Merrimack has narrowed its search for a head coach to 10 according to reports in Thursday’s Boston Herald. Former Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder, whose contract was not renewed this off-season after he spent nine seasons at the helm for the Huskies, leads the list of candidates. Also listed as finalists are former Merrimack player and … Read more
Mercyhurst College has announced contract extensions for men’s hockey coach Rick Gotkin and women’s hockey coach Mike Sisti. Both coaches’ contracts will extend through the 2008-09 season. Gotkin led the Lakers to their third conference championship this past season and first since the formation of Atlantic Hockey. The championship earned the Lakers their third berth … Read more
Canisius has found its man, and to many it comes as a bit of a surprise. Dave Smith, who was an associate head coach this past season at Mercyhurst College, leading the Lakers to this year’s NCAA tournament, has been hired by the Griffs it was announced at a news conference Friday. Smith replaces Brian … Read more
Atlantic Hockey will expand to 10 members beginning in the 2006-07 season when it will add Air Force, commissioner Bob DeGregorio announced at a news conference on the Air Force campus today. The league formerly had announced it will add RIT in the same season, which takes the total from the current eight members to … Read more
Atlantic Hockey is expected to announce Tuesday that Air Force will join the conference for the 2006-07 season. A press conference with both AHA and Air Force athletic department officials has been scheduled at the Air Force campus at 2 p.m. MT to make what the league calls “a major announcement.” Sources at Atlantic Hockey … Read more
Canisius will finish interviewing candidates for its head coaching vacancy next week. With Colorado College’s season finally over, Tigers assistant Joe Bonnett will join a group of five finalists, according to sources. The other names include current RPI assistant and former Iona head coach Frank Bretti; two-time ECAC Coach of the Year Stan Moore, now … Read more
Mercyhurst might be a small Catholic liberal arts college of 3,157 students in women’s hockey’s smallest conference, but the school is now a big-time NCAA contender behind the efforts of Mike Sisti, who was named the AHCA Women’s D-I Coach of the Year on Monday. Despite playing in the CHA without the benefit of an … Read more
They were the longest shot in the tournament. The 16th seed in a 16-team draw. As a candidate for an at-large berth, the Mercyhurst Lakers wouldn’t have made the Top 25. They got into the nationals in completely legitimate fashion, by winning the Atlantic Hockey tournament, but their season was supposed to end in the … Read more
He began the year on the bench for Mercyhurst. He ended as the league tournament’s Most Valuable Player having netted possibly the biggest goal in school history when his overtime game winner against Quinnipiac gave Mercyhurst the Atlantic Hockey Championship. Scott Champagne is simply a quiet, unassuming player. But taking anything for granted if you’re … Read more
The selections are out and they differed from the brackets that we had projected on Saturday evening. We had all 16 teams picked correctly, but had some of them in the wrong spots. So what happened? Here was our bracket projected on Saturday evening with a .003-.002-.001 bonus: West Regional: 13 Maine vs. 4 Minnesota … Read more
Quinnipiac is hosting this weekend’s Atlantic Hockey tournament, raising questions about the Northford, Conn., venue; and Jim Connelly previews the AHA final four, all the way to the NCAA-bound champion.
The tightest season in Atlantic Hockey history makes for some tough tournament prognosticating, but Jim Connelly takes his best crack at it with previews of all four single-game quarterfinals.
The latest winter storm to hit the Northeast has forced the postponement of Tuesday evening’s Atlantic Hockey play-in game. The contest, featuring No. 8 seed Army hosting No. 9 seed American International, will instead be played Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET, at Tate Rink on Army’s West Point campus. Army (10-20-3, 5-16-3 Atlantic Hockey) … Read more
With the Atlantic Hockey season winding down, Jim Connelly hands out his league awards. Also: Mercyhurst rips control of its home-ice destiny from Holy Cross, and Canisius sends out signs that hockey is not on the endangered list.
The Atlantic Hockey standings are a jumble tighter than any in recent memory; Ben Nelson helps Quinnipiac rise from the ashes of seventh place; and Frank Novello etches his name into the record books. Jim Connelly reports.
Weeding through the cliches, Jim Connelly finds a critical game at the top of the AHA standings. Also: Frank Novello takes aim at a milestone, and the FleetCenter brings the league national exposure.
Atlantic Hockey athletic directors have voted to allow Air Force to become a member of the league, but only if it agrees to certain conditions. Air Force is currently a member of College Hockey America, a six-team league that currently just meets the minimum NCAA requirements for receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. … Read more
Canisius is moving forward with its plans to find a new head coach, and is not intending to dismantle the program, officials said. “We have no intention of dropping our hockey program,” said Marc Gignac, Canisius’ director of athletic communications. Speculation was fueled that the program could be in danger after Canisius fired 24-year head … Read more
The outgoing Canisius athletic director speaks about the events that led to his resignation and more.
The crisis at Canisius comes to a boil, and Jim Connelly wonders whether the future of the hockey program itself is in jeopardy. Also: Mercyhurst finds itself in an unfamiliar position, Air Force could bolster the AHA’s ranks very soon, and the FleetCenter hosts a high-profile doubleheader.