The 2020–21 RIT Tigers men's ice hockey season was the 57th season of play for the program, the 16th at the Division I level, and the 15th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Tigers represented the Rochester Institute of Technology and were coached by Wayne Wilson, in his 22nd 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 RIT'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.
Throughout the entire season, RIT was a Jekyll and Hyde team, playing far better at home than they did on the road. Despite having no home fans for the entire season, as a result of COVID protocols, RIT won 7 of their 9 home games, including a sweep of then-ranked Robert Morris. Once the team hit the road the offense quieted down and the defense turned into a sieve. Their only two road wins came early in the season, both against a lowly Niagara team, and the resulting imbalance in play caused the Tigers to hover around the .500 mark for most of the season. RIT finished 5th in the conference and caused the team to travel for their quarterfinal meeting with Canisius. The result was nearly predictable and the Tigers were outscored 4–11 in the two games, ending their abbreviated season.
Daniel Chenard sat out the season.
Departures Darren Brady Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Macon Mayhem) Adam Brubacher Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Bridgeport Sound Tigers) Shawn Cameron Forward Graduation (Signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits) Ryan Kruper Forward Graduation Thomas Maia Forward Returned to juniors (Nanaimo Clippers) Chris McKay Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Pensacola Ice Flyers) Jordan Peacock Forward Graduation Zach Salloum Defenseman Left program Brody Valette Defenseman Graduation
Recruiting Calvon Boots Defenseman 22 Fairbanks, AK; transfer from American International Daniel Chenard Goaltender 20 Waterloo, ON Diarmad DiMurro Defenseman 21 Highland Mills, NY Aiden Hansen-Bukata Defenseman 21 Delta, BC Cody Laskosky Forward 21 New Norway, AB Dimitri Mikrogiannakis Defenseman 21 Aurora, ON
Roster As of September 15, 2020.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|RIT Lost Series 0–2
Scoring Statistics C 18 12 13 25 25 C/RW 20 9 13 22 22 LW 20 7 14 21 4 D 20 4 14 18 8 F 18 4 12 16 14 F 17 6 8 14 4 F 19 6 6 12 2 C/RW 15 6 4 10 8 RW 20 5 4 9 0 D 16 1 5 6 12 D 18 0 5 5 15 F 20 0 5 5 28 F 18 2 2 4 8 C 19 3 0 3 10 D 12 2 1 3 6 D 19 1 2 3 4 D 18 0 3 3 8 D 20 0 2 2 2 D 14 0 1 1 4 G 2 0 0 0 0 G 6 0 0 0 0 LW 7 0 0 0 0 LW 11 0 0 0 6 G 13 0 0 0 0 F 13 0 0 0 2 Bench - - - - - 2 Total 68 114 182 173
Goaltending statistics 6 328 3 3 0 16 160 0 .909 2.92 2 119 1 1 0 6 61 0 .910 3.01 13 748 5 5 2 43 286 0 .869 3.45 Empty Net - 13 - - - 5 - - - - Total 20 1210 9 9 2 70 577 0 .879 3.47
Rankings
PollWeekPre123456789101112131415161718192021 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.
Awards and honors Will Calverley AHCA East Second Team All-American Will Calverley Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year Will Calverley Atlantic Hockey Best Defensive Forward Will Calverley Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Scoring Trophy Dan Willett Atlantic Hockey First Team Will Calverley
References