{"id":22930,"date":"2000-10-04T10:03:31","date_gmt":"2000-10-04T15:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2000\/10\/04\/season-preview-army-black-knights\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:53:57","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:53:57","slug":"season-preview-army-black-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2000\/10\/04\/season-preview-army-black-knights\/","title":{"rendered":"Season Preview: Army Black Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"
As one of the oldest men’s ice hockey programs in the country, the United States Military Academy, known better in hockey circles as Army, will watch tradition meet youth in its first season as a member of the MAAC. <\/p>\n
About to enter its 98th season of men’s ice hockey, Army is not really a stranger to the MAAC. For years Army has faced off against MAAC members like Holy Cross and Connecticut. And recently, schools like Fairfield, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac have become visitors to West Point, N.Y.<\/p>\n
— Army head coach Rob Riley<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Army comes to the MAAC after a season in College Hockey America, a six-team scheduling alliance-turned league into which Army just did not seem to fit. Geographically, West Point was a plane ride from any other league opponent, and competitively, the CHA seemed a bit above the Black Knights, who went winless over the league portion of last year. <\/p>\n
The MAAC seems to be a much better fit for Army. Besides the obvious geographic benefits of a New England-New York based league, Army has also proved more competitive against MAAC teams. Last season, Army posted an 8-3-1 record against MAAC teams, and overall holds a lopsided 113-25-5 mark against the other ten opponents.<\/p>\n
Now geographic fit and competitiveness are great reasons to move to the MAAC, but easily the two most important reasons point to the postseason. Army’s home facility, Tate Rink, with a capacity of 2,746, will be the largest facility in the league and a probable target to host the MAAC Championships in the near future. More important than that, this year’s tournament champion will walk into the NCAA tournament, uncharted ground for the Knights. This is something that head coach Rob Riley makes clear changes his team’s focus.<\/p>\n
“Before every season starts, every teams asks itself, ‘where do we want to be at the end?'” said Riley. “The NCAA Tournament becomes realistic now. You have to position yourself for the playoffs, then you are three wins away from you goal.”<\/p>\n