This season was already looking like a challenging one for the Sacred Heart Pioneers. After posting consecutive 21-win seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, Sacred Heart’s win totals dropped to 16 the following year and then just 11 last season. After claiming the top seed in the 2007 playoffs, the Pioneers are picked to finish eighth … Read more
Three-time defending champion Air Force has been picked to again repeat as champions in the Atlantic Hockey coaches poll, announced Tuesday at the league’s media day, held at Blue Cross Arena, site of the 2010 league championships. Mercyhurst, which lost to Air Force in the AHA finals last season, is picked to finish second. RIT, … Read more
Shaun Hannah has resigned at Sacred Heart, leaving the Pioneers without a head coach in the month leading up to the season. School athletic director Don Cook made the announcement Wednesday, saying the program owed Hannah a debt of gratitude for leading the program for 13 seasons. “If there ever was someone who understood the … Read more
Sources within Atlantic Hockey have confirmed to USCHO.com that Niagara and Robert Morris will join the league as full members beginning with the 2010-2011 season. The schools will be affiliate members of Atlantic Hockey next season, using league officiating crews. An official announcement from the league detailing the decision will be released within the next … 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
Site: Magness Arena (Denver) Friday-Saturday, Dec. 28-29, 2007 Participants: Dartmouth, Northern Michigan, Sacred Heart, Denver Game 1: Dartmouth vs. Northern Michigan, 4:35 p.m. MT Dartmouth Big Green (4-4-2, 2-4-1 ECAC) Head coach: Bob Gaudet Leading scorers: Sr. J.T. Wyman (6-6 — 12), Sr. Nick Johnson (3-5 — 8) Leading netminder: Sr. Mike Devine (3-4-1, 2.62 … 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
Despite the top seed in the AHA playoffs, Sacred Heart fell in the semifinals, ending the collegiate careers of a frustrated, but valued, senior class. Scott Biggar reports.
Sacred Heart enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2005-06, and it was no fluke. Powered by all-league forward Pierre-Luc O’Brien and Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year Bear Trapp, the Pioneers won a school-record 21 games before being upset in the league quarterfinals. Even more is expected of the Pioneers this season, as Shaun Hannah’s squad … Read more
Atlantic Hockey will host its league championship at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the next three seasons, and may look to extend the relationship beyond that. Commissioner Bob DeGregorio says the move to an off-campus site for the Atlantic Hockey tournament will help the league raise its level of play. (photo: Ed Trefzger) … Read more
Last year was supposed to be “the year” for Sacred Heart. Everything had fallen into place for the Pioneers and, without any doubt, everyone in the Sacred Heart locker room felt poised to finally take the next step and make it to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. Sometimes, though, even … Read more
The old cliché reads that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl should take it as a compliment that Sacred Heart coach Shaun Hannah wants to imitate last year’s Holy Cross hockey season. “We learned a lot from the Holy Cross team last year,” said Hannah, whose upstarts shocked … Read more
The ECAC is down to Quinnipiac and Holy Cross for its choice of new membership to the league. Either, both or neither of the two schools will be chosen, as the ECAC’s Policy Committee makes its final considerations.
The ECAC will hear formal proposals today at Yale from five schools that have applied for admittance into the hockey conference for the 2005-06 season. The ECAC opened up the process after it learned that Vermont intended to depart the ECAC for Hockey East after next season. The five schools that have applied are current … Read more
The ECAC deadline for applications to enter its league, passed on Saturday, with at least five schools known to have applied. Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, Mercyhurst, Niagara and Sacred Heart are all looking to join the ECAC, which opened up an application process because of the impending departure of Vermont. The Catamounts will join Hockey East … Read more
Connecticut Ice Arena, Storrs, Conn., Dec. 28-29 Air Force vs. Sacred Heart, 2 ET Sunday Bentley at Connecticut, 5:15 ET Sunday Consolation, 2 ET Monday Championship, 5:15 ET Monday Television: None. Air Force (7-8-1) Players to Watch: F Spanky Leonard, Sr. (6-9–15); G Mike Polidor, Sr. (6-7-1, 2.90, .893). Noteable: Air Force and Sacred Heart … Read more
Many thought that if Sacred Heart ever could make a run at a title, last year was the year. That was until the Pioneers ran into a postseason steamroller named Bentley College, bowing in the first round for the fourth time in five seasons. Then graduation took its toll on Sacred Heart, and even home … Read more
Sacred Heart announced the hiring of Thomas O’Malley as the school’s new women’s ice hockey coach. O’Malley replaces Ed Bourget, who resigned at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season after the Pioneers finished 11-13-1. O’Malley, an 18-year veteran of coaching women’s collegiate ice hockey, comes to the Pioneers from Wayne State, where he started that … Read more
The MAAC Hockey League is no more, though the nine member schools will continue to compete together.
Shaun Hannah has always been one of the calmest-looking coaches in the MAAC. Though young in age (replaced as the league’s youngest coach this year by Bentley’s Ryan Soderquist), Hannah’s composure has always been his trademark. But talk to Hannah as this season approaches and it’s almost impossible for him to contain his enthusiasm. “Looking … Read more