The 2023–24 Army Black Knights men's ice hockey season was the 121st season of play for the program, the 114th at the Division I level, and the 21st in Atlantic Hockey. The Black Knights represented the United States Military Academy, played their home games at the Tate Rink and were coached by Brian Riley in his 20th season.
Season Army started their season by losing their first nine games and allowing at least 3 goals in every game. The Black Knights' offensive side could to overcome the below-average performance they were seeing in net. Neither Gavin Abrin nor Evan Szary showed any signs of being able to keep the puck out of the net and the losses mounted.
Just before Thanksgiving, Szary provided the first decent game in goal, enabling Army to win its first game of the year. Afterwards, the goaltending remained inconsistent for the rest of the season, alternating between decent outings and subpar performances. By season's end the Black Knights had the 3rd-worst goals against average in the nation, surrendering almost 4 goals per game. The team's offense remained consistently average all season long, capitalizing in the matches where the goaltending was at least respectable. In games where Army allowed three goals or fewer, the Black Knights went 10–2–2, on matches where they allowed at least four goals, the team went 0–20–0.
The defensive troubles resulted in the team finishing 10th in the conference and having to face Niagara in the First Round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Black Knights fired 43 shots on goal, nearly double the total from the Purple Eagles, but they were let down by goaltending once more. Abric allowed 3 goals on just 20 shots while Army was stymied time and again by Niagara's netminder. The 1–4 loss followed the pattern that had been laid out all season long and ended a rather forgettable year for Army.
Departures Brett Abdelnour Forward Graduation (retired) Jude Brower Defenseman Left program (retired) Justin Evenson Goaltender Graduation (retired) Reese Farrell Forward Left program (retired) Thomas Farrell Defenseman Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye) Anthony Firriolo Defenseman Graduation (signed with Jacksonville Icemen) Kendrick Frost Forward Graduation (retired) John Keranen Forward Graduation (retired) Patrick Smyth Forward Graduation (retired) Noah Wilson Defenseman Graduation (retired)
Recruiting Jon Bell Defenseman 21 St. Cloud, MN Mac Gadowsky Defenseman 21 Fairbanks, AK Jacob Hewitt Forward 21 Ashburnham, MA Gus Holt Forward 20 Bowling Green, OH Nik Hong Forward 21 Minneapolis, MN Dayne Hoyord Forward 21 Scandinavia, WI Brent Keefer Forward 22 Colorado Springs, CO Pierce Patterson Defenseman 21 Valrico, FL Vincent Salice Forward 20 Commerce Township, MI Barron Woodring Forward 21 Chicago, IL Easton Zueger Defenseman 20 Sioux Falls, SD
Roster As of September 14, 2023.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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Scoring statistics F 32 15 16 31 14 F 34 6 19 25 31 F 34 13 11 24 30 D 28 4 19 23 8 F 34 6 16 22 54 D 35 5 16 21 16 LW 34 10 9 19 33 F 35 7 10 17 14 F 35 7 10 17 6 F 34 4 6 10 12 D 31 4 6 10 8 F 31 5 3 8 16 F 25 1 4 5 8 D 15 0 4 4 7 D 28 0 3 3 6 D 21 0 3 3 16 D 21 1 2 3 4 F 28 1 2 3 8 F 20 1 1 2 0 D 10 2 0 2 2 F 12 1 1 2 2 F 15 0 1 1 4 G 26 0 1 1 0 F 1 0 0 0 2 D 33 0 0 0 10 F 2 0 0 0 0 F 14 0 0 0 19 G 19 0 0 0 0 D 18 0 0 0 15 Total 93 163 256 345 Source:
Goaltending statistics 26 1233:12 8 10 0 67 593 1 .898 3.26 19 864:42 2 13 2 65 413 1 .864 4.51 Empty Net - 22:20 - - - 7 - - - - Total 35 2120:14 10 23 2 139 1006 2 .879 3.93
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
Awards and honors Joey Baez Atlantic Hockey Second Team Mac Gadowsky Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team
References