60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Canisius

Canisius College

2018-19 Record: 12-20-5 (8-16-4, 11th in Atlantic Hockey)
Head Coach: Trevor Large, 3rd Year
Top returning scorer: Austin Alger (12G-16A)
Top returning goaltenders: Matt Ladd (So.), Daniel Urbani (R-Jr.) and Blake Weyrick (Sr.)

Canisius' 2018-19 fall came quick and fast. In true Ricky Bobby fashion, the Golden Griffins went from 1st and 2nd in Atlantic Hockey over the past two seasons straight down to last place. Not exactly the way things normally go with a returning Hobey Baker Top-Ten finalist in Dylan McLaughlin. Even in Buffalo. Preseason honors - four coaches picked the Golden Griffins to win Atlantic Hockey - made way for a season where Murphy's Law reigned supreme.

Take goalie for instance. Daniel Urbani entered the season as Canisius' number one goalie and on the Mike Richter Award Watch List. By November, Jake Zurat, a sophomore on the Golden Griffins baseball team, ended up in goal for a minute. Injuries to Urbani, who never played, and Blake Weyrick (the rare goalie to wear #85) forced Plans C and D. Matt Ladd came in midseason to help ease things and finished with the best save percentage among the Canisius goalies who did play.

Unfortunately, some of the season highs even came with an asterisk. The Golden Griffins swept North Dakota at home to kick off 2019 before going 1-9-1 in its next 11 games.

What's New: Staying healthy? Stability? There's no guarantee, but newfound stability and health would be nice.

Besides the goalie situation, injuries reached a point where junior Matt Stief ended up missing three games from taking a skate blade to the neck.

Canisius will also be without the graduated McLaughlin, who for all of the Golden Griffins' win-loss struggles had a fantastic individual season. Only Niagara's Ludwig Stenlund scored more goals among Atlantic Hockey players than McLaughlin's 19 and he finished with 40+ points for a second straight season.

Lastly, Canisius will have a new assistant coach. Scott Moser joined former head coach Dave Smith's staff at RPI.

Closing Thoughts: Some stability and staying healthy should help Canisius shake and bake this season. The team returns three players who finished with more than 10 goals and 20 points, including former Miami transfer Austin Alger.

More than anything, the drop to the cellar shows the importance of defense and goaltending in the modern college hockey game. The team's offense remained yet going from Charles Williams, who also ended up being a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist, to Urbani to finishing 56th in goals against per game nationally last season saw a difference in how the year went. When the Golden Griffins were winning down the stretch (finishing 3-2-2) with Ladd in net, the team gave up over a goal less per game.

With Atlantic Hockey most years being the Ricky Bobby of conferences where only first gets into the NCAA Tournament, regular-season success does not always end up carrying over to the postseason; something Canisius knows all too well. The team has not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 in spite ending near the top of Atlantic Hockey multiple times.

It does not guarantee a team to be first or last, but settling on solid goaltending - no matter who takes the reins - would make a big difference for Canisius, who begin the year on the road at North Dakota and then against its former head coach.

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