2021–22 Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Merrimack Warriors Men's ice hockey season was the 67th season of play for the program, the 33rd at the Division I level, and the 33rd season in the Hockey East conference. The Warriors represented Merrimack College and were coached by Scott Borek, in his 4th season.

2021–22 Merrimack Warriors
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceT–4th Hockey East
Home iceJ. Thom Lawler Rink
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall19–15–1
Conference13–11–0
Home10–6–1
Road9–9–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachScott Borek
Assistant coachesJosh Ciocco
Dan Jewell
Chris Cowans
Captain(s)Max Newton
Alternate captain(s)Declan Carlile
Logan Drevitch
Liam Walsh
Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season

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Merrimack entered the season having posted losing records in each of the previous nine seasons. Early in the season it appeared that trend would continue when the Warriors lost four consecutive games and then turned to a freshman goaltender to try and salvage their season. Hugo Ollas had a bit of a rough go at first, but he helped stabilize the back end for Merrimack and enabled the team to play .500 hockey in November and December.

While their record was still under water, the team had a bigger problem to contend with after returning from the winter break. A pair of games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence were cancelled due to COVID-19.[1] Bentley was swiftly added to the schedule and kicked off a 5-game winning streak that saw Merrimack score four victories over ranked teams.

The quality wins earned the Warriors the first appearance in the national rankings in years and made it possible for their supporters to hope for a tournament bid. Their time in the top 20 was short-lived and Merrick lost their very next game. The team flirted with the rankings for most of the remainder of the season, but sweep at the hands of Northeastern in the regular season finale ended any chance of an at-large bid.

Entering the postseason, Merrimack knew they would likely have to win the Hockey East championship in order to make the NCAA tournament. After a solid win over Maine in the opening round, the Warriors travelled to Lowell to take on the River Hawks. Despite outshooting their opponents, Ollas and Borgiel combined to allow 7 goals and the Warriors were drubbed out of contention. Regardless of the sour end, this was the most successful season for the program in a decade and was Scott Borek's best season behind the bench since 1997.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
James Corcoran Goaltender   United States Transferred to New England
Dominic Dockery Defenseman   United States Graduate transfer to Maine
Chase Gresock Forward   United States Transferred to Miami
Tyler Heidt Defenseman   Canada Transferred to Regina
Patrick Holway Defenseman   United States Graduation (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins)
Jere Huhtamaa Goaltender   Finland Signed professional contract (TUTO Hockey)
Patrick Kramer Forward   United States Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays)
Jakob Lee Forward   Canada Transferred to Rensselaer
Conor Lovett Forward   United States Returned to juniors (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders)
Jacob Modry Defenseman   United States Transferred to Plattsburgh State
Christian Simeone Forward   United States Signed professional contract (Utah Grizzlies)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Adam Arvedson Defenseman   Sweden 20 Karlstad, SWE
Colby Bukes Defenseman   United States 22 Littleton, CO; transfer from Minnesota State
Matt Copponi Forward   United States 18 Mansfield, MA
Jake Durflinger Forward   United States 23 Walnut Creek, CA; graduate transfer from Denver
Christian Felton Defenseman   United States 21 Medina, OH; transfer from Bentley
Mark Hillier Forward   Canada 19 Labrador City, NL
Steven Jandric Forward   Canada 24 Prince George, BC; graduate transfer from Denver
Devlin O'Brien Forward   Canada 19 Palm Coast, FL
Hugo Ollas Goaltender   Sweden 19 Linköping, SWE; selected 197th overall in 2020
Ivan Zivlak Defenseman   Sweden 19 Gislaved, SWE

Roster

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As of August 24, 2021.[2]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1   Hugo Ollas Freshman G 6' 8" (2.03 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 2002-04-24 Linköping, Sweden Linköping J20 (J20 Nationell) NYR, 197th overall 2020
2   Christian Felton Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-04 Medina, Ohio Bentley (AHA)
3   Declan Carlile (A) Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2000-05-18 Hartland, Michigan Muskegon (USHL)
4   Mike Brown Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 209 lb (95 kg) 2001-04-03 Belmont, Massachusetts Youngstown (USHL)
5   Kevin Sadovski Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1999-07-06 Palm Coast, Florida Utica (NCDC)
6   Zach Vinnell Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-04-03 Cochrane, Alberta Camrose (AJHL)
7   Zach Uens Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2001-05-13 Belleville, Ontario Wellington (OJHL) FLA, 105th overall 2020
8   Liam Dennison Junior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1999-02-07 Manotick, Ontario Youngstown (USHL)
9   Liam Walsh (A) Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1999-07-14 Bridgeville, Pennsylvania Cedar Rapids (USHL)
10   Max Newton (C) Graduate F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-11-14 Vancouver, British Columbia Alaska (WCHA)
11   Mick Messner Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1999-04-20 Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin (Big Ten)
12   Jordan Seyfert Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 1999-04-03 Annville, Pennsylvania Fargo (USHL)
13   Steven Jandric Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-08-18 Prince George, British Columbia Denver (NCHC)
14   Jake Durflinger Graduate F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1997-10-06 Walnut Creek, California Denver (NCHC)
15   Hugo Esselin Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 199 lb (90 kg) 2000-07-15 Stockholm, Sweden Djurgårdens J20 (J20 SuperElit)
16   Regan Kimens Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1999-03-28 Vaughan, Ontario Coquitlam (BCHL)
17   Mac Welsher Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1999-04-24 Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan Des Moines (USHL)
18   Ben Brar Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1998-11-19 Abbotsford, British Columbia Prince George (BCHL)
19   Alex Jefferies Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 199 lb (90 kg) 2001-11-08 Lunenburg, Massachusetts The Gunnery (USHS–CT) NYI, 121st overall 2020
20   Mark Hillier Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-03-18 Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador Summerside (MHL)
21   Matt Copponi Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 2003-06-04 Mansfield, Massachusetts Dexter Southfield (USHS–MA)
22   Logan Drevitch (A) Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1998-04-14 Middleborough, Massachusetts Boston Bandits (NCDC)
23   Devlin O'Brien Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-04-05 Toronto, Ontario Penticton (BCHL)
24   Ryan Nolan Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1998-07-14 Winnetka, Illinois Victoria (BCHL)
25   Filip Karlsson-Tägtström Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1999-07-14 Stockholm, Sweden Sioux Falls (USHL)
26   Ivan Zivlak Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 2002-08-08 Gislaved, Sweden Linköping J20 (J20 Nationell)
27   Adam Arvedson Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 2001-08-30 Karlstad, Sweden Färjestad (J20 Nationell)
28   Filip Forsmark Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 166 lb (75 kg) 1998-06-23 Skövde, Sweden Tri-City (USHL)
29   Zachary Borgiel Sophomore G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-04-27 Fort Gratiot, Michigan Cowichan Valley (BCHL)
30   Troy Kobryn Junior G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1999-02-14 Hillsborough, New Jersey Cedar Rapids (USHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SOW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#12 Northeastern 24 15 8 1 1 1 1 47 68 46 39 25 13 1 99 68
#10 Massachusetts * 24 14 8 2 2 3 1 46 77 54 37 22 13 2 117 88
#13 Massachusetts Lowell 24 15 8 1 1 0 1 46 62 48 35 21 11 3 102 74
#19 Connecticut 24 14 10 0 2 1 0 41 73 61 36 20 16 0 109 89
Boston University 24 13 8 3 3 2 0 41 69 58 35 19 13 3 107 89
Merrimack 24 13 11 0 1 3 0 41 70 70 35 19 15 1 109 99
#20 Providence 24 12 11 1 1 1 1 38 61 52 38 22 14 2 118 82
Boston College 24 9 12 3 0 1 1 32 67 77 38 15 18 5 114 123
New Hampshire 24 8 15 1 2 2 0 25 47 71 34 14 19 1 76 95
Vermont 24 6 16 2 3 1 2 20 41 72 35 8 25 2 59 101
Maine 24 5 17 2 2 3 1 19 54 80 33 7 22 4 74 111
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 7 7:00 PM at #11 Providence Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island NESN Borgiel L 2–5  2,587 0–1–0 (0–1–0)
October 9 7:00 PM Sacred Heart* J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel W 4–2  1,152 1–1–0
October 15 7:00 PM at Colgate* Class of 1965 ArenaHamilton, New York   Ollas L 1–2 OT 917 1–2–0
October 16 4:00 PM at Colgate* Class of 1965 ArenaHamilton, New York   Borgiel W 5–3  614 2–2–0
October 22 7:00 PM at #16 Boston University J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel W 3–2  2,174 3–2–0 (1–1–0)
October 23 7:00 PM at #16 Boston University Agganis ArenaBoston, Massachusetts   Kobryn L 6–8  5,339 3–3–0 (1–2–0)
October 29 7:00 PM #12 Massachusetts J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts NESN+ Borgiel L 4–5 OT 3,477 3–4–0 (1–3–0)
October 30 7:00 PM at #12 Massachusetts Mullins CenterAmherst, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 1–2  2,083 3–5–0 (1–4–0)
November 5 7:00 PM #14 Boston College J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 4–1  2,314 3–6–0 (1–5–0)
November 6 4:00 PM at #14 Boston College Conte ForumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts   Ollas W 4–3  4,246 4–6–0 (2–5–0)
November 12 7:30 PM at Maine Alfond ArenaOrono, Maine   Ollas L 5–6 OT 3,007 4–7–0 (2–6–0)
November 13 7:30 PM at Maine Alfond ArenaOrono, Maine   Borgiel W 2–0  3,189 5–7–0 (3–6–0)
November 23 7:00 PM at Holy Cross* Hart CenterWorcester, Massachusetts   Ollas W 3–2  214 6–7–0
November 27 4:00 PM Union* J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas L 2–3  1,746 6–8–0
December 9 7:00 PM #12 Massachusetts J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 2–3  2,122 6–9–0 (3–7–0)
December 12 3:00 PM USNTDP J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts (Exhibition)     W 8–2   
December 17 7:00 PM Dartmouth* J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel T 2–2 OT 1,022 6–9–1
January 2 4:00 PM Brown* Meehan AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island   Ollas W 7–1  160 7–9–1
January 3 6:00 PM at #10 Massachusetts* Mullins CenterAmherst, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 3–4 OT 529 7–10–1
January 8 7:00 PM Bentley* J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas W 4–1  1,093 8–10–1
January 14 7:00 PM #17 Providence J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas W 3–2  1,587 9–10–1 (4–7–0)
January 15 5:30 PM at #17 Providence Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island   Borgiel W 2–1  2,128 10–10–1 (5–7–0)
January 21 7:00 PM #10 Massachusetts Lowell J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas W 3–1  2,471 11–10–1 (6–7–0)
January 22 6:05 PM at #10 Massachusetts Lowell Tsongas CenterLowell, Massachusetts   Borgiel W 3–2  5,471 12–10–1 (7–7–0)
January 25 7:05 PM at Connecticut #19 XL CenterHartford, Connecticut   Ollas L 2–3  2,429 12–11–1 (7–8–0)
February 4 7:00 PM New Hampshire J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel W 5–2  2,177 13–11–1 (8–8–0)
February 5 7:00 PM Maine J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas W 5–0  2,215 14–11–1 (9–8–0)
February 8 7:00 PM Connecticut J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 2–6  1,953 14–12–1 (9–9–0)
February 13 1:05 PM at Vermont Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont   Ollas W 4–1  2,158 15–12–1 (10–9–0)
February 18 7:00 PM Vermont J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas W 3–2  1,873 16–12–1 (11–9–0)
February 19 7:30 PM Vermont J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel W 3–2  1,689 17–12–1 (12–9–0)
February 26 7:00 PM at New Hampshire Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire   Borgiel W 4–3  5,348 18–12–1 (13–9–0)
March 4 7:00 PM #13 Northeastern Matthews ArenaBoston, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 1–6  1,779 18–13–1 (13–10–0)
March 5 7:00 PM #13 Northeastern J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Borgiel L 0–1  2,549 18–14–1 (13–11–0)
Hockey East Tournament
March 9 7:00 PM Maine* J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Ollas W 6–2  2,549 19–14–1
March 12 7:00 PM at #14 Massachusetts Lowell* Tsongas CenterLowell, Massachusetts (Quarterfinals)   Ollas L 2–7  5,782 19–15–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[3]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Max Newton F 35 14 24 38 16
Steven Jandric LW 34 8 20 28 10
Filip Forsmark LW/RW 33 11 16 27 35
Liam Walsh LW 34 10 17 27 41
Declan Carlile D 35 7 17 24 8
Alex Jefferies LW 33 10 13 23 10
Ben Brar F 35 11 9 20 20
Zach Uens D 34 2 17 19 28
Zach Vinnell D 35 4 12 16 12
Logan Drevitch LW 35 5 8 13 18
Matt Copponi C 25 3 6 9 14
Jake Durflinger RW 34 3 6 9 18
Mac Welsher C 32 6 2 8 10
Jordan Seyfert C 20 2 6 8 2
Filip Karlsson-Tägtström C 18 3 4 7 2
Mick Messner LW 21 1 5 6 4
Christian Felton D 27 2 2 4 16
Adam Arvedson D 19 1 3 4 10
Hugo Esselin C 8 2 1 3 0
Regan Kimens LW 10 2 1 3 8
Mark Hillier G 13 1 2 3 2
Ryan Nolan G 15 1 2 3 6
Ivan Zivlak D 12 0 2 2 2
Liam Dennison D 32 0 2 2 10
Mike Brown D 21 0 1 1 6
Troy Kobryn G 2 0 0 0 0
Kevin Sadovski D 2 0 0 0 0
Devlin O'Brien LW 11 0 0 0 2
Hugo Ollas G 18 0 0 0 0
Zachary Borgiel G 20 0 0 0 4
Total 109 198 307 314

[4]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Hugo Ollas 18 964 10 6 0 36 414 1 .920 2.24
Zachary Borgiel 20 1087 9 8 1 55 448 1 .891 3.03
Troy Kobryn 2 47 0 1 0 4 20 0 .833 5.05
Empty Net - 22 - - - 4 - - - -
Total 35 2121 19 15 1 99 882 2 .899 2.80

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[5]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Jordan Seyfert Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award
Declan Carlile Hockey East Second Team [6]

References

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  1. ^ "College sports: Clarkson men's hockey cancels Friday game due to COVID, Saturday game still on". Watertown Daily Times, N.Y. January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  2. ^ "2020–21 Merrimack College Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Merrimack Warriors.
  3. ^ "Merrimack 2021-22 Team Schedule". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "Merrimack College 2021-2022 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "Hockey East Names 2021-22 Men's All-Star Teams". Hockey East. March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.