Chris Lerch

It’s hard to believe, but we’re entering the final weekend of the regular season in Atlantic Hockey America. Well, there’s one extra game to be played on Monday, Feb. 24 – more about that later. The format is as follows: First Round, March 1 Single elimination No. 11 seed at No. 6 seed No. 10 … Read more

Growing up in a hockey family presents challenges and opportunities. For Army West Point defenseman Mac Gadowsky, hockey was always there, but the sophomore never felt pressure to play. “Ever since I could remember, it’s something I wanted to do,” said Gadowsky. “When I was a kid, it was NHL highlights in the morning and … Read more

Like a lot of hockey players, Holy Cross senior forward Liam McLinskey’s journey to conference MVP and All-American wasn’t a straight line. After two seasons of junior hockey with the Jersey Hitmen of the NCDC where he put up 119 points in 94 games, McLinskey was recruited by Quinnipiac and entered his freshman year in … Read more

Canisius has flown under the radar most of this season. Trevor Large’s team has at least one game in hand on everyone else, and is currently in fifth place, the final bye position, based on points earned per game. “The reality for us is that like most seasons, it’s been a roller coaster,” said Large, … Read more

In early November, American International announced that it was downgrading its hockey program to Division II. This means, barring a last-minute long-shot reprieve, this season will be the final one in Atlantic Hockey for the Yellow Jackets, who won four regular-season titles from 2019 to 2022 and enjoyed three playoff championships/NCAA appearances in 2019, 2021, … Read more

Scoring goals has been a challenge for Army West Point this season. Before last weekend, the Black Knights (7-15-0) were averaging 1.65 goals a game, and hadn’t scored more than two in a contest since a 5-3 loss to Holy Cross on Nov. 22. Brian Riley’s team came into last weekend’s series with Mercyhurst having … Read more

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Holiday season. As we head into the second half of the college hockey season, let’s look back at the first half. Here are our midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? Probably. But these are our picks for the first … Read more

While it often seems like the 2024-25 season just got underway, we’re already at the halfway point, with roughly 47% of Atlantic Hockey America’s conference schedule completed. That’s a decent enough sample to look at where all 11 teams stand. My friends at the USCHO Weekend Review podcast have an exercise called “Buy or Sell,” … Read more

The first half of the 2024-25 season has not been kind to Rochester Institute of Technology. Nearing the holiday break, the Tigers find themselves in an unfamiliar position —- near the bottom of the Atlantic Hockey America standings. RIT has won the regular-season title the past two seasons and a playoff championship last year. But … Read more

We’re past Thanksgiving, which means it’s OK to start looking at the PairWise rankings. At least that’s what my friends say. Here’s some early analysis from the USCHO Weekend Review podcast as well as our Tuesday Morning Quarterback column. If you follow Atlantic Hockey America, one quick peek is all you need. The highest-ranked AHA … Read more

It’s an old sports writing cliche, but at this time of the season, you’ll often see stories listing what teams have to be thankful for so far. Guilty as charged. I’m offering a slight variation – here’s a player on each Atlantic Hockey America team whose play inspires gratitude from coaches, players, and fans, at … Read more

Last Tuesday, word began spreading that American International was downgrading its men’s hockey program to Division II at the end of this season. Yellow Jackets coach Eric Lang confirmed it to me in a text and later issued the following statement to social media: AIC has been the place I've called my home for over … Read more

While Sacred Heart was the consensus pick to finish first in Atlantic Hockey this season, coach CJ Marottolo, in his 16th year behind the Pioneers bench, knows his team is a work in progress. His roster includes seven rookies as well as nine transfers, and it will take some time to gel. After a split … Read more

Last season was the first for Andy Jones behind the bench at Bentley. Jones, who was appointed in late June of 2023, didn’t have a lot of time to get to know his team well and inherited a recruiting class put together by the departing Ryan Soderquist. The Falcons were picked to finish in last … Read more

Parity continues to reign in Atlantic Hockey America. Ask any coach about the league and they’ll tell you one of its strengths is that the margin between the top and bottom is small. To date, there have been six conference series, with four resulting in splits, and two more that featured one team getting four … Read more

Last season was version 2.0 of the Robert Morris men’s and women’s hockey teams. Both had to start from almost scratch after the programs were canceled in 2021 but revived for the 2023-24 season. Most of RMU’s players transferred out after the program was shuttered, requiring coach Derek Schooley, in his 20th season at RMU, … Read more