The Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Canisius University. The Golden Griffins are members of Atlantic Hockey America, formed shortly after the 2023–24 season by the merger of their former hockey league, the Atlantic Hockey Association, with College Hockey America. They play at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York across the street from KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Canisius has won an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament twice, after winning the Atlantic Hockey title in the conference playoffs in both 2013 and 2023, but lost in the first round to the top-ranked team each time.
History
Early years Canisius founded its hockey team, then known as the Ice Griffs, in the fall of 1971 as a club sport led by Dr. David Dietz. Two years later they joined their first conference and by 1976 had claimed two conference titles. Dietz resigned after the 1976 championship and allowed Mike Kelly to take over. Kelly kept the team performing at a high level but finished runner up two years running before reclaiming the title in 1979. Canisius join a new conference the following year and after claiming the championship, their fourth in a six-year span, the program was elevated to varsity status.
With a new division to play in Canisius also received a new coach in Brian Cavanaugh. Their first two seasons in Division III went well for the Golden Griffins but when Cavanaugh took a year off in 1982 the program slumped to single-digit wins before rebounding after the coach's return. During Cavanaugh's tenure he kept the team mostly above .500 and aside from a dip in the early 1990s Canisius was a contender for the ECAC West crown most years. Canisius was able to reach two ECAC West title game in the '90s but lost both contests by one goal.
Division I When the MAAC announced it was forming an ice hockey division in 1997 only three member teams had extant programs, one of those was Canisius who became a founding member of the league that began play in 1998–99. The Golden Griffins played well in their first season, finishing with a winning record, but it was their play in the conference tournament, allowing them to reach the title match, that made Canisius stand out. Unfortunately that was the height of Canisius' time in the MAAC. Despite a 20-win season the following year the Griffs were bounced in the first round and won only one MAAC playoff game after their inaugural year in D-I.
When two of the MAAC's teams ended their ice hockey sponsorship in 2003 the conference was able to end its support for the hockey division. The remaining nine schools simply reformed into a new conference called Atlantic Hockey and continued on without much trouble. Canisius' trouble in the conference tournament continued throughout the decade and saw them win two out of their first ten games. During that streak, however, the Canisius program went through some upheaval. Long-time coach Brian Cavanaugh came under fire for his conduct through complaints from his players. In December 2004 he was fired when players threatened to sit out a game and he was soon replaced by assistant Clancy Seymour. The following season began with yet a third coach, Dave Smith and it took the new bench boss a few years to repair the program.
In 2009–10 Canisius posted its first winning season in nine years and reach the conference semifinal. After a couple of modest seasons the Golden Griffins shocked Atlantic Hockey by winning the 2013 Tournament as a 7th-seed and made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Golden Griffins played well but bowed out in their first game against top-seeded Quinnipiac. Over the next few years Smith pushed the program to better results, culminating in their first conference title in 2017. Smith was hired away by Rensselaer soon after but the Golden Griffins continue to perform well under new coach Trevor Large.
The Golden Griffins finished fourth in the 2022–23 Atlantic Hockey division standings. Canisius defeated fifth seeded Army in three games to advance to the conference tournament semifinals, where they defeated sixth seeded Niagara in three games and advanced to their second straight conference championship game, their first as hosts. The Golden Griffins went on to defeat seventh seeded Holy Cross by a score of 3–0 to clinch the program's second appearance in the NCAA tournament. Canisius faced the No. 1 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the opening round of the tournament. Canisius maintained a 2–1 lead early in the second period thanks to goals by forwards Daniel DiGrande and Nick Bowman, before allowing two goals to make the score 3–2 heading into the third period. The Golden Griffins would end up losing to the Golden Gophers by a score of 9–2, finishing the season with a 20–19–3 record.
Shortly after the 2023–24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America merged to form Atlantic Hockey America. The predecessor conferences had operated with a single commissioner and shared conference staff since 2010.
Season-by-season results
Source:
All-time coaching records As of the completion of 2025–26 season Tenure Coach Years Record Pct. 1980–1982, 1983–2004‡ Brian Cavanaugh 24‡ 342–306–56 1982–1983 Carl Koeppel 1 9–16–1 2004–2005 Clancy Seymour 1† 9–8–3† 2005–2017 Dave Smith 12 172–223–59 2017–Present Trevor Large 9 129–158–27 Totals 5 Coaches 46 Years 660–712–146 † interim head coach ‡ fired mid-season
Awards and honors Source:
NCAA AHCA First Team All-Americans 2016-17: Charles Williams, G
MAAC
Individual awards MAAC Goaltender of the Year Sean Weaver: 2000
All-Conference teams First Team All-MAAC
1998–99: Derek Gilham, D 1999–00: Sean Weaver, G
Second Team All-MAAC 1998–99: David Deeves, F
MAAC All-Rookie Team
1998–99:Joel Tarvudd, D; David Deeves, F 2002–03: Tim Songin, D
Atlantic Hockey
Individual awards
Player of the Year Cory Conacher: 2010 Charles Williams: 2017 Dylan McLaughlin: 2018
Rookie of the Year David Kostuch: 2009 Matteo Giampa: 2024
Coach of the Year Dave Smith: 2017
Best Defensive Forward David Kasch: 2008 Ryan Schmelzer: 2017
Best Defenseman Cameron Heath: 2017
Regular Season Scoring Trophy Cory Conacher, LW: 2010 Dylan McLaughlin: 2018
Regular Season Goaltending Award Keegan Asmundson: 2015 Charles Williams: 2017 Jacob Barczewski: 2021
Individual Sportsmanship Award Dylan McLaughlin: 2019
Most Valuable Player in Tournament Kyle Gibbons, F: 2013 Jacob Barczewski, G: 2023
All-Conference teams First Team All-Atlantic Hockey
2004–05: Bryan Worosz, G 2009–10: Cory Conacher, F 2014–15: Chris Rumble, D 2015–16: Shane Conacher, F 2016–17: Charles Williams, F 2017–18: Cameron Heath, F; Dylan McLaughlin, F 2018–19: Dylan McLaughlin, F 2020–21: Jacob Barczewski, G; Keaton Mastrodonato, F 2021–22: Jacob Barczewski, G
Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey
2009–10: Carl Hudson, D 2010–11: Cory Conacher, F 2014–15: Keegan Asmundson, G; Ralph Cuddemi, F 2015–16: Ralph Cuddemi, F 2016–17: Cameron Heath, D; Ryan Schmelzer, F 2017–18: Lester Lancaster, D 2019–20: Matt Hoover, F; Nick Hutchison, F 2021–22: Keaton Mastrodonato, F 2023–24: Matteo Giampa, F
Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey
2008–09: Carl Hudson, D; Jason Weeks, F 2009–10: Vincent Scarcella, F 2012–13: Kyle Gibbons, F 2015–16: Ben Danforth, D 2016–17: Dylan McLaughlin, F 2017–18: Ryan Schmelzer, F 2019–20: Matt Stief, F 2021–22: David Melaragni, F 2022–23: Jacob Barczewski, G; Keaton Mastrodonato, F
Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team
2005–06: Dan Giffin, G 2006–07: Josh Heidinger, F 2007–08: Vincent Scarsella, F 2008–09: David Kostuch, F 2016–17: Nick Hutchinson, F 2017–18: Grant Meyer, F 2023–24: Matteo Giampa, F
Atlantic Hockey America All-Conference teams Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey America
2024–25: Matteo Giampa, F
Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey America
2025–26: Grant Porter, F; Walter Zacher, F; Killian Kiecker-Olson, F
All-Atlantic Hockey America Rookie Team
2024–25: Dominic Payne, D 2025–26: F. J. Buteau, D
Canisius Hall of Fame The following is a list of Canisius' men's ice hockey players who were elected into the Canisius College Hall of Fame (induction year in parentheses).
Derrick Bishop (2013) Andre Bourgeault (2006) Dr. David Dietz (2001) Joe Federico (2005) Josh Oort (2010) Gary Roessler (1998) Mike Sisti (2002) Kevin Sykes (1999) Mike Torrillo (1999) Brian Worosz (2016)
Statistical leaders Source:
Career points leaders Player Years GP G A Pts PIM Mike Torillo 1984–1988 117 121 144 265 N/A Kevin Sykes 1984–1988 104 114 120 234 N/A Josh Oort 1994–1998 103 67 105 172 49 Mike Sisti 1986–1990 120 74 89 163 156 Gary Roessler 1980–1984 90 68 84 152 N/A Andre Bourgeault 1992–1996 107 55 93 148 127 Cory Conacher 2007–2011 129 62 85 147 156 Dylan McLaughlin 2015–2019 151 58 89 147 28 Dave Yablecki 1987–1991 115 59 86 145 21 Derrick Bishop 1991–1995 103 46 98 144 114
Career goaltending leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 2000 minutes Player Years GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAACharles Williams 2016–2017 34 2009 21 7 5 61 6 .943 1.82Keegan Asmundson 2012–2015 45 2422 18 15 6 84 3 .930 2.08Jacob Barczewski 2019–2023 100 5642 44 42 8 245 6 .917 2.61Tony Capobianco 2010–2014 101 5858 39 47 10 265 8 .920 2.72Daniel Urbani 2016–2020 42 2433 17 22 3 115 1 .915 2.84 Statistics current through the end of the 2022-23 season.
Current roster As of August 7, 2024.
Notable former players Notable alumni include: Dylan McLaughlin '19: Signed to an NHL contract by the St. Louis Blues Carl Hudson '10: Signed to an NHL contract by the Florida Panthers Ryan Stewart '98: Current Senior Advisor for the San Jose Sharks and 3x Stanley Cup champion as Director of Pro Scouting with the Chicago Blackhawks
Golden Griffins in the NHL
As of July 1, 2025.
Player Position Team(s) Years Games Cory ConacherCenterTBL, OTT, BUF, NYI2012–20201930
See also Canisius Golden Griffins
References
External links