The Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey team is a

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

program that represents

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic uni ...

. The Pioneers are a member of

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

. They play at the Webster Bank Arena in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

. From 1993-2016, the Pioneers home arena was the Milford Ice Pavilion in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...

History

Division III

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 In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

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.

MAAC

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 Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...

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

which began the following year.

Atlantic Hockey

Sacred Heart played well for the first few years of Atlantic Hockey, reaching the championship game in 2004 and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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. NCAA Hockey- Sacred Heart University at Army (8200644031)

NCAA Hockey- Sacred Heart University at Army (8200644031)

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

Season-by-season results

Records vs. current Atlantic Hockey teams

As of the completion of 2018–19 season

Coaches

As of completion of 2022–23 season

Statistical leaders

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

'' Minimum 30 games Statistics current through the start of the 2020-21 season.

Current roster

Awards and honors

NCAA

AHCA Second Team All-Americans *2009–10: Nick Johnson, F *2019–20:

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

, D; Jason Cotton, F

MAAC

Individual awards

Goaltender of the Year *

Eddy Ferhi Eddy Ferhi (born 26 November 1979) is a French retired professional ice hockey goaltender who participated at the 2010 IIHF World Championship The 2010 IIHF World Championship was the 74th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice ...

: 2003 Offensive Rookie of the Year * Martin Paquet: 2000 Coaches of the Year * Shaun Hannah: 2000

All-Conference Teams

First Team All-MAAC *2002–03:

, G; Les Hrapchak, D; Martin Paquet, F Second Team All-MAAC *1999–00: Alexis Jutras-Binet, G; Martin Paquet, F *2000–01:

, G *2001–02:

, G; Martin Paquet, F MAAC All-Rookie Team *1999–00: Les Hrapchak, D; Martin Paquet, F

Atlantic Hockey

Individual awards

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

* Jason Cotton: 2020 Best Defensive Forward *

Dave Jarman Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

: 2010 Rookie of the Year *

Pierre-Luc O'Brien Pierre-Luc may refer to: *Pierre-Luc Brillant (born 1978), Canadian actor and musician *Pierre-Luc Caron (born 1993), professional Canadian football long snapper *Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri (1782–1868), leading French set designer *Pierre-Luc Dub ...

: 2004 * Bear Trapp: 2006 *

Justin Danforth Justin Danforth (born March 15, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who can also play as a winger. He currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the ECHL Rookie of the Year in 2018 ...

: 2014 * Braeden Tuck: 2020 Individual Sportsmanship Award * Alexandre Parent: 2008 * Eric Delong: 2013 * Braeden Tuck: 2023 Regular Season Scoring Trophy * Neil Shea: 2022

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

* C. J. Marottolo: 2010

All-Conference Teams

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey *2004–05:

, F *2005–06: Jason Smith, G;

, F *2006–07: Jason Smith, G; Scott Marchesi, D;

, F *2007–08: Alexandre Parent, F *2009–10: Nick Johnson, F *2016–17:

, F *2017–18: Cameron Heath, F;

Dylan McLaughlin Dylan McLaughlin (born December 2, 1993) is an American actor. He has appeared in television series including '' ER'' and '' Bones'' as well the motion pictures ''Alice Upside Down'', '' Georgia Rule'', and '' Kicking & Screaming''. He has also ...

, F *2018–19:

, F *2019–20:

, D; Jason Cotton, F; Austin McIlmurray, F *2020–21: Marc Johnstone, F *2022–23: Neil Shea, F Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey *2003–04: Konn Hawkes, D; Garrett Larson, F *2004–05: Kalen Wright, F *2005–06: Alexandre Parent, F *2007–08: Scott Marchesi, F; Bear Trapp, F *2015–16:

, F *2016–17: Cameron Heath, D; Ryan Schmelzer, F *2017–18: Lester Lancaster, D *2020–21: Braeden Tuck, F *2021–22: Logan Britt, D; Neil Shea, F Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey *2009–10: Paul Ferraro, D;

, F *2011–12: Matt Gingera, F *2012–13: Eric Delong, F *2018–19: Austin Magera, F *2019–20: Josh Benson, G *2021–22: Braeden Tuck, F *2022–23: Hunter Sansbury, F Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team *2003–04:

, F *2004–05: Scott Marchesi, D; Alexandre Parent, F *2005–06: Bear Trapp, F *2009–10: Steven Legato, G; Eric Delong, F *2013–14: Mitch Nylen, F;

, F *2017–18: Marc Johnstone, F *2018–19: Josh Benson, G; Austin Magera, F *2019–20: Braeden Tuck, F *2022–23: Marcus Joughin, F

History

Division III

MAAC

Atlantic Hockey

Season-by-season results

Records vs. current Atlantic Hockey teams

Coaches

Statistical leaders

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

Current roster

Awards and honors

NCAA

MAAC

Individual awards

All-Conference Teams

Atlantic Hockey

Individual awards

All-Conference Teams

Pioneers in the NHL

See also

References

External links