Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey

Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey
Current season
University	Niagara University
Conference	AHA
Head coach	Jason Lammers 7th season, 77–111–21 (.419)
Assistant coaches	Mark Phalon Nate Skidmore
Arena	Dwyer Arena Lewiston, New York
Colors	Purple and white[1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
2000, 2004, 2008, 2013
Conference Tournament championships
CHA: 2000, 2004, 2008
Conference regular season championships
CHA: 2000, 2006, 2007 AHA: 2013
Current uniform

The Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Niagara University. The Purple Eagles are members of Atlantic Hockey America. They play at the Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, New York.^[2]

After several years of playing at the club level, the team turned varsity in the 1996–97 season, which they played as independent.

In 1999 they became charter members of College Hockey America (CHA), joining two other independent teams (Air Force and Army) and three former Division II teams (Alabama–Huntsville, Bemidji State and Findlay).

Niagara went undefeated in conference play that season, 1999–00, winning the conference tournament and gaining an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament, as the conference did not gain an automatic bid until the 2003 tournament. Starting goaltender Greg Gardner set a single-season NCAA record for shutouts with 12 as Niagara posted its first (and only as of 2019) 30-win campaign. The Purple Eagles upset the University of New Hampshire to advance to the Elite Eight, where they lost to North Dakota. North Dakota went on to win that national championship.

Niagara also won the College Hockey America Championship in 2004 and 2008, appearing in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship again those years. In 2004 they lost against Boston College and in 2008 against Michigan.

On January 29, 2009, Niagara University announced that the team was moving to the Atlantic Hockey Association beginning in the 2010-11 season, following the closure of CHA's men's division. CHA would continue to operate as a women-only conference for the next 14 years.

On October 14, 2010, it was announced that Jay McKee would serve as a volunteer assistant coach for Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey, while not ruling out a return to the NHL.

On December 14, 2013 the Purple Eagles faced off against the RIT Tigers in an outdoor hockey game known as Frozen Frontier tying 2-2.

Shortly after the 2023–24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association and CHA, which had shared a commissioner and conference staff since 2010, merged under the banner of Atlantic Hockey America.^[3]

Source:^[4]

As of the completion of 2022–23 season

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1996–2001	Blaise MacDonald	5	91–58–17	.599
2001–2017	Dave Burkholder	16	247–279–68	.473
2017–Present	Jason Lammers	6	77–111–21	.419
Totals	3 coaches	27 seasons	415–448–106	.483

Year	Location	Opponent	Result
2000	Target Center	New Hampshire	W 4-1
		North Dakota	L 1-4
2004	Verizon Wireless Arena	Boston College	L 2-5
2008	Times Union Center	Michigan	L 1-5
2013	Van Andel Arena	North Dakota	L 1-2

Source:^[5]

Player	Years	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Barret Ehgoetz	2001–2005	141	71	95	166	142
Mikko Sivonen	1996–2000	126	65	77	142	80
Michael Isherwood	1996–2000	126	55	87	142	112
Chris Moran	2006–2010	146	38	103	141	103
Ted Cook	2005–2009	139	78	59	137	226
Peter DeSantis	1996–2000	126	67	66	133	46
Sean Bentivoglio	2003–2007	145	43	89	132	142
Kyle Martin	1996–2000	124	60	69	129	58
Matt Caruana	2004–2008	146	51	78	129	108
Joe Tallari	2000–2004	144	60	64	124	111

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

minimum 30 games played

Player	Years	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Carsen Chubak	2010–2013	45	2588	27	11	6	93	6	.930	2.16
Chris Noonan	2009–2012	61	3262	29	18	8	132	3	.922	2.43
Greg Gardner	1996–2000	113	6638	64	33	12	270	16	.907	2.44
Juliano Pagliero	2005–2009	98	5311	47	32	11	231	8	.921	2.61
Chad Veltri	2019–2023	98	5691	41	46	9	253	6	.910	2.67

Statistics current through the end of the 2023–24 season.

As of August 26, 2024.^[6]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Deivids Rolovs	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2004-05-08	Riga, Latvia	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)	—
2		Jonathan Ziskie	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-03-19	Macomb, Michigan	Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)	—
4		Gļebs Prohorenkovs	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-11-12	Riga, Latvia	Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)	—
5		Noah Carlin	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-13	Marine City, Michigan	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	—
7		Nathan Oickle	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2003-02-05	Peterborough, Ontario	Surrey Eagles (BCHL)	—
8		Luke Mylymok	Graduate	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-09-29	Wilcox, Saskatchewan	Minnesota Duluth (NCHC)	—
9		Jay Ahearn	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-23	Staten Island, New York	Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL)	—
10		Trevor Hoskin	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2004-05-18	Belleville, Ontario	Cobourg Cougars (OJHL)	CGY, 106th overall 2024
11		Kyler Kleven	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2000-10-12	Moorhead, Minnesota	Minnesota Duluth (NCHC)	—
12		Ross Roloson	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2003-01-30	Woodbury, Minnesota	Lake Superior State (CCHA)	—
13		Grayson Dietrich	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-12-18	Calgary, Alberta	American Internationa (AHA)	—
14		Rainers Dārziņš	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	2004-05-06	Tukums, Latvia	Skellefteå AIK J20 (J20 Nationell)	—
16		Andy Reist	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2004-05-15	Waterloo, Ontario	Cobourg Cougars (OJHL)	—
17		Spencer Young	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2003-08-25	Elmira, Ontario	Collingwood Blues (OJHL)	—
18		Tyler Wallace	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2002-05-19	Calgary, Alberta	Blackfalds Bulldogs (AJHL)	—
19		Drew Vieten	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-01-10	Calabasas, California	Wichita Falls Warriors (NAHL)	—
21		Shane Ott	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-21	Centennial, Colorado	Janesville Jets (NAHL)	—
22		Lane Brockhoff	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2000-04-11	Edberg, Alberta	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)	—
23		Lars Rødne	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-22	Stavanager, Norway	Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)	—
24		Braden Doyle	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2001-08-24	Lynnfield, Massachusetts	Northeastern (HEA)	LAK, 157th overall 2019
25		Johnny Wescoe	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	2001-01-06	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	New Jersey Rockets (NCDC)	—
26		Alex Murray	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-03-17	Glenview, Illinois	Miami (NCHC)	—
27		Ray Murakami	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-04-03	Tomakomai, Japan	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)	—
28		Ethan Lund	Junior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-03-16	Calgary, Alberta	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)	—
29		Brett Roloson	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2000-12-29	Worcester, Massachusetts	Lake Superior State (CCHA)	—
30		Mitchell Day	Sophomore	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-01-18	St. Louis, Missouri	North Iowa Bulls (NAHL)	—
34		Noah Hackett	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-12-11	Ponoka, Alberta	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)	—
39		Pierce Charleson	Graduate	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2000-02-27	Aurora, Ontario	Alaska (NCAA)	—

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

First Team All-CHA

Second Team All-CHA

All-CHA Rookie Team

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

The following is a list of people associated with the men's ice hockey program who were elected into the Niagara Purple Eagles Hall of Fame (induction date in parentheses).^[7]

As of July 1, 2024.

Player	Position	Team(s)	Years	Games	Stanley Cups
Sean Bentivoglio	Left Wing	NYI	2008–2009	1	0
Matt Ryan	Center	LAK	2005–2006	12	0

Source: ^[8]

• Niagara Purple Eagles women's ice hockey

• Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey