Eric Lang (ice hockey)

Eric Lang
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	American International
Conference	Atlantic Hockey
Record	122–99–24 (.547)
Biographical details
Born	August 6, 1975 (age 48); The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	American International
Playing career
1994–1998	American International
Position(s)	Forward
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2006–2008	American International (graduate assistant)
2008–2011	Manhattanville College (women)
2011–2012	Manhattanville College
2012–2016	Army (assistant)
2016–present	American International
Head coaching record
Overall	135–108–27 (.550)
Tournaments	1–3 (.250)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	2019 Atlantic Hockey Champion; 2019 Atlantic Hockey Tournament champion; 2020 Atlantic Hockey Champion; 2021 Atlantic Hockey Champion; 2021 Atlantic Hockey tournament champion; 2022 Atlantic Hockey Champion; 2022 Atlantic Hockey tournament champion
Awards
	3× Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year (2019, 2020, 2022)

Eric Lang (born August 6, 1975) is an American former ice hockey forward who currently the head coach at his alma mater American International.^[1]

Career[edit]

Lang started his college career at American International, playing for the team while it was still in the Division III ranks. After four seasons with the Yellow Jackets he graduated with a BA in psychology. Lang worked for the NHL as an off-ice official and coached at Byram Hills High School for four years before returning to Springfield, Massachusetts to earn a graduate degree. While working towards a master's in organizational development Lang served as a graduate assistant for the men's ice hockey team at AIC from 2006 until graduating in 2008.^[2]

With his degree in hand Lang was immediately hired as the head coach of the women's program at Manhattanville College, spending three seasons with the team until he took over the duties as bench boss of the men's team in 2011. Lang spent only one season with the program^[3] before joining the staff at Army first as a volunteer assistant and then as a full-time assistant coach for the Black Knights. After four years under the tutelage of Brian Riley Lang accepted the head coaching position with his alma mater, replacing long-time coach Gary Wright.

Taking over a team that in 2016 ranked 60th of 60 Division I teams, Lang recruited Europeans who wanted a good education while playing hockey, and used a European playing style emphasizing puck possession. In his first season as head coach AIC's 8-20-8 record was not unusually bad compared to the team's history. In his second season Lang led the team to 15 wins, the most since 1993. In Lang's third season AIC won both the Atlantic Hockey regular season and tournament titles and led the Yellow Jackets to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance.^[4]^[5]

Head coaching record[edit]

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Manhattanville Valiants (ECAC West) (2011–2012)
2011–12	Manhattanville	13–9–3	6–6–0	2nd	ECAC West Semifinal
Manhattanville:		13–9–3 (.580)	6–6–0 (.500)
American International Yellow Jackets (Atlantic Hockey) (2016–present)
2016–17	American International	8–20–8	7–14–7	10th	Atlantic Hockey first round
2017–18	American International	15–20–4	11–13–4	8th	Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
2018–19	American International	23–17–1	18–9–1	1st	NCAA Regional finals
2019–20	American International	21–12–1	21–6–1	1st	Tournaments Cancelled
2020–21	American International	15–4–0	11–1–0	1st	NCAA regional semifinals
2021–22	American International	22–12–3	17–7–2	1st	NCAA regional semifinals
2022–23	American International	18–14–7	14–8–4	2nd	Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
American International:		122–99–24	99–58–19
Total:		135–108–27 (.550)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References[edit]

^ "2016-17 Men's Ice Hockey Coaching Staff". American International Yellow Jackets. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
^ "Eric Lang named new American International College men's ice hockey coach, replaces Gary Wright". Mass Live. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
^ "Manhattanville Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
^ Chimelis, Ron (2019-03-12). "After decades of losing, AIC hockey is savoring its success". MassLive. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
^ "American International Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-04-29.

External links[edit]

Official biography, AIC Yellow Jackets
Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Rick Gotkin Brian Riley / Derek Schooley	Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year 2018–19, 2019–20 2021–22	Succeeded by Brian Riley / Derek Schooley Wayne Wilson

[1] "2016-17 Men's Ice Hockey Coaching Staff". American International Yellow Jackets. Retrieved 2017-04-29.

[2] "Eric Lang named new American International College men's ice hockey coach, replaces Gary Wright". Mass Live. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2017-04-29.

[3] "Manhattanville Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-04-29.

[chimelis20190312-4] Chimelis, Ron (2019-03-12). "After decades of losing, AIC hockey is savoring its success". MassLive. Retrieved 2019-10-09.

[5] "American International Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-04-29.

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v t e American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Olympia Ice Center (1998–2016) MassMutual Center (2016–present)
Head coaches	William Turner (1948–1957, 1965–1970) Joe Bucholz (1957–1964) Wally Barlow (1970–1972) Peter Esdale (1972–1974) Paul Thornton (1974–1978) Wayne LaChance (1978–1982) Lincoln Flagg (1982–1984) Gary Wright (1984–2016) Eric Lang (2016–present)
Seasons	1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey (1961–1964) ECAC 2 (1964–1984) ECAC East (1984–1998) MAAC (1998–2003) Atlantic Hockey (2003–present)
All-time leaders	Tom Mullen (248 Points) Tom Mullen (134 Goals) Zackarias Skog (37 Wins)
NCAA Tournament appearances	2019 2021 2022
Conference Tournament titles	2019 2021 2022
American International College Springfield, MA

v t e Current head coaches of Atlantic Hockey America
Men's	Frank Serratore (Air Force) Eric Lang (American International) Brian Riley (Army) Andy Jones (Bentley) Trevor Large (Canisius) Bill Riga (Holy Cross) Rick Gotkin (Mercyhurst) Jason Lammers (Niagara) Wayne Wilson (RIT) Derek Schooley (Robert Morris) C. J. Marottolo (Sacred Heart)
Women's	Taylor Wasylk (Lindenwood) Michael Sisti (Mercyhurst) Jeff Kampersal (Penn State) Celeste Brown (RIT) Logan Bittle (Robert Morris) Britni Smith (Syracuse)