For the second consecutive year and the fifth time in 13 years, Air Force is the preseason choice of Atlantic Hockey coaches to win the league.
The Falcons, who are coming off their second consecutive NCAA Tournament elite eight appearance and seventh AHC title, edged out Canisius in the coaches poll. Air Force (97 points) received seven first-place votes, while the Golden Griffins (92 points) received four first-place nods.
Robert Morris, coached by former Falcons assistant Derek Schooley, edged Mercyhurst for third place.
2018-19 AHC Preseason Coaches Poll
- Air Force – 97 points (7 first-place votes)
- Canisius – 92 (4)
- Robert Morris – 66
- Mercyhurst – 65
- AIC – 60
- Army – 55
- RIT – 49
- Holy Cross – 40
- Bentley – 31
- Sacred Heart – 29
- Niagara – 21
The preseason media poll and all-conference teams, which The Flight Path has a vote in, will be released before the AHC season begins on Oct. 6.
Parity Central
The league’s coaches addressed the media on Tuesday morning, and beyond the shared excitement for the upcoming season, the common theme was expect another highly competitive season with a shrinking spread between the top and bottom of the conference.
“Picking the preseason poll was an impossible task,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “It validates the depth in our league right now.
“Our league has arrived in that the bottom of the league has elevated. … Our league has come a long way. The team or teams that comes out of the league will have a chance to win the (NCAA) tournament.”
Added Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin, whose Lakers won the AHC regular-season title after being selected seventh by coaches in the preseason poll, “Air Force deserves to be the No. 1 pick based on its recent history. Picking the last three or four teams was difficult.”
So expect the unexpected once again.
Dance Partners?
Could this be the season Atlantic Hockey sends more than one team to the NCAAs? After all, the league continues to improve its non-conference performance, especially against some of the top teams in the nation.
Mercyhurst beat Penn State and Wisconsin a season ago and plays host to No. 2 Notre Dame in the Ice Breaker Tournament, where it could also face No. 5 Providence. AIC, which beat Penn State as well, gets a shot at Providence, too. And Canisius plays host to No. 11 North Dakota. Robert Morris plays No. 16 Penn State and has No. 6 St. Cloud State and Union at its Three Rivers Classic.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Serratore said. “The league is better than ever and the teams are having more non-conference success. The bad news with a league that’s so deep is it’s hard for a team or teams to have an extended run and finish with single-digit losses (which helps with RPI rankings).
“We need some teams to have great records to have a team get an at-large bid (in addition to the automatic NCAA bid that goes to the AHC tournament champion). There is nothing that resembles a layup in this league.”
The Falcons sat just four points outside of the top 20 in USCHO.com’s preseason poll, which also had Mercyhurst and Canisius in the receiving votes category.
Brotherly love?
The AHC tournament title and its accompanying NCAA berth are one thing, defeating one’s brother is quite another.
That’s one reason why the Serratore Bowl on Dec. 29-30 at Cadet Arena should be so intriguing. Frank’s Falcons take on brother Tom’s Bemidji State Beavers. Falcons senior forward Matt Serratore, Tom’s son, can also add some bragging rights at the family dinner table if Air Force takes the series. The teams split in Minnesota last fall.
“If we sweep we will never play them again,” Frank Serratore said. “I will take it to my grave. We are playing for eternal family pride. It’s the Super Bowl for us before the Super Bowl.”
©First Line Editorial 2017-18