# 2018 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey tournament

The 2018 Atlantic Hockey Tournament is the 14th Atlantic Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 2 and March 17, 2018 at home campus locations and at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. It was the last tournament at Blue Cross Arena before the tournament moved to HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York. By winning the tournament, Air Force earned Atlantic Hockey's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

## Format

The tournament features four rounds of play. In the first round the sixth and eleventh, seventh and tenth, and eighth and ninth seeds, as determined by the conference regular-season standings, will play a best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top five teams from the conference regular-season standings receive a bye to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed and lowest-ranked first-round winner, the second seed and second-highest-ranked first-round winner, the third seed and highest-ranked first-round winner, and the fourth seed and the fifth seed will play a best-of-three series, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest remaining seeds will play a single game each, with the winners advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

### Standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
2017–18 Atlantic Hockey men's standingsvte :
| | 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 | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Mercyhurst† | 28 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 36 | 90 | 81 | 37 | 21 | 12 | 4 | 124 | 111 |
| Canisius | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 34 | 94 | 76 | 38 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 117 | 108 |
| Holy Cross | 28 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 30 | 80 | 70 | 36 | 13 | 16 | 7 | 97 | 100 |
| Army | 28 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 30 | 80 | 70 | 36 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 93 | 91 |
| #14 Air Force * | 28 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 30 | 73 | 64 | 43 | 23 | 15 | 5 | 115 | 94 |
| RIT | 28 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 27 | 91 | 90 | 37 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 114 | 127 |
| Robert Morris | 28 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 27 | 79 | 78 | 41 | 18 | 20 | 3 | 119 | 118 |
| American International | 28 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 26 | 63 | 75 | 39 | 15 | 20 | 4 | 88 | 116 |
| Niagara | 28 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 23 | 76 | 90 | 36 | 11 | 22 | 3 | 93 | 123 |
| Bentley | 28 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 72 | 87 | 37 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 96 | 114 |
| Sacred Heart | 28 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 22 | 79 | 96 | 39 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 107 | 135 |
| Championship: March 17, 2018 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 5, 2018 |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

| First round March 2–4 | First round March 2–4 | First round March 2–4 | First round March 2–4 | First round March 2–4 | Quarterfinals March 9–11 | Quarterfinals March 9–11 | Quarterfinals March 9–11 | Quarterfinals March 9–11 | Quarterfinals March 9–11 | Semifinals March 16 | Semifinals March 16 | Semifinals March 16 | Championship March 17 | Championship March 17 | Championship March 17 |
| | | | | | 1 | Mercyhurst | 4 | 3* | — | | | | | | |
| 6 | RIT | 5* | 3 | 0 | 11 | Sacred Heart | 2 | 2 | — | | | | | | |
| 11 | Sacred Heart | 4 | 4*** | 2 | | | | | | 1 | Mercyhurst | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 7 | Robert Morris | 5* | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | Canisius | 8 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 8 | American International | 1 | 2* | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | Robert Morris | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Air Force | 5 |
| | | | | | 3 | Holy Cross | 1 | 1 | — | | | | | | |
| 7 | Robert Morris | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | Robert Morris | 4 | 5 | — | | | | | | |
| 10 | Bentley | 1 | 4 | 2 | | | | | | 2 | Canisius | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Air Force | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Army | 3 | 1 | 0 | | | | | | |
| 8 | American International | 4 | 4** | — | 5 | Air Force | 5 | 0 | 1* | | | | | | |
| 9 | Niagara | 1 | 3 | — | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Results
### First round
#### (6) RIT vs. (11) Sacred Heart

* Sacred Heart won series 2–1

#### (7) Robert Morris vs. (10) Bentley

* Robert Morris won series 2–1

#### (8) American International vs. (9) Niagara

* American International won series 2–0

### Quarterfinals
#### (1) Mercyhurst vs. (11) Sacred Heart

* Mercyhurst won series 2–0

#### (2) Canisius vs. (8) American International

* Canisius won series 2–1

#### (3) Holy Cross vs. (7) Robert Morris

* Robert Morris won series 2–0

#### (4) Army vs. (5) Air Force

* Air Force won series 2–1

### Championship
#### (5) Air Force vs. (7) Robert Morris
## Tournament awards
### All-Tournament Team

* G Billy Christopoulos* (Air Force)
* D Zack Mirageas (Air Force)
* D Jonathan Kopacka (Air Force)
* F Kyle Haak (Air Force)
* F Jordan Himley (Air Force)
* F Brady Ferguson (Robert Morris)
* Most Valuable Player(s)