Getting Better All the Time Things are looking up in Springfield. AIC pulled off its first conference sweep in almost two years last weekend, defeating Canisius 3-1 and 4-2. It took 13 games last season for the Yellow Jackets to get their first point; they already have five this season and are just two points … Read more
If the life of a student-athlete is a busy one, the life of an Air Force hockey player is doubly so. But by recruiting a special kind of person, AFA head coach Frank Serratore and his staff have build a contender, Candace Horgan finds.
Splitsville There have been 12 weekend series so far this season in Atlantic Hockey, and in all but two, both teams have come away with points. Seven series have ended in splits, with the other three resulting in one team taking three points in the two games. “You have to take points every weekend to … Read more
Not a Cliché Coaches in Atlantic Hockey constantly talk about the balance in their league — how “on any given night …”. Well, we’re barely into the season, with each team playing anywhere from two to five league games, and everybody already has at least one loss in league play. “Every team has good goaltending … Read more
Big Orange There were a lot of unknowns coming into last Saturday’s game between RIT and Cornell at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena. The Tigers were 0-2, coming of a disappointing home opener and facing a ranked opponent. Cornell was playing its first official game of the season. And for the Tigers, playing in that building … Read more
Flying High In its opening weekend, Atlantic Hockey went 0-9-1 in non-conference play. This past weekend, AHA teams were a more respectable 4-9 if you count Canisius’ exhibition win over Manitoba in the consolation game of the Maverick Stampede tournament. Teams again came close in other contests, with Sacred Heart losing 1-0 in overtime at … Read more
Moral Victories … … are usually still losses. Or in the case of Canisius’ rally against St. Cloud last Saturday, a tie. At the beginning of this season, commissioner Bob DeGregorio and several coaches told me that the time for moral victories — coming close against teams from the “Big Four” conferences — was over, … Read more
The new kids on the block ruled in Atlantic Hockey last year, with RIT claiming the regular-season title and Air Force winning the playoff crown and representing the league well in a 4-3 loss to Minnesota in the NCAAs. “We weren’t fortunate enough to make it to Rochester last season,” said Holy Cross coach Paul … Read more
The bad news for the Golden Griffins last season was that they won only nine games and lost in the play-in game in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. The good news is that the freshman-dominated lineup played a lot of minutes, which will only make them better coming into this season. Coach Dave Smith is continuing … Read more
Sacred Heart won 21 games for the second straight season, and the result was the same as well — coming up short in the postseason. Still, you have to be pleased with a season like the Pioneers had. Coach Shaun Hannah has mixed feelings. “We played as hard and as well as we could,” he … Read more
Last year, the preseason coaches’ poll put the Huskies in fourth, surprising some people. But lo and behold, that’s where UConn did indeed finish, earning home ice in the playoffs and a trip to Rochester. “We’d had a tough season (in 2005-06) and lost 12 games in a row at the end,” said coach Bruce … Read more
Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin was surprised when his team was picked to finish first in the 2006-07 preseason poll. But while he didn’t necessarily think he had the best team in Atlantic Hockey, he didn’t foresee a team that had won 22 games the year before chalk up just nine victories last season. “I’m not … Read more
Expectations were low for Army coming into last season. All-star goaltender Brad Roberts was gone and the Black Knights, never known as an offensive powerhouse, were expected to finish ninth in a 10-team league. Instead, Army found a more-than capable replacement between the pipes in Josh Kassel (2.38 GAA) and some firepower from Luke Flicek … Read more
Niagara has won the College Hockey America regular-season championship the past two years, but faltered in the league tournament. The Purple Eagles want to change their fortunes this season. “We don’t want to downplay the regular season,” NU head coach Dave Burkholder said. “We haven’t played our best come playoff time lately and we obviously … Read more
The Tigers surprised everyone last year, possibly including themselves. “We knew we could compete; we didn’t know if we could win right away, and I guess that was answered,” said coach Wayne Wilson. “Not just Atlantic Hockey. We knew we could compete with anybody.” After a 6-22-2 season as an independent when they lost ten … Read more
The Crusaders came crashing back to earth after a storybook 20005-06 season, dropping from 27 wins and an epic NCAA victory over Minnesota to just 10 victories and an early playoff exit last season. Picked to finish sixth this season, after a sixth-place season last year, on paper the Crusaders may be hard-pressed to finish … Read more
The Falcons had a wild ride last season, their first in Atlantic Hockey. Coach Frank Serratore’s squad was never able to string together more than two wins in a row until February, playing musical goaltenders to try to the shore up a defense to support the high flying line of Mike Phillipich, Andrew Ramsey and … Read more
Things are headed in the right direction for AIC, but not fast enough for coach Gary Wright. The team got off to a horrendous 2-14 start before finishing the season 6-11-1 and taking points in all but two of its last eight league series. The Yellow Jackets won a first-round playoff game at Canisius before … Read more
After making it to the league championship game in 2005-06, a seventh-place finish was a disappointment for Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist and crew. The Falcons won just 12 games last season and their longest winning streak was a pair of games. Bentley was last in the league in team defense — rarely getting blown out … Read more
As far as Robert Morris is concerned, last year is in the rear-view mirror and the focus is on the upcoming season. The Colonials lost the College Hockey America title game to Alabama-Huntsville after going into the contest as the favorite. “We’re not bringing that up,” said senior forward Ryan Cruthers. “We have 14 seniors … Read more