Heading into this season and every season for the past decade, hope springs eternal for Atlantic Hockey to get more than its playoff champion into the NCAA tournament.
That will require a team to have a strong enough record to not need the automatic qualifier awarded to the playoff champion.
It also requires a strong, or at least decent, non-conference schedule as that’s critical in the PairWise Rankings formula as a way to gauge the strength of teams from different leagues.
A good rule of thumb on this is a non-conference record of at least .400.
Unfortunately, things are not off to a promising start after two weekends of play. AHA teams are 2-13-4 out of conference (.211). Three of the four ties ended in shootout wins, but those non-conference shootouts are for bragging rights only.
The two wins were by Niagara in a sweep of Omaha last weekend. On Friday, the Purple Eagles opened a 4-1 lead and held on for a 4-3 win, with goaltender Chad Veltri making 31 saves, including 23 over the final two periods.
Saturday was a different script that saw Niagara come back from a 3-2 deficit in the third period for another 4-3 win. Ryan Naumovski got the game winner with 3:12 to play.
Veltri was solid both nights, stopping 61 of 67 shots on the weekend, but the offense also sparked.
“The offense putting up four goals in each game obviously helped,” said Niagara coach Jason Lammers. “We were very opportunistic. Scoring the first goal (on Friday) gave us a lot of confidence. A big part of that was Chad. Saturday, we got off to a slower start, but the guys did an awesome job of staying committed to how we play.”
Veltri was in midseason form, helping Niagara to its best start in its Division I era.
“He had a really good summer, working on his mentality and physique,” said Lammers. “(New assistant coach) Nate Skidmore has been working with Chad and it’s paying off.”
Opening on the road had the bonus effect of bringing Lammer’ team, which features 11 new players, closer together.
“We’ve traditionally gone on the road (to start the season) for those reasons,” said Lammers. “It worked out with the result (of two wins) but also some team building which is 98 percent of why we do it. Playing in some really hard environments together builds chemistry. On the road, all you have to concentrate on is each other and the task at hand.”
The sweep gives Niagara some confidence as it opens conference play this weekend, hosting defending champion American International.
“Great team,” said Lammers. “We know who they are and what they’re going to bring, and we have great respect for them. If we’re going to win, we’re going to have to outcompete them, and they make that hard.
“But knowing what we can do, we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Old friends
The offseason saw several top players in Atlantic Hockey opt for the transfer portal. Of the six members of the All-Conference first team, one (Canisius goaltender Jacob Barczewski) returned, one (Army West Point’s Colin Bilek) graduated, and the other four transferred.
In the first two weeks of the season, we’ve seen some of the players who moved on face off against teams from their former league:
* Former AIC goaltender and conference all-star Jake Kucharski is now at Omaha and got the start against Niagara last Friday. He made 14 saves in a 4-3 loss.
* Another former Yellow Jacket, Chris Theodore, the AHA Player of the Year last season, had three assists for his new team, Union, in a 4-3 win over RIT on Oct. 1. He was held off the scoresheet in a 2-2 tie with Army West Point the following afternoon.
* Defenseman Drew Bavaro, a first-team AHA all-star last season, is now at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish tied Air Force last Saturday, 5-5. Bavaro had a pair of assists, including on the tying, extra attacker goal with 1:12 to play in regulation.
* Former Holy Cross goalie Matt Radomsky, now at Alaska, went 1-0-1 against AIC the opening weekend of the season, making 27 saves in a 1-1 tie and another 20 in a 2-1 win.
* Austin Heidemann, who scored 19 goals in two seasons at Mercyhurst, transferred to Rensselaer and played against his former squad last Friday. He didn’t record a point in a 6-3 win by the Engineers over the Lakers.
