2021–22 Brown Bears men's ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Brown Bears Men's ice hockey season was the 104th season of play for the program and the 60th in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Bears represented Brown University and were coached by Brendan Whittet, in his 12th season.

2021–22 Brown Bears men's ice hockey season
Conference	9th ECAC Hockey
Home ice	Meehan Auditorium
Rankings
USCHO	NR
USA Today	NR
Record
Overall	7–20–4
Conference	6–12–4
Home	4–8–3
Road	3–12–1
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Brendan Whittet
Assistant coaches	Jason Guerriero Jason Smith Ed Kesell
Captain(s)	Tristan Crozier
Alternate captain(s)	Luke Kania
Brown Bears men's ice hockey seasons « 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season

Brown's return to the ice after losing the entire 20–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic began well with Luke Kania posting a shutout in the opening match. Afterwards, the Bears took a sharp turn downwards and lost seven straight games. In the stretch neither Kania nor freshman Mathieu Caron played particularly well but the later did perform better overall so the team began to lean more towards Caron as the starter. The biggest problem for Brown was their woeful offense that was shutout in three of those games and would remain inadequate for the remainder of the season.

In early December, Brown finally ended its losing streak when Caron posted back-to-back shutouts with the first coming in surprise fashion against Harvard, a team that would eventually make the NCAA tournament. The short winning streak ended shortly thereafter and the team tried to turn back to Kania but the results were very poor.

An uptick in the number of positive COVID-19 tests in January caused several of Brown's games to be postponed. When they finally got back onto the ice later in the month, Brendan Whittet had settled on Caron as the team's starter and he kept the team in several games, giving them multiple chances to post victories. In their final 14 games, Brown went 3–7–4, a poor record but good enough to get the Bears out of the conference cellar.

The Bears ended the year in 9th place and set them up against St. Lawrence in the First Round of the conference tournament. After losing the first game, Brown fought back to tie the series with an overtime victory and then built a 3–1 lead midway through the deciding match. Unfortunately, the Bears couldn't hold the advantage and after the Saints tied the game things looked bleak for the Brunos. While the game went into overtime, Brown had not scored more than three goals all season. To continue their campaign, the offense would have to rise to the occasion. However, before the Bears had a chance to generate any opportunities, St. Lawrence scored on the first shot of the extra period and ended Brown's season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Christopher Berger	Forward	United States	Graduate transfer to Michigan State
Colin Burston	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)
Anea Ferrario	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
Alec Mehr	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)
Tony Stillwell	Defenseman	United States	Graduate transfer to Quinnipiac
Ben Taylor	Forward	United States	Graduation (retired)
Joachim Weberg	Forward	Norway	Graduation (retired)

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Brett Bliss	Defenseman	United States	19	Chelmsford, MA
Mathieu Caron	Goaltender	Canada	21	Abbotsford, BC
Brendan Clark	Forward	United States	19	Morris Plains, NJ
Spencer Evans	Defenseman	United States	19	Oyster Bay, NY
Lynden Grandberg	Forward	Canada	20	Calgary, AB
Thomas Manty	Forward	United States	21	Andover, MA
Wyatt Schlaht	Forward	United States	21	Denver, CO
Noah Wakeford	Forward	Canada	21	Okotoks, AB

Roster

As of August 19, 2021.

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		James Durham	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-03-27	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Des Moines (USHL)	—
2		Luke Krys	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-09-27	Ridgefield, Connecticut	Muskegon (USHL)	—
3		Luke Albert	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1998-08-17	Fergus, Ontario	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
4		Brett Bliss	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-12-29	Chelmsford, Massachusetts	Surrey (BCHL)	—
7		Justin Jallen	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	1998-01-06	St. Paul, Minnesota	Northeast (NAHL)	—
8		Thomas Manty	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-02-04	Andover, Massachusetts	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
9		Connor Marshall	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-10-10	Parkland, Florida	Northeast (NAHL)	—
10		Jonny Russell	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	1998-01-31	Traverse City, Michigan	Des Moines (USHL)	—
11		Nathan Plessis	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1998-02-28	Salmon Arm, British Columbia	Brooks (AJHL)	—
12		Matt Sutton	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-05-26	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Omaha (USHL)	—
13		Lynden Grandberg	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	2001-05-21	Calgary, Alberta	Camrose (AJHL)	—
14		Spence Evans	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2002-04-29	Oyster Bay Cove, New York	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
15		Tony Andreozzi	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-04-16	Winchester, Massachusetts	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
16		Tristan Crozier (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1998-02-23	Calgary, Alberta	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
17		Bradley Cocca	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1999-08-13	Toronto, Ontario	Merritt (BCHL)	—
18		Jake Harris	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	1998-04-10	Toronto, Ontario	Nanaimo (BCHL)	—
19		Samuli Niinisaari	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-08-11	Hamina, Finland	Lincoln (USHL)	—
20		Noah Wakeford	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-29	Okotoks, Alberta	Trail (BCHL)	—
21		Wyatt Schlaht	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-06-04	Cherry Hills Village, Colorado	Surrey (BCHL)	—
22		Matty Holmes	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-02-22	Rye, New York	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
23		Jackson Munro	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-02-11	Vancouver, British Columbia	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
24		Dorian Dawson	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1997-05-29	Collingwood, Ontario	Sioux City (USHL)	—
25		Michael Maloney	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-02-17	McHenry, Illinois	Omaha (USHL)	—
26		James Crossman	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-11-23	Denver, Colorado	Jamestown (NAHL)	—
27		Jordan Tonelli	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-06-30	Armonk, New York	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
28		Brenden Clark	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-01-16	Morris Plains, New Jersey	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
29		Cole Quisenberry	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-03-22	Denver, Colorado	Chicago (USHL)	—
31		Mathieu Caron	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-03-29	Abbotsford, British Columbia	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
33		Gabriel Vinal	Senior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-01-12	Syracuse, New York	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
35		Luke Kania (A)	Graduate	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1996-01-24	Chicago, Illinois	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—

Standings

2021–22 ECAC Hockey Standings
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#8 Quinnipiac †	22	17	4	1	0	1	1	54	71	14		42	32	7	3	139	53
#17 Clarkson	22	14	4	4	0	2	3	51	86	47		37	21	10	6	123	85
#15 Harvard *	22	14	6	2	0	0	2	46	69	46		35	21	11	3	116	82
Cornell	22	12	6	4	2	1	0	39	73	47		32	18	10	4	100	72
Colgate	22	9	9	4	1	0	3	33	55	57		40	18	18	4	111	112
Rensselaer	22	10	12	0	0	0	0	30	58	63		44	18	23	3	114	119
Union	22	9	11	2	3	1	0	27	52	66		37	14	19	4	89	110
St. Lawrence	22	7	10	5	2	0	2	26	44	60		37	11	19	7	72	110
Brown	22	6	12	4	0	1	2	25	36	61		31	7	20	4	50	100
Princeton	22	7	14	1	0	1	0	23	54	89		31	8	21	2	70	122
Yale	22	7	14	1	3	1	1	21	38	60		30	8	21	1	55	90
Dartmouth	22	5	15	2	0	3	1	21	45	71		32	7	22	3	69	110
Championship: March 19, 2022 † indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
October 30	7:00 PM	Yale		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Kania	W 2–0	743	1–0–0 (1–0–0)
November 5	7:00 PM	Princeton		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Kania	L 3–6	427	1–1–0 (1–1–0)
November 6	7:00 PM	#6 Quinnipiac		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	L 0–1	383	1–2–0 (1–2–0)
November 19	7:00 PM	at #10 Cornell		Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York		Caron	L 2–3 OT	2,362	1–3–0 (1–3–0)
November 20	7:30 PM	at Colgate		Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York		Caron	L 0–6	523	1–4–0 (1–4–0)
November 23	7:00 PM	at #16 Harvard		Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts		Kania	L 2–5	1,498	1–5–0 (1–5–0)
November 26	2:05 PM	at Holy Cross*		Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts		Caron	L 1–5	261	1–6–0
November 27	7:00 PM	#14 Providence*		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island (Mayor's Cup)	NESN+	Kania	L 0–4	842	1–7–0
December 3	7:00 PM	#17 Harvard		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	W 2–0	416	2–7–0 (2–5–0)
December 4	7:00 PM	Dartmouth		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	W 4–0	357	3–7–0 (3–5–0)
December 7	7:00 PM	at Boston College*		Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts		Caron	L 2–5	2,597	3–8–0
December 10	7:00 PM	at Yale		Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut		Kania	L 3–4	1,127	3–9–0 (3–6–0)
December 31	2:00 PM	Boston University*		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Kania	L 1–5	473	3–10–0
January 2	4:00 PM	Merrimack*		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Kania	L 1–7	160	3–11–0
January 21	7:00 PM	at Union		Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York		Caron	L 1–3	1,493	3–12–0 (3–7–0)
January 22	7:00 PM	at Rensselaer		Houston Field House • Troy, New York		Caron	W 3–2	0	4–12–0 (4–7–0)
January 28	1:00 PM	at Princeton		Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey		Caron	L 1–6	0	4–13–0 (4–8–0)
January 30	4:00 PM	Long Island*		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Kania	L 3–4	170	4–14–0
February 1	3:00 PM	#11 Cornell		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	W 2–1	262	5–14–0 (5–8–0)
February 4	7:00 PM	#20 Clarkson		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	L 0–5	195	5–15–0 (5–9–0)
February 5	7:00 PM	St. Lawrence		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	T 1–1 SOL	417	5–15–1 (5–9–1)
February 8	7:00 PM	at #2 Quinnipiac		People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut		Caron	L 1–4	1,813	5–16–1 (5–10–1)
February 11	8:00 PM	at Dartmouth		Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire		Caron	W 3–2 OT	878	6–16–1 (6–10–1)
February 14	5:00 PM	Colgate		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	T 1–1 SOL	207	6–16–2 (6–10–2)
February 18	7:00 PM	Rensselaer		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	L 2–4	291	6–17–2 (6–11–2)
February 19	7:00 PM	Union		Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island		Caron	T 2–2 SOW	537	6–17–3 (6–11–3)
February 25	7:00 PM	at St. Lawrence		Appleton Arena • Canton, New York		Caron	T 1–1 SOW	905	6–17–4 (6–11–4)
February 26	7:00 PM	at #17 Clarkson		Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York		Caron	L 0–4	2,429	6–18–4 (6–12–4)
ECAC Hockey Tournament
March 4	7:00 PM	at St. Lawrence*		Appleton Arena • Canton, New York (First Round game 1)		Caron	L 1–4	1,142	6–19–4
March 5	7:00 PM	at St. Lawrence*		Appleton Arena • Canton, New York (First Round game 2)		Caron	W 2–1 OT	1,265	7–19–4
March 6	7:00 PM	at St. Lawrence*		Appleton Arena • Canton, New York (First Round game 3)		Caron	L 3–4 OT	894	7–20–4
Brown Lost Series 1–2
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source:

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Justin Jallen	F	30	10	7	17	6
Tristan Crozier	F	26	6	9	15	23
Michael Maloney	F	31	10	3	13	18
Luke Krys	D	31	3	10	13	38
Samuli Niinisaari	D	29	1	11	12	10
Jake Harris	LW	30	3	7	10	8
Brett Bliss	D	30	2	7	9	18
Nathan Plessis	F	31	3	4	7	16
Thomas Manty	F	25	3	2	5	4
Jordan Tonelli	C/LW	26	3	2	5	14
Cole Quisenberry	F	19	2	3	5	6
Luke Albert	D	31	0	5	5	29
Jackson Munro	D	16	1	3	4	31
Matt Sutton	F	22	1	3	4	2
James Crossman	D	19	1	2	3	14
Lynden Grandberg	F	26	0	3	3	4
Wyatt Schlaht	F	28	0	3	3	16
Jonny Russell	RW	30	1	0	1	18
Tony Andreozzi	D	31	0	1	1	6
Gabriel Vinal	G	2	0	0	0	0
Spencer Evans	D	4	0	0	0	0
Luke Kania	G	9	0	0	0	0
Connor Marshall	F	10	0	0	0	0
Bradley Cocca	C	14	0	0	0	8
Brendan Clark	F	22	0	0	0	8
Noah Wakeford	F	23	0	0	0	2
Mathieu Caron	G	26	0	0	0	0
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	0
Total			50	85	135	299

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Mathieu Caron	26	1402	6	14	2	64	654	2	.911	2.74
Luke Kania	9	420	1	6	0	26	203	1	.886	3.71
Gabriel Vinal	2	48	0	0	0	4	20	0	.833	4.96
Empty Net	-	12	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-
Total	31	1884	7	20	4	100	877	3	.898	3.19

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings

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	NR	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.