2020–21 Union Dutchmen ice hockey season

2020–21 Union Dutchmen
ice hockey season
ConferenceECAC Hockey
Home iceAchilles Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Coaches and captains
Head coachRick Bennett
Assistant coachesJohn Ronan
Union Dutchmen ice hockey seasons
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The 2020–21 Union Dutchmen ice hockey season would have been the 80th season of play for the program and the 30th season in the ECAC Hockey conference.

Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Despite the issues, Union and most of ECAC Hockey was expecting to start playing some time in November. On October 16, Yale raised the campus alert status from green to yellow when the 18th member of the men's ice hockey team tested positive for coronavirus.[1] Less than a month later, the Ivy League, the primary conference for 6 ECAC programs, announced that it was cancelling all winter sports for 2020–21. Additionally the schools would not be participating in any Spring sports until the end of February.[2] While Union was not bound by the IVY League's ruling, the other capitol-district school Rensselaer cancelled its season on November 16 and Union followed suit the following day.[3]

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 Union's players would lose a season of play.[4] 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.[5]

Departures

Player Position Nationality Cause
Jack Adams Forward  United States Transfer (Providence)
Lucas Breault Forward  Canada Returned to Juniors (Salmon Arm Silverbacks)
Zachary Emelifeonwu Forward  Canada Graduation
Parker Foo Forward  Canada Signed Professional Contract (HC Kunlun Red Star)
Josh Graziano Goaltender  United States Returned to Juniors (New Mexico Ice Wolves)
Darion Hanson Goaltender  United States Transferred to (Connecticut)
Vas Kolias Defenseman  United States Graduation
Sam Morton Forward  United States Transfer (Minnesota State)
Ben Pirko Defenseman  United States Transfer (Trinity)
Anthony Rinaldi Forward  Canada Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks)
Colin Schmidt Forward  United States Transfer (Minnesota)

Recruiting

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Trevor Adams Forward  United States 21 Muskegon, MI
Ville Immonen Forward  Finland 21 Seinäjoki, FIN
Nathan Kelly† Defenseman  Canada 19 South Delta, BC
Gleb Murtazin Forward  Russia 19 Penza, RUS
Nic Petruolo Defenseman  United States 20 Neshanic, NJ
Bram Scheerer Forward  United States 21 Edina, MN
Tyler Watkins Forward  United States 20 Hermantown, MN

† played junior hockey or equivalent during 2020–21 season.

Roster

As of January 25, 2021.[6]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 California Garrett Nieto Sophomore G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1998-05-15 Yorba Linda, California Janesville Jets (NAHL) —
2 Minnesota Taylor Brierley Senior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1996-07-31 East Grand Forks, Minnesota Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) —
4 Pennsylvania Joseph Campolieto Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-04-29 Eynon, Pennsylvania Tri-City Storm (USHL) —
5 New Jersey Nic Petruolo Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2000-01-29 Neshanic, New Jersey Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) —
7 Texas Brandon Estes Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998-02-13 Richardson, Texas Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) —
8 Minnesota Chaz Smedsrud Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-06-04 Luverne, Minnesota Madison Capitols (USHL) —
9 Russia Gleb Murtazin Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2000-10-26 Penza, Russia Amarillo Bulls (NAHL) —
10 New York (state) Ryan Sidorski Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-10-02 Williamsville, New York Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL) —
11 Sweden Gabriel Seger Sophomore F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 216 lb (98 kg) 1999-11-15 Uppsala, Sweden Amarillo Bulls (NAHL) —
12 Florida Fletcher Fineman Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1999-02-17 Lake Worth, Florida Springfield Junior Blues (NAHL) —
13 Minnesota Tyler Watkins Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-12-19 Hermantown, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL) —
14 Minnesota Drew Blackmun Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1996-01-18 Minneapolis, Minnesota Northeastern Huskies (HEA) —
16 Minnesota Christian Sanda Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-03-13 Vadnais Heights, Minnesota Coquitlam Express (BCHL) —
17 Rhode Island Matt Allen Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1999-03-14 Smithfield, Rhode Island Boston Junior Bruins (NCDC) —
18 Finland Ville Immonen Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1999-06-18 Seinäjoki, Finland Minot Minotauros (NAHL) —
19 Ontario Liam Robertson Sophomore F 6' 5" (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-05-14 Courtice, Ontario Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) —
21 Massachusetts Michael Ryan Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1997-01-19 Marion, Massachusetts West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL) —
23 Michigan Trevor Adams Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1999-08-19 Muskegon, Michigan Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) —
24 Florida Alex Cohen Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1998-06-15 Boca Raton, Florida Northeast Generals (NAHL) —
25 Texas Owen Farris Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 2000-06-08 Dallas, Texas Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) —
26 British Columbia Nathan Kelly Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2000-11-22 South Delta, British Columbia Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) —
27 Ontario Josh Kosack Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-06-25 Oakville, Ontario Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) —
28 Alberta Dylan Anhorn Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-01-21 Calgary, Alberta Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL) —
29 Alaska Sean Harrison Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1996-03-29 Anchorage, Alaska Central Illinois Flying Aces (USHL) —
33 British Columbia Merek Pipes Sophomore G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1998-11-12 Cobble Hill, British Columbia Swan Valley Stampeders (MJHL) —
63 Minnesota Bram Scheerer Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-06-03 Edina, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL) —

Standings

2020–21 ECAC Hockey Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS PT% GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#11 Quinnipiac † 18 10 4 4 1 1 3 37 .685 54 34 29 17 8 4 100 59
#20 Clarkson 14 6 4 4 1 2 2 25 .595 29 25 22 11 7 4 62 52
St. Lawrence * 14 4 8 2 1 1 1 15 .357 30 37 17 6 8 3 40 45
Colgate 18 5 9 4 1 0 1 16 .352 34 51 22 6 11 5 48 66
Brown 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Cornell 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Dartmouth 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Harvard 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Princeton 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Rensselaer 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Union 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Yale 0 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Championship: March 20, 2021
† indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

Season Cancelled

Awards and honors

Player Award Ref
Josh Kosack Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award [7]

References

  1. ^ "18 members of Yale's men's ice hockey team test positive for Covid-19". CNN. October 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "Ivy League cancels winter sports season, delays spring play". ESPN. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Union Releases Update on 2020-21 Ice Hockey Season". Union Dutchmen. November 17, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Union College. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "Union's Josh Kosack captures 2020-21 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award with leadership qualities, community outreach initiatives". USCHO.com. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.