The 2024–25 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 29th season of play for the program, the 27th at the Division I level and the 1st in Atlantic Hockey America. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their homes games at the Dwyer Arena and were coached by Jason Lammers in his 8th season.

Season Niagara entered the season in a rather unique position. For the first time since Bentley in 2018, Niagara was the only league member to have one of its freshman class selected in the NHL draft. Trevor Hoskin would prove to be an offensive boon to the Purple Eagles, finishing the year tied for the team lead in scoring alongside team captain Jay Ahearn. With the offense improved from the year before, the team was also able to rely on steady goaltending from graduate transfer Pierce Charleson who was the team primary starter for the entire season. Unfortunately, the defense was a little weaker, allowing an average of more than 4 shots per game more than they had the year before. Over the course of the season, those numbers add up to give their opponents many more chances on the Niagara goal, forcing Charleson and the offense to stay on their toes.

Despite the more porous defense, the Purple Eagles played well throughout the season. While the team didn't have the best of results in their non-conference play, their 2–5–1 mark was still among the best in the conference. The team didn't suffer from any extended losing steaks, their worst being three games, and they were consistently in the top half of the standings. The solid, though unspectacular, season ended with the Eagles in 4th place, their best finish in over a decade. The reward for such a performance was bye into the quarterfinal round and few more home games to potentially extend their year.

Unfortunately for Niagara, their opponent was one of the hottest teams in the second half of the season as Army had gone 9–2–2 in the seven weeks prior. Niagara's offense was on full display, scoring the opening goal in each of their three games against the Black Knights but the defense was unable to contain the cadets. Over the three games, two of which going into overtime, Army fired 148 shots on goal. Charleson did yeoman's work in the series, posting a save percentage of .932 and limiting Army to two goals on fourteen power play opportunities. However, his efforts were in vain, as the Knights were twice able to win in extra time and end the Eagles' season in heartbreaking fashion.

Departures Jarrett Fiske Goaltender Graduation (signed with Utah Grizzlies) Olivier Gauthier Forward Graduation (signed with Ste-Adèle HCVC) Christian Gorscak Forward Graduation (signed with Kalkaska Battlers) Aron Jessli Forward Returned to juniors (Madison Capitols) Steven Kesslering Forward Transferred to Regina Josh Lacelle Goaltender Rejoined club team Jaedon Leslie Forward Graduation (retired) Cole Mickel Defenseman Transferred to Saint Mary's Connor Mylymok Forward Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) Josef Myšák Defenseman Graduate transfer to Merrimack Ryan Ouellette Goaltender Transferred to Northern Michigan Carter Randklev Forward Graduate transfer to Bemidji State Jack Richard Forward Transferred to Merrimack Max Ruoho Defenseman Transferred to Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Recruiting Pierce Charleson Goaltender 24 Aurora, ON; graduate transfer from Alaska Rainers Dārziņš Forward 20 Tukums, LAT Grayson Dietrich Forward 22 Calgary, AB; transfer from American International Braden Doyle Defenseman 23 Lynnfield, MA; transfer from Northeastern; selected 157th overall in 2019 Trevor Hoskin Forward 20 Belleville, ON; selected 106th overall in 2024 Kyler Kleven Forward 23 Moorhead, MN; transfer from Minnesota Duluth Ray Murakami Defenseman 21 Tomakomai, JPN Nathan Oickle Defenseman 21 Peterborough, ON Andy Reist Forward 20 Waterloo, ON Brett Roloson Forward 23 Worcester, MA; transfer from Lake Superior State Ross Roloson Forward 23 Woodbury, MN; transfer from Lake Superior State Deivs Rolovs Goaltender 20 Riga, LAT Spencer Young Forward 21 Elmira, ON

Roster As of August 26, 2024.

Standings

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition

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

!colspan=12 style=";" |

Scoring statistics F 36 19 20 39 23 C/RW 36 12 27 39 12 F 35 9 25 34 10 F 37 9 22 31 16 C 37 14 12 26 12 F 36 11 7 18 10 D 37 3 14 17 28 LW 29 10 4 14 6 D 37 3 11 14 6 C 34 7 5 12 19 C/LW 32 5 6 11 33 D 37 1 9 10 12 C 26 3 6 9 10 D 37 3 6 9 14 F 26 1 7 8 0 F 32 1 7 8 16 D 37 4 3 7 18 D 27 2 5 7 14 F 20 2 3 5 4 D 17 2 2 4 2 F 26 1 2 3 2 C/W 10 1 1 2 2 D 7 1 0 1 0 D 15 0 1 1 4 G 1 0 0 0 0 G 2 0 0 0 0 RW 3 0 0 0 0 G 34 0 0 0 0 Total 124 204 328 277

Goaltending statistics 34 2086:33 18 13 3 96 1122 2 .921 2.76 2 54:25 0 1 0 3 17 0 .850 3.31 3 120:14 0 2 0 7 53 0 .883 3.49 Empty Net - 29:43 - - - 3 - - - - Total 37 2290:55 18 16 3 109 1194 2 .916 2.85

Rankings

PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

Awards and honors Trevor Hoskin Atlantic Hockey America Rookie of the Year Trevor Hoskin All-Atlantic Hockey America Second Team Jay Ahearn All-Atlantic Hockey America Third Team Trevor Hoskin Atlantic Hockey America All-Rookie Team

References