2021-22 Atlantic Hockey Season

The 2021–22 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey season is the 19th season of play for Atlantic Hockey and will take place during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular season is set to begin on October 2, 2021 and conclude on February 26 2022. The conference tournament is scheduled to begin in early March, 2022.
==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.
==Standings==
==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 	 	25 	410–378–93 	211–129–64
American International	 	6 	82–73–14 	68–43–13
Army 	 	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 	0–0–0
Mercyhurst 	 	34 	572–459–96 	234–186–56
Niagara 	 	5 	47–71–15 	36–48–15
RIT Tigers 	 	23 	391–274–73 	216–136–49
Sacred Heart 	 	13 	142–237–45 	115–164–38
==Statistics==
===Leading scorers===
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player	Position 	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	966 	35	2 	.915	2.17
 	Junior 	 	23	1294	52	1 	.924	2.41
 	Freshman 	 	23	1313	53	4 	.927	2.42
 	Junior 	 	20	1009	41	0 	.904	2.44
 	Junior 	 	19	1128	46	1 	.909	2.45
==Conference Tournament==
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===
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	
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===
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	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 	Regular Season Scoring Trophy 	Colin Bilek, Army
Regular Season Scoring Trophy 	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
 	 	
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====
 	 	
Blake Bennett 	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==
*
Atlantic
2021–22
Category:2022 in ice hockey
Category:Atlantic Hockey