Golden Griffins - Changing the Tempo

The Golden Griffins entered this year with many new faces at all positions and a couple changes behind the bench however the biggest change is the Griffs style of play. Last year, Canisius had an up and down year and worked on trying to gel consistently throughout the season as injuries played a key role. At an early glance, you can tell this year is based on attacking early and often as Canisius sits at 3rd in the nation in goals for, including three scorers in the Top 20 nationally. The Griffs currently sit at 3-3 on the year and below are a bit more details on how they got there thus far.

The first weekend against Duquense University started with an offensive breakout featuring seven goals scored in each game including the 2nd game having a four-goal 3rd period to come back for the win. Newcomers Kessler Skye, Nate Rivet and Jhett Winkel were able to get their first goals in the ACHA as well as Mansoor "Manny" Egbali with his first ACHA win.

Heading into the next weekend Canisius hosted Robert Morris University after going 0-2 against them last year in Pennsylvania. Game one was tightly contested for the Griffs until RMU was able to close it out in the 3rd period to take the win 6-2. The Griffs next game featured quite a bit more grit as both teams totaled 84 penalty minutes with Canisius taking advantage on the powerplay by Jesse Calhoun and Kyle Neudorf. Ben Naimool was able to net his first in the ACHA as well as Sam Cureo earning his first ACHA win over the highly regarded Colonials.

Most recently Canisius took on another CHMA opponent in West Virginia University this past weekend. After beating West Virginia twice last year it seemed as if the Mountaineers were keen to return the favor and did so winning 9-4 and 6-5 in their home rink. The Griffs were close to a late comeback in game two however West Virginia's defense was able to hold off the last rush from Canisius.

Up next for the Griffs is the University at Buffalo Bulls in the start of NECHL play. Canisius will be without Robbie Ciccari and Tibor Setteducati who are serving their disqualifications from game two at West Virginia as well as a few others due to injury. Canisius hosts Buffalo at 7:30pm at Harborcenter on October 7th and then Buffalo hosts the next day at Northtown Center at 7:00pm. These highly contested games should be a great start for all those who are looking to see some high quality hockey in Buffalo this weekend.