2020–21 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2020–21 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season
Atlantic Hockey, Champion
Atlantic Hockey Tournament, Champion
NCAA Tournament, Regional semifinals
Conference1st Atlantic Hockey
Home iceMassMutual Center
Rankings
USCHO15
USA Today15
Record
Overall15–4–0
Conference11–1–0–1–0–0
Home11–2–0
Road4–1–0
Neutral0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachEric Lang
Assistant coachesCory Schneider
Patrick Tabb
Captain(s)Brennan Kapcheck
Parker Revering
Alternate captain(s)Chris Dodero
Luka Maver
American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey seasons
« 2019–20 2021–22 »

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.

The start of the college hockey season was delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, American International's first scheduled game was in late-November as opposed to early-October, which was the norm.

Season[edit]

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of American International's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

American International entered the season needing to replace a great deal of experience on its roster. The Yellow Jackets had more than a third of the previous team's players leave, mostly through graduation, and the remaining upperclassmen would need to remain steady while the coaching staff brought the new players along. The large influx of players included the program's first ever NHL draft pick in Jake Kucharski, a transfer from Providence, which demonstrated how much the program had risen in Eric Lang's short time as head coach. The team got off to a good start, winning their first five matches, but AIC faced its first big test in late December when they played Quinnipiac. The Yellow Jackets were embarrassed in the first game but recovered in the second; though they lost the team did show that it could compete with other ranked teams. As a result, the team's national ranking fell just one spot despite losing both games.

AIC played well over the next month, going 8–1 and placing themselves as the team to beat in Atlantic Hockey. Unfortunately, COVID cancellations torpedoed the team's schedule and the Yellow Jackets didn't play a single game over the succeeding 7 weeks. Even the team's quarterfinal match in the conference tournament was scratched due to COVID.[3] When the Jackets finally played a game the team looked a bit out of sorts. They were finally able to knock some of the rust off in the third period of their semifinal game to escape with a 2–1 win. They had to come from behind to win the championship as well but the title gave AIC every league crown for a three-year period, making them the first Atlantic Hockey program to achieve that feat.

Despite a stellar 15–3 record and both conference championships (regular- and post-season) AIC was given the 16th-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and had to face top-seeded North Dakota in the opening round. The Yellow Jackets still appeared rusty at the start of the game, surrendering 4 goals and being outshot 7–13. The huge lead allowed UND to hang back and play defense for the remainder of the match, giving the Jackets few opportunities to cut into the lead. AIC eventually lost 1–5 but the question remains; just how badly was the team affected by their neatly 2-month layoff?

Departures[edit]

Player Position Nationality Cause
Austin Albrecht Forward  United States Signed professional contract (Wichita Thunder)
Calvon Boots Defenseman  United States Transferred to RIT
Blake Christensen Forward  United States Graduation (Signed with Bakersfield Condors)
Patrik Demel Defenseman  Czech Republic Graduation (Signed with HC Litvínov)
Nate Hooper Forward  Canada Transferred to Lakehead
Jānis Jaks Defenseman  Latvia Graduation (Signed with Bakersfield Condors)
Joel Kocur Goaltender  Canada Graduation
Niko Luka Defenseman  United States Graduation
Martin Mellberg Forward  Sweden Graduation (Signed with Almtuna IS)
Jared Pike Forward  United States Graduation (Signed with Utah Grizzlies)
Hugo Reinhardt Forward  Sweden Graduation (Signed with Timrå IK)
Zackarias Skog Goaltender  Sweden Graduation (Signed with Västerviks IK)
Jan Štefka Forward  Czech Republic Signed professional contract (HC ZUBR Přerov)
Kyle Stephan Forward  Canada Graduation
Justin Wilson Forward  Canada Left program

Recruiting[edit]

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Verners Egle Forward  Latvia 21 Liepāja, LAT; left program after 1 game (Signed with HK Liepāja)
Zak Galambos Defenseman  United States 23 Walnut Creek, CA; transfer from Minnesota State
Aaron Grounds Forward  United States 20 Jamestown, ND
Kyle Jeffers Forward  United States 21 Oviedo, FL
Julius Janhonen Forward  Finland 21 Espoo, FIN
Jan Kern Forward  Czech Republic 21 Prague, CZE
Jake Kucharski Goaltender  United States 21 Erie, PA; Selected 197th overall in 2018; transfer from Providence
Darwin Lakoduk Forward  Canada 20 Edmonton, AB
Ryan McInchak Goaltender  United States 21 Trenton, MI
Sam Miller Defenseman  United States 21 Pewaukee, WI
Matthew Rickard Defenseman  United States 21 Coventry, RI
Nico Somerville Defenseman  Canada 21 Port Alberni, BC
Adam Stacho Forward  Slovakia 21 Trenčín, SVK
Michal Stínil Forward  Czech Republic 21 Děčín, CZE
Justin Young Forward  Canada 22 Leduc, AB; transfer from Alaska

Roster[edit]

As of September 27, 2020.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Pennsylvania Jake Kucharski Freshman (RS) G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1999-09-25 Erie, Pennsylvania Providence (HEA) CAR, 197th overall 2018
2 British Columbia Nico Somerville Freshman D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-04-08 Nanaimo, British Columbia Penticton (BCHL) —
3 Czech Republic Jan Kern Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-07-27 Prague, Czech Republic Youngstown (USHL) —
4 Illinois Brett Callahan Sophomore D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1998-10-16 Westmont, Illinois Jersey (NCDC) —
5 Rhode Island Matt Rickard Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1999-07-28 Coventry, Rhode Island Lone Star (NAHL) —
6 Texas Jeff Baum Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-06-17 Colleyville, Texas Providence (HEA) —
7 Sweden Oskar Strömberg Senior D 6' 7" (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1996-11-26 Sollentuna, Sweden New Jersey (NAHL) —
8 Illinois Brennan Kapcheck (C) Senior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1996-11-17 Mount Prospect, Illinois Aston (NAHL) —
9 New York (state) Blake Bennett Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-07-01 Grand Island, New York Corpus Christi (NAHL) —
10 Slovakia Adam Stacho Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-05-28 Očkov, Slovakia Bismarck (NAHL) —
11 Finland Julius Janhonen Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-03-05 Espoo, Finland HIFK U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) —
12 Minnesota Eric Otto Freshman (RS) F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1997-07-19 Burnsville, Minnesota Chicago (USHL) —
13 Latvia Verners Egle † Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-06-01 Liepāja, Latvia Madison (USHL) —
15 Slovakia Matúš Spodniak Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-12-22 Košice, Slovakia Ogden (WSHL) —
16 Florida Kyle Jeffers Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1999-01-06 Winter Springs, Florida New Jersey (NAHL) —
17 California Zak Galambos Sophomore (RS) D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-04-04 Walnut Creek, California Minnesota State (WCHA) —
18 Vermont Michal Stinil Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-03-21 East Burke, Vermont Lone Star (NAHL) —
19 California Elijiah Barriga Junior (RS) F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1996-05-16 West Covina, California UNLV (ACHA) —
20 Norway Tobias Fladeby Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1996-05-20 Asker, Norway Bismarck (NAHL) —
21 Pennsylvania Justin Cole Junior (RS) F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1996-05-01 Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania Cedar Rapids (USHL) —
22 Minnesota Parker Revering (C) Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-01-11 Alexandria, Minnesota Brookings (NAHL) —
23 North Dakota Aaron Grounds Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-12-24 Jamestown, North Dakota Fargo (USHL) —
25 Slovenia Luka Maver (A) Junior (RS) F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1997-10-25 Ljubljana, Slovenia Lincoln (USHL) —
26 Quebec Chris Theodore Junior F 5' 7" (1.7 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-10-15 Beaconsfield, Quebec Cornwall (CCHL) —
27 Minnesota Hunter Johannes Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1998-07-24 Eden Prairie, Minnesota Jamestown (NAHL) —
28 Sweden Jake Stella Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-11-14 Karlstad, Sweden Corpus Christi (NAHL) —
29 Alberta Darwin Lakoduk Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 157 lb (71 kg) 2000-01-28 Edmonton, Alberta Penticton Vees (BCHL) —
30 Ontario Stefano Durante Senior G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1996-06-04 Brampton, Ontario Cobourg (OJHL) —
33 Pennsylvania Jarrett Fiske Sophomore G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-05-28 Erie, Pennsylvania Kemptville (CCHL) —
34 Michigan Ryan McInchak Freshman G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-02-28 Trenton, Michigan New Jersey (NAHL) —
39 Alberta Justin Young Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1997-12-23 Leduc, Alberta Alaska (WCHA) —
44 Minnesota Austen Long Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998-02-15 Minneapolis, Minnesota Omaha (USHL) —
55 Illinois Chris Dodero (A) Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 1996-06-08 West Chicago, Illinois Janesville (NAHL) —
61 Wisconsin Sam Miller Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-08-03 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Shreveport (NAHL) —

† Egle left the program after playing one game.

Standings[edit]

2020–21 Atlantic Hockey Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OW OL SW PTS PT% GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#15 American International †* 12 11 1 0 1 0 0 32 .889 47 18 19 15 4 0 67 40
Army 15 10 4 1 3 1 1 30 .667 42 33 22 15 6 1 71 48
Robert Morris 15 10 5 0 2 1 0 29 .644 58 48 24 15 9 0 85 69
Canisius 13 8 5 0 1 1 0 24 .615 42 34 17 11 6 0 59 46
RIT 13 7 5 1 0 0 1 23 .590 43 40 20 9 9 2 68 70
Sacred Heart 13 6 6 1 1 2 0 20 .513 35 38 18 6 10 2 43 59
Mercyhurst 16 7 8 1 1 1 1 23 .479 54 50 21 8 12 1 64 67
Bentley 15 4 11 0 1 5 0 16 .356 35 48 16 5 11 0 42 51
Niagara 15 3 9 3 0 2 1 15 .333 39 53 22 7 12 3 57 70
Air Force 13 3 9 1 2 1 0 9 .231 32 49 14 3 10 1 35 56
Holy Cross 12 3 9 0 2 0 0 7 .194 22 38 16 4 12 0 30 52
Championship: March 20, 2021
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results[edit]

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular season
November 27 3:00 PM vs. Air Force MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante W 3–1  0 1–0–0 (1–0–0)
November 28 3:00 PM vs. Air Force MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante W 2–1  0 2–0–0 (2–0–0)
December 15 5:00 PM vs. Army MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante W 4–1  0 3–0–0 (3–0–0)
December 18 5:05 PM at Bentley Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts   Durante W 4–1  0 4–0–0 (4–0–0)
December 19 1:05 PM vs. Bentley MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Kucharski W 3–1  0 5–0–0 (5–0–0)
December 26 7:00 PM at #16 Quinnipiac* #19 People's United Center • Hamden, Connecticut   Durante L 3–8  0 5–1–0
December 27 3:05 PM vs. #16 Quinnipiac* #19 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante L 2–3  0 5–2–0
January 2 2:05 PM vs. Long Island* #20 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante W 2–1  0 6–2–0
January 6 5:00 PM at Army #19 Tate Rink • West Point, New York   Durante W 6–3  0 7–2–0 (6–0–0)
January 7 5:00 PM at Army #19 Tate Rink • West Point, New York   Kucharski W 4–3 OT 0 8–2–0 (7–0–0)
January 10 5:00 PM vs. Army #19 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante L 3–5  1 8–3–0 (7–1–0)
January 13 4:00 PM vs. Long Island* #20 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Durante W 5–2  0 9–3–0
January 17 1:00 PM vs. Holy Cross #20 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Kucharski W 1–0  0 10–3–0 (8–1–0)
January 26 5:00 PM vs. Sacred Heart #19 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   Kucharski W 8–2  0 11–3–0 (9–1–0)
January 29 5:00 PM at Holy Cross #19 Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts   Kucharski W 6–0  0 12–3–0 (10–1–0)
January 30 2:00 PM vs. Holy Cross #19 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts   McInchak W 3–0  0 13–3–0 (11–1–0)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 19 2:00 PM vs. Army* #15 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Semifinals)   Durante W 2–1  0 14–3–0
March 20 7:00 PM vs. Canisius* #15 MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Atlantic Hockey Championship)   Durante W 5–2  0 15–3–0
NCAA Tournament
March 26 9:30 PM vs. #1 North Dakota* #15 Scheels Arena • Fargo, North Dakota (Midwest Regional semifinals) ESPN3 Durante L 1–5  1,435 15–4–0
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

[5]

Scoring statistics[edit]

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Chris Theodore LW 19 4 15 19 2
Tobias Fladeby LW/RW 16 10 8 18 0
Chris Dodero C/LW 19 7 11 18 16
Brennan Kapcheck D 19 0 18 18 10
Justin Cole F 18 9 7 16 0
Elijiah Barriga LW 16 7 6 13 6
Zak Galambos D 16 4 6 10 16
Aaron Grounds F 18 5 3 8 10
Julius Janhonen C 16 3 5 8 4
Eric Otto F 15 2 5 7 8
Michal Stinil LW 17 2 5 7 31
Parker Revering D 19 0 7 7 14
Brett Callahan D 15 1 5 6 2
Nico Somerville D 16 2 3 5 6
Justin Young C 6 2 2 4 6
Jeff Baum D/F 16 0 4 4 6
Jake Stella LW 17 0 4 4 2
Blake Bennett F 5 2 1 3 2
Luka Maver C 14 2 1 3 17
Jan Kern LW 16 1 2 3 10
Hunter Johannes F 8 0 3 3 6
Darwin Lakoduk F 1 1 0 1 0
Sam Miller D 4 1 0 1 2
Kyle Jeffers F 6 1 0 1 2
Austen Long RW 15 1 0 1 4
Matúš Spodniak F 1 0 0 0 0
Jarrett Fiske G 1 0 0 0 0
Adam Stacho RW 1 0 0 0 0
Verners Egle W 1 0 0 0 0
Oskar Strömberg D 2 0 0 0 0
Ryan McInchak G 2 0 0 0 0
Jake Kucharski G 7 0 0 0 0
Matt Rickard D 9 0 0 0 4
Stefano Durante G 13 0 0 0 0
Bench - - - - - 12
Total 67 121 188 198

[6]

Goaltending statistics[edit]

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Ryan McInchak 2 99 1 0 0 0 37 1 1.000 0.00
Jake Kucharski 7 319 5 0 0 9 98 1 .916 1.69
Stefano Durante 13 710 9 4 0 29 252 0 .897 2.45
Jarrett Fiske 1 5:07 0 0 0 2 5 0 .714 23.45
Empty Net - 8 - - - 0 - - - -
Total 19 1142 15 4 0 40 392 3 † .907 2.10

† Kucharski and McInchak split a shutout on January 29.

Rankings[edit]

Main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR 19 20 19 20 20 19 17 15 16 16 16 16 15 15 - 15
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 14 15 15 15 15 15 14 15 15

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[7]

Awards and honors[edit]

Player Award Ref
Brennan Kapcheck AHCA East First Team All-American [8]
Brennan Kapcheck Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year [9]
Chris Dodero Atlantic Hockey Best Defensive Forward [9]
Brennan Kapcheck Atlantic Hockey Best Defenseman [9]
Justin Cole Atlantic Hockey Individual Sportsmanship Award [9]
Justin Cole Atlantic Hockey Most Valuable Player in Tournament [10]
Brennan Kapcheck Atlantic Hockey First Team [11]
Tobias Fladeby
Stefano Durante Atlantic Hockey Second Team [11]
Elijah Barriga
Chris Dodero
Nico Somerville Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team [11]
Aaron Grounds
Eric Otto
Stefano Durante Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team [10]
Brennan Kapcheck
Elijah Barriga
Justin Cole

References[edit]

  1. ^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Bentley withdraws from Atlantic Hockey playoffs, advancing American International to semifinals". USCHO.com. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "2020–21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". American International College Athletics. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  5. ^ "American International Yellow Jackets (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  6. ^ "American International College 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Boston College, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin lead way with three All-American college hockey players apiece for '20-21 season". USCHO.com. April 9, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d "Atlantic Hockey Names 2020-21 Regular season Award Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "ATLANTIC HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP: American International repeats as titlists with three goals in third period to down Canisius". USCHO.com. March 20, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c "Atlantic Hockey Announces All-Conference and All-Rookie Winners". Atlantic Hockey. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2020–21_American_International_Yellow_Jackets_men%27s_ice_hockey_season&oldid=1181507316"