Projected at the top of Atlantic Hockey America to begin the year by the conference's coaches, how can Felix Trudeau and the Pioneers find their groove again after falling to 6th?
In college hockey, there are more positive surprises than negative ones that you come across throughout a season. On The Hockey News, through three conferences so far, we have had nothing but positive surprises from every conference, until now.
The Atlantic Hockey America is going as expected, with the exception of one thing: What happened to the Pioneers?
Nov 15, 2025: Stephane Huard (71) skates it up ice against Canisius in an AHA matchup. Credit: Emma Pinault/ Sacred Heart AthleticsSacred Heart, after being projected to win the Atlantic here in the 2025-26 year, has plummeted to 6th in the current standings. They held seven of the ten first-place votes given in the preseason coaches' poll.
After starting their official season in AHA play and with a sweep of RIT, it was going just as expected. Since then? Only five wins in their last fourteen games.
The offense for Sacred Heart has seen a slight dip, moving from 3.0 goals a game the previous season to 2.6, which doesn’t seem like a wide margin, but it can add up, as seen in some key losses this season for the Pioneers.
It makes sense, with three of their top five scorers moving on.
Nonetheless, at the top of the scoring podium for Sacred Heart for a consecutive year, Felix Trudeau has been beyond a bright spot in a declined forward group.
A senior from Terrebonne, Quebec, Trudeau found his sweet spot in the transfer portal at Sacred Heart after his sophomore year, previously spending his underclassmen seasons with the Black Bears of Maine.
With only 13 points at Maine, he’s got 56 with just two more games in his tenure in red. A pure goal scorer has remained hot during the skid, 12 in his last 10 games.
Trudeau has also been crucial to the power play. It has not been pretty (15.9%), but he is the only Pioneer with numerous power play tallies, at a heavy amount of six, that is more than the rest of the team combined (five).
Felix Trudeau, transfer from Maine, has found a happy hockey home in Connecticut. He’s Sacred Heart’s top scorer, and last year a Hobey Baker nominee. (Mark F. Conrad/SHU Athletics)The faceoff dot has also become a problem for Sacred Heart. Currently the nations fifth worst faceoff percentage at 45.3%, it is a major drop off from last season with the Pioneers winning approximately half of draws previously.
There is still plenty of time for a turnaround, opening up with two easier series out of the holiday break.
Sacred Heart will face two of the bottom four in the Atlantic up next, with a home and home separated by four days against Robert Morris starting December 30th, then followed up by a road series January 9th and 10th in New York to take on Niagara.
When it comes to potential keys for Sacred Heart to begin an expected bounce back, it all starts with the offense, a unit that has not found more than three goals in a game since they met with independent LIU back in mid November.
Besides that, head coach C.J. Marottolo has more than what it takes to get this team back in the podium conversation. In his 17th season with the Pioneers, he is also known for riding a hot streak, a primary reason he was nominated for the 2009 Bauer Coach of the Year award, when Sacred Heart set a school record 12 game unbeaten streak.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see Sacred Heart find that path here in the 2025-26 season down the road.