2023–24 Atlantic Hockey season explained

Color:color:white; background:#12527e;
Color Text:white
Season:2023–24
Season:2023–24
Conference:Atlantic Hockey
Shortconference:Atlantic Hockey
Division:Division I
Sport:ice hockey
Pixels:250 px
Duration:October 7, 2023–
March 28, 2024
No Of Teams:11
Tv:FloHockey
Regular Season:
Season Champs:RIT
Mvp:Liam McLinskey
Mvp Link:Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year
Top Scorer:Liam McLinskey
Tournament:
Tournament Champs:RIT
Tournament Place:American International
Mvp2:Elijah Gonsalves
Mvp Link2:Atlantic Hockey Most Valuable Player in Tournament
Top Scorer2:Elijah Gonsalves
Ncaa:
Bids:1
Conf Rec:0–1
Best:Regional Semifinal
Ncaa Team:RIT
Prevseason:2022–23
Nextseason:2024–25
Labelstyle:background:#eeeeee;

The 2023–24 Atlantic Hockey season was the 21st season of play for the Atlantic Hockey Association and took place during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season began on October 7, 2023, and concluded on March 28, 2024, with RIT losing in the West Regional Semifinal of the NCAA tournament.[1]

This was the final season for the Atlantic Hockey Association. Shortly after the season, the Association and the women-only College Hockey America finalized their previously announced merger, establishing Atlantic Hockey America.[2]

Coaches

Ryan Soderquist retired after 21 years with Bentley, turning the program over to former Massachusetts Lowell assistant coach, Andy Jones.[3]

Robert Morris restarted its program with Derek Schooley back at the helm. He has been the team's only coach since its inception in 2004.[4]

Records

TeamHead coachSeason at schoolRecord at schoolAtlantic Hockey record
Air Force 27438–417–98230–158–68
American International 8122–99–24 99–58–19
Army 20232–336–90191–235–81
Bentley 10–0–0 0–0–0
Canisius 788–98–1968–66–12
Holy Cross 329–44–522–26–4
Mercyhurst 36598–501–103 253–212–63
Niagara 777–111–2156–74–21
RIT Tigers 25437–303–78 246–153–54
Robert Morris 18275–275–68 135–104–39
Sacred Heart 15174–272–52140–185–44

Standings

Regular season record

While Atlanit Hockey had four teams posting .500 or better records in non-conference games, any benefit they received was wiped out by the five teams that were .250 or worse. As a whole, the conference performed well against Hockey East, which was one of the two best leagues during the regular season. This, and the collapse of the CCHA, helped move Atlantic Hockey up for the first time in years and the conference did not finish as the lowest-ranked league in Division I hockey.[5]

TeamTotal
Air Force 1–2–00–0–00–0–00–0–02–2–00–3–03–7–0
American International 1–1–00–0–00–2–02–1–01–0–00–0–04–4–0
Army 0–1–00–1–00–2–02–1–00–0–00–1–02–6–0
Bentley 0–0–00–0–00–0–02–4–02–0–00–0–04–4–0
Canisius 0–2–00–0–01–3–00–0–00–0–00–2–01–7–0
Holy Cross 0–0–00–0–01–1–03–1–11–0–00–0–05–2–1
Mercyhurst 0–4–01–1–00–0–00–0–00–0–01–1–02–6–0
Niagara 0–0–00–0–01–1–00–0–00–0–01–5–02–6–0
RIT1–0–01–0–01–1–11–2–00–0–00–0–04–3–1
Robert Morris 0–2–01–1–00–0–00–0–02–3–10–0–03–6–1
Sacred Heart 0–0–00–0–00–4–10–2–00–1–00–0–00–7–1
Overall3–12–03–3–04–14–210–11–18–6–12–12–030–58–4

Statistics

Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes[6]

PlayerClassTeamGPGAPtsPIM
Junior 26 11 20 31 28
Senior 26 11 19 30 8
Senior 26 15 14 29 12
Sophomore 26 5 23 28 29
Freshman 26 13 14 27 6
Junior 26 11 16 27 22
Senior 26 11 13 24 18
Junior 26 6 18 24 23
Graduate 26 9 14 23 22
Graduate 22 12 10 22 22
Senior 26 12 10 22 50
Senior 26 11 11 22 8
Senior 24 3 19 22 24

Leading goaltenders

Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average[7]

PlayerClassTeamGPMinWLTGASOSV%GAA
Senior 11 610:35 4 6 1 21 2 .919 2.06
Senior 11 654:42 6 4 1 24 0 .926 2.20
Freshman 20 1182:01 12 6 2 44 1 .916 2.23
Sophomore 16 946:47 8 6 1 15 2 .901 2.28
Junior 16 917:21 7 6 2 35 2 .922 2.29

Conference tournament

See main article: 2024 Atlantic Hockey Tournament.

NCAA tournament

See main article: 2024 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.

Rankings

See main article: 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

USCHO

Air ForceNR 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 InternationalNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
ArmyNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
BentleyNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
CanisiusNR 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 CrossNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
MercyhurstNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
NiagaraNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
RITNR NR NR NR NR 20 20 20 19 19 18 18 19 20 19 19 20 20 20 19 19 19 18 17 17
Robert MorrisNR 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 HeartNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

USA Today

Air ForceNR 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 InternationalNR 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
ArmyNR 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
BentleyNR 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
CanisiusNR 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 CrossNR 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
MercyhurstNR 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
NiagaraNR 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
RITNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 NR 20 NR NR 20 20 19 19 18 17 17
Robert MorrisNR 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 HeartNR 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 19 7 32 38 49 45 41 45 47 50 54 46 43 38 40 43 45 43 43 42 44 44 45
American International 32 39 26 26 39 24 18 17 19 21 22 25 29 27 28 30 31 32 33 32 29 25 27
Army 32 43 33 56 63 64 63 54 56 58 50 55 55 58 58 58 58 56 56 57 56 56 56
Bentley 30 53 37 43 40 28 39 40 37 40 40 45 47 33 44 45 42 44 42 44 43 43 44
Canisius 32 50 57 59 48 60 60 50 53 57 57 58 57 57 56 59 59 57 58 57 58 58 58
Holy Cross 1 1 11 23 33 46 36 32 37 35 36 34 33 33 30 27 27 23 25 26 24 29 28
Mercyhurst 32 40 54 55 59 55 54 52 48 51 56 52 53 57 61 62 62 60 59 61 59 59 59
Niagara 32 56 56 60 56 61 56 53 51 60 59 58 56 47 48 48 43 46 46 45 39 42 42
RIT 32 24 53 29 27 39 33 21 20 16 17 19 21 23 23 23 22 25 22 23 21 21 bgcolor=gold21
Robert Morris 32 34 42 49 60 59 62 63 63 63 63 62 62 63 63 61 60 61 61 59 60 60 60
Sacred Heart 32 55 55 53 57 52 50 38 30 40 43 42 44 46 51 48 48 49 49 50 53 53 53
Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.[8]

Awards

NCAA

Award Recipient
Luke Robinson, Air Force
[9]
East Second Team Position
Gianfranco Cassaro, RITalign=center D
Liam McLinskey, Holy Crossalign=center F

Atlantic Hockey

AwardRecipient [10]
Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross
Tommy Scarfone, RIT
Matteo Giampa, Canisius
Austin Schwartz, Air Force
Brian Kramer, American International
Braeden Tuck, Sacred Heart
Team Sportsmanship Award Sacred Heart
Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross
Jason Grande, Holy Cross
Wayne Wilson, RIT
Elijah Gonsalves, RIT
[11]
  Position   Second Team
Tommy Scarfone, RITalign=center GJason Grande, Holy Cross
Gianfranco Cassaro, RITalign=center DChris Hedden, Air Force
Brian Kramer, American Internationalalign=center DAiden Hansen-Bukata, RIT
Liam McLinskey, Holy Crossalign=center FMatteo Giampa, Canisius
Carter Wilkie, RITalign=center FJack Ricketts, Holy Cross
Will Gavin, Air Forcealign=center FJoey Baez, Army
Cody Laskosky, RITalign=center F
  Position   Rookie Team
Owen Say, Mercyhurstalign=center GNils Wallström, American International
Luke Rowe, Air Forcealign=center DMac Gadowsky, Army
Nick Bochen, Bentleyalign=center DTrent Sambrook, Mercyhurst
Ethan Leyh, Bentleyalign=center FMatteo Giampa, Canisius
John Jaworski, Sacred Heartalign=center FBoris Skalos, Mercyhurst
Elijah Gonsalves, RITalign=center FJack Stockfish, Holy Cross
[12]
Tommy Scarfone, RITalign=center G
Gianfranco Cassaro, RITalign=center D
Nico Somerville, American Internationalalign=center D
Elijah Gonsalves, RITalign=center F
Tyler Fukakusa, RITalign=center F
Jordan Biro, American Internationalalign=center F

2024 NHL Entry Draft

See main article: 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

4 106 Niagara Calgary Flames
† incoming freshman[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Composite Schedule . Atlantic Hockey . August 20, 2023.
  2. Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America Join to Form Atlantic Hockey America . Atlantic Hockey America . April 30, 2024 . May 2, 2024.
  3. News: Bentley, entering 25th season of D-I hockey, tabs UMass Lowell associate head coach Jones new bench boss for Falcons . USCHO . June 28, 2023 . June 29, 2023.
  4. Web site: Staff. USCHO. 2021-12-17. Robert Morris announces reinstatement of men's, women's college hockey teams for 2023–24 season. 2022-01-10. College Hockey USCHO.com. en-us.
  5. Web site: Men's Division I PairWise Rankings . August 16, 2023.
  6. News: 2023-2024 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics . Atlantic Hockey . March 6, 2024.
  7. News: 2023-2024 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics . Atlantic Hockey . March 6, 2024.
  8. Web site: Men's Division I PairWise Rankings . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
  9. News: Top 25 men’s college hockey players earn distinction as CCM/AHCA Hockey All-Americans for 2023-24 season . USCHO.com . April 12, 2024 . April 12, 2024.
  10. Web site: Atlantic Hockey Announces 2023-24 Regular Season Awards . Atlantic Hockey . March 19, 2024 . March 20, 2024.
  11. Web site: Atlantic Hockey unveils three all-conference teams, one all-rookie team for 2023-24 season . USCHO.com . March 12, 2024 . March 13, 2024.
  12. News: RIT Wins the 2024 Atlantic Hockey Championship . Atlantic Hockey . March 23, 2024 . March 24, 2024 .
  13. News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2024 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . June 29, 2024.