Canisius (2-2-0, 1-1-0 AHA) at AIC (0-2-1, 0-1-1 AHA)
Dates: Friday, October 24 / Saturday, October 25
Times: 7:05 p.m. / 7:05 p.m.
Location: Springfield, Mass. | Olympia Ice Center
TV/Webcast: America One Network
Live Audio: GoGriffs.com
DI Series History: Canisius leads, 30-13-4
The Canisius College hockey team returns to action on Friday, starting a two-game series with Atlantic Hockey foe AIC. The schools are set to meet on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in Massachusetts.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFS
• Canisius has split its first two series of the season, including one against Army last weekend in its first two Atlantic Hockey games.
• Six different players have recorded a team-best three points this season. Junior Ralph Cuddemi leads the squad with three goals.
• Senior Keegan Asmundson has started all four games in net with a 3.90 goals against average and .870 save percentage.
CUDDEMI NAMED AHA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• After helping the Griffs to their first conference win of the season against Army on Friday, junior Ralph Cuddemi was named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week.
• Cuddemi netted the 16th hat trick in the program’s history in a come-from-behind win against the Black Knights.
• The junior leads the Griffs in goals (3) and is tied for the team lead in points (3) and power-play goals (2).
POWERFUL THREATS
• Canisius enters the weekend with the nation’s 13th-ranked power-play unit and one reason why is due to multiple threats.
• Both senior Tyler Wiseman and junior Ralph Cuddemi have netted two extra-man tallies this season. Canisius is one of only four teams in the country with two players to have multiple power-play goals (Bowling Green, North Dakota and Ohio State are the others).
• Overall, the duo is tied for fourth nationally (and two of 18 players with two or more) power-play goals this season.
POWER PROTECTOR
• The Griffs aren’t only a threat to score when on the power play.
• In Friday’s rally, Shane Conacher and Matthew Grazen each netted short-handed goals. It marked just the sixth time in the program’s Division I history with multiple man-down tallies in a single game.
• The Griffs are one of five schools with at least two short-handed goals early in the 2014-15 campaign.
CANISIUS – AIC SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1992, the Griffs are 30-14-4 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, including a 30-13-4 edge in Division I meetings.
• Canisius has defeated AIC more than any other school at the Division I level.
• The Griffs have dominated the series as of late. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, Canisius is 13-1-2 against AIC. The Yellow Jackets, however, ended a 15-game winless streak in their most recent meeting, which was the longest for Canisius versus any single team in program history.
• Last season, the schools split a pair of games in Springfield with Canisius winning the opener, 4-1, before AIC earned a 4-3 win in the finale.
ABOUT THE YELLOW JACKETS
• AIC enters the weekend with a 0-2-1 record, including a 0-1-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey play.
• Johno May leads the Yellow Jackets with four points on a goal and three assists. Alexander MacMillan and David Gandara have each netted a team-best two goals.
• Hunter Leisner has started 2-of-3 games in net with a 5.05 goals against average and .881 save percentage. Alex Murray started one contest, stopping 53-of-55 shots in a 2-2 draw.
