Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team was picked to finish fourth in the 2017-18 Atlantic Hockey Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, and announced at the conference’s annual media day held via teleconference on Tuesday, Sept. 26. This is Atlantic Hockey’s 15th season of competition.
RIT did not receive a first-place vote, but has 70 points in the poll. Defending Atlantic Hockey Champions Air Force Academy, received eight first place votes and 97 total points. Atlantic Hockey runner-up Robert Morris University is picked to finish second in the 2017-18 preseason poll, with two first place votes and 87 total points. Army West Point is predicted to finish third with 76 points, while RIT is slated to finish fourth.
RIT returns 19 players from last season’s squad, including 10 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. In addition, eight highly touted newcomers join the squad for the 2017-18 season, giving RIT excellent depth as they look to earn its third league title in the last four seasons.
Last year’s regular season champion Canisius College garnered the other first place vote and is picked to finish fifth with 65 points. The College of the Holy Cross is picked to finish sixth with 58 points, while Mercyhurst University is seventh with 48 points.
“We are excited to get the season started,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson, who enters his 19th season at the university. “Our league continues to improve, which makes for great hockey night in and night out.”
The bottom four of the poll sees Bentley University in eighth with 38 points, American International College ninth with 27 points, and Sacred Heart University tenth with 20 points. Rounding out the 2017-18 preseason poll is Niagara University in 11th with 15 points.
With 11 teams in Atlantic Hockey, the Tigers will play four games against Air Force Academy, The College of the Holy Cross, Mercyhurst University, and Robert Morris and two each versus American International College, Army West Point, Bentley University, Canisius College, Niagara University, and Sacred Heart University. In all, 28 of RIT’s 34 games are against AHC rivals.
The 2017 Atlantic Hockey Tournament will begin March 2. The top five teams receive a bye into the quarterfinal round with seeds 6-8 hosting seeds 9-11 in a best two-out-of-three weekend series. The first-round winners will then be re-seeded and travel to the top-three seeds, as the fifth seed will travel to the fourth seed for a best-two-out-of-three quarterfinal series, which will begin on Friday, March 9. The four winners will then travel to the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester with the highest remaining seed facing the lowest remaining seed in the first semifinal, with the other two remaining seeds facing off in the second semifinal on Friday, March 16. The two semifinal winners will then face-off in the Championship game on Saturday, March 17 with the NCAA automatic berth on the line.
RIT opens the 2017-18 season with an exhibition contest against Brock University on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7:05 p.m. The following Saturday, Oct. 14, the Tigers open the regular season by hosting Northeastern University at Blue Cross Arena as part of Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend.
Last year, RIT was picked to finish first and tied for sixth in the regular season before bowing out in the first round. RIT won the regular season title the first three seasons they were not picked to finish first (2006-07, 2008-09 and 2009-10).
RIT has won four Atlantic Hockey regular season titles and made three straight trips to the AHC Championship game from 2010-12. In 2010, RIT won its first AHA postseason title, parlaying that success into an historic run to the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the Frozen Four. The Tigers also won league titles in 2015 and 2016.
2017-18 Atlantic Hockey Association Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Air Force (8 first place votes) – 97 points
2. Robert Morris (2) – 87 points
3. Army West Point – 76 points
4. RIT – 70 points
5. Canisius (1) – 65 points
6. Holy Cross – 58 points
7. Mercyhurst – 52 points
8. Bentley – 38 points
9. American International – 27 points
10. Sacred Heart – 20 points
11. Niagara – 15 points
(First Place votes)
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