Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey

Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey
Current season
University	Sacred Heart University
Conference	AHA
Head coach	C. J. Marottolo 16th season, 188–291–55 (.404)
Assistant coaches	Scott McDougall Steve Bergin Chris Azzano
Arena	Martire Family Arena Fairfield, Connecticut
Colors	Red and white[1]

The Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Sacred Heart University. The Pioneers, members of Atlantic Hockey America, play at the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Connecticut.^[2] From 1993-2016, the Pioneers home arena was the Milford Ice Pavilion in Milford, Connecticut.

Sacred Heart began sponsoring men's ice hockey as a varsity sport in 1993. The team was placed in the South Division of ECAC North/South/Central and because they were not able to schedule all of their ECAC South opponents twice the Pioneers played half a conference schedule in their inaugural year. With a full conference slate the following year, Sacred Heart greatly improved their record which continued in year three.

For the 1996–97 season Shaun Hannah was brought in as head coach and the Pioneers finished with their first winning record and 2nd in the division, narrowly missing the conference postseason.

In the late 1990s the MAAC was mandated to form an ice hockey conference. Two of the ECAC South programs would have to promote themselves to Division I and soon after they were joined by Sacred Heart. With an eye for their new conference, Hannah began offering scholarships to incoming students, a violation of Division III rules, which caused the Pioneers (along with two other ECAC South teams) to be ruled ineligible for any postseason play. Additionally all of their conference games would not be counted in the standings, through they would still be able to play the matches and count the results towards their overall standings.

Despite the influx of scholarship athletes, Sacred Heart finished 7th in the first year of MAAC conference play. The team rebounded in the second year, doubling their win total and finishing with a winning record. Postseason success was a little slower in coming with the Pioneers unable to win a playoff game until year 4 of D-I play. During the 2002–03 season Iona and Fairfield, the two original MAAC programs, both announced that they would end their sponsorship of ice hockey at the end of the season. With only one full-time member still active the MAAC terminated their ice hockey division. The remaining 9 programs banded together and formed the Atlantic Hockey Association which began the following year.

Sacred Heart played well for the first few years of Atlantic Hockey, reaching the championship game in 2004 and 2010 but after Hannah left in 2009, the team took a tumble down the standings. From 2011 through 2018 the Pioneers never finished higher than 8th in the conference. Bench boss C. J. Marottolo was finally able to push the Pioneers out of the basement in 2019 with a 4th-place finish, ending 1 win shy of .500 on the year.

The school announced in 2020 that it would build a $60 million facility for its men's and women's ice hockey programs.^[3] After a delayed start, construction began on the Martire Family Arena in March 2021, with a new scheduled completion date of 2023 and a new price tag of $70 million. Martire Family Arena became Sacred Heart's first on-campus ice arena.^[4]

Shortly after the 2023–24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association merged with College Hockey America, a women-only league, to form the new Atlantic Hockey America. The two conferences had a longstanding relationship before the merger, having shared a commissioner and conference staff since 2010. All members of the Association and CHA became members of the merged league.^[5]

As of the completion of 2018–19 season^[6]

School	Team	Away Arena	Overall record	Win %	Last Result
Air Force Academy	Falcons	Cadet Ice Arena	12–23–7	.369	2-2 T
American International College	Yellow Jackets	MassMutual Center	30–21–7	.578	1-4 L
Army West Point	Black Knights	Tate Rink	23–26–10	.475	3-3 T
Bentley University	Falcons	Bentley Arena	32–26–6	.547	2-3 L
Canisius College	Golden Griffins	LECOM Harborcenter	19–25–8	.442	2-3 L
College of the Holy Cross	Crusaders	Hart Center	29–36–5	.450	1-4 L
Mercyhurst University	Lakers	Mercyhurst Ice Center	24–27–5	.473	0-3 L
Niagara University	Purple Eagles	Dwyer Arena	8–13–2	.391	6-3 W
Robert Morris University	Colonials	Colonials Arena	3–23–1	.130	3-1 W
Rochester Institute of Technology	Tigers	Gene Polisseni Center	13–27–2	.333	1-3 L

As of completion of 2023–24 season

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1993–1994	Pete Downey	1	4–15–0	.211
1994–1996	John Glynne	2	21–25–2	.458
1996–2009	Shaun Hannah	13	191–204–38	.485
2009–Present	C. J. Marottolo	15	188–291–55	.404
Totals	4 coaches	31 seasons	404–535–95	.437

Player	Years	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Pierre-Luc O'Brien	2003–2007	142	67	91	158	141
Bear Trapp	2005–2009	139	56	99	155	228
Martin Paquet	1999–2003	129	65	77	142	198
Alexandre Parent	2004–2008	143	54	87	141	105
Dave Jarman	2006–2010	147	47	87	134	122
Garrett Larson	2001–2005	139	55	69	124	233
Justin Danforth	2013–2017	147	42	82	124	125
Eric Delong	2009–2013	143	46	72	118	65
Matt Gingera	2008–2012	142	61	48	109	113
Lloyd Marks	1998–2002	120	49	60	109	138

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 30 games

Player	Years	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Josh Benson	2018–Present	57	3298	33	17	5	138	5	.902	2.51
Eddy Ferhi	1999–2003	88	5160	36	35	13	126	7	.917	2.63
Jason Smith	2003–2007	71	4291	38	29	4	196	2	.912	2.74
Brett Magnus	2015–2019	109	6438	39	56	12	314	5	.904	2.93
Kevin LaPointe	2001–2005	71	4162	28	34	7	214	3	.902	3.08

Statistics current through the start of the 2020-21 season.

As of September 15, 2024.^[7]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Jack O'Dea	Senior	G	5' 9" (1.75 m)	148 lb (67 kg)	2000-09-07	Brighton, Massachusetts	Bridgton Academy (USHS–ME)	—
2		Aiden VanRooyan	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	2003-04-20	Dakota Dunes, South Dakota	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
3		Paul Minnehan	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2003-04-09	Cypress, California	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
4		John Driscoll	Junior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-08-19	Eagle, Idaho	Army (AHA)	—
5		Luke Amell	Freshman	D/F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2003-09-02	Mars, Pennsylvania	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
6		Mikey Adamson	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-08-16	Quincy, Massachusetts	Massachusetts (HEA)	—
7		Garrett Sundquist	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-07-17	South Glastonbury, Connecticut	Providence (HEA)	—
8		Hunter Sansbury	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-10-08	Lomita, California	Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)	—
9		Daniel Ebrahim	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-12	Brooklin, Ontario	Jersey Hitmen (NCDC)	—
10		Rylee Hlusiak	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-06-03	Barrie, Ontario	West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)	—
11		Jake Hewitt	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-07-05	Ashburnham, Massachusetts	Army (AHA)	—
12		William Gendron	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-07-01	Boisbriand, Quebec	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)	—
14		Brendan Kennette	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-06-09	Windsor, Ontario	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)	—
17		Tyler Ghirardosi	Graduate	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-10-01	Montrose, British Columbia	Holy Cross (AHA)	—
18		John Jaworski	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-03-20	Grinnell, Iowa	Chicago Steel (USHL)	—
19		Jake Bongo	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2002-02-04	Ridgefield, Connecticut	Surrey Eagles (BCHL)	—
21		Brendan Dumas	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-08-28	North Attleborough, Massachusetts	New Jersey Jr. Titans (NAHL)	—
24		Michael Rubin	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2003-05-05	Blauvelt, New York	Coquitlam Express (BCHL)	—
25		Jérémi Tremblay	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-01-01	Quebec City, Quebec	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
27		Cole Galata	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-03-18	Barrie, Ontario	Surrey Eagles (BCHL)	—
28		Marcus Joughin	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-07-05	Tecumseh, Ontario	West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)	—
29		Vitaly Levyy	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-05-09	Old Brookville, New York	Langley Rivermen (BCHL)	—
37		Max Dorrington	Graduate	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2001-08-30	North Reading, Massachusetts	St. Lawrence (ECAC)	—
39		Cullen DeYoung	Sophomore	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-02-03	Canton, Michigan	Northeast Generals (NAHL)	—
42		Ajeet Gundarah	Freshman	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-05-09	Richmond, British Columbia	Surrey Eagles (BCHL)	—
53		Matt Guerra	Graduate	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-05-21	Orlando, Florida	Holy Cross (AHA)	—
72		Cole O'Donnell	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-08-14	Rochester, New York	Rochester Jr. Americans (NAHL)	—
77		Félix Trudeau	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	2002-09-24	Terrebonne, Quebec	Maine (HEA)	—
78		Gabe Blanchard	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-09-15	East Aurora, New York	Massachusetts Lowell (HEA)	—
86		Charles-Edward Tardif	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	2003-03-03	Quebec City, Quebec	Maine Nordiques (NAHL)	—
91		Reid Pabich	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-10-05	Verona, Wisconsin	Maine (HEA)	—

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

• 2009–10: Nick Johnson, F
• 2019–20: Mike Lee, D; Jason Cotton, F

First Team All-MAAC

Second team all-maac

MAAC All-Rookie Team

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

As of July 1, 2024.

Player	Position	Team(s)	Years	Games	Stanley Cups
Justin Danforth	Right wing	CBJ	2021–Present	122	0
Marc Johnstone	Right wing	PIT	2023–Present	1	0

• 
  Justin Danforth

Source:^[8]

• Sacred Heart Pioneers women's ice hockey

• Official website