2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

Niagara lost more than half of its players in the offseason but the biggest void was in goal. In losing their starter and likely replacement, the team brought in graduate transfer Jarrett Fiske to compete with Ryan Ouellette for the starting role. Fiske had a rather poor start to the season, surrendering 5 goals in 40 minutes to Omaha. Ouellette then became the starter for about a month but could not establish himself in the position. Fiske regain the starting job in early November and performed much better the second time around. He remained the primary netminder for the remainder of the year with Ouellette and Mitchell Day filling in now and again.

The offense, too, was in need of new leadership and got a boon with freshman forwards Tyler Wallace and Jack Richard. The two newcomers combined with upperclassmen Jay Ahearn and Carter Randklev to lead the offense and keep the team competitive on most nights.

After an up-and-down opening to the year, Niagara went through a very poor stretch in December and January, going 1–6 and putting themselves behind the 8-ball. They were able to arrest their slide with a win over RIT, the best team in the conference, and went 8–3–2 down the stretch. The improved play didn't quite get the team a bye into the quarterfinal round but it did afford them with home ice in the opening round of the playoffs.

Niagara opened its postseason with a fairly easy win over Army despite Richard being ejected for slew-footing in the first period. The major penalty resulted in the only goal for Army but otherwise didn't affect the outcome of the game. Niagara then faced Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals and found a opponent in the midst of a losing skid. The Eagles took full advantage and flew through the Pioneers' defense. Niagara scored 11 goals in two games, give Fiske all the goal support he needed for a sweep. Randklev was particularly outstanding, recording 6 points in the two games.

In the semifinals, Niagara found itself opposite RIT, who had lost the season series to the Purple Eagles despite finishing first in the standings. Niagara was hoping for more of the same but the Tigers did not take the underdogs lightly and kept to their defensive structure. Niagara piled on the shots in the opening game, recording 39 in regulation, but were only able to get one into the RIT cage, and even then they needed an extra attacker. The second saw RIT jump out to a 3–0 lead in the first period and Niagara had no answer. The Eagles were able to cut into the advantage in the final frame but it was too little too late and Niagara ended its season with a pair of losses.

Due to a snowstorm, the game against Mercyhurst scheduled on January 13 was postponed to a later date.^[1]

As of September 15, 2023.^[2]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Jonathan Ziskie	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-03-19	Macomb, Michigan	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
3		Cole Mickel	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2002-05-03	Broomfield, Colorado	Wisconsin (NAHL)	—
4		Gļebs Prohorenkovs	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-11-12	Riga, Latvia	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
5		Noah Carlin	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-13	Marine City, Michigan	Omaha (USHL)	—
7		Steven Kesslering	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-05-17	Viceroy, Saskatchewan	Battlefords (SJHL)	—
8		Luke Mylymok	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-09-29	Wilcox, Saskatchewan	Minnesota Duluth (NCHC)	—
9		Jay Ahearn (C)	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-23	Staten Island, New York	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
10		Carter Randklev	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	1999-11-05	Moorhead, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
11		Olivier Gauthier (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-04-09	Ferme-Neuve, Quebec	Alaska Anchorage (WCHA)	—
13		Jack Richard	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-12-13	Stoney Creek, Ontario	Burlington (OJHL)	—
14		Connor Mylymok	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-03-18	Wilcox, Saskatchewan	Alaska (NCAA)	—
16		Jaedon Leslie	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1998-08-04	St. Albert, Alberta	Ohio State (Big Ten)	—
17		Max Ruoho	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-03-05	Madison, Wisconsin	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
18		Tyler Wallace	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2002-05-19	Calgary, Alberta	Blackfalds (AJHL)	—
19		Drew Vieten	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-01-10	Calabasas, California	Wichita Falls (NAHL)	—
20		Christian Gorsack	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-06-08	Jeannette, Pennsylvania	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
21		Shane Ott (A)	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-21	Centennial, Colorado	Janesville (NAHL)	—
22		Lane Brockhoff	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2000-04-11	Edberg, Alberta	Camrose (AJHL)	—
23		Lars Rødne	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-22	Stavanager, Norway	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
24		Josef Myšák	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-09-08	Litvínov, Czech Republic	Austin (NAHL)	—
25		Johnny Wescoe	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	2001-01-06	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Rockets (NCDC)	—
26		Alex Murray	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-03-17	Glenview, Illinois	Miami (NCHC)	—
27		Aron Jessli	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2004-10-29	Lørenskog, Norway	Pickering (OJHL)	—
28		Ethan Lund	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-03-16	Calgary, Alberta	Brooks (AJHL)	—
29		David Posma	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-08-27	Pomona, New York	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
30		Mitchell Day	Freshman	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-01-18	St. Louis, Missouri	North Iowa (NAHL)	—
31		Jarrett Fiske	Graduate	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-05-28	Erie, Pennsylvania	American International (AHA)	—
34		Noah Hackett	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2001-12-11	Ponoka, Alberta	Brooks (AJHL)	—
39		Ryan Ouellette	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-12-06	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Wisconsin–Eau Claire (WIAC)	—

^[4]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.^[5]
Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.