Another busy offseason brought more change to college hockey and the NCAA landscape in general.
Atlantic Hockey saw more upheaval at the end of last season with the end of the Mercyhurst’s men’s program, leaving the conference with nine members. That means a change to the number of conference games (from 26 to 24) as well as a different playoff format.
And then there were nine
All nine schools will continue to make the postseason, with the eighth and ninth teams playing a single midweek play-in game on March 2, followed by best-of-three quarterfinals and semifinals and culminating in a winner-take-all championship game on March 20.
Conferences normally like an even number of teams because it makes scheduling easier. But when asked about the prospects of admitting a tenth and possibly more schools, commissioner Michelle Morgan said, “This is something that’s continued to be discussed over the years — two years ago with the departure of AIC and their reclassification. This is something that our board of directors is always aware of and looking at, but it’s also important that we retain a core membership that’s going to provide the best pathway and position this league for the best success to compete at a national level. (For) the immediate future, we’re sticking with nine.”
Three peat?
In 2025, Bentley, which before had never won an Atlantic Hockey title or played in the NCAA tournament, captured its first title and pushed BC to the limit in its tournament debut. Last season, the Falcons did it again, this time adding a regular season title to their resume.
The Falcons are one of the favorites again. Does Andy Jones’s squad have it in them? Jones says they’ll continue doing what’s worked for them.
“As far as our group is concerned, we’re going to continue to focus on the process,” he said. “It definitely sounds boring, but we’re excited about seeing where this group’s ceiling is. We never talked about winning then, and we’re not talking about winning now. Part of our role as a staff is to manage expectations, and our expectations at the start of the fourth year have remained pretty simple: we expect our guys to lead with effort and be curious. Sounds pretty simple, but by having simple expectations, they’re more easily manageable.”
Getting closer?
Sacred Heart was picked to finish atop the standings in the coach’s preseason poll, but it was far from unanimous. The Pioneers got three first place votes compared to five for Bentley, which was picked to finish second by a single point.
SHU has been close to hanging a banner several times in its history, including back-to-back 20-win seasons and a spot in the AHA championship game over the past two years.
Will this year belong to the Pioneers?
“We’re right there,” said coach CJ Marottolo. “That’s all you can ask. At the end of the day, Bentley was better than us last year, but I think we’ve learned from that. That was a bitter pill to swallow for our returning guys, and I think that has given them great fuel going into this year.
“Every year you’re trying to get a little bit better as a coach, and trying to do things a little bit better as a team — we’re always tinkering with that as we move throughout the season,” he continued. “But going into the year, there wasn’t one thing that we said we need to change and that’ll help us win. Consistency day in and day out wins in this league. The teams are just too good night in and night out, and you have to bring that attitude every day.”
Just win, baby
The challenge for Atlantic Hockey continues to be its non-conference record, which while, showing some improvement, still hovers below .400.
“When it’s all said and done every year, the league is going to have to improve our non-conference record,” said Jones. “We all know that — to try to win more of those non-conference games to improve the external view of the league. Everybody’s focused on that. I do think some of the infrastructure changes play a big role. Those (NCAA tournament games) are just like one-game shots at the end of the year. So raising the floor of the league is just as important as how the league does in those situations.”
“With the amount of players available now, the talent level’s risen — everyone has good players,” said Holy Cross coach Bill Riga. “It’s going to be a matter of whose culture, whose identity, whose details are better, to see who consistently rises to the top of the league.
“In terms of the league itself, if you want to be up there with what people call the top 20 programs, then you need to play them and beat them. If you want to be up there with those teams that put players in the NHL, you need to put players in the NHL. So it’s a matter of finding ways to do that as a league and as individual programs. If we’re able to play non-conference games and beat those teams, then that will come naturally.”
ATLANTIC HOCKEY AMERICA
2025-26 regular season and tournament champion: Bentley (16-6-4, 23-12-5 overall; No. 1 tourney seed, defeated No. 2 Sacred Heart 2-1)
2025-26 NCAA tournament teams: Bentley (AQ, lost 5-1 to Michigan in first round)
Preseason coaches poll No. 1: Sacred Heart (3 first-place votes)
Players to watch: Nolan Cunningham (Air Force, Sr.,D); Dominic Elliott (Robert Morris, Jr., D); Ajeet Gundarah (Sacred Heart, Jr., G); Kellan Hjartarson, (Bentley, Sr., F); Jack Ivey (Army, Jr., F); Charles-Edward Gravel (Niagara, So., G); Matt Kursonis (Holy Cross, Jr., F); Matthew Wilde (RIT, Sr., F); Walter Zacher (Canisius, Sr., F)
USCHO 2026-27 PREDICTIONS
Regular season champion: Bentley
Playoff champion: Sacred Heart
Tournament team: Sacred Heart
Dark horses: Air Force, Holy Cross, RIT