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2021–22 Atlantic Hockey season

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2021–22 Atlantic Hockey season
Season2021–22
ConferenceAtlantic Hockey
DivisionDivision I
Sportice hockey
DurationOctober 2, 2021–
March 25, 2022
Number of teams10
Regular season
Season championsAmerican International
Top scorerColin Bilek
Neil Shea
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
Tournament championsAmerican International
  Runners-upAir Force
Tournament MVPBlake Bennett
Top scorerBlake Bennett
NCAA tournament
Bids1
Record0–1
Best FinishRegional semifinal
Team(s)American International
Atlantic Hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

The 2021–22 Atlantic Hockey season was the 19th season of play for Atlantic Hockey and took place during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular season began on October 2, 2021, and concluded on February 26, 2022.[1] The conference tournament began in March, 2022 and concluded with American International winning the conference championship.

Realignment

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On May 26, 2021, Robert Morris University announced that it would be ending both its men and women's varsity hockey programs effective immediately.[2] Fundraising efforts to save both program began immediately. While more than $1 million was secured in less than 3 months, by mid-August the school decided that the donations were insufficient to guarantee the program for the 2021–22 season and the team would look to return for the 2022–23 campaign.[3]

Due to the dissolution of the WCHA, Alabama–Huntsville submitted a bid to join Atlantic Hockey. The 10 existing conference members mulled over admitting UAH, Long Island (an Independent who had been in a scheduling alliance with Atlantic Hockey in 2021), and an unnamed third team that had expressed interest in joining the conference. The member teams ultimately decided against expansion for the 2021–22 season by a unanimous vote.[4]

Coaches

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Bill Riga replaced David Berard as head coach for Holy Cross during the offseason.[5]

Wayne Wilson enters the season needing 9 wins to reach 400 wins.[6]

Records

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Team Head coach Season at school Record at school Atlantic Hockey record
Air Force Frank Serratore 25 410–378–93 211–129–64
American International Eric Lang 6 82–73–14 68–43–13
Army Brian Riley 18 204–300–82 167–212–76
Bentley Ryan Soderquist 20 252–336–81 191–206–72
Canisius Trevor Large 5 52–62–13 42–44–10
Holy Cross Bill Riga 1 0–0–0 0–0–0
Mercyhurst Rick Gotkin 34 572–459–96 234–186–56
Niagara Jason Lammers 5 47–71–15 36–48–15
RIT Tigers Wayne Wilson 23 391–274–73 216–136–49
Sacred Heart C. J. Marottolo 13 142–237–45 115–164–38

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OW OL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#18 American International †* 26 17 7 2 1 2 0 54 97 61 38 22 13 3 134 95
Canisius 26 13 11 2 2 1 1 43 76 67 35 16 16 3 99 97
Army 26 12 11 3 0 1 2 42 75 68 35 14 17 4 98 100
RIT 26 12 10 4 1 3 3 41 69 82 38 18 16 4 92 115
Sacred Heart 26 11 12 3 0 1 3 40 72 70 37 15 18 4 95 100
Air Force 26 11 12 3 3 2 2 37 76 80 36 16 17 3 99 127
Mercyhurst 26 10 12 4 0 1 1 36 75 79 39 16 19 4 114 129
Niagara 26 10 13 3 2 2 1 34 70 79 36 11 22 3 82 122
Bentley 26 10 14 2 1 2 1 34 70 78 36 14 20 2 94 117
Holy Cross 26 10 14 2 3 0 0 29 56 72 37 12 23 2 77 108
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Non-Conference record

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Of the sixteen teams that are selected to participate in the NCAA tournament, ten will be via at-large bids. Those 10 teams are determined based upon the PairWise rankings. The rankings take into account all games played but are heavily affected by intra-conference results. The result is that teams from leagues which perform better in non-conference are much more likely to receive at-large bids even if they possess inferior records overall.

As a whole, Atlantic Hockey had a poor record against other conferences. While two programs ended with even marks in the regular season, no league member had a winning record in non-conference play. On aggregate, Atlantic Hockey posted losing records against every conference with the exception of ECAC Hockey.

Regular season record

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Team Big Ten CCHA ECAC Hockey Hockey East Independent NCHC Total
Air Force 1–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–3–0 2–4–0
American International 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–1 1–4–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–5–1
Army 0–3–0 0–0–0 2–0–1 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–4–1
Bentley 1–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 1–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–4–0
Canisius 1–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–1 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 3–3–1
Holy Cross 0–2–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 1–4–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–7–0
Mercyhurst 1–3–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 1–0–0 2–5–0
Niagara 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–3–0 1–5–0
RIT Tigers 1–1–0 0–0–0 3–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 4–4–0
Sacred Heart 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 2–3–1 0–0–0 0–0–0 3–4–1
Overall 5–14–0 1–1–0 8–6–3 5–16–1 0–2–0 3–6–0 22–45–4

Statistics

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Leading scorers

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GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes[7]

Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM
Neil Shea Junior Sacred Heart 26 10 15 25 10
Colin Bilek Senior Army 26 7 18 25 20
Chris Theodore Senior American International 24 7 17 24 6
Jake Stella Junior American International 25 9 14 23 10
Justin Young Graduate American International 25 10 13 23 12
Ryan Naumovski Junior Niagara 26 6 16 22 2
Carson Brière Sophomore Mercyhurst 24 9 13 22 20
Will Calverley Senior RIT 26 12 10 22 8
Carter Wilkie Freshman RIT 26 9 13 22 27
Matt Gosiewski Junior Bentley 26 7 15 22 4

Leading goaltenders

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Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average[8]

Player Class Team GP Min GA SO SV% GAA
Jake Kucharski Sophomore American International 16 966 35 2 .915 2.17
Jacob Barczewski Junior Canisius 23 1294 52 1 .924 2.41
Gavin Abric Freshman Army 23 1313 53 4 .927 2.42
Justin Robbins Junior Sacred Heart 20 1009 41 0 .904 2.44
Matt Radomsky Junior Holy Cross 19 1128 46 1 .909 2.45

Conference tournament

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Teams are reseeded for the semifinals

First round
March 4–6
Quarterfinals
March 11–13
Semifinals
March 18
Championship
March 19
1 American International 5 6
7 Mercyhurst 2* 2 9 Bentley 2 2
10 Holy Cross 1 1 1 American International 5
7 Mercyhurst 4
2 Canisius 1 1
7 Mercyhurst 2** 3
1 American International 7
6 Air Force 0
3 Army 4 2
8 Niagara 2 1 6 Air Force 5* 3*
9 Bentley 3* 4 4 RIT 3
6 Air Force 4
4 RIT 1* 1 3
5 Sacred Heart 0 3 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

NCAA tournament

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Midwest Regional semifinal

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March 25, 2022
3:00 PM
(1) Michigan5 – 3
(2–1, 3–1, 0–1)
(4) American InternationalPPL Center
Attendance: 2,155
Game reference
Erik PortilloGoaliesAlec CalvarusoReferees:
Cameron Lynch
Brad LeBlanc
Linesmen:
Patrick Dapuzzo
Steve Drain
(Hughes, Moyle) Garrett Van Wyhe (5) – 03:371–0
(Brisson, Beniers) Ethan Edwards (3) – 04:162–0
2–112:32 – Brian Rigali (13) (Bennett, Galambos)
(Power, Johnson) Brendan Brisson (20) – PP – 20:433–1
(Brisson, Johnson) Matty Beniers (20) – GW – 22:434–1
4–226:15 – Justin Young (12) (Theodore)
(Power, Samoskevich) Dylan Duke (10) – 26:435–2
5–353:48 – PPBlake Bennett (19) (Barriga, Young)
8 minPenalties6 min
31Shots32

Ranking

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USCHO

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Team Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Final
Air Force 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
American International 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 18 18
Army 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
Bentley 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
Canisius 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
Holy Cross 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
Mercyhurst 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
Niagara 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
RIT 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
Sacred Heart 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 24.[10]

USA Today

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Team 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 Final
Air Force 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
American International 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
Army 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
Bentley 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
Canisius 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
Holy Cross 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
Mercyhurst 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
Niagara 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
RIT 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
Sacred Heart 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

[11]

Pairwise

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Final
Air Force 14 46 28 41 49 53 51 51 58 53 51 52 52 49 44 47 48 51 46 49 48 45 43
American International 14 12 50 53 43 39 37 34 31 30 30 27 25 20 18 21 19 21 21 23 24 22 20
Army 14 24 44 47 46 44 48 41 44 43 35 39 39 40 43 41 41 39 37 40 40 42 42
Bentley 14 39 20 33 36 32 38 38 36 28 31 32 35 37 33 34 40 43 44 44 42 45 43
Canisius 14 16 35 32 33 32 29 31 30 31 34 34 36 36 37 36 35 37 31 36 37 39 39
Holy Cross 14 22 45 43 47 51 57 58 52 52 53 53 54 53 54 52 53 52 55 51 53 51 51
Mercyhurst 14 49 37 38 37 46 49 47 38 43 45 49 47 47 51 51 51 48 45 44 41 39 39
Niagara 14 49 53 52 52 52 50 52 51 51 50 48 49 52 50 50 46 46 47 44 50 50 50
RIT 14 18 33 34 34 38 45 37 33 32 43 44 43 42 40 39 37 39 39 38 39 38 38
Sacred Heart 14 35 34 31 35 42 46 44 35 38 36 35 32 38 36 37 37 34 37 34 35 35 35

Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.[12]

Awards

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Atlantic Hockey

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Award [13] Recipient
Player of the Year Chris Theodore, American International
Rookie of the Year Carter Wilkie, RIT
Best Defensive Forward Jake Stella, American International
Best Defenseman Zak Galambos, American International
Individual Sportsmanship Award Daniel Haider, Army
Regular season Scoring Trophy Colin Bilek, Army
Neil Shea, Sacred Heart
Regular season Goaltending Award Jake Kucharski, American International
Coach of the Year Eric Lang, American International
All-Atlantic Hockey Teams[14]
First Team   Position   Second Team
Jacob Barczewski, Canisius G Gavin Abric, Army
Zak Galambos, American International D Anthony Firriolo, Army
Drew Bavaro, Bentley D Logan Britt, Sacred Heart
Chris Theodore, American International F Keaton Mastrodonato, Canisius
Colin Bilek, Army F Neil Shea, Sacred Heart
Will Calverley, RIT F Jake Stella, American International
Third Team   Position   Rookie Team
Jake Kucharski, American International G Tommy Scarfone, RIT
Brandon Koch, Air Force D Luis Lindner, American International
David Melaragni, Canisius D Mitchell Digby, Air Force
Braeden Tuck, Sacred Heart F Carter Wilkie, RIT
Carson Brière, Mercyhurst F Clayton Cosentino, Air Force
Ryan Leibold, Holy Cross F Shane Ott, Niagara

Conference tournament

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Tournament MVP
Blake Bennett American International
All-Tournament Team
Player Pos Team
Alec Calvaruso G American International
Brandon Koch D Air Force
Zak Galambos D American International
Blake Bennett F American International
Chris Dodero F American International
Will Gavin F Air Force

References

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  1. ^ "Composite Schedule". Atlantic Hockey. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  2. ^ Benz, Tim. "Robert Morris hockey players mourn loss of men's and women's teams, lash out at administration". Trib Live. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  3. ^ "Robert Morris hockey programs on hold until at least 2022–23 season". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "Atlantic Hockey votes no on expansion". UAH Chargers. July 12, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  5. ^ "Holy Cross names Bill Riga head men's ice hockey coach". Holy Cross Crusaders. May 4, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  6. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Coaching Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  7. ^ "2021-2022 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics". Atlantic Hockey. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  8. ^ "2021-2022 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics". Atlantic Hockey. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  9. ^ "AIC 3, Michigan 5 F". USCHO. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  10. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  11. ^ "USA Today Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  12. ^ "Men's Division I PairWise Rankings". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  13. ^ "Atlantic Hockey Announces 2021-22 Regular season Awards". Atlantic Hockey. March 17, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  14. ^ "Atlantic Hockey Announces 2021-22 All-Conference Teams". Atlantic Hockey. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
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