The offseason is becoming a thing of the past for most sports, with lots of activity despite no games being played.
This was the case with Atlantic Hockey America, which was busy this summer combining Atlantic Hockey (men) and College Hockey America (women) into a single hockey-only conference, Atlantic Hockey America.
Michelle Morgan, in her second year at the helm of the conference, says it was time to move to the future without forgetting the past.
“I don’t think there was (an offseason) at our office,” she said. “We’ve launched a new name, a logo, and a new brand.
“We wanted to keep the identity and tradition…while signifying a new era.”
Morgan outlined the league’s goals for this season.
“We look to continue to elevate our league as a cohesive unit, men’s and women’s,” she said. “To tell our story in new places and find new partners and opportunities to grow, to create a safe and competitive environment for our student-athletes.
“Ultimately we want to grow our game and our league so that we are putting not just one but two teams in the national tournament.”
Live by the portal…
An unfortunate trend in the wider use of the transfer portal is a talent drain from Atlantic Hockey America. In this off-season, five of the seven first-team all-league players transferred out of the conference, including four key players from defending champs Rochester Institute of Technology.
The league lost about twice the points that transferred in (net 196 in and 386 out) and four starting goaltenders, including the first-team and all-rookie netminders.
The portal has especially burdened three schools: Holy Cross, Army West Point, and Air Force.
Holy Cross doesn’t offer graduate programs and therefore cannot keep or take players looking for a fifth Covid year. This season will be the last time that players can get the extra year, so there should be more of a level playing field for the Crusaders moving forward.
Air Force and Army West Point typically cannot take transfers and do not offer a fifth year.
“There ain’t no transfers coming to Air Force and Army,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore. “There’s no quick fixes, no mulligans for us.”
More changes ahead
Also in the news over the summer were two items affecting the AHA and college hockey in general.
In August, Rylan Masterson, a player with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL (major junior), filed a lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s rule banning major junior players from playing NCAA hockey. The suit names 10 schools, including AHA members Canisius, Niagara, and RIT along with seven other programs.
Experts have expected this lawsuit, as well as the eventuality of the NCAA backing down, opening the doors to many more players entering the pool available to NCAA programs.
“I think it’s coming,” said Niagara coach Jason Lammers. “The NCAA is in a tough spot. I just want to know the rules and plan accordingly.”
Also over the summer, the NCAA voted to change the number of scholarships that can be granted and capping roster size. This begins next season.
There is currently no limit to the number of players a team can carry. Scholarships are capped at 18 per school.
The new rules cap both the roster size and the number of scholarships at 26.
It will be interesting to see how various schools adjust. Several in Atlantic Hockey typically carry 30 players or more.
American International, hit heavily by the injury bug last season, would have struggled with a roster limit of 26, said Yellow Jackets coach Eric Lang.
“If we had a roster limit of 26, we would have had to forfeit our last 7 games of the season,” he said.
“We’ve already begun trimming our roster. But 26 seems small. I would have liked to see (a limit of) 28 or 29.”
More on this as the season develops.
AIR FORCE
HEAD COACH: Frank Serratore (28th season at Air Force)
LAST SEASON: 18-19-1, 15-10-1 (4th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: G Guy Blessing (Sr., 18-18-1, 2.81 GAA, .899 SV%); D Chris Hedden (Jr., 8g-29a-37pts); F Clayton Consentino (Sr., 10g-18a-28pts); F Austin Swartz (Sr., 10g-9a-19pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Will Gavin (19g-17a-36pts); D Luke Rowe (6g-23a-29pts); D Luke Robinson (2g-7a-9pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Will Dawson (Minot (NAHL); D Will Jones (Powell, BCHL); Michael Kadlecik (Odessa, NAHL); F Nick Sajevic (Jonesville, NAHL); Sam Stitz (Maryland, NAHL); F Anthony Yu (Powell, BCHL)
2024-25 PREDICTION: The Falcons, bolstered by an experienced roster, exceeded expectations last season. Picked to finish eighth, Air Force ended up in fourth with a first-round bye.
“I’m not sure what we have so far, but we have a lot of it,” said the always quotable Frank Serratore, in his 28th season as head coach at Air Force. “The good news is that we’re deep with a lot of good players. But that’s not always enough in college hockey.”
Guy Blessing returns in net for his final season.
“We’re fortunate to have Guy coming back”, said Serratore. “There’s not too many returning goalies in the league.”
Chris Hedden leads the returning blueliners while forward Clayton Consentino is one of the top face-off men in the nation.
Expect the Falcons to struggle early and gel later in the season, as most Serratore teams do.
PREDICTED FINISH: Seventh
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
HEAD COACH: Eric Lang (9th season)
LAST SEASON: 20-16-4, 12-10-4 (5th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Jordan Biro (Gr., 7g-16a-23pts); F John Lundy (Jr., 14g-8a-22pts); F Alfred Lindberg (So., 11g-11a-22pts); D Evan Stella (3g-5a-8pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Dustin Manz (7g-24a-31pts); D Brian Kramer (10g-12a-22pts); G Nils Wallstrom (19-12-2, 2.27 GAA,.920 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: D Tanner Willick (Blackfalds, BCHL); F Tyler Procious (Rochester, NAHL); D Lauri Sertti (Rensselaer transfer); G Chase Clark (Sacred Heart transfer)
2024-25 PREDICTION: The Yellow Jackets made it to the Atlantic Hockey title game last season, falling to Rochester Institute of Technology. Eric Lang’s team battled the injury bug most of the season, often playing with a depleted lineup. But they went on an impressive run in the postseason, upsetting Air Force and Holy Cross to reach the championship.
Key pieces of last year’s team have moved on, including all-stars Brian Kramer (defense) and Nils Wallstrom (goalie). But AIC returns several top scorers, including junior forward John Lundy, who led the team in goals last season (14).
“We have a good chunk of our scoring returning, over sixty-five percent of our scoring comes back,” said Lang. “And we’ve supplemented that with the transfer portal (getting players with) almost 500 games of experience.”
Like several teams in the league, goaltending is a question with last year’s mainstay Wallstrom transferring to Merrimack. Expect junior Chase Clark, a Sacred Heart transfer, to see early action.
PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth
ARMY WEST POINT
HEAD COACH: Brian Riley (21st season)
LAST SEASON: 10-23-2, 8-16-2 (10th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Joey Baez (Sr., 15g-16a-31pts); F Brent Keefer (13g-11a-24 pts); D Mac Gadowsky (4g-19a-23pts); G Evan Szary (Sr., 8-10-1, 3.26 GAA, .898 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Max Itagaki (56g-19a-25pts); D John Driscoll (5g-16a-21pts); G Gavin Abric (2-13-2, 4.51 GAA, .864 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: G Jacob Biron (Kempville, CCHL); G JJ Cataldo (Springfield, NAHL); F Nils Forselius (Maine, NAHL); Jacob Ivey (Amarillo, NAHL); Benjamin Ivey (Amarillo, NAHL)
2024-25 PREDICTION: The Black Knights would like nothing more than to earn a Riley Cup this season, the last for coach Brian Riley. Riley announced that this season would be his last, with assistant Zach McKelvie taking the reins in 2025-26.
A Riley has been head hockey coach at Army West Point for 73 years, from Jack Riley (1950-1986), Rob (1986-2004) and Brian (2004-2025).
“It seems every day that I’m reminded about something being the last (time),” said Brian Riley.
The Black Knights are still young. They had 21 underclassmen on the roster last season, and 16 this year.
“I think if we played a game tomorrow, we’d have 15 or 16 freshmen and sophomores in the lineup,” said Riley. “Our goal, like every year, is to try to get guys experience and be playing our best hockey in February going into March.”
Army West Point lost its two top scorers to the transfer portal and will lean on sophomore forwards Brent Keefer, Jake Hewitt, and Nik Hong as well as sophomore defenseman Mac Gadowsky.
A pair of rookie goalies will challenge senior Evan Szary in net.
PREDICTED FINISH: 11th
BENTLEY
HEAD COACH: Andy Jones (2nd season)
LAST SEASON: 16-17-2, 12-12-2 (T-6th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Stephen Castagna (Jr., 6g-21a-27pts); D Nick Bochen (Gr., 6g-18a-24pts); F Ryan Manfield (So., 7g-11a-18pts); F Nik Armstrong-Kingkade (Gr., 7g-5a-12pts); G Connor Hasley (10-9-1. 2.22 GAA. .905 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Evan Leyh (13g-16a-29pts); G Nicholas Grabko (6-8-1, 2.40 GAA, .908 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: G Max Beckford (Wisconsin, NAHL); D David Helledy (Maine, NAHL); Oskar Bakkevig (Malmo, Sweden); F Oliver Salo (Anchorage, NAHL)
2024-25 PREDICTION: Picked to finish last and with a rookie head coach, not much was expected of Bentley last year.
But the Falcons flirted with home ice all season, ending in a tie for sixth. An upset to Robert Morris in the playoffs put a damper on what was a solid first season for Jones.
“We felt as though we made some good strides last year, in terms of the habits and details we want to play with moving forward,” said Jones.
Bentley returns five of its top six scorers from last season, including junior forward Stephen Castagna and defenseman Nick Bochen, back for a fifth season.
PREDICTED FINISH: Fifth
CANISIUS
HEAD COACH: Trevor Large (8th season)
LAST SEASON: 12-21-4, 10-12-4 (8th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Matteo Giampa (So., 18g-17a-35pts); F Oliver Tarr (Jr., 7g-8a-15pts); G Ethan Robinson (5-10-0, 3.25 GAA, .904 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Max Kouzentsov (8g-15a-23pts); F Randy Hernandez (8g-14-a-22pts); D David Melaragni (2g-11a-13pts); G David Fessenden (7-11-4, 3.34 GAA, .897 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Alex Cicero (Holy Cross transfer); D Carter Patterson (Blackfalds, BCHL); F Hunter Price (Sherwood Park, BCHL); F Kash Rasmussen (Michigan Tech transfer); F Mikey Colella (Northern Michigan transfer); G Ben Bonisteel (Trenton, OJHL)
2024-25 PREDICTION: After winning it all in 2022-23, the Griffins finished 8th last season. A high point was the play of rookie Matteo Giampa, who led the team in goals (18) and points (35) and was named the league’s rookie of the year.
“Any time you have rookie of the year in the conference, that’s an exciting thing for any coach to have,” said Canisius coach Trevor Large.
“His skill set, his competitiveness, his skating and his confidence is impressive and growing.”
A highlight on the Golden Griffins schedule is a visit by Michigan State on Oct 25-26.
PREDICTED FINISH: Eighth
HOLY CROSS
HEAD COACH: Bill Riga (4th season)
LAST SEASON: 21-14-4, 13-10-3 (2nd) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Liam McLinskey (Sr., 19g-28a-47pts); F Jack Stockfish (So., 9g-16a-25pts); D Matt Shatsky (2g-19a-21pts); G Thomas Gale (Sr., 8-8-2, 2.41 GAA, .917 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: G Jason Grande (Sr., 13-6-2, 2.01 GAA, .928 SV%); F Jack Ricketts (19g-16a-35pts); F Tyler Ghirardosi (14g-13a-27pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: Lach Getz (Michigan Tech transfer); Timothy Heinke (Quinnipiac transfer); Owen Kim (Vernon, BCHL); Edward Maskowitz (Blackfalds, BCHL)
2024-25 PREDICTION: Here’s the Crusaders finish in the first three seasons of coach Bill Riga’s tenure:
2021-22: 10th
2022-23: 7th
2023-24: 2nd
See a trend? The Crusaders are again poised to make a run at their first Atlantic Hockey regular season title since 2006.
“We continue to grow the program to where we want it to be,” said Riga. “By a lot of standards, we had a good year. But in the end, our goal is to win championships and we didn’t win either one of them.”
Despite losing several key players to graduation and transfer (Holy Cross doesn’t offer graduate programs and therefore could not offer players a fifth Covid year), there’s enough in place for another run.
That includes pre-season player of the rear Liam McLinskey and pre-season all-star goaltender Thomas Gale.
“Having a Hobey Baker top ten finalist and pre-season player of the year…and the pre-season all-league goalie sets some high expectations,” said Riga.
PREDICTED FINISH: First
MERCYHURST
HEAD COACH: Rick Gotkin (37th season)
LAST SEASON: 9-22-4, 7-15-4 (9th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Boris Skalos (So., 15g-12-27pts); F Will Margel (Sr., 6g-17a-23pts); F Mickey Burns (Gr.,5g-13a-18pts); D Justin Geregach (Sr., 4g-14a-18pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Garrett Dahm (7g-21a-28pts); F Steven Agriogianis (6g-17a-23pts); G Owen Say (8-17-4, 3.21 GAA, .913 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Matteo Disipio (Rochester, NAHL); F Brendan Lamb (Madison, USHL); D Caleb Price (Lindenwood transfer); G Michael Chambre (Sioux Falls, USHL); Christian Kocsis (Omaha, USHL)
2024-25 PREDICTION: The Lakers were one of several teams with key losses in the transfer portal. Leading scorer Garrett Dahm and starting goaltender Owen Say have both moved on.
The cupboard isn’t bare, however. All-rookie Boris Skalkos is back, as are forwards Mikey Burns and defenseman Justin Geregach. But the Lakers will again be young.
“We’re still a pretty young team,” said coach Rick Gotkin, in his 37th season at Mercyhurst. “We have 19 underclassmen, 11 sophomores and eight freshman.
“We’re going to need some of those guys to step up and have pretty good years. If a lot of those guys do, that’s going to help us in a big way.”
2024-25 PREDICTED FINISH: Ninth
NIAGARA
HEAD COACH: Jason Lammers (8th season)
LAST SEASON: 18-18-3, 13-10-3 (6th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Tyler Wallace (So., 13g-17a-30pts); F Jay Ahearn (Sr., 10g-16a-26pts); D Alex Murray (Sr., 1g-12a-13pts)
KEY LOSSES: G Jarrett Fiske (16-11-2, 2.72 GAA, .912 SV%); F Carter Randklev (11g-20a-31pts); F Jack Richard (10g-11a-21pts); D Josef Mysak (2g-10a-12pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Rainers Darzins (Skelleftea, Sweden U20), Trevor Haskin (Cobourg, OJHL); Andy Reist (Cobourg, OJHL); G Deivids Rolovs (Lone Star, NAHL); G Pierce Charleston (Alaska transfer); D Ross Roloson (Lake Superior State transfer)
2024-25 PREDICTION: Last season, the Purple Eagles made it to the playoff semifinals for the third year in a row. Will this season be the one that sees Niagara advance to the finals and possibly beyond for the first time since 2019?
Coach Jason Lammers says the goals are simple.
“Our goals are to score a few more more goals and give up less against,” he said. “There’s some creative things we’re doing that the guys are exited about that we’re really hopeful will give some more looks to our gifted offensive players.”
Those players include forward Tyler Wallace, who put up 30 points as a freshman last season as well as senior Jay Ahearn, who scored a career-high 26 points last time around.
PREDICTED FINISH: Sixth
ROBERT MORRIS
HEAD COACH: Derek Schooley (19th season)
LAST SEASON: 11-25-3, 7-17-2 (11th) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Tanner Klimpke (So., 15g-11a-26pts); F Walter Zacher (So., 5g-17a-23pts); F Jackson Reineke (9g-12a-21pts); D Michael Craig (So., 0g-10a-10pts)
KEY LOSSES: G Chad Veltri (8-21-3, 3.46 GAA, .909 SV%); F Dallas Tulik (6g-17a-24pts); F Rylee St. Onge (11g-9a-20pts); D Cade Townend (4g-10a-14pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: G Croix Kochendorfer (Aberdeen, NAHL); F Michael Felsing (Merritt, BCHL); F Patrick Johnson (Bismarck, NAHL); D Greg Japchen (Stonehill transfer)
2024-25 PREDICTION: Last year, coach Derek Schooley brought his program back after a two-year absence, essentially starting from scratch.
The Colonials are looking to move past that and re-establish themselves. Last season saw growing pains, but ended on a high not with a win over Bentley in the first round of the playoffs.
“We’re looking to put the past behind us and look to the future.” said Schooley. “There’s not talk about a relaunch anymore.
“We took some great strides in the second half of last year. We turned it around to advance out of the first round.”
The all-rookie line of Tanner Klimpke, Cameron Garvey and Walter Zacher emerged as the Colonial’s best scoring threat last season.
The biggest question for RMU is in net, with a pair of transfers and a freshman looking to win the starting job after the graduation of Chad Veltri.
PREDICTED FINISH: 10th
ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
HEAD COACH: Wayne Wilson (26th season)
LAST SEASON: 27-11-2, 18-7-1 (1st) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Matthew Wilde (So., 19g-16a-35pts); F Tyler Fukakusa (So., 9g-19a-28pts); D Grady Hobbs (Sr., 10g-8a-18pts); D Dimitri Mikrogiannakis (2g-7a-9pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Carter Wilke (16g-25a-41pts); F Cody Laskosky (14g-27a-41pts); F Elijah Gonsalves (20g-18a-38pts); D Gianfranco Cassaro (18g-20a-38pts); G Tommy Scarfone (25-9-2, 2.26 GAA, .925 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: D Tristan Allen (Salmon Arm, BCHL); G Ethan David (Vernon, BCHL); G Jakub Krbecek (Philadelphia, NAHL); F Ty Whyte (Kempville, CCHL); G Trent Burnham (Lindenwood transfer)
2024-25 PREDICTION: The Tigers are trying for a regular season title three-peat, and it will be a challenge.
RIT lost several key players to the transfer portal, including four first-team all-leaguers.
There’s still plenty of talent on the roster, including the all-sophomore line of Matthew Wilde, Tyler Fukakusa and Christian Catalano, which came into their own as freshmen in the second half of last season.
Goaltending is uncertain with a pair of freshmen challenging junior Trent Burnham, a Lindenwood transfer who saw a lot of action for the Lions last season, making 958 saves on 1,058 shots.
“Last year we had a lot of returning players and everything fit in nicely,” said Wayne Wilson, whose Tigers made their fourth NCAA appearance last season. “This year, we have 10 new faces and we’re excited about what we have coming back, guys looking to move up and grow their roles.”
PREDICTED FINISH: Third
SACRED HEART
HEAD COACH: C.J. Marottolo (16th season)
LAST SEASON: 14-19-3, 14-10-2 (3rd) in Atlantic Hockey
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F John Jaworski (Gr.,10g-16a-26pts); F Marcus Joughlin (Jr., 8g-13a-21pts); D Mikey Adamson (Jr., 4g-16a-20pts); D Hunter Sansbury (Sr., 5g-15a-20pts); F Daniel Ebrahim (9g-3a-12pts)
KEY LOSSES: F TJ Walsh (13g-13a-26pts); F Kevin Lombardi (11g-14a-25pts); F Braedon Tuck (6g-11a-17 pts); G Chase Clark (8-10-1, 3.02 GAA, .898 SV%); G Justin Robbins (6-9-1, 2.94 GAA, .895 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: G Ajeet Gundarah (Surrey, BCHL); F Paul Minnehan (Des Moines, USHL); F William Gendron (Chilliwack, BCHL); F Tyler Ghirardosi (Holy Cross transfer); F Matt Guerra (Holy Cross transfer); Felix Trudeau (Maine transfer)
2024-25 PREDICTION: The Pioneers have been near the top of the standings for several seasons but haven’t been able to claim a regular season (or playoff) title.
This year comes with the expectation that SHU will clear that hurdle. The coaches picked CJ Marottolo’s team to finish atop the standings.
“It’s flattering and humbling,” said Marottolo. “We’re not going to touch on it a lot, to be honest.”
Forward John Jaworski returns for a fifth season, having posted career-high goals (10) and points (26) last year. Also back are a pair of juniors in forward Marcus Joughlin and defenseman Mikey Adamson.
Goaltending is an unknown with sophomore Cullen DeYoung and a pair of freshmen vying for the starting role.
The postseason hasn’t been kind to the Pios in recent years, including back-to-back upset series losses to Niagara on home ice the past two seasons.
Marottolo is looking to play a more physical game this season, bringing in recruits that suit that style.
“We’re going to be bigger heavier, and harder,” he said. “Losing in the first round at home opened our eyes.
“We want to be the team that people hate to play against.”
PREDICTED FINISH: Second
