2021 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey tournament explained

Year:2021
Conference:Atlantic Hockey
Gender:Men's
Dates:March 8–20, 2021
Teams:10
Finalarena:MassMutual Center
Finalcity:Springfield, Massachusetts
Champions:American International
Titlecount:2nd
Coach:Eric Lang
Coachcount:2nd
Mvp:Justin Cole
Mvpteam:American International
Prevseason Year:2020
Prevseason Link:2020 Atlantic Hockey Tournament
Nextseason Year:2022
Nextseason Link:2022 Atlantic Hockey Tournament

The 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament was the 17th edition of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 8 and March 20, 2021 entirely at home campus locations. On March 5, 2021, Holy Cross withdrew from the tournament due to a positive COVID test.[1] This resulted in Sacred Heart receiving a bye into the quarterfinal round. First Round and Quarterfinal games took place at home venues while Semifinal a Championship games were held at the MassMutual Center, the home of American International. By winning the tournament, American International earned Atlantic Hockey's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The tournament featured four rounds of play. The tournament participants were split into east- and west-brackets. In the first round, after the withdrawal of Holy Cross, the two lowest-seeded teams from each region, as determined by the conference regular season standings, played a single game with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top six teams from the conference regular season standings received byes to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed from each region and the winner of the first round game of the same region and the second and the third seeds of each region will play single-elimination games, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest remaining seed of each region will play the lower remaining seed of the opposite region in single games, with the winners advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.[2]

Bracket

Teams are reseeded for the semifinalsNote: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

First round

(E4) Bentley vs. (E5) Air Force

Quarterfinals

(E1) American International vs. (E4) Bentley

Bentley withdrew from the tournament due to an increase of COVID-19 positive tests on campus.[3] American International received a bye into the semifinal round.

(E2) Army vs. (E3) Sacred Heart

Army Won Series 2–0

(W1) Robert Morris vs. (W5) Niagara

Niagara Won Series 2–1

(W2) Canisius vs. (W3) RIT

Canisius Won Series 2–0

Semifinals

(E2) Army vs. (W2) Canisius

Championship

(E1) American International vs. (W2) Canisius

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

[4]

* Most Valuable Player(s)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Positive COVID-19 test at Holy Cross cancels rest of Crusaders' season; Sacred Heart gets bye into Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals . USCHO.com . March 5, 2021 . March 5, 2021.
  2. Web site: 2019 Atlantic Hockey Tournament - Atlantic Hockey Association.
  3. Web site: Bentley withdraws from Atlantic Hockey playoffs, advancing American International to semifinals . USCHO.com . March 11, 2021 . March 13, 2021.
  4. News: ATLANTIC HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP: American International repeats as titlists with three goals in third period to down Canisius . USCHO.com . March 20, 2021 . March 22, 2021 .