The 2020–21 Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey season was the 17th season of play for the program and the 11th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Colonials represented Robert Morris University and were coached by Derek Schooley, in his 17th season.

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 Canisius' players would lose a season of play. 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.

Robert Morris began the season well and continued their strong play for most of the year. The team was buoyed by the addition of two freshman, Randy Hernández and Noah West, who made major contributions to the offense and defense respectively. By mid-January RMU found themselves ranked in the top 20 with an 11–3 record and a chance to make the NCAA Tournament without having to win their conference tournament, a rarity for Atlantic Hockey. Unfortunately, the team was hit by several COVID cancellations and ended up losing 4 of their final 7 games entering the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. It was still possible for the Colonials to make the tournament without an Atlantic Hockey Championship, but any chance the team had was washed away when the offense faltered against Niagara and the team was knocked out in the quarterfinals.

On May 26, 2021, it was announced that Robert Morris University would be ending both its men and women's varsity hockey programs, effective immediately.

Departures Jake Coleman Forward Graduation Mike Coyne Forward Graduation Sean Giles Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Knoxville Ice Bears) Aidan Girduckis Defenseman Transferred to Chatham Kip Hoffmann Forward Transferred to Illinois Justin Kapelmaster Goaltender Graduation (Signed with Allen Americans) Luke Lynch Forward Graduation (Signed with Wheeling Nailers) Daniel Mantenuto Forward Graduation (Signed with Asiago Hockey 1935) Alexander Robert Defenseman Graduation

Recruiting Matthew Guerra Forward 21 Sanford, FL Gavin Gulash Forward 21 Red Bank, NJ Kyler Head Forward 21 Malone, NY Randy Hernández Forward 21 Miami, FL Matt Hutton Forward 21 Carmel, IN Brian Kramer Defenseman 20 Wexford, PA David Lafrance Defenseman 19 Ottawa, ON; returned to juniors (Rockland Nationals) Jordan Timmons Forward 21 Bridgeville, PA; transfer from Connecticut Noah West Goaltender 19 Pittsboro, IN

Roster As of December 31, 2020.

Standings

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season

!colspan=12 style=";" |

|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Robert Morris Lost Series 1–2

Scoring Statistics RW 24 11 14 25 2 F 24 7 18 25 12 C 24 8 15 23 18 D 24 6 13 19 4 RW 21 8 7 15 53 D 24 4 11 15 8 C/RW 21 5 9 14 6 RW 24 6 7 13 6 D 22 0 12 12 32 F 13 9 2 11 4 F 24 5 6 11 6 F 16 3 4 7 12 D 24 2 5 7 12 RW 15 3 3 6 6 F 23 2 4 6 17 F 22 1 4 5 12 D 14 1 3 4 0 RW 24 0 4 4 4 F 22 2 1 3 6 D 15 0 3 3 4 C 15 2 0 2 19 D 6 0 2 2 0 RW 10 0 2 2 19 G 2 0 0 0 0 F 2 0 0 0 0 D 3 0 0 0 0 G 7 0 0 0 0 G 19 0 0 0 0 Bench - - - - - 10 Total 85 149 234 272

Goaltending statistics 19 1082 9 7 0 48 520 1 .915 2.66 7 313 5 2 0 14 131 0 .903 2.68 2 71 1 0 0 4 22 0 .846 3.35 Empty Net - 14 - - - 3 - - - - Total 24 1480 15 9 0 69 673 1 .907 2.80

Rankings

PollWeekPre123456789101112131415161718192021 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNR20NRNR201717NR191919NRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.

Awards and honors Nick Prkusic Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year Randy Hernández Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year Nick Jenny Atlantic Hockey Best Defenseman Nick Jenny Atlantic Hockey Individual Sportsmanship Award Derek Schooley Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year Nick Jenny Atlantic Hockey First Team Nick Prkusic Noah West Atlantic Hockey Second Team Brendan Michaelian Randy Hernández Noah West Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team Brian Kramer Randy Hernández

References