# 2021–22 Atlantic Hockey season

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 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

2021–22 Atlantic Hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall 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

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 | 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
### Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| 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

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 |
| 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

Teams are reseeded for the semifinals
| First round March 4–6 | First round March 4–6 | First round March 4–6 | First round March 4–6 | First round March 4–6 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Quarterfinals March 11–13 | Semifinals March 18 | Semifinals March 18 | Semifinals March 18 | Championship March 19 | Championship March 19 | 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
### Midwest Regional semifinal

* Game summary
* Heavy 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

| 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.

### USA Today

| 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 |

### Pairwise

| 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.

## Awards
### Atlantic Hockey

| Award | Award | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Player of the Year | Chris Theodore, American International |
| Rookie of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Carter Wilkie, RIT |
| Best Defensive Forward | Best Defensive Forward | Jake Stella, American International |
| Best Defenseman | Best Defenseman | Zak Galambos, American International |
| Individual Sportsmanship Award | Individual Sportsmanship Award | Daniel Haider, Army |
| Regular season Scoring Trophy | Colin Bilek, Army |
| Regular season Scoring Trophy | Neil Shea, Sacred Heart |
| Regular season Goaltending Award | Regular season Goaltending Award | Jake Kucharski, American International |
| Coach of the Year | Coach of the Year | Eric Lang, American International |
| All-Atlantic Hockey Teams |||
| 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

Tournament MVP :
| Blake Bennett | 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 |