By Tommy Kane

Published: September 2nd, 2019

The Prelude

The 2019-2020 RIT Men’s Hockey season will be upon us soon enough! This is a well-anticipated season, with a total of eight new faces joining the team as the class of 2023.

In other exciting news, Atlantic Hockey announced in July that conference games will include 3-on-3 overtime and shootout if necessary, like the National Hockey League (NHL) and several other college hockey conferences.

The Tigers will open up their season on the road against the Colgate Raiders on Oct. 5, 2019. RIT demolished the Raiders last year, 6-1, during the 2018 Homecoming Game. The home opener at the Gene Polliseni Center will be on Nov. 1, 2019, against the Holy Cross Crusaders.

New Faces

For the 2019-2020 season, the Tigers will be introducing eight new faces, with one being a goaltender, one being a defenseman, and the rest being forwards.

Joining Logan Drackett and Ian Andriano in net is Kolby Matthews. On defense, Ryan Nicholson will debut. Finally, the new forwards are Elijah Gonsalves, Sam Kozlowski, Thomas Maia, Andrew Rinaldi, Colton Trumbla, and Caleb Moretz.

Specifically, Moretz participated in a Buffalo Sabres (National Hockey League) Summer Development camp a few months ago, and he will be able to bring some knowledge to the Tigers Hockey program.

Moretz commented on how he would apply what he learned from the Sabres to Tigers hockey this season and beyond.

“I got to see the physicality and speed that they had so it was a huge step up from Juniors. By watching and talking to the guys I got to see what I was about to step into with college hockey.”

With that being said, the new faces are looking forward to a fruitful season in a Tigers uniform!

A New Season

The last time the Tigers played they lost to the Niagara Purple Eagles in the semi-finals of the 2019 AHA Tournament. The 1-0 loss in overtime broke many hearts, but this year is different.

Goalie, Drackett, looks to improve this year in the net and harkens his game back to the art of patience.

“I really think my game is all about patience,” he said when asked about improvement. “All summer I worked on keeping my eyes down and on the puck so I could make my game more patient. For me, patience is my biggest thing and it puts me on top of my game.”

Head coach, Wayne Wilson, enters his 21st season as coach and was recently signed an extension. He talked about the upcoming schedule this season.

“Every game is really competitive in our league; anyone can win in it,” Wilson stated. “I think when teams lose key players and others gain key players it changes the dynamics every year. Being ready to play every weekend, while being mentally and physically ready to go every weekend. In terms of non-conference, it’s difficult because those teams are new to you. It’s a feeling-out process because you don’t get to really know their strengths and weaknesses until you play them.”

The Tigers welcome two new captains to the team. Defensemen Adam Brubacher and Darren Brady are ready to captain this new season and make the most out of their final year as a Tiger.

Brubacher spoke on the vision for the Tigers this season.

“I think our vision is to be a top team going into the playoffs. We want to win our league and show what we could do at the NCAA Tournament,” he explained. “We gotta play well every weekend and see where we can go from there.”

Brady also touched on what the team has to do in preparation of the Conference Tournament in the spring.

“We are just focused on being 1% better in everything that we do on and off the ice. Just from seeing last year how tight Atlantic Hockey is it’s just the little things that are gonna get you to win a championship.”

Clearly, the RIT Tigers want to have a better outcome this season, and they are willing to put up even harder work to achieve their goals. As seen in practice early this semester, this hockey team is determined to be the best team in Atlantic Hockey, and even the best team in the country.

Where Are They Now?

(Left to Right) Mark Logan, Abbott Girduckis, Christian Short, Erik Brown, Gabe Valenzuela

Five players left RIT Hockey last season: Erik Brown (F), Abbott Girduckis (F), Mark Logan (F), Gabe Valenzuela (F), and Christian Short (G). All five had fruitful four-year careers with the Tigers, and are wished all the best in their future endeavors.

2018-19 co-captain, Brown, finished his career at RIT with 115 points, giving him the accolade of 100 career points. He had 70 goals and 45 assists. Brown will be heading to Bridgeport, CT, to play with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League (AHL), the top affiliate of the New York Islanders.

Girduckis scored 30 goals and had 63 assists, totaling 93 points. Like Brown, he was a co-captain of the 2018-19 Tigers. Girduckis is planning on playing with the Toledo Walleye of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), where he had a stint after the college season.

Logan was a physical presence for the Tigers and had seven goals and 12 assists in his career, giving him 19 points total. He will be going across the pond to play in Nantes, France, with the local team there.

Valenzuela is another 100-point player, earning 104 points through 38 goals and 66 assists. Valenzuela was a big asset on the powerplay for the Tigers.

Lastly, Short had a career save percentage of .879 and a GAA Of 3.09, only allowing 97 total goals. He will be staying at RIT to get his Masters of Business Administration. He had a few positive words about the upcoming team.

“The core group of guys are in a great spot again to compete in the Atlantic Tournament. I would love nothing more than to see them go the distance this year, they deserve it through their hard work.”

Let’s have an exciting year, Tigers!

GO TIGERS!