Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 14: Canisius
Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.
If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.
And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Canisius Golden Griffins. Canisius started their ice hockey program in 1980, as a part of the ECAC West in DIII. The Golden Griffins upgraded their program to DI for the 1998-1999 season, joining the Metro Atlantic. In 2005, long time coach Brian Kavanaugh was fired and replaced with Seymour Clancy, who served as interim head coach. For the 2005-06 season, a permanent coach was named: Dave Smith. Additionally, the Metro Atlantic rebranded itself as Atlantic Hockey in 2003; the AHC has been the league for Canisius ever since.
The worst season for the Golden Griffins in the past 25 years is…
2006-2007 Record: 9-3-23 (W-D-L); Atlantic Hockey: 9-3-16 (W-D-L; 9th/10th)
Wins: Sacred Heart, Air Force, Mercyhurst, American International, Army West Point, @UConn, @RIT, Holy Cross, @Air Force
Ties: @Mercyhurst, Mercyhurst, @Mercyhurst
Losses: Robert Morris, @Miami (x2), Sacred Heart, @Colgate, RIT, @Holy Cross (x2), Air Force, @Bentley (x2), AIC, @Niagara, Army West Point, @RIT, @UConn, @Dartmouth, @Sacred Heart (x2), RIT, Holy Cross, @Air Force, AIC*
*Atlantic Hockey tournament play-in game
Biggest Beatdown: Colgate 9 - Canisius 0
Head Coach: Davey Boy Dave Smith
This was Smith’s second season in charge of the Golden Griffins. Jason Weeks led in scoring, with 15 goals; Josh Heidinger had the most assists, with 26. In goal, Andrew Loewen had a save percentage of .912 and a GAA of 2.87.
The Golden Griffins kicked off their season with an exhibition against Waterloo, where the Canadian school would win by a score of 4-2. After that, the Atlantic Hockey slate began with a loss to Robert Morris. A trip to Miami was a sweep for the Redhawks. The following weekend, a split series was had with Sacred Heart, where the first win of the season was obtained. Losses to Colgate and RIT would round off the month of October.
A trip to Holy Cross proved to be fruitless, while a split series at home with Air Force followed. A more favorable series with Mercyhurst led to a win and a draw. November finished off with an exhibition with the US U18s, a 2-2 draw was the final result.
December started with another trip to the state of Massachusetts, this time to Bentley. Once again, the Golden Griffins was winless on the road. A home series with AIC was split. A couple of weeks preceded a holiday time loss to Niagara.
Army was Canisius’ first opponent in the new year, which eventually ended in one win a piece. A midweek game on the road to RIT ended in defeat. An away series to UConn was split, which was followed by a midweek game against Mercyhurst; that game ended in a draw. A non-con game against Dartmouth ended in defeat, as well as an away series to Sacred Heart.
February kicked off with a home-and-home series with RIT in which the Golden Griffins managed to win a game. A home series with Holy Cross was also split, as well as an away series with UConn and Air Force. February ended with a tie at Mercyhurst to end the regular season. In the Atlantic Hockey play-in game, Canisius lost to wooden spooners AIC by a scoreline of 2-1.
Generally speaking, the Golden Griffins have improved although there have been some dips. In 2012-13, Canisius made an appearance in the Ice Dance. Last season, the Golden Griffins had their most successful season, record-wise, with 21 wins. Coach Dave Smith was hired by RPI during this off-season; Canisius hired Trevor Large. Hopefully Large can build on the success started by Smith.
For Week 3 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following schools: Clarkson. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:
| School | Username | Tentative Date |
|---|---|---|
| Cornell | u/ABigRedWallaby | 6/29 |
| LSSU | u/binkelman | 7/10 |
| UML | u/LantisEscudo | 7/13 |
| Northeastern | u/therevengeance | 8/2 |
| Penn State | u/saucysalesman | 8/8 |
| RPI | u/Nicholas1227 | 8/16 |
| Union | u/azureamor | 8/22 |
| Vermont | u/LocksTheFox | 8/23 |
Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.
Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:
Posted Jun 22, 2017, 7:40 PM UTC