The 2025–26 Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey season was the 46th season of play for the program, the 28th at the Division I level, and the 2nd in Atlantic Hockey America. The Golden Griffins represented Canisius College in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at the LECOM Harborcenter and were coached by Trevor Large in his 9th season.
Season Canisius kicked off their season with a bang, winning five of their first six matches. Chase Clark was living up to his pedigree as an NHL draft pick while the offense saw a sizable boost from the improved play of Grant Porter and the addition of Walter Zacher. However, after the hot start the team immediately slid into a skid and lost seven of their next eleven games. Clark's poor play necessitated a change in goal, allowing Petter Wickström Stumer to play a large number of games in the second half.
At first, the switch seemed to work. Canisius went 6–2 in January with both of their goaltenders playing well. The offense, too, improved after the holiday break; Killian Kiecker-Olson, in his final season of college play, finally found his scoring touch after Thanksgiving and posted numbers that dwarfed his career totals. Some shaky goaltending crept in at the beginning of February and caused the Griffins to slip a bit in the standings. The team was only able to finish with an even record in conference play and they just missed getting a bye into the quarterfinal round.
The postseason began with Canisius hosting Mercyhurst, the worst-ranked team in all of college hockey. The Golden Griffins dominated play in their final home game of the season, outshooting the Lakers 49–13. However, the team was stymied by a superlative performance by the Mercyhurst netminder. Despite getting six power plays in the game, including a brief 5-on-3, Canisius could only convert on one of their man-advantages and they were unable to overcome a lackluster outing from Clark. Down by 1 late in the third, the Griffins were forced to pull their goaltender but all that did was allow Mercyhurst to score a pair of empty-net goals and put an end to Canisius' season.
Departures Ben Bonisteel Goaltender Transferred to Brock Jack Budd Defenseman Transferred to Toronto Metropolitan Alec Cicero Forward Graduation (signed with Worcester Railers) Michael Colella Forward Graduation (signed with Peoria Rivermen) Jackson Decker Defenseman Graduation (signed with Allen Americans) Luke Farthing Defenseman Graduation (signed with Birmingham Bulls) Matteo Giampa Forward Transferred to Miami Cooper Haar Forward Graduation (retired) Kyle Haskins Forward Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) Cole Kodsi Forward Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) Keegan Langefels Defenseman Graduation (retired) Jackson Nieuwendyk Forward Left program (retired) Dominic Payne Defenseman Transferred to Massachusetts Lowell Cody Schiavon Defenseman Graduation (igned with Orlando Solar Bears) Matthew Vermaeten Forward Graduation (signed with Diables Rouges de Valenciennes)
Recruiting Carter Anderson Forward 21 Thompson, MB J. F. Buteau Defenseman 21 Montréal, QC Rhys Chiddenton Forward 22 Campbellville, ON; transfer from Bemidji State Chase Clark Goaltender 23 Williamsville, NY; transfer from American International; selected 183rd overall in 2021 Brice Cooke Forward 21 Orangeville, ON David Elmy Forward 20 Mississauga, ON Jason Gallucci Defenseman 21 Robbinsville, NJ; transfer from Penn State Kyan Haldenby Forward 21 Toronto, ON Joseph Messina Defenseman 23 Woodbridge, ON; transfer from Union Cole Miller Forward 20 Edmonton, AB Jack Pascucci Defenseman 23 North Andover, MA; transfer from Connecticut Josh Phillips Defenseman 24 Getzville, NY; graduate transfer from Union Nick Strom Defenseman 25 Dayton, MN; graduate transfer from Rensselaer Walter Zacher Forward 23 Buffalo, NY; transfer from Robert Morris
Roster As of August 7, 2024.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics F 35 12 23 35 12 C 32 19 12 31 20 C 35 8 18 26 26 LW 35 11 11 22 12 RW 35 8 12 20 6 D 31 5 12 17 20 D 33 4 11 15 6 RW 17 8 6 14 0 F 27 8 6 14 2 F 25 5 8 13 6 F 30 4 8 12 10 D 35 1 9 10 38 D 35 2 7 9 28 LW/RW 32 4 4 8 10 F 33 2 5 7 10 C 18 2 4 6 17 D 35 0 6 6 40 F 26 2 2 4 2 F 34 2 2 4 18 D 26 0 4 4 4 LW 11 0 2 2 4 RW 4 0 1 1 0 F 9 0 1 1 10 D 12 0 1 1 2 G 24 0 1 1 15 G 2 0 0 0 0 C 5 0 0 0 2 D 8 0 0 0 0 D 8 0 0 0 4 G 12 0 0 0 0 Bench – – – – – 8 Total 107 176 283 332
Goaltending statistics 12 659:26 6 5 0 29 336 1 .921 2.64 24 1263:02 11 10 2 62 578 1 .903 2.73 4 62:57 0 1 0 6 28 0 .824 5.72 Empty Net - 31:22 - - - 8 - - - - Total 35 2116:47 17 16 2 105 942 2 .900 2.98
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRRVRVRVNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USA HockeyNRNRNRRVNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References