After a rocky start to his career, goaltender Andrew Volkening has become the foundation for the Air Force Falcons, enabling them to play with confidence and advance to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons. Now a junior, Volkening and the Falcons find themselves in an unfamiliar position: favorites.
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
Last season was a classic rebuilding project for the Connecticut Huskies, who rostered 13 freshmen. “We came on strong at the end of last season, and we can build on that,” said coach Bruce Marshall. “We had our peaks and valleys but this year we’ll be able to focus on some new things and not … Read more
Experience wins games. That’s the message that the coaches of Atlantic Hockey are sending in their preseason poll, picking defending regular season champion Army to finish fifth, out of a home-ice spot for the playoffs. “I think they’re looking at the fact that we lost 12 seniors,” said coach Brian Riley. “You can’t really argue … Read more
Not one game has been played, yet Niagara has already been picked as the favorite to repeat as CHA champs in the annual league poll. This comes on the heels of the Purple Eagles graduating co-captain and 39-point producer Matt Caruana, seeing big forward Kyle Rogers give up his senior season to sign with the … Read more
With 21 freshmen and sophomores on the roster this season, Robert Morris is in for one of two scenarios this year, according to head coach Derek Schooley. “If we play well, we’ll be reloading,” Schooley said. “And if we don’t, then we’re rebuilding.” The Colonials graduated their first senior class last spring, a class that … Read more
Two-time defending conference champion Air Force was picked to finish first in the Atlantic Hockey Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released today at the league’s Media Day held at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., site of this year’s championships. The Falcons captured seven of the ten first-place votes, accumulating 79 points overall. Mercyhurst, which lost … Read more
The NCAA Ice Hockey Committee has set the sites for the NCAA Championships all the way through 2011 with the announcement of the West and Midwest Regionals for 2010 and 2011. In 2010, Notre Dame will host the Midwest regional from March 27-28 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind. and … Read more
College Hockey America will operate for the 2008-2009 season, but beyond that is anyone’s guess. Even interim commissioner Ed McLaughlin doesn’t have all the answers. He has ideas and questions, but nothing concrete. Yet. “We’re at the mercy of the NCAA,” said McLaughlin. After Wayne State eliminated their program at the conclusion of this past … Read more
Shayne Baylis knew that playing college hockey came with its perks, most notably a chance to complete a four-year degree that he could parlay into a career down the road. Baylis entered Niagara University as a freshman defenseman in 2001 and played 83 games, amassing 16 points and 42 penalty minutes over his career. He … Read more
Army senior defenseman Chase Podsiad is the winner of the second annual Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. The announcement was made Friday in Denver at the Frozen Four. The award was established by the The Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) in honor of former Army player Derek Hines, who was a “consummate team player and team … Read more