Army Black Knights men's ice hockey

Army Black Knights men's ice hockey
Current season
University	United States Military Academy
Conference	AHA
First season	1903–04
Head coach	Brian Riley 21st season, 242–359–92 (.416)
Assistant coaches	Zack McKelvie Chris Azzano Jack Riley
Captain	Ricky Lyle Michael Sacco
Arena	Tate Rink West Point, New York
Colors	Black, gold, and gray[1]
Conference regular season championships
AHA: 2007–08
Current uniform

The Army Black Knights men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights are members of Atlantic Hockey America and play at the Tate Rink in West Point, New York.

The men's ice hockey program at West Point has been in existence since the 1903–04 season. The team played outdoors until 1930 when the Smith Rink opened.^[2] The team competed as independent members of NCAA Division I from the inaugural season through the 1960–61 season.^[3] In 1961 the program became a founding member of the ECAC.^[3] The team, known at the time as the Army Cadets, played as members of the ECAC from 1961 to 1962 season through the 1972–73 season before dropping their program to Division II status when the NCAA instituted numerical divisions. The Cadets would remain there until 1980 when they rejoined the ECAC as an associate member. Army became a full ECAC member in 1984 in the aftermath of the Hockey East schism but the Cadets wouldn't remain for long and left the conference in 1990. The Cadets joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), which began sponsoring men's hockey at the time, in 1999 and in 2001 the team name was changed to Army Black Knights along with the other athletic programs at the Academy.^[3] In 2003, the MAAC's ice hockey division split off and became the Atlantic Hockey Association, a hockey-only NCAA Division I conference.^[4]

In 2007–08 season the Black Knights won their only conference title to date, the Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Championship. In that season the Knights finished with an overall record of 19 wins, 14 losses, and 4 ties and went 17–8–3 in conference play.^[5] Took the No. 1 seed into the Atlantic Hockey playoffs and swept (#10) American Int'l two games to none in the three game first round series.^[4] The Black Knight's season came to an end in the semifinal game when they lost to (#5) Mercyhurst 2–4.^[6]

Shortly after the end of the 2023–24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association merged with College Hockey America, a women-only league with which it had shared a commissioner and office staff since 2010. The merged league became Atlantic Hockey America.^[7]

Since 1950, the Cadets/Black Knights have been coached by a member of the Riley family. Jack Riley, best known for leading the United States to the gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics, coached at West Point from 1950 to 1986. He handed the reins to his son Rob in 1986, who in turn handed coaching duties to his younger brother Brian in 2004.

The Army Black Knights have a long-standing rivalry with the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins. It is considered one of the longest-running annual international sporting events in the world.^[8][9]

The tradition originated when the commandant of RMC, Sir Archibald McDonnell, and the superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, suggested a game of ice hockey between the two schools in 1921.^[10] After two years of exchanging ideas, the first game was played on February 23, 1923, at West Point. The Redmen won that first game 3–0.^[11] In 1924 the series moved to Kingston, Ontario (the location of RMC), thus beginning the tradition of rotating venues. This was Army's first away game and up until 1941, the West Point Game was the only time that Army played away from the Academy.^[8][9]

^[12]

As of March 5, 2024

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
2004–Present	Brian Riley	20	242–359–92	.416
1988–2004	Rob Riley	18	257–288–33	.473
1950–1986	Jack Riley	36	542–343–20	.610
1945–1950	Len Patten	5	33–35–2	.486
1944–1945	Robert Lutz	1	7–2–1	.750
1943–1944	John Hines	1	5–4–0	.556
1923–1943	Ray Marchand	20	76–106–9	.421
1920–1923	Talbot Hunter	3	12–12–2	.500
1918–1920	Philip Day	2	6–4–1	.591
1917–1918	Joseph Viner	1	6–3–0	.667
1914–1917	Frank Purdon	3	9–10–1	.475
1912–1914	Philip Gordon	2	7–6–0	.538
1910–1912	LeRoy Bartlett	2	3–4–1	.438
1907–1910	George Russell	3	5–7–4	.438
1904–1907	Robert Foy	3	15–8–0	.652
1903–1904	Edward Leonard King	1	5–1–0	.833
Totals	16 coaches	121 seasons	1230–1192–166	.507

The following individuals have been inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

† As the coach of the 1960 Olympic team.

The following individuals have been inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

The following individuals have been inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame.

The following individuals have been awarded the Lester Patrick Award.

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

• 2007–08: Josh Kassel, G
• 2020–21: Trevin Kozlowski, G; Colin Bilek, F
• 2021–22: Colin Bilek, F

First Team^[13]

Second Team

Rookie Team^[14]

First Team^[17]

Second Team

Third Team

Rookie Team

^[18]

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Years	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Dave Rost	1973–1977		104	226	330
Tom Rost	1976–1980		118	169	287	284
George Clark	1971–1975		153	113	266
Jim Knowlton	1978–1982		90	172	262
David Merhar	1966–1969		112	117	229
Robbie Craig	1980–1984		86	135	221
Ed Collazzo	1979–1983		93	104	197
Frank Keating	1978–1982		65	131	196
Dan Cox	1979–1983		61	133	194
Biff Shea	1981–1985		68	120	188

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 35 games

Player	Years	GP	MIN	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Trevin Kozlowski	2017–2021	65	3865	36	21	6	142	3	.911	2.18
Jack Shepard	1960–1963								.920	2.20
Neil Meiras	1961–1964								.896	2.28
Parker Gahagen	2013–2017	110	6372	41	49	16	255	10	.926	2.40
Josh Kassel	2005–2009	77	4415	37	31	7	181	8	.909	2.46

Statistics current through the start of the 2022-23 season.

As of July 29, 2024.^[19]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Jacob Biron	Freshman	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2004-06-26	Buffalo, New York	Kemptville 73's (CCHL)	—
2		Mac Gadowsky	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-01-10	Fairbanks, Alaska	Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)	—
3		Easton Zueger	Sophomore	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-06-07	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)	—
4		Benjamin Ivey	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2004-02-12	San Diego, California	Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)	—
5		Jack Ivey	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2004-02-12	San Diego, California	Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)	—
6		Pierce Patterson	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-02-26	Valrico, Florida	Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)	—
7		Andrew Gilbert	Senior	D	6' 5" (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2000-05-02	Fairfield, Connecticut	New Jersey Hitmen (NCDC)	—
8		Vincent Salice	Sophomore	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2003-02-28	Commerce Township, Michigan	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	—
9		Nils Forselius	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-10-30	Guilford, Connecticut	Maine Nordiques (NAHL)	—
10		Dylan Wegner	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2004-06-01	Nashville, Tennessee	Merritt Centennials (BCHL)	—
11		Josh Bohlin	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-02-10	Wausau, Wisconsin	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
12		Sam Groebner	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	2003-03-03	Apple Valley, Minnesota	Wisconsin Windigo (NAHL)	—
13		Michael Sacco (C)	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-11-16	Syosset, New York	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights (NAHL)	—
14		Owen Nolan	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-03-10	Mahopac, New York	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)	—
15		Lucas Kanta	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-04-20	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Minnesota Magicians (NAHL)	—
16		Hunter McCoy	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-08-01	Newburyport, Massachusetts	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
17		Noah Alvarez	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2003-03-30	Los Angeles, California	Nanaimo Clippers (NAHL)	—
18		Jon Bell	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2002-06-22	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Wisconsin Windigo (NAHL)	—
19		Nik Hong	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-08-27	Minneapolis, Minnesota	St. Cloud Norsemen (NAHL)	—
20		Sean Vlasich	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-04-20	Hillsdale, New Jersey	North Iowa Bulls (NAHL)	—
21		Stephen Willey	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-03-26	Shelton, Connecticut	New Jersey Titans (NAHL)	—
22		Jude Brower	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-06-11	Mahopac, New York	Boston Junior Bruins (NCDC)	—
23		Joey Baez	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-01-12	Tampa, Florida	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)	—
24		Andrew Garby	Senior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2000-09-17	Canton, Michigan	Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)	—
25		Barron Woodring	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-07-05	Chicago, Illinois	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)	—
26		Joey Dosan	Junior	F	6' 6" (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2001-03-20	Bloomington, Minnesota	Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL)	—
27		Trevor Smith	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-03-02	Raleigh, North Carolina	Boston Advantage (NCDC)	—
28		Brent Keefer	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-09-28	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Northeast Generals (NAHL)	—
29		Adam Marshall	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-07-14	Wayzata, Minnesota	Trail Smoke Eaters (NAHL)	—
30		J. J. Cataldo	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-02-20	Stuart, Florida	Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL)	—
31		Evan Szary	Senior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-02-29	Nashville, Tennessee	South Shore Kings (NCDC)	—
33		Gus Holt	Sophomore	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	206 lb (93 kg)	2003-02-21	Bowling Green, Ohio	Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)	—

This is a list of Army alumni were a part of an Olympic team.

Name	Position	Army Tenure	Team	Year	Finish
Larry Palmer	Goaltender	1956–1959	USA	1960	Gold

As of July 1, 2024.

Player	Position	Team(s)	Years	Stanley Cups
Dan Hinote	Center	COL, STL	1999–2009	1

^[20]

• 
  Dan Hinote

• Army Black Knights

• Official website