# 2012 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey tournament

The 2012 Atlantic Hockey Tournament was the 9th Atlantic Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 2 and March 17, 2012 at campus locations and at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, United States. Air Force won their 5th tournament and earned Atlantic Hockey's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament after defeating RIT in the championship game.

## Format

The tournament features four rounds of play. In the first round the fifth and twelfth, sixth and eleventh, seventh and tenth, and eighth and ninth seeds, as determined by the conference regular season standings, play a best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top four 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-lowest-ranked first-round winner, the third seed and second-highest-ranked first-round winner, and the fourth seed and the highest-ranked first-round winner 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 seeds play a single game, with the winner advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion received an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

### Current standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
2011–12 Atlantic Hockey 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 |
| #16 Air Force†* | 27 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 36 | 85 | 52 | 39 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 119 | 83 |
| Niagara | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 80 | 53 | 37 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 101 | 81 |
| RIT | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 72 | 52 | 39 | 20 | 13 | 6 | 99 | 86 |
| Mercyhurst | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 34 | 79 | 68 | 40 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 111 | 116 |
| Holy Cross | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 34 | 93 | 70 | 39 | 20 | 15 | 4 | 120 | 107 |
| Bentley | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 81 | 59 | 40 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 114 | 109 |
| Robert Morris | 27 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 31 | 72 | 58 | 39 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 102 | 103 |
| Connecticut | 27 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 27 | 78 | 67 | 39 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 112 | 105 |
| Canisius | 27 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 23 | 54 | 74 | 36 | 10 | 22 | 4 | 66 | 111 |
| American International | 27 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 57 | 98 | 37 | 8 | 26 | 3 | 82 | 137 |
| Sacred Heart | 27 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 11 | 66 | 122 | 37 | 6 | 28 | 3 | 84 | 173 |
| Army | 27 | 3 | 19 | 5 | 11 | 52 | 96 | 34 | 4 | 23 | 7 | 65 | 120 |
| Championship: Air Force 4, RIT 0 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||

## 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 | Air Force | 4 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Holy Cross | 3 | 5 | — | 8 | Connecticut | 3 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Army | 2 | 2 | — | | | | | | 1 | Air Force | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 4 | Mercyhurst | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | Niagara | 3 | 2 | — | | | | | | |
| 6 | Bentley | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | Robert Morris | 0 | 1 | — | | | | | | |
| 11 | Sacred Heart | 3 | 4 | 0 | | | | | | | | | 1 | Air Force | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | RIT | 0 |
| | | | | | 3 | RIT | 1 | 5** | 3 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Robert Morris | 5 | 5 | 4* | 6 | Bentley | 4 | 4 | 0 | | | | | | |
| 10 | American International | 3 | 7 | 3 | | | | | | 2 | Niagara | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3 | RIT | 2* | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Mercyhurst | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Connecticut | 4* | 3 | — | 5 | Holy Cross | 1 | 3 | 1 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Canisius | 3 | 0 | — | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Results
### First round
#### (5) Holy Cross vs. (12) Army

* Holy Cross won series 2–0

#### (6) Bentley vs. (11) Sacred Heart

* Bentley won series 2–1

#### (7) Robert Morris vs. (10) American International

* Robert Morris won series 2–1

#### (8) Connecticut vs. (9) Canisius

* Connecticut won series 2–0

### Quarterfinals
#### (1) Air Force vs. (8) Connecticut

* Air Force won series 2–1

#### (2) Niagara vs. (7) Robert Morris

* Niagara won series 2–0

#### (3) RIT vs. (6) Bentley

* RIT won series 2–1

#### (4) Mercyhurst vs. (5) Holy Cross

* Mercyhurst won series 2–1

### Championship
#### (1) Air Force vs. (3) RIT
## Tournament awards
### All-Tournament Team

* G Jason Torf* (Air Force)
* D Tim Kirby (Air Force)
* D Scott Mathis (Air Force)
* F Taylor MacReynolds (RIT)
* F Cole Gunner (Air Force)
* F Paul Weisgarber (Air Force)
* Most Valuable Player(s)