Chris LerchThanks…and No Thanks There are plenty of things for the teams in Atlantic Hockey to be thankful for at this point in the season, as well as some things not to appreciate. So in the spirit of the holiday, let’s play a game of Thanks…and No Thanks. Air Force Thanks: Wow. The Falcons are off … Read more
Making Hay Can it get any better for Air Force? The Falcons are 10-0 for the first time in school history and ranked No. 12 in the latest USCHO.com/CBS College Sports poll, the highest ranking ever for an Atlantic Hockey program. Air Force has the top offense in the nation (4.70 goals per game), two … Read more
The former St. John’s coach and Miracle-on-Icer is head coach of Ambri-Piotta in the Nationalliga A. (Swiss Premier League). Check out the fans with the Che flag, etc. Plenty of shots of Harrington on the bench. And yes, it’s in Italian. They speak Italian in this part of Switzerland. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQehVGGE1ig
The former St. John’s coach and Miracle-on-Icer is head coach of Ambri-Piotta in the Nationalliga A. (Swiss Premier League). Check out the fans with the Che flag, etc. Plenty of shots of Harrington on the bench. And yes, it’s in Italian. They speak Italian in this part of Switzerland. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQehVGGE1ig
Getting the “W” The last two winless teams in Atlantic Hockey picked up their first victories last Friday. Mercyhurst defeated Holy Cross 4-3 in overtime, and AIC downed Army, 4-3. Both squads lost the following night. “That particular night (Friday) we really played well,†said AIC coach Gary Wright, in his 25th season behind the … Read more
A Tale of Two Weekends Army had a rough start to its defense of the Atlantic Hockey regular-season title, getting swept by Connecticut in the Black Knights’ opening AHA series. But Army rebounded nicely last weekend, picking up three points against Sacred Heart. Such are the trials and tribulations of coaching a young team. “Give … Read more
Like all defending national champions, St. Norbert is looking to repeat. It’s easier said than done, unless you’re Middlebury, of course. Besides the Panthers’ incredible runs of three and five national titles, you have to go back to UW-Stevens Point in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s to find a team able to successfully defend … Read more
Like all defending national champions, St. Norbert is looking to repeat. It’s easier said than done, unless you’re Middlebury, of course. Besides the Panthers’ incredible runs of three and five national titles, you have to go back to UW-Stevens Point in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s to find a team able to successfully defend … Read more
Nutmeg, Anyone? Last week, it was squads named “Falcons” making a splash. This time around, Connecticut teams roared, posting a 3-0-1 record in league play. Connecticut looked impressive with a sweep of Army, and Sacred Heart took three points from RIT. For the Huskies, it was the first time in school history that they had … Read more
Falcons Soar Last weekend was a good one for teams nicknamed “Falcons.” While the rest of Atlantic Hockey went 0-9 in non-conference matchups, Air Force swept Bemidji in resounding fashion, and Bentley earned a split with a pair of ECAC teams, including a 4-3 overtime win at Rensselaer. Senior Jeff Gumaer’s goal, his second of … Read more
Travel Hockey The Atlantic Hockey season opened with most teams traveling long distances to play their first games. Canisius was at Ferris State, RIT traveled to Bowling Green and Western Michigan, Mercyhurst was at St. Cloud, and Air Force flew to Sacred Heart for a pair to kick off the conference schedule. Connecticut earned the … Read more
The injury bug hit the Lakers pretty hard last season. Mercyhurst was without goaltender Matt Lundin for the first part of the season and lost star forward Ryan Toomey in December. Leading scorer Ben Cottreau was lost for a crucial seven-game stretch as well. But Rick Gotkin’s team played though the adversity and came within … Read more
The steadily-improving Golden Griffins are probably a year away from challenging for an Atlantic Hockey title, but things are certainly moving in the right direction. “This is the most talented team I’ve had,” said coach Dave Smith. “We’ve had two really good recruiting classes and I think we have a third. Every class has come … Read more
The Tigers didn’t show signs of a sophomore slump last season, their second in Atlantic Hockey. After winning the regular season title in 2007, RIT finished second in 2008 before falling to eventual champion Air Force in the semifinals. But gone are Hobey Baker finalist Simon Lambert (51 points last season) and Matt Smith, who … Read more
When Eric Ehn broke his leg on January 19 of last season, many saw the Air Force Falcons’ chances of repeating as Atlantic Hockey champions carried off on a stretcher with him. Ehn had been a Hobey Hat Trick finalist the year before, and was the reigning Player of the Year in the AHA. The … Read more
“It’s a goalie’s league.” I agree completely with Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin’s assessment. It’s shared by all the coaches in the league as well. AHA returns all ten of its starting goaltenders in 2008-2009, and only three are seniors. “Every team has a goalie that can beat you,” said Army coach Brian Riley. “Goals are … Read more
Take a team that last year defeated Providence, Army, Sacred Heart (twice), and tied Merrimack, Vermont, Western Michigan and Air Force, sported one of the top power plays in the nation (25.2%) and had 10 seniors on the roster. What would your guess be at their overall record? Probably better than 10-19-7. But that was … Read more
The Bentley Falcons’ goal is simple — recapture the magic that saw them reach the Atlantic Hockey finals three years ago. Since then, Bentley has finished in eighth place the past two seasons. Coach Ryan Soderquist says the lack of improvement last year was especially disheartening. “I was extremely disappointed in the way we finished,” … Read more
The AIC Yellow Jackets have shown steady improvement in recent seasons, but haven’t been able to escape the Atlantic Hockey basement. The problem for AIC is that everybody’s getting better. “The league has really been surging in terms of the emphasis schools are putting on their programs,” said coach Gary Wright, in his 25th season … Read more
Almost every year, the Sacred Heart Pioneers are near the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings. Losing the likes of Pierre-Luc O’Brien and Jason Smith hasn’t set Sacred Heart back in recent seasons, and the same will probably be the case this time around, as Alexandre Parent graduated and took his 141 career points with … Read more