The 2023-2024 Atlantic Hockey season begins in Oct. 7, with 10 of the 11 programs scheduled for exhibition and nonconference games.

The entire Atlantic Hockey season, including all conference games and the postseason tournament, will be streamed live on FloHockey.

The 2023-24 AHA preseason poll is out 👀

Link: https://t.co/wczDGoQ7cm#Theroadstartshere pic.twitter.com/N8G8413n2j

— Atlantic Hockey (@Atlantic_Hockey) September 26, 2023

AIC

Last Season: 17-8-1 (18-14-7 overall)
Coach: Eric Lang

After four consecutive regular season titles and three straight trips to the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, the Yellow Jackets were reminded how the outside looking in feels. It is a feeling coach Eric Lang has no intentions of recycling come spring.

The Jackets remain hungry, return with depth, and have a proven winning culture. Add in the seemingly annual reliable freshman, and the Jackets remain a dangerous team capable of jumping back to the top.

Air Force

Last Season: 8-17-1 (12-22-2 overall)
Coach: Frank Serratore

The Falcons have finished below a .500 record in each of the past four seasons. Serratore enters his 27th season with a large returning cast and packed resume of past success.

What was an abundantly young team for the 2022-2023 season by class standing, returns as a more mature team with a year of experience under its helmets. As an academy, the Falcons don’t share the usage of the transfer portal like other programs do, eliminating a widely used tool to shift rosters over the summer.

But that hasn’t stopped Serratore from developing a program with seven conference tournament titles and as many berths in the national tournament.

Army West Point

Last Season: 13-9-4 (14-19-4 overall)
Coach: Brian Riley

Like the Falcons, Brian Riley doesn’t share access to the transfer portal at West Point, but he’s building a budding program that has finished in the top 5 each of the past four seasons – in every place but first.

The Knights return AHA Rookie of the Year Max Itagaki, a playmaking forward who elevates his linemates, and bring in a former teammate of his in Jacob Hewitt from the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, where Hewitt scored 26 goals and 54 points in 51 games.

Bentley

Last Season: 9-15-2 (11-21-2 overall)
Coach: Andy Jones

The Falcons enter the 2023-2024 season with a new coach for the first time since 2002. Ryan Soderquist stepped down at the end of last season and a long search led to Andy Jones.

Jones inherits a Bentley program that has finished in the bottom half of the standings in seven of the past eight seasons. The Falcons finished in the bottom three places of the Atlantic Hockey standings five times in that span, with three straight bottom-3 finishes.

The task is tall, but Jones brings more than 20 years of coaching experience at various levels, including more than 12 years in the NCAA.

Canisius

Last Season: 14-9-3 (20-19-3 overall)
Coach: Trevor Large

The Golden Griffins enter the 2023-2024 season without their two leading scorers and either of their netminders from last season. The offense and goaltending will be question marks to begin the season.

Transfers Griffin Loughran and David Fessenden will be important in answering those questions.

Loughran enters as a fifth-year after three years with Northern Michigan and 22 games with Michigan State in 2022-2023. He’s recorded 38 goals and 84 points in 110 NCAA games.

David Fessenden transferred and will be the starter on paper entering the year after a 7-14-1 record and .911 SV% with New Hampshire as a sophomore last season.

Holy Cross

Last Season: 13-11-2 (17-21-3 overall)
Coach: Bill Riga

The calendar year of 2023 has been a promising stretch for the Crusaders – a 12-8-2 record ended with a loss in the championship games of the conference tournament.

A pair of upsets of AIC and RIT paved the way for some extra expectations for this season, resulting in a fourth-place finish in the coaches’ poll.

A large returning cast, which includes all three leading scorers in Jack Ricketts, Liam McLinskey and Matt Guerra, will bring an offensive punch.

Add Jason Grande back to the net with a 12-7-1 record and capability of a heavier workload, and the Crusaders could pick up where they left off in the spring. 

Mercyhurst

Last Season: 10-9-7 (10-23-3 overall)
Coach: Rick Gotkin

The Lakers are facing another summer of roster change.

Forward Rylee St. Onge and leading-scorer Eric Esposito both departed, along with netminder Tyler Harmon, but despite a 4-7-1 combined record, junior Matt Lenz and sophomore Owen Say have the numbers to hold down the crease with a .929 SV% and .903 SV% last season.

Throw in six forward freshmen and four freshmen on defense, and the Lakers have pieces that could bring a surprising element to the roster and earn play time. Gotkin’s run-and-gun style and new players hungry for ice time could create a dark horse program this season. 

Niagara

Last Season: 12-10-4 (19-18-3 overall)
Coach: Jason Lammers

Some inconsistencies held the Purple Eagles back last year with some stop-and-go stretches. The Eagles finished 17th in goals-per-game across the NCAA last season, but the loss of four of their five highest scorers leaves a lot of questions.

The Eagles did manage to offset the loss of netminder Chad Veltri with Jarret Fiske, who transferred out of AIC and brings a 10-8-6 record a .923 SV%, and 2.38 GAA. Add in the return of the defensive core, and there should be some more stability on the backend, as the offense finds its game with new roles.

RIT

Last Season: 18-4-4 (25-13-1 overall)
Coach: Wayne Wilson

The Tigers return a majority of their key players, including forward Carter Wilkie, defensemen Aiden Hansen-Bukata, Gianfranco Cassaro and netminder Tommy Scarfone.

Wilkie led the team and conference with 40 points, with Hansen-Bukata and Cassaro combining for 16 goals and 64 points from the backend, and Scarfone going 22-11-1 with a .918 SV% last season.

Introducing your 2023-24 AHA Preseason Player of the Year‼️

Link: https://t.co/wczDGoQ7cm#TheRoadStartsHere pic.twitter.com/KBE7bFiolo

— Atlantic Hockey (@Atlantic_Hockey) September 26, 2023

The national tournament is the goal, but Wilson’s team won’t take any week lightly, as the Tigers look to build off their runaway 2022-2023 season.

Robert Morris

Last Season: N/A
Coach: Derek Schooley

After finishing third in the 2020-2021 pod-based season, the Colonials’ ice hockey program was abruptly canceled. Fast forward to October 2023, and Robert Morris is back.

While several players return from the Colonials’ last season, the program is starting relatively fresh from past committed players. But Coach Derek Schooley, who returns as the only coach the program has ever seen and is entering his 18th season, isn’t looking for any excuses in the 2023-2024 campaign.

Sacred Heart

Last Season: 16-9-1 (17-17-3 overall)
Coach: CJ Marrotolo

New season, new rink.

After opening the Martire Family Arena earlier this year, the Pioneers will get to play the entirety of their home schedule at the state-of-the-art facility.

The Pioneers are facing some stiff turnover, but forwards Braeden Tuck and Kevin Lombardi have the tools to lead the offense.

Meanwhile, the backend will bring some stability to the team along, with transfer defenseman Tyler Spott from Northeastern.

All that didn’t stop a second-place finish for the coaches’ poll, however.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @Jacob_Messing.