AIC began its varsity program in 1948, playing a modest schedule for the first dozen years, building the program under William Turner before he handed it off to Joe Bucholz. In 1961, the Yellow Jackets joined with 27 other eastern schools (mostly in New England) to form ECAC Hockey.[3] AIC finished near the bottom for three seasons and in 1964 it was decided that the conference was too unwieldy to continue and was split into two divisions. The Yellow Jackets joined the lower division, becoming a founding member of ECAC 2.[4]
AIC had some success when Turner returned to take over, winning the conference tournament in 1969,[5] but dipped slightly after his retirement in 1970. When Paul Thornton took over in 1974, AIC saw a resurgence, and by the late 1970s, it had returned to the ECAC 2 Tournament, but after his departure in 1978, the program slumped once more.
In 1984, the Division II ice hockey level collapsed and sent almost all teams at that level down to Division III. AIC followed along, and when ECAC 2 split, the Yellow Jackets stayed with the eastern side, joining the new ECAC East. In all that upheaval, it was not lost that AIC had gotten its sixth head coach since 1970, but they were finally able to find someone willing to stick around in Gary Wright.[6]
Wright's time with AIC began successfully, with the team earning its first 20-win season in his fourth year. The following season, 1989, saw the Yellow Jackets pace the ECAC East with 20 wins and set a program record with 24 wins overall. Still, they faltered in the conference tournament and failed to make the D-III National championship. The following year, they won the ECAC East title, their first conference championship in 21 years. However, they were left out of the National Tournament due to a relatively poor overall record (only eight teams made the tournament, and the league champions did not receive an automatic berth). AIC continued to play well in the mid-90s, but in 1995, the program declined sharply, dropping from 14 to 4 wins, and remained in the ECAC East cellar for the rest of its time there.
In 1998, the MAAC began sponsoring an ice hockey conference, and AIC joined as an affiliate member, returning to the top tier of college hockey.[7] In their first year back the Yellow Jackets posted a decent record, finishing 5th in the 8-team field but bowed out in the first round of the conference playoffs. After that brief glimpse of success, however, AIC fell to the bottom of the conference and remained there for almost the next 20 years. Even with several new teams joining the conference and the division's reworking into the Atlantic Hockey Association, AIC could finish no better than 9th from 2000 through 2017, with the lone exception coming in 2006 when Atlantic Hockey had only 8 league members.
AIC lost 20 games for 13 consecutive seasons and 18 out of 19 years after 1999. Gary Wright eventually retired in 2016, being the longest-tenured coach at the time of his retirement.[8]
A new era at AIC began in 2016 with Eric Lang as the new head coach. After a poor but familiar first season, AIC posted its best record since 1993 with 15 wins, finishing 8th in Atlantic Hockey and winning its first conference tournament round in over a decade. The following year, AIC won its first-ever conference championship and, after winning its first conference tournament at the Division I level, made its first appearance in an NCAA Championship. As the lowest-seeded team, AIC played against #1 St. Cloud State and, despite being outshot 34-13 in the game, won the game 2-1.[9] They would fall to Denver 3-0 in the next round of the tournament.[10]
AIC again won the Atlantic Hockey championship in 2020; however, before the team played its first postseason game, the NCAA canceled all remaining contests and tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12]
AIC qualified for the NCAA tournament again in 2021 and 2022.[13]
Shortly after the end of the 2023–24 season, Atlantic Hockey merged with the women-only College Hockey America to form the new Atlantic Hockey America, with all members of both predecessor conferences becoming charter members of the merged league.[14]
In November 2024, the school announced the hockey program would be going back to Division II due to budgetary issues and enrollment. They will join the Northeast-10 Conference with Post, Franklin Pierce, Assumption, Saint Anselm, Saint Michaels, and Southern New Hampshire. As part of the move, the team will also forgo further use of the MassMutual Center beyond the 2024-25 season. [15]
2023-2024 American International Yellow Jackets at Holy Cross's Hart Center
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) was an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other college athletic conferences, Atlantic Hockey had no women's division, though it shared some organizational and administrative roles with the women's-only College Hockey America (CHA).
The 2001 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 12 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey.
The RIT Tigers men's ice hockey team is a collegiate ice hockey team representing the Rochester Institute of Technology in suburban Rochester, New York, United States. The school's men's team competes in the Division I Atlantic Hockey America. The team has won two national championships, one each at the Division II and Division III levels. It lost in the semifinals of the Division I "Frozen Four" in 2010.
The American International Yellow Jackets is composed of 22 teams representing American International College in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, track and field, and volleyball. Men's sports include baseball, football, ice hockey, and wrestling. Women's sports include field hockey, rugby, softball, and tennis. The Yellow Jackets compete in NCAA Division II and are members of the Northeast-10 Conference for all sports except ice hockey, which competes in NCAA Division I; men's volleyball, which competes as a de facto Division I member in the East Coast Conference; men's wrestling, which is an NCAA Division II Independent; and women's triathlon, which competes as a de facto Division I independent. The men's ice hockey team is a member of Atlantic Hockey America Division I.
The Army Black Knights men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights are members of Atlantic Hockey America and play at the Tate Rink in West Point, New York.
The Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the College of the Holy Cross. The Crusaders are members of Atlantic Hockey America (AHA), formed shortly after the 2023–24 season by the merger of their former home of the Atlantic Hockey Association with the women-only College Hockey America. They play at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Quinnipiac University. The Bobcats are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Connecticut.
The Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Sacred Heart University. The Pioneers, members of Atlantic Hockey America, play at the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Connecticut. From 1993-2016, the Pioneers home arena was the Milford Ice Pavilion in Milford, Connecticut.
The Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey team that represents Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania under Head Coach Rick Gotkin. The team is currently a Division I hockey team playing out of the Mercyhurst Ice Center located on the school campus. The Mercyhurst Lakers started out as a club sport at the school, moving up to Division III, followed by Division II, and now plays in Division I in Atlantic Hockey America, formed shortly after the 2023–24 season by the merger of the Lakers' former home, the Atlantic Hockey Association, with College Hockey America. After joining their step up into Division I in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1998, the Lakers have won their conference tournament making NCAA tournament appearances in 2001, 2003, and 2005.
The UConn Huskies men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Connecticut. The Huskies are a member of the Hockey East conference. The Huskies play in the on-campus Toscano Family Ice Forum, having moved from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut during the 2022–23 season.
The Canisius Golden Griffins men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Canisius University. The Golden Griffins are members of Atlantic Hockey America, formed shortly after the 2023–24 season by the merger of their former hockey league, the Atlantic Hockey Association, with College Hockey America. They play at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York across the street from KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Canisius has won an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament twice, after winning the Atlantic Hockey title in the conference playoffs in both 2013 and 2023, but lost in the first round to the top-ranked team each time.
The 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began on October 3, 1998, and concluded with the 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on April 3, 1999, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. This was the 52nd season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 105th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
Gary Wright is an American retired ice hockey coach. Wright served as head coach of Rice Memorial High School from 1976 to 1979, an assistant coach at Maine from 1979 to 1984, and as the head coach of American International from 1984 through 2016. After the retirement of Jack Parker in 2012–13 Wright became the longest-tenured coach in the NCAA along with Red Berenson.
The 2020–21 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 73rd season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the 18th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets represented American International College and were coached by Eric Lang, in his 5th season.
Brennan Kapcheck is an American professional ice hockey defenseman, currently a free agent. He was an All-American for American International.
The 2021–22 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 74th season of play for the program. They represented American International College in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 19th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets were coached by Eric Lang, in his sixth season, and played their home games at MassMutual Center.
Blake Christensen is an American professional ice hockey left wing. He is currently playing with HC Thurgau in the Swiss League (SL). He was an All-American for American International. He also broke the league’s record for most points. Christensen played for the USA 18 team. Christensen owns his own hockey business, Christo Hockey.
The 2018–19 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 71st season of play for the program, the 23rd at the Division I level, and the 16th season in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets represented American International College and were coached by Eric Lang, in his 3rd season.
The 2022–23 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 75th season of play for the program and 20th in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets represented American International College, played their home games at MassMutual Center and were coached by Eric Lang, in his 7th season.
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