The 2025–26 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 30th season of play for the program, the 28th at the Division I level and the 2nd in Atlantic Hockey America. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their homes games at the Dwyer Arena and were coached by Jason Lammers in his 9th season.
Season With Niagara losing its three top scorers from last year, among several others, the Purple Eagles were hard-pressed to replicate their outstanding scoring production. While several new additions would be key features in Niagara's offense over the course of the year, particularly two transfers from Canadian colleges (Declan McDonnell and Jacob Maillet), the team still saw its output fall by nearly a full goal per game (3.35 to 2.51). With the vastly reduced scoring, the team was much more reliant on its defense. The Purple Eagles were better at limiting chances for their opponents but the loss of Pierce Charleson did not serve them well in goal. Deivs Rolovs, in his first season as a starter, put up respectable numbers but his lack of consistency led the team to utilizing Tomas Anderson in several games.
A feature of Niagara's season was the club's poor performance on the road. While the Eagles were able to post a winning record at Dwyer Arena, the team was deficient on the road. In just 3 of 16 away matches did Niagara score more than 2 goals; coincidentally, those games were the only three that did not end up in defeat. The subpar road record led to the team finishing the regular season nine games below .500. While Niagara fell 4 spots in the conference standings, they were nonetheless able to earn a postseason home game and hosted Army in the first round.
Their final home game of the year began well with Niagara scoring three times in the first. With a commanding lead, the team seemed to relax in the second and allowed the Black Knights to claw their way back into the match. Army's three-goal second was followed up with a fourth goal mid-way through the third and put Niagara on the brink. Fortunately for the Eagles, Nicholas Niemo responded just 14 seconds later and knotted the score at 4-all. A little over two minutes afterwards, Noah Hackett converted on the team's fourth power play to put them back into the lead. The defense stiffened and held Army back for the rest of the game, rescuing victory from the Knights. The quarterfinal round pitted the team against Sacred Heart and saw the offense stopped cold. Niagara scored one goal in each of the two games (both by Dallon Melin). They never held the lead and were 1 for 7 on the power play. The offense squandered a solid performance by Rolovs who stopped 55 of 59 shots and gave the Eagles a chance to win both matches.
Departures Jay Ahearn Forward Transferred to Massachusetts Lowell Noah Carlin Defenseman Graduate (signed with Kalamazoo Wings) Pierce Charleson Goaltender Graduation (signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits) Rainers Dārziņš Forward Graduation (retired) Braden Doyle Defenseman Graduation (signed with Greensboro Gargoyles) Trevor Hoskin Forward Transferred to Merrimack Kyler Kleven Forward Graduate transfer to Augsburg Alex Murray Defenseman Graduation (signed with Vimmerby HC) Luke Mylymok Forward Graduation (signed with Rapid City Rush) Shane Ott Forward Graduation (signed with Bloomington Bison) Lars Christian Rødne Forward Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder) Brett Roloson Forward Graduation (signed with Allen Americans) Tyler Wallace Forward Transferred to Rensselaer Johnny Wescoe Forward Joined club team
Recruiting Tomas Anderson Goaltender 20 Stillwater, MN Mitchell Becker Defenseman 24 Rogers, MN; transfer from Massachusetts Lowell Davis Codd Forward 22 Brighton, MI; joined mid-season Cameron Eke Defenseman 20 St. Catharines, ON Marshall Finnie Forward 21 Lethbridge, AB Aidan Litke Forward 22 Winnipeg, MB; joined mid-season Jacob Maillet Forward 22 Dundas, ON; transfer from St. Francis Xavier Declan McDonnell Forward 23 Buffalo, NY; transfer from Saint Mary's; selected 217th overall in 2020 Dallon Melin Forward 23 Camrose, AB; transfer from Calgary Maxim Muranov Forward 21 Moskva, RUS Nicholas Niemo Forward 24 Middlebury, VT; transfer from Maine Hunter Wallace Forward 22 Oak Lake, MB; transfer from Merrimack Tyson Zimmer Forward 21 Russell, MB
Roster As of January 1, 2026.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics C/RW 37 12 14 26 20 F 33 8 14 22 26 C 37 8 14 22 8 F 37 12 9 21 69 C 37 9 12 21 25 F 37 12 6 18 31 C 36 1 16 17 20 D 34 2 12 14 19 D 34 3 10 13 27 LW 29 5 6 11 29 D 32 4 7 11 18 F 24 3 7 10 4 D 37 2 7 9 12 F 34 1 8 9 10 D 37 0 8 8 30 D 36 2 4 6 14 D 27 1 4 5 4 C/LW 36 1 4 5 22 RW 14 2 2 4 6 F 26 2 2 4 18 RW 12 2 1 3 2 F 12 1 1 2 26 D 24 0 1 1 10 F 1 0 0 0 0 G 5 0 0 0 0 G 16 0 0 0 0 G 23 0 0 0 0 Bench – – – – – 14 Total 93 167 260 452
Goaltending statistics 5 213:30 1 0 1 9 96 0 .914 2.53 24 1195:44 8 14 0 58 549 1 .904 2.91 16 805:30 4 9 0 43 349 0 .890 3.20 Empty Net - 21:39 - - - 8 - - - - Total 37 2236:23 13 23 1 118 994 1 .894 3.17
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRRVRVNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USA HockeyNRNRRVNRNRNR 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