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2018–19 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season

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2018–19 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season
Atlantic Hockey, Champion
Atlantic Hockey Tournament, Champion
NCAA Tournament, West Regional final
Conference1st Atlantic Hockey
Home iceMassMutual Center
Rankings
USCHO16
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall23–17–1
Conference18–9–1
Home11–7–1
Road9–9–0
Neutral3–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachEric Lang
Assistant coachesMike Towns
Steve Wiedler
Patrick Tabb
Captain(s)Shawn McBride
Alternate captain(s)Joel Kocur
Hugo Reinhardt
American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey seasons
« 2017–18 2019–20 »

The 2018–19 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 71st season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 16th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets represented American International College and were coached by Eric Lang, in his 3rd season.

Season

[edit]

Fresh off of their best performance since joining Division I in 1999, American International upped the difficulty of their season by scheduling several strong opponents for 2019. They performed well in the season opener against Providence but then went through a bit of a skid as they tried to settle on the team's starting goaltender. By mid-November the team seemed to be stuck in the mud with an inconsistent offense and a porous defense. A stunning series sweep of Air Force, however, seemed to put the Yellow Jackets back on track; Zackarias Skog shut out the Falcons in both games and took full control of the AIC net for the remainder of the season. The team's offense, too, found its footing the same weekend and proved to be much more dependable afterwards.

A 5-game winning streak helped push American International towards the top of the conference standings and the Yellow Jackets looked primed to compile their first winning season in 25 years.[1] The only real trouble for AIC looked to be its performance in non-conference games. A loss to Massachusetts just after new year's was their third strait embarrassing defeat by a team outside of their conference. By all appearances, the Yellow Jackets looked to be able to compete in Atlantic Hockey, but woefully unprepared for the upper echelon of college hockey.

After dropping its second weekend to RIT that year, AIC went on an 8–1 run that propelled them to the top of the standings. Not only did it guarantee the Yellow Jackets a winning record, but it gave them an 8-point cushion for the conference title. While the rest of Atlantic Hockey scrambled to catch up, American International headed off to Arizona and took on the 12th-ranked Sun Devils. While their non-conference losing streak continued, AIC fared far better than they had previously, fighting back from a 3-goal deficit in the second game to force overtime.

After returning home, the teams chasing AIC had made up some ground but not enough. The Yellow Jackets split their final weekend and finished 3 points ahead of second place to take their first Atlantic Hockey crown and the first regular season championship of any kind for the program. While the team was riding high, their placement in the Pairwise ranks left the team with only one way of making the NCAA Tournament; a conference championship.

AIC received a bye into the conference quarterfinal and welcomed Army for its final home games of the year. They got a tough fight from the service academy, but still managed to pull out a win in the series, advancing to a semifinal round for the first time since 1990. Despite facing the 8th-seed in the next round, AIC was pushed to the limit and saw the game go into overtime. Fortunately, the team's leading scorer, Blake Christensen, found the back of the net first and sent American International to the championship game. The match with Niagara was nearly a carbon-copy of the semifinal, with Christensen assisting on the winning goal in overtime. American International, with its first Atlantic Hockey championship, received the conference's automatic bid and was set to play the first NCAA tournament game in its 71-year history.

Entering the tournament, AIC was unsurprisingly ranked as the 16th-and last team in the field. They travelled out to North Dakota to face top-seeded St. Cloud State and weren't expect to amount to much. The game began slow, with both teams only recording 6 shots in the first period, but AIC found itself with a 1–0 lead. The Huskies began attacking the Yellow Jacket goal in the second but Skog stood firm and turned aside all shots. Instead, it was American International who scored to double their advantage and as the third began, St. Cloud began to become more frantic. The Huskies cut the lead in half with a power play marker around the mid-point of the period, but that was all that Skog and the defense would allow. Despite firing nearly three times as many shots, St. Cloud went down to defeat in American International's first NCAA tournament game.[2]

While AIC couldn't continue their good fortune for another game, the team had already produced the best season in program history and had announced their arrival on the national stage with a tremendous upset victory.

Departures

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Cause
Andrew DeBrincat Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with Indy Fuel)
Jackson Dudley Forward  Canada Graduation (retired)
Dominik Florián Forward  Czech Republic Signed professional contract (Coventry Blaze)
Johno May Forward  United States Graduation (signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits)
Alex Murray Goaltender  Canada Graduation (signed with Fayetteville Marksmen)
Dominic Racobaldo Defenseman  United States Graduation (retired)

Recruiting

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Elijiah Barriga Forward  United States 22 West Covina, CA; transfer from UNLV
Jeff Baum Defenseman  United States 22 Colleyville, TX; transfer from Providence
Samuel Best Goaltender  United States 20 Woburn, MA; joined mid-season; redshirt
Eric Otto Forward  United States 21 Burnsville, MN
Evan Plotnik Goaltender  United States 21 Capistrano Beach, CA
Parker Revering Defenseman  United States 21 Alexandria, MN
Matúš Spodniak Forward  Slovakia 20 Košice, SVK
Jan Štefka Forward  Czech Republic 21 Olomouc, CZE
Chris Theodore Forward  Canada 20 Beaconsfield, QC

Roster

[edit]

[3]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 California Evan Plotnik Freshman G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1997-08-21 Capistrano Beach, California Melfort Mustangs (SJHL)
2 Illinois Nicolas Luka Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1995-08-18 Bartlett, Illinois Coulee Region Chill (NAHL)
3 Czech Republic Patrik Demel Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1995-11-28 Ostrava, Czech Republic Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)
4 Texas Jeff Baum Sophomore D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-06-17 Colleyville, Texas Providence Friars (HEA)
5 Alaska Ryan Polin Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1994-12-05 Fairbanks, Alaska Topeka Roadrunners (NAHL)
6 Ukraine Vitaliy Novytskyy Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 216 lb (98 kg) 1997-05-07 Kharkiv, Ukraine Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
7 Sweden Oskar Strömberg Sophomore D 6' 7" (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1996-11-26 Sollentuna, Sweden New Jersey Titans (NAHL)
8 Illinois Brennan Kapcheck Sophomore D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1996-11-17 Mount Prospect, Illinois Aston Rebels (NAHL)
9 Illinois Ryan Papa Graduate F 5' 6" (1.68 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 1994-01-16 Prospect Heights, Illinois St. Cloud State Huskies (NCHC)
10 Sweden Martin Mellberg Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1995-09-17 Stockholm, Sweden Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)
11 Czech Republic Jan Štefka Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1997-02-18 Olomouc, Czech Republic Connecticut Jr. Rangers (NCDC)
12 Minnesota Eric Otto Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1997-07-19 Burnsville, Minnesota Chicago Steel (USHL)
13 Sweden Hugo Reinhardt (A) Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1996-04-06 Kungsbacka, Sweden Fargo Force (USHL)
14 Utah Jared Pike Junior F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1995-12-31 Sandy, Utah Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)
15 Slovakia Matúš Spodniak Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-12-22 Košice, Slovakia Ogden Mustangs (WSHL)
16 Alberta Kyle Stephan Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-02-20 Banff, Alberta Wenatchee Wild (BCHL)
17 Illinois Chris Dodero Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1996-06-08 West Chicago, Illinois Janesville Jets (NAHL)
18 Florida Blake Christensen Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1995-09-15 Coral Springs, Florida Wenatchee Wild (BCHL)
19 British Columbia Darius Davidson Sophomore F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1996-01-24 Surrey, British Columbia Surrey Eagles (BCHL)
20 Norway Tobias Fladeby Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1996-05-20 Asker, Norway Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)
21 Pennsylvania Justin Cole Freshman (RS) F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1996-05-01 Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)
22 Minnesota Parker Revering Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-01-11 Alexandria, Minnesota Brookings Blizzard (NAHL)
24 Alberta Joel Kocur (A) Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1995-09-18 Edson, Alberta Flin Flon (SJHL)
25 Slovenia Luka Maver Freshman (RS) F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1997-10-25 Ljubljana, Slovenia Lincoln Stars (USHL)
26 Quebec Chris Theodore Freshman F 5' 7" (1.7 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-10-15 Beaconsfield, Quebec Cornwall Colts (CCHL)
27 Latvia Jānis Jaks Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-08-22 Iecava, Latvia Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
28 California Elijiah Barriga Freshman (RS) F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1996-05-16 West Covina, California UNLV Rebels (ACHA)
29 British Columbia Shawn McBride (C) Senior F/D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 1995-08-23 Victoria, British Columbia Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)
30 Ontario Stefano Durante Sophomore G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1996-06-04 Brampton, Ontario Cobourg Cougars (OJHL)
33 Sweden Zackarias Skog Junior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995-06-27 Gothenburg, Sweden Omaha Lancers (USHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#16 American International †* 28 18 9 1 37 102 77 41 23 17 1 129 119
Bentley 28 15 9 4 34 94 75 37 17 15 5 113 98
Air Force 28 14 10 4 32 65 63 36 16 15 5 90 92
Sacred Heart 28 14 11 3 31 85 73 37 16 17 4 107 106
RIT 28 13 11 4 30 81 76 38 17 17 4 113 111
Niagara 28 11 12 5 27 94 96 41 17 19 5 127 140
Mercyhurst 28 11 13 4 26 88 94 38 13 20 5 113 134
Robert Morris 28 11 15 2 24 72 78 40 16 22 2 102 127
Holy Cross 28 10 14 4 24 81 89 36 10 21 5 91 112
Army 28 8 13 7 23 71 82 39 12 20 7 94 117
Canisius 28 8 16 4 20 77 107 37 12 20 5 103 133
Championship: March 23, 2019
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular season
October 6 7:00 PM at #5 Providence* Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island   Durante L 1–3  1,875 0–1–0
October 12 7:05 PM at Niagara Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Skog L 3–4 OT 585 0–2–0 (0–1–0)
October 13 7:05 PM at Niagara Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York   Durante W 3–1  640 1–2–0 (1–1–0)
October 16 7:05 PM vs. Bentley MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Durante W 5–4 OT 324 2–2–0 (2–1–0)
October 18 7:05 PM vs. Bentley MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Durante T 4–4 OT 319 2–2–1 (2–1–1)
October 26 7:05 PM vs. #20 Quinnipiac* MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog L 1–4  572 2–3–1
October 27 7:05 PM at #20 Quinnipiac* People's United CenterHamden, Connecticut   Durante L 2–9  2,893 2–4–1
November 2 7:35 PM at Canisius LECOM HarborcenterBuffalo, New York   Skog L 2–4  848 2–5–1 (2–2–1)
November 3 7:35 PM at Canisius LECOM HarborcenterBuffalo, New York   Durante W 6–1  857 3–5–1 (3–2–1)
November 9 7:05 PM at RIT Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York   Durante L 1–2  4,300 3–6–1 (3–3–1)
November 10 5:05 PM at RIT Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York   Skog L 2–5  2,264 3–7–1 (3–4–1)
November 16 2:05 PM vs. Air Force MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 5–0  117 4–7–1 (4–4–1)
November 17 1:05 PM vs. Air Force MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 4–0  378 5–7–1 (5–4–1)
November 27 7:05 PM vs. Holy Cross MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 4–3  157 6–7–1 (6–4–1)
December 1 7:05 PM at Holy Cross Hart CenterWorcester, Massachusetts   Skog W 4–2  752 7–7–1 (7–4–1)
December 29 7:05 PM vs. Robert Morris MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 4–3  552 8–7–1 (8–4–1)
December 30 3:05 PM vs. Robert Morris MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog L 1–3  473 8–8–1 (8–5–1)
January 5 2:05 PM vs. #2 Massachusetts* MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog L 1–6  3,024 8–9–1
January 8 7:05 PM at Sacred Heart Webster Bank ArenaBridgeport, Connecticut   Skog W 6–5  152 9–9–1 (9–5–1)
January 11 2:05 PM vs. RIT MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog L 3–6  238 9–10–1 (9–6–1)
January 12 1:05 PM vs. RIT MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog L 2–3  247 9–11–1 (9–7–1)
January 15 7:05 PM at Sacred Heart Webster Bank ArenaBridgeport, Connecticut   Skog W 2–1  172 10–11–1 (10–7–1)
January 17 7:05 PM vs. Holy Cross MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 2–0  476 11–11–1 (11–7–1)
January 19 7:05 PM at Holy Cross Hart CenterWorcester, Massachusetts   Skog W 3–2  350 12–11–1 (12–7–1)
January 25 7:05 PM at Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania   Skog L 2–4  1,120 12–12–1 (12–8–1)
January 26 7:05 PM at Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania   Skog W 8–5  2,500 13–12–1 (13–8–1)
February 1 2:05 PM vs. Niagara MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 6–4  343 14–12–1 (14–8–1)
February 2 1:05 PM vs. Niagara MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 6–3  448 15–12–1 (15–8–1)
February 8 7:05 PM at Army Tate RinkWest Point, New York   Skog W 3–0  1,813 16–12–1 (16–8–1)
February 9 7:05 PM at Army Tate RinkWest Point, New York   Skog W 5–2  2,482 17–12–1 (17–8–1)
February 15 9:05 PM at #12 Arizona State* Oceanside Ice ArenaTempe, Arizona   Skog L 1–4  924 17–13–1
February 15 9:05 PM at #12 Arizona State* Oceanside Ice ArenaTempe, Arizona   Skog L 4–5 OT 925 17–14–1
February 28 7:05 PM vs. Sacred Heart MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog L 2–5  1,243 17–15–1 (17–9–1)
March 2 7:05 PM vs. Sacred Heart MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts   Skog W 4–1  1,126 18–15–1 (18–9–1)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 15 7:05 PM vs. Army* MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal game 1)   Skog W 4–0  1,074 19–15–1
March 16 7:05 PM vs. Army* MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal game 2)   Skog L 1–2  1,012 19–16–1
March 17 7:05 PM vs. Army* MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinal game 3)   Skog W 4–1  682 20–16–1
American International Won Series 2–1
March 22 4:35 PM vs. Robert Morris* #19 LECOM HarborcenterBuffalo, New York (Atlantic Hockey Semifinal)   Skog W 3–2 OT 1,800 21–16–1
March 23 7:30 PM vs. Niagara* #19 LECOM HarborcenterBuffalo, New York (Atlantic Hockey Semifinal)   Skog W 3–2 OT 1,800 22–16–1
NCAA Tournament
March 29 7:30 PM vs. #1 St. Cloud State* #18 Scheels ArenaFargo, North Dakota (West Regional semifinal) ESPN3 Skog W 2–1  4,220 23–16–1
March 30 8:00 PM vs. #6 Denver* #18 Scheels ArenaFargo, North Dakota (West Regional final) ESPNU Skog L 0–3  4,248 23–17–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[4]

Scoring statistics

[edit]
Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Blake Christensen LW 41 16 31 47 22
Kyle Stephan RW 37 11 16 27 12
Tobias Fladeby LW/RW 40 18 8 26 23
Martin Mellberg RW 41 9 17 26 20
Brennan Kapcheck D 37 5 20 25 25
Shawn McBride C/D 41 4 19 23 10
Joel Kocur C/LW 39 11 10 21 61
Luka Maver C 41 11 6 17 14
Patrik Demel D 31 1 16 17 10
Hugo Reinhardt C 23 7 9 16 18
Justin Cole F 40 7 8 15 21
Jānis Jaks D 38 4 10 14 12
Chris Dodero C/LW 34 3 11 14 8
Nicholas Luka D 35 0 14 14 14
Chris Theodore LW 34 6 4 10 12
Ryan Polin D 36 1 8 9 12
Darius Davidson F 30 5 3 8 0
Jared Pike C 36 5 2 7 33
Elijah Barriga LW 26 2 4 6 31
Jeff Baum D 26 1 3 4 14
Matúš Spodniak F 5 1 0 1 0
Jan Štefka F 20 1 0 1 6
Stefano Durante G 8 0 1 1 0
Oskar Strömberg D 11 0 1 1 0
Zacharias Skog G 35 0 1 1 0
Evan Plotnik G 2 0 0 0 0
Vitaly Novytskyy D 10 0 0 0 8
Parker Revering D 17 0 0 0 21
Bench - - - - - 14
Total 129 222 351 421

[5]

Goaltending statistics

[edit]
Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Zackarias Skog 35 2060 20 14 0 92 819 5 .899 2.68
Stefano Durante 8 379 3 3 1 20 132 0 .868 3.16
Evan Plotnik 2 13 0 0 0 1 2 0 .667 4.44
Empty Net - 20 - - - 6 - - - -
Total 41 2473 23 17 1 119 953 5 .889 2.89

Rankings

[edit]
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 18 - 16
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

USCHO did not release a poll in Week 25.[6]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Blake Christensen AHCA East Second Team All-American [7]
Blake Christensen Atlantic Hockey Regular season Scoring Trophy [8]
Eric Lang Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year [8]
Zackarias Skog Atlantic Hockey Most Valuable Player in Tournament [9]
Blake Christensen Atlantic Hockey First Team [10]
Brennan Kapcheck
Blake Christensen Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team [9]
Hugo Reinhardt
Jānis Jaks
Ryan Polin
Zackarias Skog

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Year-By-Year Results". American International Yellow Jackets. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  2. ^ "Friday, March 29, 2019". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  3. ^ "American International College". Elite Prospects. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "American International Yellow Jackets (Men) 2018-2019 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "American International College 2018-2019 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  6. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  7. ^ "Total of 19 schools boast players on 2018-19 All-American selections". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Regular season Awards Handed Out at End-of-Year Reception". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "AIC Wins First Atlantic Hockey Championship as Reinhardt Nets OT Winner". Atlantic Hockey. March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  10. ^ "All-Conference Teams Announced". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.