Fun fact: Before Massachusetts-native Joe Cannata joined the National Hockey League, he played between the pipes for Merrimack College. In his collegiate debut in 2008, the goaltender blocked 44 shots from Army to become the first player in Warrior history to start his career with a shutout. During his junior and senior years at Merrimack, he was widely regarded as one of the top goalies in the Hockey East Association conference.

Cannata made his professional debut for the minor league Chicago Wolves in 2012, after which he returned to Merrimack to finish his business degree. In 2013, he was called up to the big leagues and played with the Vancouver Canucks before joining the Washington Capitals in 2016.

Today, Cannata continues his goalkeeping career with IK Oskarshamn in the Swedish Hockey League.