Bentley aims for glory as Atlantic Hockey's NCAA auto-bid is on the line. Every team competes, but only one champion emerges from this thrilling postseason gauntlet.
It’s that time of the year! This week comes with postseason hockey for a handful of important conferences in NCAA hockey!
The playoff picture is set for Atlantic Hockey America, and that is who we will be covering first in a preview of each conference tournament.
In the Atlantic, every team makes the tournament, whether you performed as well as #1 Bentley or as poorly as #10 Mercyhurst; it is whoever gets through this postseason gauntlet that is the automatic qualifier in the NCAA tournament.
A look at the tournament bracket is above, with the only real disadvantage for one of the bottom four being that they’ll have to get by the first round “play-in” to earn a spot in the quarterfinal. Those games begin tonight with #10 Mercyhurst against #7 Canisius, while #9 Army heads to #8 Niagara.
There is no doubt Bentley, the top team, has the “favorite” label stuck on their program, after a 16-6-4 conference record, which ended up five points ahead of the pack in the end. This was done with great help from their offense, with 85 total goals in AHA play, more than anyone else.
That is done by a combination of four falcons with 24+ points on the season in Jack Blake, Stephen Castagna, Kellan Hjartarson, and Michael Mesic.
Nonetheless, you simply cannot count Sacred Heart out. Here on The Hockey News, I previously wrote about how bizarre their falloff was up until the midseason checkpoint.
Safe to say that narrative has flipped. The Pioneers finished the regular season winners of four straight, as well as splitting the previous weekend, to begin the streak with Bentley on the road. They’ve proven they can compete with the best of the AHA, making them strike some fear into the rest of the conference as well.
Beyond that, some dark horses will include #5 RIT and #6 Air Force, who each have had their share of strong wins, whether in or out of conference.
A bonus nugget, the AHA Women’s Tournament Championship is set and will be played this Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena, as Penn State will host Mercyhurst at 2:00 PM ET.