2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 28th season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level and the 14th in Atlantic Hockey. The Purple Eagles represented Niagara University, played their homes games at the Dwyer Arena and were coached by Jason Lammers in his 7th season.

Season
Niagara lost more than half of its players in the offseason but the biggest void was in goal. In losing their starter and likely replacement, the team brought in graduate transfer Jarrett Fiske to compete with Ryan Ouellette for the starting role. Fiske had a rather poor start to the season, surrendering 5 goals in 40 minutes to Omaha. Ouellette then became the starter for about a month but could not establish himself in the position. Fiske regain the starting job in early November and performed much better the second time around. He remained the primary netminder for the remainder of the year with Ouellette and Mitchell Day filling in now and again.

The offense, too, was in need of new leadership and got a boon with freshman forwards Tyler Wallace and Jack Richard. The two newcomers combined with upperclassmen Jay Ahearn and Carter Randklev to lead the offense and keep the team competitive on most nights.

After an up-and-down opening to the year, Niagara went through a very poor stretch in December and January, going 1–6 and putting themselves behind the 8-ball. They were able to arrest their slide with a win over RIT, the best team in the conference, and went 8–3–2 down the stretch. The improved play didn't quite get the team a bye into the quarterfinal round but it did afford them with home ice in the opening round of the playoffs.

Niagara opened its postseason with a fairly easy win over Army despite Richard being ejected for slew-footing in the first period. The major penalty resulted in the only goal for Army but otherwise didn't affect the outcome of the game. Niagara then faced Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals and found a opponent in the midst of a losing skid. The Eagles took full advantage and flew through the Pioneers' defense. Niagara scored 11 goals in two games, give Fiske all the goal support he needed for a sweep. Randklev was particularly outstanding, recording 6 points in the two games.

In the semifinals, Niagara found itself opposite RIT, who had lost the season series to the Purple Eagles despite finishing first in the standings. Niagara was hoping for more of the same but the Tigers did not take the underdogs lightly and kept to their defensive structure. Niagara piled on the shots in the opening game, recording 39 in regulation, but were only able to get one into the RIT cage, and even then they needed an extra attacker. The second saw RIT jump out to a 3–0 lead in the first period and Niagara had no answer. The Eagles were able to cut into the advantage in the final frame but it was too little too late and Niagara ended its season with a pair of losses.

Due to a snowstorm, the game against Mercyhurst scheduled on January 13 was postponed to a later date.

Roster
As of September 15, 2023.

Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition

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

!colspan=12 style=";" | Atlantic Hockey Tournament

Rankings
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25. Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.

2024 NHL Entry Draft
† incoming freshman