Sacred Heart takes top spot in 2024-25 Atlantic Hockey America preseason coaches poll; Holy Cross’ McLinskey chosen preseason player of year

Atlantic Hockey America has announced the results of the 2024-25 coaches poll and preseason awards. 2024-25 AHA Preseason Coaches Poll (First-place votes) 1. Sacred Heart 102 (5) 2. RIT 94 (3) 3. Holy Cross 93 (1) 4. AIC 84 (1) 5. Bentley 76 6. Niagara 67 (1) 7. Air Force 57 8. Canisius 45 9. … Read more

Holy Cross extends Riga through 2028-29 college hockey season, promotes Sommer to associate head coach

Holy Cross and head men’s hockey coach Bill Riga have agreed to a restructured contract that will keep the coach in Worcester, Mass., until 2029. In addition, assistant coach Castan Sommer has been promoted to associate head coach. The Holy Cross program has shown constant improvement during Riga’s three-year tenure, increasing their victory total every … Read more

Atlantic Hockey America tabs McKenney assistant commissioner for operations, Grootenhuis director of communications

Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Atlantic Hockey America has added Cole McKenney as assistant commissioner for operations and Connor Grootenhuis as director of communications. McKenney is responsible for the daily operations for the conference, as well as business operations and travel logistics for officials. “Joining the AHA is an incredible opportunity, and I’m excited to … Read more

Holy Cross, UMass Lowell, Michigan Tech, Omaha to play in inaugural Coachella Valley Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, Calif., Jan. 3-4, 2025

Acrisure Arena, home to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, an affiliate of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, will host the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup 2025 men’s college hockey series. Holy Cross, UMass Lowell, Michigan Tech and Omaha will play in Palm Springs, Calif., next Jan. 3-4. The event starts Jan. 3 with Holy Cross taking on … Read more

Holy Cross’ McLinskey chosen Atlantic Hockey player of year, RIT’s Scarfone top goalie, AIC’s Kramer best defenseman, Canisius’ Giampa rookie of year

Atlantic Hockey announced Tuesday its 2023-24 regular-season awards – player of the year, rookie of the year, coach of the year, best defenseman, goaltender of the year, best defensive forward, individual sportsmanship, scoring champion, goaltending champion and team sportsmanship. Honorees this year include two from Atlantic Hockey regular-season champion RIT – goaltender Tommy Scarfone (goaltender … Read more

2023-24 Atlantic Hockey Season Preview: Robert Morris back in fold as conference finding ‘opportunities to better tell our stories’

As Atlantic Hockey kicks off its 21st season, more changes are in store. Robert Morris returns after a two-year absence, restoring the number of programs to 11. This means a new scheduling plan as well as a new playoff format. There are also changes in administration, with a new commissioner and a new supervisor of … Read more

RIT tabbed Atlantic Hockey favorite in 2023 coaches poll, Tigers’ Wilkie chosen preseason player of year

Defending regular-season champion RIT is the winner of the 2023-24 Atlantic Hockey preseason coaches’ poll. The Tigers earned seven of 11 possible first-place votes in balloting among AHA head coaches (coaches could not vote for their own teams) for 105 points to outdistance second-place Sacred Heart, which received two first-place votes and tallied 99 points. … Read more

Vermont director of hockey operations Michals hired as new assistant coach for Holy Cross men’s hockey team

Holy Cross has announced the addition of Drew Michals as an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team. Michals most recently served as the director of hockey operations at Vermont. In that role, Michals was responsible for pre-scouting opponents, post-scouting games, running team video sessions, and managing the team budget. As a volunteer assistant coach … Read more

Holy Cross men’s hockey assistant coach Sorenson moves to UMass Lowell for same job with River Hawks

UMass Lowell has tabbed Eric Sorenson as the men’s hockey team’s newest assistant coach. Sorenson comes to Lowell after spending two years as an assistant hockey coach at Holy Cross. “Eric was organized and very prepared for this process,” said UMass Lowell head coach Norm Bazin in a statement. “Throughout our discussions, he came across … Read more

Atlantic Hockey, College Hockey America to merge operations beginning with 2024-25 college hockey season

Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America will merge operations beginning with the 2024-25 college hockey season. Atlantic Hockey and CHA have shared a commissioner and conference staff since 2010 but have operated as separate entities with their own boards of directors and by-laws. “Merging our two leagues gives us the opportunity to streamline our operations … Read more

Veteran on-ice official Binda, Jr. tabbed new supervisor of officials for Atlantic Hockey, College Hockey America

Following a comprehensive search, Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America have named Eugene Binda, Jr. as their next supervisor of officials. Binda, who retired from officiating following the 2021-22 season, served as an officials observer for Atlantic Hockey during the 2022-23 campaign. He will begin his duties on July 1. “Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey … Read more

Canisius shuts out Holy Cross 3-0 to claim Atlantic Hockey championship, automatic bid to NCAA tournament

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nick Bowman’s goal at 17:59 of the second period and Jacob Barczewski’s 24-save shutout were the difference as Canisius defeated Holy Cross 3-0 for its second Atlantic Hockey championship. The Golden Griffins tacked on a pair of empty-net goals in the final minutes to seal the victory. “Down the stretch, the second … Read more

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

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