The 2023–24 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season was the 44th season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level, and the 21st in Atlantic Hockey. The Golden Griffins represented Canisius College, played their home games at the LECOM Harborcenter and were coached by Trevor Large in his 7th season.

Season Canisius entered the year looking for new leaders both on the offensive side of the puck and in goal. Graduate transfer David Fessenden ended up earning the lion's share of the starts for the Griffins but, as the season progressed, freshman Ethan Robertson was given more and more opportunities to get up to speed at the college level. Fessenden and Robertson played about even with one another, however, neither was particularly outstanding. The goaltending tandem saw the team's goals against average increase by more than half a point. The offense quickly found its new leader in Matteo Giampa and the freshmen ended the year leading the team in scoring by a wide margin.

The Golden Griffins started out the year with a 4-game losing streak and never seemed to recover completely. The team was able to produce some bright moments during the season, including a win over a ranked RIT squad, but they were never able to put a consistent stretch of good hockey together. Fortunately, the team ended the regular season in eighth place and managed to earn a home site in the opening round of the conference tournament.

The team opened their postseason with one of their best games of the year, scoring the first four goals of the match to knock out Mercyhurst with relative ease. The Griffins then built a 2-goal lead in their quarterfinal match with Holy Cross to give them a chance at a deep run. However, after that their goaltending troubles cropped up again and the team surrendered three goals in the second half of the match to lose 3–4. Robertson got the nod for game 2 and he showed out, stopping 40 shots in the game. Unfortunately, the team's offense was stymied by an equally impressive game from the opposing netminder and the match was sent into overtime. Canisius held on until the start of the second extra session when a defensive lapse allowed an unguarded Holy Cross player to score the winning goal.

Due to a snowstorm, the game against RIT scheduled on January 13 was postponed to a later date.

Departures Jake Barczewski Goaltender Graduate transfer to Michigan Markus Boguslavsky Forward Graduation (retired) Nick Bowman Forward Graduation (retired) Tyrell Buckley Defenseman Graduation (signed with EHF Passau Black Hawks) Danny DiGrande Forward Graduation (retired) Lincoln Erne Defenseman Graduation (signed with Tulsa Oilers) Simon Gravel Forward Graduation (retired) John Hawthorne Goaltender Graduation (retired) Grant Loven Forward Graduation (signed with Fayetteville Marksmen) Keaton Mastrodonato Forward Graduation (signed with Texas Stars) Ryan Miotto Forward Graduate transfer to Vermont J. D. Pogue Forward Graduation (retired)

Recruiting Jack Budd Defenseman 20 Toronto, ON Powell Connor Defenseman 23 Chilliwack, BC; transfer from Michigan State Luke Farthing Defenseman 24 Stoutsville, OH; transfer from Ferris State David Fessenden Goaltender 25 Parker, CO; graduate transfer from New Hampshire Trey Funk Forward 21 Redwood Meadows, AB Matteo Giampa Forward 20 Virgil, ON Kyle Haskins Forward 23 Huntington, VT; transfer from Michigan State Killian Kiecker-Olson Forward 22 Andover, MN; transfer from Maine Robert Kincaid Defenseman 21 Barrhead, AB; transfer from Maine Griffin Loughran Forward 24 Orchard Park, NY; graduate transfer from Michigan State Jackson Nieuwendyk Forward 21 Dallas, TX Grant Porter Forward 21 Weston, MA; transfer from Providence Ethan Robertson Goaltender 21 Courtice, ON

Roster As of September 14, 2023.

Standings

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season

!colspan=12 style=";" |

Scoring statistics F 36 18 17 35 8 C/LW 36 8 15 23 39 RW 37 8 14 22 4 D 35 7 10 17 28 F 35 4 11 15 10 RW 37 7 8 15 23 F 21 6 9 15 78 D 32 2 11 13 16 RW 34 4 9 13 37 F 34 7 6 13 6 F 30 7 5 12 20 LW/RW 23 4 6 10 10 D 35 1 8 9 30 D 28 3 5 8 21 F 34 2 5 7 16 F 16 4 3 7 4 D 35 1 6 7 39 LW 25 1 5 6 16 F 21 2 3 5 15 D 15 2 2 4 6 D 15 0 4 4 6 D 13 1 2 3 6 D 18 2 1 3 4 G 22 0 3 3 8 D 26 1 1 2 10 F 7 1 0 1 4 F 16 0 0 0 4 D 7 0 0 0 2 G 1 0 0 0 0 G 19 0 0 0 0 Total 118 204 322 539

Goaltending statistics 5 0:13 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00 20 979:29 5 10 0 53 498 0 .904 3.25 22 1254:42 7 11 4 70 610 0 .897 3.35 Empty Net - 32:16 - - - 3 - - - - Total 37 2266:40 12 21 4 126 1109 0 .898 3.34

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 Matteo Giampa Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year Matteo Giampa Atlantic Hockey Second Team Matteo Giampa Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team

References