Atlantic Hockey tournament

Last updated
AHA men's ice hockey tournament
Conference hockey championship
Sport Ice hockey
Conference Atlantic Hockey Association
Format Single-elimination / best two-of-three tournament
Current stadium LECOM Harborcenter
Current location Buffalo, New York
Played2004-present
Last contest 2024 Atlantic Hockey Tournament
Current champion American International
Most championships Air Force (7)
Winner trophy Riley Trophy
Official website Atlantic Hockey Online

The AHA tournament is the conference tournament for the Atlantic Hockey Association. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.

Contents

The tournament was first held in 2004 after the cessation of the MAAC men's ice hockey tournament, the first year of conference play. The final four games were held at Tate Rink in West Point, New York in 2004. The tournament championship moved to the Northford Ice Pavilion in Northford, Connecticut for 2005, then to the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts for 2006. Starting with the 2007 tournament, the final four was moved to a neutral site, the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, the home of the AHL's Rochester Americans. [1] Starting in 2023, all tournament games were moved to campus sites, hosted by the higher seeds of each matchup.

AHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament champions

[2]

Championships by season

YearRegular Season ChampionTournament ChampionNotes
2004 Holy CrossHoly CrossAtlantic Hockey Association founded by American International, Army, Bentley, Canisius, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart
2005 QuinnipiacMercyhurstFinal AHA season for Quinnipiac, (leaving for the ECAC)
2006 Holy CrossHoly Cross
2007 RITAir Force Air Force and RIT join the AHA
2008 ArmyAir Force
2009 RIT
Air Force		Air Force
2010 RITRIT
2011 RITAir Force Niagara and Robert Morris join the AHA
2012 Air ForceAir Force
2013 NiagaraCanisius
2014 MercyhurstRobert MorrisFinal AHA season for Connecticut, (leaving for Hockey East)
2015 Robert MorrisRIT
2016 Robert MorrisRIT
2017 CanisiusAir Force
2018 MercyhurstAir Force
2019 American InternationalAmerican International
2020 American InternationalNoneTournament cancelled after quarterfinals due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 American InternationalAmerican International
2022 American InternationalAmerican International
2023 RITCanisius
2024 RITRIT

Formats

2004-2005

The AHA Tournament format begins as a single-game elimination three-round format, with an additional play-in game for the teams the finished eighth and ninth.

2006

After Quinnipiac leaves to join the ECAC, the 8-team conference drops the play-in game from the tournament.

2007

With Air Force and RIT joining the conference, but with RIT's ineligibility for the conference tournament, a play-in game was added for one year.

2008

The opening round becomes a best-of-three with 5 separate series played between all ten of the conference teams with the two remaining lowest-seeded teams playing in a final-five game to determine the last semifinalist. All series after the opening round are single-elimination.

2009-2010

The four lowest-seeded teams play two play-in games to determine the final two qualifiers for the quarterfinals.

2011

With Niagara and Robert Morris joining the conference, the tournament was expanded to have four rounds. The tournament competitors were split into two groups: 'East' and 'West', and each group was arranged to play so that the top two finishers for each group received a bye into the quarterfinals while the remaining four teams in each group played single-elimination games to advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals remained a best-of-three format while the final four stayed as single-elimination games.

2012-2013

The 'East' and 'West' groupings were dropped and the opening round became a best-of-three series with the top four finishers receiving byes into the quarterfinals.

2023

The tournament was shortened to three rounds, with the top eight finishers all appearing in the quarterfinal round. Two best-of-three semifinal series and the AHA championship game were all moved to campus sites and hosted by the higher seed in each matchup.

2024

With Robert Morris rejoining the conference, the tournament was once again expanded to four rounds to include all eleven teams. The top five finishers all received a first round bye while play-in games were held among the remaining six teams to determine the final three quarterfinals participants.

Championship appearances

[3]

MAAC

The MAAC founded its hockey sponsorship starting in 1997 due to NCAA regulations that required all Division I conferences to participate in all Division sports. At the founding of the MAAC hockey conference, only three of the eight founding teams were full members of the conference (Canisius, Fairfield, Iona). The MAAC began play starting with the 1998-99 season and quickly added two additional teams (Mercyhurst and Bentley) the following year. Army joined the conference for the 2000-01 season, bringing the conference up to eleven member teams. At the conclusion of the 2002-03 season Fairfield and Iona both discontinued their men's ice hockey programs, and while the conference's remaining nine teams could continue without them, having only one full member necessitated the folding of the MAAC hockey conference as the eight associate members had no vote for the legislation the conference passed. The following year all of the teams continued their programs in the newly formed Atlantic Hockey conference. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "History of Atlantic Hockey". 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  2. ↑ "Atlantic Hockey Champions". 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  3. ↑ "Atlantic Hockey Tournament History". 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  4. ↑ "History of the MAAC". 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
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