{"id":105478,"date":"2020-03-18T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=105478"},"modified":"2020-08-24T10:34:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T15:34:15","slug":"this-week-in-atlantic-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/18\/this-week-in-atlantic-hockey\/","title":{"rendered":"This (last) Week in Atlantic Hockey: American International now ‘looking to the future’ with 2019-20 season wiped out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Zackarias<\/a>
Zackarias Skog finishes his AIC career with a school-record of 37 wins between the pipes (photo: Omar Phillips).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Words like “historic” and “unbelievable” get thrown around a lot in the sports world, often at things that aren’t really that historic or unbelievable.<\/p>\n

But in the case of the end of the 2019-20 college hockey season, they’re absolutely appropriate, along with “gut-wrenching,” “painful” and “devastating.”<\/p>\n

The sudden halt of the season left us all reeling, especially the seniors of the eight Atlantic teams still fighting for a playoff title and a trip to the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

That all came crashing down in a matter of hours last week.<\/p>\n

American International, which successfully defended its regular-season title, was in the front car of an emotional roller coaster.<\/p>\n

Over the course of a day or so, the news came pouring in, moving from tolerable to devastating:<\/p>\n

– First, fans were banned from attending all quarterfinal series, including Bentley at AIC.<\/p>\n

– Then, it was announced that the Atlantic Hockey tournament, which had completed its first round days before, was cancelled. The Yellow Jackets, as regular-season champions, would represent the league in the NCAA tournament, most likely squaring off against top-seeded North Dakota.<\/p>\n

– Then, the word came down that the NCAA tournament would be played in empty arenas.<\/p>\n

– And finally, that the NCAA tournament was cancelled. Season over. For the 10 seniors on the AIC roster, careers over.<\/p>\n

“We were going through it together,” said AIC coach Eric Lang. “Usually, when a coach has information, he can communicate the message in a way to make sure your team is best prepared. But we were all getting the news simultaneously, from many places.”<\/p>\n

Lang made sure the seniors didn’t lose sight of their accomplishments in the wake of the crushing news.<\/p>\n

“I sent them all a message saying that they were the Atlantic Hockey champions and representative and they earned that,” he said. “They say you want to leave your jersey in a better place than when you first out it on, and they certainly did that.”<\/p>\n

The group, led by forward Blake Christensen (a school-record 119 career points) and goaltender Zackarias Skog (a school-record 37 wins), were 8-20-8 as freshmen, before going 23-17-1 last season and 21-12-1 this year, including a pair of regular-season titles, a playoff championship, and a first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament that saw the Yellow Jackets upset top seeded St. Cloud State in the first round.<\/p>\n

As Lang and his team found out, it’s more difficult to defend a title than to win one for the first time.<\/p>\n

“It was initially very hard,” said Lang. “We were carrying the weight of getting back to we were a year ago. At one point, we held a great meeting where there was a lot of give and take. We talked about measuring your potential and making sure we were meeting our potential.<\/p>\n

“We were pretty darn good since that meeting.”<\/p>\n

The Yellow Jackets won 11 of their final 12 contests to catch and pass Sacred Heart to repeat as regular-season champions.<\/p>\n

That was in no small part to the seniors, who came into the program with a belief that they could win a championship.<\/p>\n

“Back then, we were begging guys to come,” said Lang. “Because of them, it’s a lot easier to recruit from first place than it was from last place.”<\/p>\n

Lang and his team are still mourning the loss of what might have been, but are also looking ahead.<\/p>\n

“We understand that 10 tremendous seniors are going out the door,” he said. “So that means that we have great opportunities for the incoming freshmen and our returning players.<\/p>\n

“We’re looking to the future.”<\/p>\n

\n

A message from Coach @ericlang9<\/a> and our staff. #AICommitted<\/a> #AICHockeyFamily<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/vlQUldU1HW<\/a><\/p>\n

— AIC Hockey (@AIC_Hockey) March 13, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n