Hockey collects six individual accolades during January’s five-game win streak

By: Jase May, Sports Reporter

Canisius hockey has been playing lights out in the month of January. The Griffs have won five straight games over the last few weeks with several individual players earning Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) weekly honors because of their efforts.

Beginning on Jan. 3, Canisius began the streak with a 4–3 victory in their final out of conference game against Lindenwood. The star of the show was goalie Petter Wickström Stumer. The sophomore recorded 72 saves, shattering the previous AHA record by 11 saves and earning him the AHA Goaltender of the Week award.

The next game occurred on Jan. 16 where they muscled out their first victory in a two-game series against RIT at home. Despite being outshot by a 39-18 margin, Canisius was able to walk away with a 5–3 win with junior forward Walter Zacher scoring the second hat trick of his collegiate career and forwards Rhys Chiddenton and Carter Anderson scoring the other two goals. 

The second game of the series came the next day and saw the Griffs travel to the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y. Canisius was able to walk away from this matchup with a convincing 4-1 victory with goals coming from forwards Chiddenton, Oliver Tarr, Hunter Price and defenseman FJ Buteau. Goalie Chase Clark also played a noteworthy game, stopping 29 of 30 shots faced.

Canisius saw three players walk away with AHA weekly awards. Clark earned Goaltender of the Week for the third time this season and Zacher won Forward of the Week for the second time this season. Buteau was awarded Defenseman of the Week for the first time in his young collegiate career.

In addition, senior forward Grant Porter was named a nominee for the prestigious Hobey Baker award, which is presented yearly to a collegiate ice hockey player who displays strength and character both on and off ice.

The team took these honors in stride, returning to play on Jan. 23 for game one in a series away against the Mercyhurst Lakers. This game resulted in a hard fought 4–3 victory for the Griffs in which Zacher and Price changed the momentum by erasing a one-goal deficit and turning it into a one-goal lead in a span of 23 seconds, stunning the Lakers in the third period. Forwards Hunter Andrew and Grant Porter also found the back of the net to provide goals for Canisius. 

The following day, Canisius emerged with a dominant 5–0 victory against Mercyhurst with goals scored by Buteau and forwards Killian Kiecker-Olsen, Alton McDermott and Zacher, who accounted for two goals. In addition, Clark shut out the Lakers offense with a perfect 20 saves on 20 shots faced, expanding their winning streak against Mercyhurst to 10 games. Buteau’s outstanding play in this series netted him the AHA Rookie of the Week award, marking a remarkable stretch for the freshman defenseman.  

As it stands now, Canisius sits at a record of 13–9–2 with an 8–6–2 record within the conference. The Griffs are over .500 as a result of this five-game win streak and come into the series against the rival Niagara Purple Eagles hot.

Canisius will face Niagara on home ice at the LECOM Harborcenter on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. for the first game of their series this weekend.