The St. Lawrence University men's hockey team is set to open the 2024-25 season on Saturday, October 5 when the Skating Saints welcome RIT to Appleton Arena for a 7 p.m. matchup. The Saints will then take on Canisius on Sunday at 4 p.m. to complete the season-opening weekend.

"We're excited about the upcoming season," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men's Hockey Coach Brent Brekke. "We get to start with a great challenge against RIT, who is coming off a season where they were ranked top 20 nationally most of the season."

An exciting run to the ECAC Championship game in Lake Placid highlighted a 2023-24 season for St. Lawrence, which finished with a 14-19-6 record and an 8-10-4 ECAC mark. In the program's fifth season under Brekke, the Skating Saints made it to their second title game in the last four seasons with their deep postseason run.

Once they found their stride, the Saints proved they could compete with the top teams in the country. They went 2-1-1 against nationally-ranked teams over the final seven weeks of the season, including two wins over the reigning national champions in Quinnipiac, who were ranked top 10 in the nation in both games.

This year's team will be striving for sustained success, despite the loss of 13 players from last year's ECAC title run. However, St. Lawrence returns many key players including their leadership group. During Legacy Weekend at Camp Canaras, two-year Skating Saints captain Kyle Flanagan '13 helped announce Mason Waite, Philippe Chapleau, Drake Burgin, and Ty Naaykens as the team's captains for this season.

In reference to the leadership group, Brekke added, "Our leadership has been terrific throughout the preseason and set the standard for a great season!"

While there are many new faces in the locker room, the Saints do return eight of their top nine scorers from last year, including junior forward Felikss Gavars, who led the team with 13 goals and 25 points. Two of the Saints' top four scorers from last year were defensemen; senior captains Burgin and Waite both had 20 points from the blue line and will once again look to lead an offensive attack from the back end.

The blue line was a strength for the Saints all year with the unit putting up 22 goals and 54 assists for 76 points offensively while allowing a team 2.94 goals against average. In addition to the veteran blue liners, also returning to the fold are senior Tomáš Mazura (6-14-20), Tyler Cristall (7-9-16), Naaykens (7-7-14), and Jan Lasak (6-7-13) to round out the top ten from a season ago.

Brekke added a total of 11 players to the team ahead of the season, three of which are transfers while the remaining eight are among the Class of 2028.

In goal, the Scarlet and Brown brought in graduate student Dominic Basse, a 6'6", 197-pound goalie from St. Cloud State, who was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019. Joining Basse is Reilly Connors, who comes from Yale where he was a captain, and junior Isack Bandu, who will look to bolster the blueline after two seasons with Northern Michigan.

This year's first-year class features multiple players who averaged more than one point per game in their final year of junior hockey. In the group are forwards Spencer Bell (Humboldt Broncos | SJHL), Nicholas Beneteau (Alberni Valley Bulldogs | BCHL), Jacob Bernadet (Maine Nordiques | NAHL), Isaac Tremblay (Vernon Vipers | BCHL), and Gabe Westling (Nanaimo Clippers | BCHL). On the back end are defenders Sam Hall (Okotoks Oilers | BCHL), Evan Orloff (Maine Nordiques | NAHL), and goalie Jack Wieneke (Lone Star Brahmas | NAHL), who will look to make an impact in loaded rooms.

"Our incoming group of first-years has looked strong," said Brekke of the Class of 2028. "We have high expectations for them to help make an immediate impact."

St. Lawrence will once again be looking at a new top dog in goal after losing Emil Zetterquist and Ben Kraws to graduation in back-to-back years, the latter of which signed with the Dallas Stars after a tremendous season a year ago. Up for the job this season will be Basse, sophomores Mason Kucenski and Cameron Smith, along with the first-year Wieneke.

The Saints were picked to finish in seventh place in the ECAC Hockey Coaches Preseason Poll, exactly where they finished last year, but the coaches and players have higher expectations this season.

"Every single game we play, we have the mindset that we are going to win," said junior forward Tyler Cristall. "Our team goal is 20 wins," Cristall added, noting that fans can make a big difference during games at Appleton. "Let's get some chants going. Sometimes when we are down a goal or two, a couple of chants will get the boys going again."

Following their opening weekend, the Saints will host Notre Dame and Niagara before a two-game stand against Ferris State at Appleton Arena. The schedule will also feature games such as road contests against Penn State, Stonehill, and Vermont along with the Adirondack Invitational in Lake Placid against UMass Lowell and Providence on November 29-30.

"We're looking forward to seeing a packed house at Appleton Arena!" added Brekke

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• The Tigers finished last season with a 27-11-2 record and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016.

• RIT will be turning to new offensive sources after losing five of their top-six scorers from a season ago. Sophomore Matthew Wilde is the lone returner from the top group after posting 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points. After that, the Tigers will be relying on younger players to make the jump into new roles.

• The Tigers will look very different to Saints fans as the team was hit fairly hard by the transfer portal in the off-season losing leading scorer, Carter Wilkie to North Dakota, second leading scorer Cody Laskosky, and top goaltender Tommy Scarfone to Wisconsin, and Aiden Hansen-Bukata to Ohio State.

• Head coach Wayne Wilson did bring in three transfers of his own however in forwards Kevin Narx Noren (Northern Michigan), and Nick Cafarelli (UNH), and goaltender Trent Burnham (Lindenwood).

• The biggest question mark for the team will be in goal after overturning the entire room. Along with the transfer of Burnham, the Tigers have a pair of first-years in Jakub Krbecekof the Philadelphia Rebels in the NAHL, and Ethan David of the Vernon Vipers in the BCHL. Marx Noren put up four goals and 13 assists last year while Cafarelli had six goals and five assists. Burnham went 6-17-4 with Lindenwood with a 3.91 goals against and a .905 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
• The Golden Griffins are coming off a 12-21-4 season a year ago in which they went 10-12-4 in AHA action. The team was far better at home with a 7-8-4 mark compared to 5-13-0 on the road.

• Canisius was able to make a little noise in the playoffs advancing through the first round with a 5-2 win over Mercyhurst before falling in back-to-back games against Holy Cross in the quarterfinals.

• Unlike RIT, the Griffins weren't hit in the transfer portal but still saw a pair of significant losses at forward and one in goal. Max Kouznetsov and Randy Hernandez, who were second and third in scoring last season, along with goaltender David Fessenden left the college ranks to join the ECHL.

• On the brighter side, the team returns two of their top-five scorers. Sophomore Matteo Giampa was a big keep for Canisius after the forward broke out for 13 goals and 14 assists to lead the team as a first-year. Jackson Decker is also back as a grad student after posting six goals and five assists last season.

• In net, Canisius returns Ethan Robertson, who split games with Fessenden's backup last season. The goaltender got into 15 games with 12 starts last season and had a 4-7-0 record to go with a 3.75 goals against average and a .888 save percentage.

• To bolster the ranks, Trevor Large brought in four transfers along with the first-year class. Joining the team was sophomore Alec Cicero (Holy Cross), senior Michael Colella (Northern Michigan), sophomore Kash Rasmussen (Michigan tech), and senior Cole Kodsi (Union).

Saturday, 7:00 p.m. | Sunday, 4:00 p.m. | Appleton Arena
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Live Stats: https://saintsathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary Follow the links to check out the Skating Saints' latest news, roster, and schedule for the upcoming season.