The 2023–24 Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey season was the 37th season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the 21st in Atlantic Hockey. The Lakers represented Mercyhurst University and were coached by Rick Gotkin, in his 36th season.

Season Mercyhurst began the season enough, sandwiching a pair of shootout victories between very narrow losses to two Big Ten teams. The Lakers then spent the remainder of the first half of their season playing around the .500 mark, seeing decent scoring totals buoyed by solid if unspectacular defensive play. The result was that the Lakers were sitting with a winning record in conference play and had an outside chance to earn a bye into the conference quarterfinals.

In the second half, Mercyhurst started with their best offensive performance to date, scoring 7 goals against Sacred Heart. Unfortunately, the offense dried up afterwards. Mercyhurst went over a month without a win, losing nine consecutive games. The streak sent the team plummeting to the bottom of the standings and also saw their defense surrender many glorious scoring opportunities. Mercyhurst managed to pull themselves out of the dive with a surprising win over ranked RIT but by then the damage had been done. The Lakers finished the year in 9th place and were forced to hit the road for their first round match.

The offense again went silent and Canisius scored the first four goals in the game. With nothing left to lose, Rick Gotkin pulled Owen Say for an extra attacked when the team got on a mid-third period power play and the extra attacker enabled the team to finally get on the scoreboard. Several minutes later, The Griffins were assessed a major penalty and gave Mercyhurst the opening the needed. The team was unable to capitalize during the first half of the power play but, after Canisius was given a slashing minor, Mercyhurst managed to add a second goal on the 6-on-3 man-advantage. Still needing two goals to tie, Say was again pulled when play resumed but, after about a minute, Canisius was able to cage an empty-net goal that sealed the game.

On November 11, Rick Gotkin became just the 16th coach in NCAA history to win 600 games. He was also the 7th coach to do so with one team.

Due to a snowstorm, the game against Niagara scheduled on January 13 was postponed to a later date.

Departures Jon Bendorf Forward Graduation (retired) Carson Brière Forward Dismissed from program (signed with HC 19 Humenné) Eric Esposito Forward Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) Gueorgui Feduolov Forward Graduation (signed with Norfolk Admirals) Tyler Harmon Goaltender Graduation (signed with Atlanta Gladiators) Dalton Hunter Forward Graduation (signed with Fayetteville Marksmen) Paul Maust Forward Graduate transfer to Robert Morris Joey Maziarz Defenseman Graduation (retired) Brendon Michaelian Defenseman Graduation (retired) Owen Norton Defenseman Graduation (signed with Maine Mariners) Rylee St. Onge Forward Graduate transfer to Robert Morris Cade Townend Defenseman Graduate transfer to Robert Morris Carver Watson Defenseman Graduation (retired)

Recruiting Barrett Brooks Forward 21 Stevens Point, WI; transfer from Western Michigan Simon Bucheler Goaltender 21 Saint-Laurent, QC Tyler DesRochers Defenseman 20 Howell, NJ Davis Fry Forward 20 Regina, SK Sean James Forward 21 Almonte, ON Will Margel Forward 22 Potomac, MD; transfer from New Hampshire Jackson McCarthy Defenseman 21 West Seneca, NY Connor Pelc Forward 20 Buffalo, NY Cameron Ricotta Forward 21 Cheektowaga, NY Trent Sambrook Defenseman 21 Winnipeg, MB Boris Skalos Forward 20 Clifton, NJ Spencer Smith Forward 21 St. Catharines, ON Jaryd Sych Defenseman 20 Airdrie, AB

Roster As of September 14, 2023

Standings

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season

!colspan=12 style=";" |

Scoring statistics F 35 7 21 28 23 F 35 15 12 27 10 RW 35 6 17 23 8 F 31 6 13 19 10 D 34 4 14 18 35 LW 35 5 13 18 14 F 31 10 5 15 10 F 30 6 9 15 36 D 31 10 4 14 32 D 28 3 10 13 14 F 27 5 7 12 8 C 33 5 6 11 37 F 27 4 6 10 23 F 27 3 7 10 4 F 34 3 5 8 0 F 23 2 6 8 16 D 35 2 6 8 33 F 29 1 4 5 14 F 5 1 1 2 0 D 21 0 2 2 10 F 8 0 1 1 0 D 16 0 1 1 4 D 24 0 1 1 6 D 3 0 0 0 0 G 31 0 0 0 2 F 8 0 0 0 8 G 8 0 0 0 0 F 5 0 0 0 2 Total 98 171 269 359 Source:

Goaltending statistics 31 1697:52 8 17 4 91 950 0 .913 3.22 12 397:45 1 5 0 26 237 1 .901 3.92 Empty Net - 40:01 - - - 9 - - - - Total 35 2135:38 9 22 4 126 1187 1 .904 3.54

Rankings

PollWeekPre 1 234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

Awards and honors Owen Say Atlantic Hockey Third Team Trent Sambrook Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team Boris Skalos

References