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. The conference tournament began in March, 2022 and concluded with American International winning the conference championship.

Realignment On May 26, 2021, Robert Morris University announced that it would be ending both its men and women's varsity hockey programs effective immediately. 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.

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.

Coaches Bill Riga replaced David Berard as head coach for Holy Cross during the offseason.

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

Records Team Head coach Season at school Record at school Atlantic Hockey recordAir Force 25 410–378–93 211–129–64American International 6 82–73–14 68–43–13Army 18 204–300–82 167–212–76 Bentley 20 252–336–81 191–206–72 Canisius 5 52–62–13 42–44–10 Holy Cross 1 0–0–0 0–0–0Mercyhurst 34 572–459–96 234–186–56 Niagara 5 47–71–15 36–48–15 RIT 23 391–274–73 216–136–49 Sacred Heart 13 142–237–45 115–164–38

Standings

Non-Conference record 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 Team TotalAir Force 1–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–3–0 2–4–0American International 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–1 1–4–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–5–1Army 0–3–0 0–0–0 2–0–1 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–4–1Bentley 1–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 1–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–4–0Canisius 1–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–1 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 3–3–1Holy Cross 0–2–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 1–4–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 2–7–0Mercyhurst 1–3–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 1–0–0 2–5–0Niagara 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–3–0 1–5–0RIT Tigers 1–1–0 0–0–0 3–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0 4–4–0Sacred Heart 0–0–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 2–3–1 0–0–0 0–0–0 3–4–1Overall 5–14–0 1–1–0 8–6–3 5–16–1 0–2–0 3–6–0 22–45–4

Statistics

Leading scorers GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Class Team GP G A Pts PIM Junior 26 10 15 25 10 Senior 26 7 18 25 20 Senior 24 7 17 24 6 Junior 25 9 14 23 10 Graduate 25 10 13 23 12 Junior 26 6 16 22 2 Sophomore 24 9 13 22 20 Senior 26 12 10 22 8 Freshman 26 9 13 22 27 Junior 26 7 15 22 4

Leading goaltenders 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 Player Class Team GP Min GA SO SV% GAA Sophomore 16 965:54 35 2 .915 2.17 Junior 23 1294:17 52 1 .924 2.41 Freshman 23 1312:50 53 4 .927 2.42 Junior 20 1009:00 41 0 .904 2.44 Junior 19 1128:14 46 1 .909 2.45

Conference tournament

NCAA tournament

Midwest Regional semifinal

Game summaryHeavy favorite, Michigan, lived up to their billing early when the Wolverines scored twice in the first five minutes of the game. Alec Calvaruso held the fort and stopped the tournament's top seed from extending their lead afterwards. Past the mid-way point of the period, AIC finally got a bounce their way when Blake Bennett tried to center the puck. It deflected up into the air, hit Luke Hughes in the back and then rolled past a sprawling Erik Portillo.

A penalty taken by AIC at the end of the first period resulted in a Michigan power play goal less than a minute into the second. A quick passing play a few minutes later put Michigan ahead by 3 and the Wolverines looked to be just too much for the Yellow Jackets. A few minutes later, however, AIC scored their second goal of the game after a turnover at the Michigan blueline. The Wolverines responded the very next shift when Dylan Duke potted his team's 5th goal, however, the play was reviewed for offsides. While a Michigan player had entered the zone before the puck, it was unclear whether or not an AIC player had shot the puck into the zone. While it appeared that Michigan had caused the puck to cross the blueline, the video was ruled inconclusive and the goal was allowed to stand. AIC continued to play hard, forcing Michigan to take consecutive penalties in the middle of the period, but weren't able to capitalize on their opportunities.

Michigan tried to play a sleepy third period and bleed away the clock but AIC kept playing hard. After Garrett Van Wyhe took an inadvisable holding penalty in the middle of the period, Bennett found himself alone in front of the net and slid the puck around Portillo. Near the end of the game, after the Yellow Jackets pulled their goaltender, Nick Blankenburg cross-checked Elijiah Barriga into the board from behind. There was some concern that the Michigan captain might receive a suspension for the hit and miss the team's next game.

Ranking

USCHO 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 18Army 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.

USA Today 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

Pairwise Air Force 14 46 28 41 49 53 51 51 58 53 51 52 52 49 44 47 48 51 46 49 48 45 43American International 14 12 50 53 43 39 37 34 31 30 30 27 25 20 18 21 19 21 21 23 24 22 20Army 14 24 44 47 46 44 48 41 44 43 35 39 39 40 43 41 41 39 37 40 40 42 42Bentley 14 39 20 33 36 32 38 38 36 28 31 32 35 37 33 34 40 43 44 44 42 45 43Canisius 14 16 35 32 33 32 29 31 30 31 34 34 36 36 37 36 35 37 31 36 37 39 39Holy Cross 14 22 45 43 47 51 57 58 52 52 53 53 54 53 54 52 53 52 55 51 53 51 51Mercyhurst 14 49 37 38 37 46 49 47 38 43 45 49 47 47 51 51 51 48 45 44 41 39 39Niagara 14 49 53 52 52 52 50 52 51 51 50 48 49 52 50 50 46 46 47 44 50 50 50RIT 14 18 33 34 34 38 45 37 33 32 43 44 43 42 40 39 37 39 39 38 39 38 38Sacred 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.

Awards

Atlantic Hockey Award RecipientPlayer of the Year Chris Theodore, American InternationalRookie of the Year Carter Wilkie, RITBest Defensive Forward Jake Stella, American InternationalBest Defenseman Zak Galambos, American InternationalIndividual Sportsmanship Award Daniel Haider, ArmyRegular season Scoring Trophy Colin Bilek, Army Neil Shea, Sacred HeartRegular season Goaltending Award Jake Kucharski, American InternationalCoach of the Year Eric Lang, American International First Team   Position   Second TeamJacob Barczewski, Canisius GGavin Abric, ArmyZak Galambos, American International DAnthony Firriolo, ArmyDrew Bavaro, Bentley DLogan Britt, Sacred HeartChris Theodore, American International FKeaton Mastrodonato, CanisiusColin Bilek, Army FNeil Shea, Sacred HeartWill Calverley, RIT FJake Stella, American International Third Team   Position   Rookie TeamJake Kucharski, American International GTommy Scarfone, RITBrandon Koch, Air Force DLuis Lindner, American InternationalDavid Melaragni, Canisius DMitchell Digby, Air ForceBraeden Tuck, Sacred Heart FCarter Wilkie, RITCarson Brière, Mercyhurst FClayton Cosentino, Air ForceRyan Leibold, Holy Cross FShane Ott, Niagara

Conference tournament Blake Bennett American International 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

External links