2020–21 Atlantic Hockey season explained

Color:	color:white; background:#12527e;
Color Text:	white
Season:	2020–21
Season:	2020–21
Conference:	Atlantic Hockey
Shortconference:	Atlantic Hockey
Division:	Division I
Sport:	ice hockey
Pixels:	200 px
Duration:	November 19, 2020– March 26, 2021
No Of Teams:	11
Regular Season:
Season Champs:	American International
Mvp:	Brennan Kapcheck Will Calverley Nick Prkusic
Mvp Link:	Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year
Top Scorer:	Will Calverley
Tournament:
Tournament Champs:	American International
Tournament Place:	Canisius
Mvp Link2:	Atlantic Hockey Most Valuable Player in Tournament
Top Scorer2:	Mason Krueger
Ncaa:
Bids:	1
Conf Rec:	0–1
Best:	Regional semifinal
Ncaa Team:	American International
Prevseason:	2019–20
Nextseason:	2021–22
Labelstyle:	background:#eeeeee;

The 2020–21 Atlantic Hockey season was the 18th season of play for Atlantic Hockey and took place during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The start of the regular season was delayed until November 19, 2020 and concluded on February 27, 2021.^[1]

Season

COVID-19

The entire Atlantic Hockey season was held under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic. The season's start was delayed for more than a month while university and health officials could decide on a safe way to play games. In the end, the conference was divided into two regions, East and West, with the two groups of teams only playing one another. This was done to reduce the amount of travel and exposure that the players and staff members would experience throughout the season.^[2] As a result of this arrangement, the conference standings would not be altered, however, tournament seeding would continue with east and west teams until the semifinal round.

Non-Conference

Unlike other seasons, the 20-21 season would see only a small number of non-conference games being played. This, like many other alterations, was due to COVID-19. This would cause the Pairwise Rankings, which were normally used to determine the at-large bids for the NCAA tournament, to be rendered useless. However, due to the perception of Atlantic Hockey as the weakest of the six Division I conferences, only the eventual tournament champion would go on to make the national tournament.^[3]

Coaches

Records

Team	Head coach	Season at school	Record at school	Atlantic Hockey record
Air Force		24	407–368–92	208–120–63
American International		5	67–69–14	57–42–13
Army		17	189–294–81	157–208–75
Bentley		19	247–325–81	187–195–72
Canisius		4	41–56–13	34–39–10
Holy Cross		6	80–104–34	70–68–30
Mercyhurst		33	564–447–95	227–178–55
Niagara		4	40–59–12	33–39–12
RIT Tigers		22	382–265–71	209–131–48
Robert Morris		16	191–153–42	125–99–39
Sacred Heart		12	136–227–43	109–158–37

Statistics

Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes^[4]

Player	Position	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	Senior		26	8	19	27	14
	Freshman		26	11	16	27	2
	Junior		26	8	15	23	18
	Junior		17	9	13	22	4
	Sophomore		20	11	11	22	6
	Freshman		22	5	16	21	10
	Senior		19	6	13	19	4
	Sophomore		19	8	10	18	22
	Senior		26	6	12	18	4
	Senior		15	0	17	17	8
	Senior		19	4	13	17	8

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^[5]

Player	Class	Team	GP	Min	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
	Senior		14	773	25	0	.922	1.94
	Senior		9	491	17	0	.906	2.07
	Sophomore		16	976	38	0	.924	2.33
	Senior		10	377	15	0	.910	2.39
	Senior		16	718	29	0	.923	2.42

Conference tournament

See main article: 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament.

NCAA tournament

See main article: 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.

Midwest Regional semifinal

Ranking

See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

USCHO

Air Force	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
American International	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	20	19	20	20	19	17	15	16	16	16	16	15	15	N/A	15
Army	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	N/A	NR
Bentley	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
Canisius	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
Holy Cross	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
Mercyhurst	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
Niagara	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
RIT	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
Robert Morris	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	NR	NR	20	17	17	NR	19	19	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR
Sacred Heart	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A	NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[6]

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
American International	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	14	15	15	15	15	15	14	15	15
Army	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
Canisius	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
Mercyhurst	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
RIT	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Robert Morris	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

^[7]

Awards

NCAA

AHCA All-American Teams^[8]
East First Team	Position	Team
	align=center		align=center	American International
East Second Team	Team	Position
	align=center		align=center	Army
	align=center		align=center	Army
	align=center	F	align=center	RIT

Conference

East Pod

Award		Recipient^[9]
		Brennan Kapcheck, American International
		Lincoln Hatten, Army
		Chris Dodero, American International
		Brennan Kapcheck, American International
		Justin Cole, American International
		Jakov Novak, Bentley
		Trevin Kozlowski, Army
		Brian Riley, Army
All-Atlantic Hockey Teams^[10]
	Position	Second Team
Trevin Kozlowski, Army	align=center	G	Stefano Durante, American International
Brennan Kapcheck, American International	align=center	D	John Zimmerman, Army
Thomas Farrell, Army	align=center	D	Matt Slick, Holy Cross
Colin Bilek, Army	align=center	F	Elijah Barriga, American International
Tobias Fladeby, American International	align=center	F	Chris Dodero, American International
Marc Johnstone, Sacred Heart	align=center	F	Braeden Tuck, Sacred Heart
	Position
Nick Grabko, Bentley	align=center	G
Nico Somerville, American International	align=center	D
Drew Bavaro, Bentley	align=center	D
Lincoln Hatten, Army	align=center	F
Aaron Grounds, American International	align=center	F
Eric Otto, American International	align=center	F

West Pod

Award		Recipient^[11]
	Will Calverley, RIT
Nick Prkusic, Robert Morris
		Randy Hernández, Robert Morris
		Will Calverley, RIT
		Nick Jenny, Robert Morris
		Nick Jenny, Robert Morris
		Will Calverley, RIT
		Jacob Barczewski, Cansius
		Derek Schooley, Robert Morris
All-Atlantic Hockey Teams^[12]
	Position	Second Team
Jacob Barczewski, Cansius	align=center	G	Noah West, Robert Morris
—	align=center	G	Zach LaRocque, Air Force
Nick Jenny, Robert Morris	align=center	D	Joseph Maziarz, Mercyhurst
Dan Willett, RIT	align=center	D	Brendan Michaelian, Robert Morris
Will Calverley, RIT	align=center	F	Randy Hernández, Robert Morris
Nick Prkusic, Robert Morris	align=center	F	Jon Bendorf, Mercyhurst
Keaton Mastrodonato, Cansius	align=center	F	Carson Brière, Mercyhurst
	Position
Noah West, Robert Morris	align=center	G
Brian Kramer, Robert Morris	align=center	D
Josef Mysak, Niagara	align=center	D
Randy Hernández, Robert Morris	align=center	F
Carson Brière, Mercyhurst	align=center	F
Austin Heidemann, Mercyhurst	align=center	F

Conference tournament

Tournament MVP
		American International
All-Tournament team
Player	Pos	Team
		American International
		Canisius
		American International
		American International
		American International
		Canisius

Notes and References

1. Web site: Composite Schedule . Atlantic Hockey . August 30, 2021.
2. Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces Return to Play in Pods . Neutralzone.com . October 16, 2020 . September 13, 2021.
3. News: 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey championship selections announced . NCAA.com. March 21, 2021. March 18, 2021.
4. News: 2020-2021 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics . Atlantic Hockey . September 14, 2021.
5. News: 2020-2021 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics . Atlantic Hockey . September 14, 2021.
6. Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
7. Web site: USA Today Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
8. News: Boston College, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin lead way with three All-American college hockey players apiece for ’20-21 season . USCHO.com . April 9, 2021 . April 10, 2021.
9. Web site: Atlantic Hockey Names 2020-21 Regular season Award Winners . Atlantic Hockey . March 18, 2021 . March 31, 2021.
10. Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners . Atlantic Hockey . March 11, 2021 . March 31, 2021.
11. Web site: Atlantic Hockey Names 2020-21 Regular season Award Winners . Atlantic Hockey . March 18, 2021 . March 31, 2021.
12. Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners . Atlantic Hockey . March 11, 2021 . March 31, 2021.