Three things I learned from Atlantic Hockey this weekend:
Standings can change in a hurry – All of the league series saw one team taking three points or more: sweeps by Air Force over Connecticut and Canisius over American International, plus Niagara with a win and a tie against Sacred Heart, ditto Robert Morris against Army. Weekends like this make for radical changes in the standings compared to the large number of series splits and single game weekends we’ve seen in this early part of the season.
Brown would be in last place in the AHA – The Bears have faced three Atlantic Hockey teams in a row and are 0-2-1 in those game, getting shut out twice. Brown has beaten Union and Cornell this season but scored just one goal against AHA teams. The Bears tied Army 1-1 on Nov. 19 and were held scoreless by AIC (3-0 on Nov. 22) and Holy Cross (2-0 on Friday).
You can have a playoff atmosphere anytime – If you were fortunate enough to see the Army-Robert Morris contest on Saturday, you saw quite a game. Lead changes, dramatic special teams play and a total of 92 shots on goal resulted in each team coming away with a hard fought point.
“This was a very entertaining game for the fans, but it’s kind of tough for coaches,” said Army coach Brian Riley.
“We left it all on the ice tonight,” said Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. “We didn’t have much more. I thought that was a great hockey game.
Schooley later tweeted:
“Unbelievable gme 2nite..excitement galore. Both teams left it all on the ice.fun 2 be a part of.”
That sums it up in 140 characters.
Getting my vote: Here’s how I’ll vote in tomorrow’s USCHO.com Division I men’s poll:
1. Merrimack
2. Boston College
3. Minnesota-Duluth
4. Notre Dame
5. Minnesota
6. Ferris State
7. Ohio State
8. Colorado College
9. Union
10. Lake Superior
11. Yale
12. Western Michigan
13. Denver
14. Boston University
15. Michigan
16. Colgate
17. Michigan State
18. Cornell
19. Michigan Tech
20. Miami
