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 5th season, 47–71–15 (.410)
Captain(s)	Chris Harpur
Arena	Dwyer Arena Capacity: 2,100
Location	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

For information on all Niagara University sports, see Niagara Purple Eagles

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 a member of Atlantic Hockey. They play at the Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, New York.^[2]

History[]

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 the College Hockey America, 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 Atlantic Hockey beginning in the 2010-11 season.

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.

Season-by-season results[]

Source:^[3]

Head coaches[]

As of the completion of 2020–21 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	4	47–71–15	.410
Totals	3 coaches	25 seasons	385–408–100	.487

NCAA Tournament appearances[]

Year	Location	Opponent	Result
2000	Target Center	New Hampshire	W 4-1
	Target Center	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

Statistical leaders[]

Source:^[4]

Career points leaders[]

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

Career goaltending leaders[]

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
	2010–2013	45	2588	27	11	6	93	6	.930	2.16
	2019–Present	33	1942	13	16	4	75	3	.924	2.30
	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
	2005–2009	98	5311	47	32	11	231	8	.921	2.61

Statistics current through the start of the 2021–22 season.

Roster[]

As of September 6, 2021.^[5]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Jesse Pomeroy	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-05-25	Prince George, British Columbia	Drayton Valley (AJHL)	—
3		Alexandre Roy	Junior	D	6' 7" (2.01 m)	216 lb (98 kg)	1998-09-21	Saint-Vallier, Quebec	Omaha (NCHC)	—
4		Chris Harpur (C)	Graduate	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1996-09-13	Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario	Cowichan Valley (BCHL)	—
5		Noah Carlin	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-13	Marine City, Michigan	Omaha (USHL)	—
7		Jordan Wishman	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-11-22	Des Moines, Iowa	Dubuque (USHL)	—
8		Walker Sommer (A)	Senior (RS)	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1996-04-29	Avon, Ohio	Air Force (AHA)	—
9		Albin Nilsson	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-09-18	Ljungby, Sweden	Providence (HEA)	—
10		Carter Randklev	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	1999-11-05	Moorhead, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
11		Olivier Gauthier	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-04-09	Ferme-Neuve, Quebec	Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)	—
12		Jason Pineo	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-02-23	Toronto, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
13		Zac Herrmann	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-11-06	Lancaster, New York	Odessa (NAHL)	—
14		Ryan Naumovski	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-07-28	Shelby Township, Michigan	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
15		Matt Cameron	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-06-08	Berwyn, Pennsylvania	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
16		Zane Kindrachuk	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2000-01-04	Calgary, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
17		Luke Edgerton	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-05-01	Wheeling, West Virginia	Jersey (NCDC)	—
18		Jay Ahearn	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-23	Staten Island, New York	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
19		Ryan Cox	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-07-23	St. Albert, Alberta	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
20		Christian Gorsack	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-06-08	Jeannette, Pennsylvania	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
21		Shane Ott	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-21	Centennial, Colorado	Janesville (NAHL)	—
22		Michael Faulkner	Graduate	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1996-02-25	Bronx, New York	Hobart (NEHC)	—
23		Lars Rødne	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-22	Stavanager, Norway	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
24		Josef Myšák	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-09-08	Litvínov, Czech Republic	Austin (NAHL)	—
25		Jon Hill (A)	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-10-09	Whitby, Ontario	Brockville (CCHL)	—
26		Brandon Stanley	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	1997-05-03	Sioux Lookout, Ontario	Philadelphia (NAHL)	—
27		Jack DeBoer	Senior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2000-08-17	Madison, New Jersey	Boston University (HEA)	—
28		Jack Zielinski (A)	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1996-08-08	Richmond, Virginia	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
30		Jake Sibell	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-01-03	Isanti, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
31		Chad Veltri	Junior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-06-03	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Youngstown (USHL)	—
35		Michael Corson	Senior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-04-22	Darien, Illinois	Denver (NCHC)	—

Awards and honors[]

NCAA[]

All-Americans[]

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

CHA[]

Individual Awards[]

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-CHA

Second Team All-CHA

All-CHA Rookie Team

Atlantic Hockey[]

Individual Awards[]

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

Niagara Purple Eagles Hall of Fame[]

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 parenthesis).^[6]

Purple Eagles in the NHL[]

Source: ^[7]