The 2021–22 Merrimack Warriors Men's ice hockey season was the 67th season of play for the program, the 33rd at the Division I level, and the 33rd season in the Hockey East conference. The Warriors represented Merrimack College and were coached by Scott Borek, in his 4th season.
Season Merrimack entered the season having posted losing records in each of the previous nine seasons. Early in the season it appeared that trend would continue when the Warriors lost four consecutive games and then turned to a freshman goaltender to try and salvage their season. Hugo Ollas had a bit of a rough go at first, but he helped stabilize the back end for Merrimack and enabled the team to play .500 hockey in November and December.
While their record was still under water, the team had a bigger problem to contend with after returning from the winter break. A pair of games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence were cancelled due to COVID-19. Bentley was swiftly added to the schedule and kicked off a 5-game winning streak that saw Merrimack score four victories over ranked teams.
The quality wins earned the Warriors the first appearance in the national rankings in years and made it possible for their supporters to hope for a tournament bid. Their time in the top 20 was short-lived and Merrick lost their very next game. The team flirted with the rankings for most of the remainder of the season, but sweep at the hands of Northeastern in the regular season finale ended any chance of an at-large bid.
Entering the postseason, Merrimack knew they would likely have to win the Hockey East championship in order to make the NCAA tournament. After a solid win over Maine in the opening round, the Warriors travelled to Lowell to take on the River Hawks. Despite outshooting their opponents, Ollas and Borgiel combined to allow 7 goals and the Warriors were drubbed out of contention. Regardless of the sour end, this was the most successful season for the program in a decade and was Scott Borek's best season behind the bench since 1997.
Departures James Corcoran Goaltender Transferred to University of New England Dominic Dockery Defenseman Graduate transfer to Maine Chase Gresock Forward Transferred to Miami Tyler Heidt Defenseman Transferred to Regina Patrick Holway Defenseman Graduation (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins) Jere Huhtamaa Goaltender Signed professional contract (TUTO Hockey) Patrick Kramer Forward Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Jakob Lee Forward Transferred to Rensselaer Conor Lovett Forward Returned to juniors (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) Jacob Modry Defenseman Transferred to Plattsburgh State Christian Simeone Forward Signed professional contract (Utah Grizzlies)
Recruiting Adam Arvedson Defenseman 20 Karlstad, SWE Colby Bukes Defenseman 22 Littleton, CO; transfer from Minnesota State Matt Copponi Forward 18 Mansfield, MA Jake Durflinger Forward 23 Walnut Creek, CA; graduate transfer from Denver Christian Felton Defenseman 21 Medina, OH; transfer from Bentley Mark Hillier Forward 19 Labrador City, NL Steven Jandric Forward 24 Prince George, BC; graduate transfer from Denver Devlin O'Brien Forward 19 Palm Coast, FL Hugo Ollas Goaltender 19 Linköping, SWE; selected 197th overall in 2020 Ivan Zivlak Defenseman 19 Gislaved, SWE
Roster As of August 24, 2021.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics F 35 14 24 38 16 LW 34 8 20 28 10 LW/RW 33 11 16 27 35 LW 34 10 17 27 41 D 35 7 17 24 8 LW 33 10 13 23 10 F 35 11 9 20 20 D 34 2 17 19 28 D 35 4 12 16 12 LW 35 5 8 13 18 C 25 3 6 9 14 RW 34 3 6 9 18 C 32 6 2 8 10 C 20 2 6 8 2 C 18 3 4 7 2 LW 21 1 5 6 4 D 27 2 2 4 16 D 19 1 3 4 10 C 8 2 1 3 0 LW 10 2 1 3 8 G 13 1 2 3 2 G 15 1 2 3 6 D 12 0 2 2 2 D 32 0 2 2 10 D 21 0 1 1 6 G 2 0 0 0 0 D 2 0 0 0 0 LW 11 0 0 0 2 G 18 0 0 0 0 G 20 0 0 0 4 Total 109 198 307 314
Goaltending statistics 18 964 10 6 0 36 414 1 .920 2.24 20 1087 9 8 1 55 448 1 .891 3.03 2 47 0 1 0 4 20 0 .833 5.05 Empty Net - 22 - - - 4 - - - - Total 35 2121 19 15 1 99 882 2 .899 2.80
Rankings
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR19NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.
Awards and honors Jordan Seyfert Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award Declan Carlile Hockey East Second Team
References