Atlantic Hockey hands out 2022-23 awards, including RIT’s Wilkie as top player, AIC’s Fiske as goalie champ, Army West Point’s Itagaki as best rookie

Atlantic Hockey has announced its 2022-23 regular-season awards – player of the year, rookie of the year, coach of the year, best defenseman, best defensive forward, scoring champion, goaltending champion, individual sportsmanship award and team sportsmanship award. Honorees this year include four from Atlantic Hockey regular-season champion RIT – forward Carter Wilkie (player of the … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Canisius, Holy Cross gearing up for winner-take-all conference title game Saturday with NCAA tournament berth on line

For the last 17 years that I have been covering Atlantic Hockey for USCHO, this final column of the season has looked forward to a championship weekend that involved four teams converging on a single, neutral location. Things have changed. The new format adopted by the league this season creates a one-game, winner-takes-all championship, hosted … Read more

AIC, Army West Point, RIT lead way with four players apiece on ’22-23 Atlantic Hockey all-conference teams, all-rookie team

Atlantic Hockey has announced its 2022-23 all-Atlantic Hockey teams and all-rookie team. Regular season champion RIT, runner-up AIC, and Army West Point led all teams in selections with four players each. First Team Carter Wilkie, F, So., RIT Neil Shea, F, Sr., Sacred Heart Blake Bennett, F, Sr., AIC Gianfranco Cassaro, D, Sr., RIT Aiden … Read more

Canisius’ Mastrodonato, Minnesota’s Cooley, Quinnipiac’s Perets tabbed HCA men’s monthly honorees for Feb. 2023

The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the men’s monthly award honorees for February. Player of the month is Canisius senior forward Keaton Mastrodonato, while rookie of the month is Minnesota freshman forward Logan Cooley and goaltender of the month is Quinnipiac sophomore Yaniv Perets. Canisius went 7-3 in February and Mastrodonato was a big part … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Down to final four in conference postseason with semifinals on tap this weekend

And then there were four in the quest for the Riley Cup. Last weekend’s Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals saw three of the four series go the distance, with two lower seeds advancing: – Rochester Institute of Technology swept Mercyhurst in a pair of tight games. The Tigers got the game-winner from Adam Jeffery on Friday with … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Looking at upcoming conference quarterfinal playoffs as postseason arrives

When the dust settled on the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey regular season, no tiebreakers were necessary for determining the final standings/seedings, as each team ended with a unique point total. The end result: 1. Rochester Institute of Technology 2. American International 3. Sacred Heart 4. Canisius 5. Army West Point 6. Niagara 7. Holy Cross 8. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With postseason approaching, leaving out two teams ‘not a level playing field’

After 15 years of holding the semifinals and finals of the Atlantic Hockey tournament at neutral sites, the conference is moving all tournament games on campus this season. The format will be as follows: Quarterfinals March 3-5 Best-of-three series #8 seed at #1 seed #7 seed at #2 seed #6 seed at #3 seed #5 … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: As regular season winding down, Canisius has ‘roster of players that say they’re ready’ for upcoming challenges

A massive snowstorm hit Buffalo back on Dec 23-24, shutting the city down for days. That prevented Canisius from flying to Air Force for a two-game series scheduled for Dec. 30-31. With no free weekends left for either school, much less the same one for both, Atlantic Hockey was faced with choosing the least terrible … Read more

Atlantic Hockey renaming regular-season championship trophy Robert DeGregorio Trophy, recognizing retiring commissioner

The Atlantic Hockey Board of Directors announced Thursday that the conference’s regular-season championship trophy will be renamed the Robert DeGregorio Trophy in honor of the retiring Atlantic Hockey commissioner. The announcement was made Thursday evening as DeGregorio participated in a pre-game puck drop prior to the start of the Niagara-RIT game at Niagara’s Dwyer Arena. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: New commissioner Morgan says new job is ‘a great opportunity’ as hockey ‘has always been my first love’

On Feb 2. Atlantic Hockey announced the selection of Michelle Morgan as its new commissioner, beginning April 17. She will succeed Bob DeGregorio, who is retiring after 20 years at the helm, dating back to the foundation of the conference. She will also replace DeGregorio as the commissioner of the women’s College Hockey America conference. … Read more

John Carroll senior AD Morgan tabbed new commissioner for Atlantic Hockey, College Hockey America

Following a thorough national search, Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America have named Michelle Morgan as their next commissioner. “I am honored to be named the next commissioner of Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America,” Morgan said in a news release. “I’d like to thank the search committee for their dedication throughout the process. I’m … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Dawning on retirement as conference commissioner, DeGregorio reflects on accomplishments over years

Last April, Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio announced that this season, his 20th, would be his last at the helm. He will also retire as commissioner of the College Hockey America women’s conference, which he has led for 13 years. At age 76, and after 40 years in college athletics, DeGregorio said that it was … Read more

Atlantic Hockey announces rescheduled Canisius-Air Force, Sacred Heart-Canisius conference series

Atlantic Hockey today announced a pair of changes to its 2022-23 conference schedule. The previously-postponed Canisius at Air Force series originally scheduled for Dec. 30-31 will now be played Feb. 13-14 at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m. MST. Additionally, the Sacred Heart at Canisius series scheduled for … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Handing out midterm awards, plus asking key questions as second half of 2022-23 season gets underway

In the last Atlantic Hockey column, we handed out midterm grades for each Atlantic Hockey team. As we head into the second semester, what players are in the running to make the dean’s list? Here are my midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? They sure will. But … Read more

Canisius-Air Force college hockey series scheduled for Dec. 30-31 postponed due to Buffalo airport closure

This weekend’s Atlantic Hockey series between Canisius and Air Force scheduled for Friday, Dec. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 31 at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been postponed. The postponement is due to the weather-related closure of the Buffalo, N.Y., airport this week, which will prevent Canisius from traveling to Colorado. Makeup dates … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Handing out mid-term grades to all 10 conference teams at 2022 holiday break

With the first half of the Atlantic Hockey season in the books, let’s hand out some mid-term grades: Air Force (6-10-2, 2-7-1 AHA) Atlantic Hockey Standings: Ninth Points Per Game: 0.70 (Ninth) PairWise Ranking: 55 The Lowdown: The Falcons have some quality wins, including over Colorado College and RIT. But they’ve dropped five in a … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: After sweeping conference favorite AIC, Canisius moving forward ‘changing our lineup a fair amount, looking for some chemistry’

For a league where sweeps have historically been hard to come by and splits are the norm, so far this season it’s been feast or famine in conference series in Atlantic Hockey. There have been 15 conference series so far, with nine ending in sweeps. Another three series saw one team take five of six … Read more

Atlantic Hockey 2022-23 Season Preview: Complacency not an issue for any teams as conference finds itself focused on new season

It’s difficult to predict what will happen in a college hockey season, but coaches and journalists try, issuing preseason polls and predictions at this time of year. It’s a difficult and usually futile effort, especially when it comes to Atlantic Hockey. Air Force coach Frank Serratore should know. His Falcons were picked ninth in last … Read more

American International takes top spot in ’22-23 Atlantic Hockey preseason coaches poll; Canisius’ Barczewski, Sacred Heart’s Shea, RIT’s Wilkie preseason co-players of year

Four-time defending regular-season champion American International is the winner of the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey preseason coaches poll, which was released Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets garnered eight of nine possible first-place votes in balloting among AHA head coaches (coaches could not vote for their own teams) for 88 points to outdistance second-place Sacred Heart, which received … Read more