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Youngstown (USHL)	—
34		Noah Hackett	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-12-11	Ponoka, Alberta	Brooks (AJHL)	—
37		Casey Carreau	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-08-03	Acushnet, Massachusetts	Boston College (HEA)	—
40		Ryan Ouellette	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-12-06	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Wisconsin–Eau Claire (WIAC)	—

[7]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[8]