When the dust settled on the 2024-25 Atlantic Hockey America regular season, no tiebreakers were necessary to determine the playoff seedings:
1. Holy Cross
2. Sacred Heart
3. Bentley
4. Niagara
5. Army West Point
6. Canisius
7. Air Force
8. American International
9. Rochester Institute of Technology
10. Robert Morris
11. Mercyhurst
That means the 2025 Atlantic Hockey tournament looks like this:
First Round
Single elimination
February 28
#9 RIT vs. AIC (Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.)
March 1
#11 Mercyhurst at #6 Canisius
#10 Robert Morris at #7 Air Force
Quarterfinal Round
Best-of-three series
March 7-9
Lowest surviving seed at #1 Holy Cross
Second lost surviving seed at #2 Sacred Heart
Third lowest surviving seed at #3 Bentley
#5 Army West Point at #4 Niagara
Semifinal Round
Best-of-three series
March 14-16
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed
Second-lowest surviving seed at second-highest surviving seed
Championship
Single elimination
March 22
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed
Predictions vs. reality
It’s been a yearly tradition here to take a look at how the coaches and yours truly picked the final standings at the start of the season. The coaches vote in a preseason poll, and I vote in a poll of one to determine USCHO’s picks.
Observations:
I had a better year than the coaches, but we both whiffed on a couple of predictions.
There were question marks surrounding defending champions RIT after the Tigers lost several key players to blue chip programs via the transfer portal at the end of last season. RIT lost three first-team and one second-team all-league players to transfer, and the impact turned out to be more significant than the coaches or myself predicted, resulting in a ninth-place finish, tied for the lowest for RIT since joining the league in 2006.
On the positive side, RIT also finished in ninth place in 2014 and went on to capture the next two conference championships.
The other major miscalculation by myself and the coaches was Army West Point. The Black Knights were picked to finish tenth by the coaches and last by yours truly. But thanks to the emergence of players like Mac Gadowsky and a freshman class that includes Jack Ivey (23 points) Ben Ivey (16 points), Nils Forselius (20 points) and JJ Cataldo (.925 saves % and a 2.31 GAA), combined with the X-Factor of coach Brian Riley’s impending retirement, Army West Point earned a fifth-place finish and first round bye.
Previewing the First Round
Anything can happen in a single-elimination game, and one or more upsets in this round wouldn’t be shocking.
#11 Mercyhurst at #6 Canisius
This is the oldest rivalry in Atlantic Hockey, going back to when both teams were in the Division III ECAC West. The schools have met 114 times previously, with Mercyhurst holding a 52-49-13 edge. Canisius holds the advantage in the Division I era (42-39-11).
Mercyhurst will be looking to stay out of the box against the Golden Griffins, who sport the best power play in the conference (23.8%). That’s compounded by the Lakers having the lowest penalty kill success rate in the league (71.9%).
The teams met three times in the regular season with Canisius taking 7 of 9 points (two wins plus a tie and shootout loss).
#10 Robert Morris at #7 Air Force
This is another rivalry that predates Atlantic Hockey. The former CHA members have played 46 times, with Air Force holding a 24-17-5 edge.
The teams’ only meeting this season was last weekend, when Air Force took five of six points with a victory and shoutout win.
Statistically, Robert Morris is averaging around a half a goal a game better than Air Force, while the Falcons are allowing about a half a goal a game less than the Colonials.
Neither team comes into the game on a hot streak. Air Force is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games while RMU is 1-7-2.
#9 Rochester Institute of Technology at #8 American International
This battle of the acronym schools is a rematch of last year’s Atlantic Hockey championship game, a 5-2 Tigers win that was closer than the score indicates.
This game will be played on Friday at West Point as the Mass Mutual Center, AIC’s home rink, is booked this weekend.
With the cancellation of its Division I program at the end of the season, every game could be the last for the Yellow Jackets. It’s difficult to end another team’s season, much less a situation like this.
The teams met two weeks ago, with the Tigers recording a victory and a shootout win on home ice.
RIT leads the all-time series 37-11-4.
