With the 2010-2011 Atlantic Hockey regular season in the books, let’s take a look back and see how the coaches and I did in terms of predicting each team’s finish:
| Team | Actual | Coaches | USCHO |
| RIT | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Air Force | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Holy Cross | 3 | 8 | 8 |
| Niagara | 4 | T4 | 5 |
| Robert Morris | 5 | T4 | 2 |
| UConn | 6 | 11 | 11 |
| Mercyhurst | 7 | 2 | 3 |
| Canisius | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| Army | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Bentley | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Sacred Heart | 11 | 7 | 7 |
| AIC | 12 | 12 | 12 |
So we all underestimated Holy Cross and UConn, and overestimated Mercyhurst and Sacred Heart. My pick of Robert Morris for second looked good until the final weekend of the regular season, but with just three points separating second from fifth (and seventh from tenth), things indeed did go down to the final games.
USCHO.com AHA Player of the Week:
Paul Zanette, Niagara – As good a season as the senior has had in general, he probably wishes every game was against RIT. Zanette had four goals last weekend against the Tigers to go with the hat-trick he had in the teams’ first meeting back in November. He has 29 goals in all this season, tops in the nation.
Honorables:
Cory Conacher, Canisius – The senior forward factored in all four of the Golden Griffins’ goals last weekend, scoring three times and adding an assist to help Canisius to a split against Mercyhurst.
Eric Delong, Sacred Heart – DeLong had four points (two goals, two assists last Saturday to lead the Pioneers to a 5-1 win over Army and a weekend split.
Jason Torf, Air Force – The rookie stopped 53 of 57 shots to help the Falcons to a pair of 4-2 wins over Robert Morris and a first-round bye the AHA playoffs.
Andrew Olson, Connecticut - Olson had the game winner in both contests last weekend, a pair of one-goal wins over AIC. The senior leads the Huskies with 14 goals so far this season.
Men of the Month
And from the home office in Haverhill, here’s your official Atlantic Hockey Players of the Month for February, 2011:
Player of the Month: Paul Zanette – Niagara
Zanette is the second consecutive POTM from Niagara – Bryan Haczyk won the award for January. The senior had 13 points in eight games, including seven goals.
Other players nominated: Jacques Lamoureux, Air Force; Cody Omilusik, Army; Cory Conacher, Canisius; Kyle Fletcher, Holy Cross; Tyler Brenner, RIT.
Goalie of the Month:
Adam Roy – Holy Cross
Roy was 6-0-2 record last month with a 2.20 goals against average,
Other goalies nominated: Garrett Bartus, Connecticut; Shane Madolora, RIT.
Rookie of the Month:
Brett Gensler – Bentley
Gensler led Bentley in goals (five) and points (11) during the month of February. He finished the regular season with 13 goals, tops on the team.
Other rookies nominated: Cole Schneider, Connecticut; Shayne Stockton, Holy Cross; Ryan Rashid, Niagara; Ben Lynch, RIT
Kicking back
According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Air Force coach Frank Serratore is enjoying his week off, bringing an adult beverage with him to a press conference on Monday. “In case you boys haven’t heard, I’ve got the week off,” he told the press. The Falcons are coming together at the right time, going 6-2-2 down the stretch against the west scheduling pod.
Getting My Vote
My USCHO.com Men’s D-I Poll ballot this week:
1. North Dakota
2. Boston College
3. Yale
4. Union
5. Miami
6. New Hampshire
7. Merrimack
8. Denver
9. Michigan
10. Notre Dame
11. UNO
12. Duluth
13. Boston University
14. RPI
15. Western Michigan
16. Maine
17. Minnesota
18. Wisconsin
19. Colorado College
20. Air Force
