The 2020-21 Merrimack Warriors Men's ice hockey season was the 66th season of play for the program, the 32nd at the Division I level, and the 32nd season in the Hockey East conference. The Warriors represented Merrimack College and were coached by Scott Borek, in his 3rd season.
Season As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Merrimack's players would lose a season of play. However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.
Due to cancellations and rescheduling Merrimack began the season playing ranked teams in eight consecutive games. As a result, the team's record was a paltry 1–7. Despite the losses, the team was able to keep the score close in most games and used the experience to improve in the second half of the season. Merrimack ended the regular season on a 4–4–2 run, not a particularly stellar record, but a vast improvement over their start. The Warriors had risen to 9th in the conference and were getting ready to play Vermont on the final week of the regular season. Unfortunately, several members of the team entered COVID-19 protocols on March 4. As a result, not only was the Vermont series cancelled but, since the team could not feasibly receive a clean bill of health before the Hockey East Tournament began on March 10, Merrimack had to withdraw from postseason play and end their season.
James Corcoran and Jordan Seyfert sat out the season.
Departures Joey Cassetti Forward Transferred to Miami Tyler Drevitch Forward Graduation (Signed with Wheeling Nailers) Tyler Irvine Forward Graduation (Signed with Binghamton Devils) Griff Jeszka Forward Graduation (Signed with Worcester Railers) Sami Tavernier Forward Graduation (Signed with Syracuse Crunch) August Von Ungern-Sternberg Forward Signed professional contract (Rostock Piranhas)
Recruiting Zachary Borgiel Goaltender 20 Fort Gratiot, MI Alex Jefferies Forward 18 Lunenburg, MA; selected 121st overall in 2020 Filip Karlsson-Tägtström Forward 21 Stockholm, SWE Jakob Lee Forward 21 Owen Sound, ON Conor Lovett Forward 19 Franklin, MA Mick Messner Forward 21 Madison, WI; transfer from Wisconsin Max Newton Forward 22 Vancouver, BC; transfer from Alaska Kevin Sadovski Defenseman 21 Palm Coast, FL
Roster As of February 12, 2021.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style=";" | |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Participation Cancelled
Scoring statistics LW/RW 18 4 9 13 16 LW 17 7 5 12 10 LW 12 4 6 10 2 D 14 2 8 10 10 LW 12 3 6 9 12 D 16 3 6 9 6 D 18 3 6 9 22 F 15 4 4 8 10 F 16 4 4 8 2 F 9 3 4 7 4 D 14 1 6 7 8 D 14 1 6 7 2 LW 16 3 3 6 2 F 15 3 2 5 23 C 17 0 5 5 10 C 13 1 1 2 6 F 13 0 2 2 8 LW 14 0 2 2 2 D 15 1 0 1 4 F 4 0 1 1 0 G 3 0 0 0 0 G 3 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 0 C 6 0 0 0 4 C 9 0 0 0 2 D 10 0 0 0 2 D 12 0 0 0 4 C 13 0 0 0 10 G 15 0 0 0 0 Bench - 18 - - - 4 Total 47 86 133 185
Goaltending statistics 3 141 1 0 0 7 67 0 .905 2.97 15 792 4 8 2 41 310 0 .883 3.10 3 147 0 3 0 14 73 0 .839 5.72 Empty Net - 11 - - - 4 - - - - Total 18 1092 5 11 2 66 450 0 .872 3.63
Rankings
PollWeekPre123456789101112131415161718192021 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.
Awards and honors Alex Jefferies Hockey East Rookie Team
References