2020–21 Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Quinnipiac's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

Quinnipiac was one of the few teams to play a decent amount of non-conference games during the 20–21 season. The Bobcats played their first 8 games against teams not in ECAC Hockey and performed well, going 6–2. The team continued that level of play throughout the season, consistently being ranked near the middle of the top-20. The stars of the season were team captain Odeen Tufto and starting goaltender Keith Petruzzelli, both seniors. Tufto led the team in scoring by a wide margin, finishing the year with 47 points and was second in the nation. Petruzzelli backstopped the team to a league title and was named as the best goaltender in the conference, allowing less than 2 goals per game on the year.[3]

With their stellar record, the Bobcats were all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament but the team still wanted to earn capture the ECAC championship. Due to 8 of the 12 ECAC teams cancelling their seasons, Quinnipiac would only have to win two games to win the crown. However, due to Clarkson cancelling its season after COVID protocol violations,[4] Quinnipiac received a bye into the title game, becoming the first team at the Division I level to play a one-off game for an automatic bid since 1960. In the title game the Bobcats started slow, recording just 4 shots in the first period, but took over in the middle frame. After taking a 2–1 lead into the third, Quinnipiac tried to win a 1-goal game but St. Lawrence fought back and tied the score with less than 5 minutes to play. The game went into overtime and, after less than 4 minutes, Quinnipiac found themselves on the wrong side of the winning goal, losing the title to the Larries.

A day after the conference tournament, St. Lawrence's head coach tested positive for COVID and the team was forced to withdraw from the NCAA tournament.[5] As a result, Quinnipiac was given the ECAC automatic bid instead, though it was likely that the team would have been selected as an at-large bid anyway. In their opening game of the tournament, Quinnipiac showed none of the hesitancy that they had the game before and roared out to a 2-goal lead after 20 minutes. Once they had their advantage, however, the team slowed in the middle and allowed Minnesota State to cut their lead in half. A more even third period saw the Bobcats restore their 2-goal edge but the Mavericks wouldn't go away and, over the course of the final 11 minutes, Quinnipiac's lead was eroded and MSU tied the game with just over a minute to play. With the team having once again blown a lead, the Bobcats were overwhelmed in the extra session and were outshot 7–2 before Minnesota State ended their season.

As of March 17, 2021.[6]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Yaniv Perets	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-03-04	Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec	Penticton (BCHL)	—
2		Iivari Räsänen	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-05-23	Tampere, Finland	Muskegon (USHL)	—
3		Peter DiLiberatore (A)	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-03-31	Bedford, Nova Scotia	Salisbury (USHS–CT)	VGK, 180th overall 2018
4		Michael Lombardi	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-08-20	Barrington, Rhode Island	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
5		C. J. McGee	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-03-12	Pearl River, New York	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
7		Marcus Chorney	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-09-16	Hastings, Minnesota	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
8		Nick Bochen	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-08-29	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Prince George (BCHL)	—
10		Ethan de Jong	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-07-12	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Prince George (BCHL)	—
11		Wyatt Bongiovanni (A)	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-07-24	Birmingham, Michigan	Muskegon (USHL)	—
12		Daniel Winslow	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-09-26	Fairfield, Connecticut	Jersey (NCDC)	—
13		Christophe Fillion	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-18	Sherbrooke, Quebec	Muskegon (USHL)	—
14		Ethan Leyh	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-06-07	Anmore, British Columbia	Langley (BCHL)	—
15		Jayden Lee	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	2001-01-10	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Powell River (BCHL)	—
17		Joey Cipollone	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-07-12	Purchase, New York	Tri-City (USHL)	—
18		Corey Clifton	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-02-03	Matawan, New Jersey	Austin (NAHL)	—
19		T. J. Friedmann	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-02-27	St. Louis, Missouri	Victoria (BCHL)	—
20		Matthew Fawcett	Sophomore	F	5' 6" (1.68 m)	148 lb (67 kg)	1999-04-22	Lincoln, Rhode Island	Powell River (BCHL)	—
22		Skyler Brind'Amour	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-07-27	Raleigh, North Carolina	Chilliwack (BCHL)	EDM, 177th overall 2017
23		Zach Metsa	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-10-19	Delafield, Wisconsin	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
24		Logan Britt	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-10	Crystal Lake, Illinois	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
25		Tyler Ghirardosi	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1999-10-01	Montrose, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	—
26		Guus van Nes	Sophomore (RS)	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1997-02-14	Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
27		Desi Burgart	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-09-28	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Surrey (BCHL)	—
28		Joe O'Connor	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1996-03-16	Hamden, Connecticut	Brooks (AJHL)	—
29		Odeen Tufto (C)	Senior	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-01-09	Chaska, Minnesota	Sioux City (USHL)	—
31		Keith Petruzzelli	Senior	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-02-09	Wilbraham, Massachusetts	Muskegon (USHL)	DET, 88th overall 2017
33		Josh Mayanja	Senior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1997-08-16	Framingham, Massachusetts	South Shore (USPHL)	—
35		Evan Fear	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1999-07-05	Winnetka, Illinois	Waterloo (USHL)	—
96		Ty Smilanic	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	2002-01-20	Denver, Colorado	USNTDP (USHL)	FLA, 74th overall 2020

[7]

[8]

† Petruzzelli and Perets shared a shutout on February 13.

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[9]