WINTHROP, Mass. – During its annual media day on Tuesday, the Atlantic Hockey Conference (AHC) released the Preseason Coaches' Poll for the 2017-18 season. The Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team was voted to finish in 11th place.
"We're really excited to be a part of [Atlantic Hockey]," Niagara hockey head coach
Jason Lammers said during the league's preseason conference call. "We think the league is going to do great things this year and moving forward. It's an opportunity for our guys to grow and learn from the league.
"I've been really impressed by the players here and their intent and the legacy they want to leave. We're excited to compete and prove what a special league this is."
The Purple Eagles enter their first season under Lammers and assistant coaches
Andy Boschetto and
Matt Nicholson. Lammers was the head coach and general manager of the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints the past two seasons, and was previously an NCAA associate head coach at the University at Massachusetts-Lowell. Boschetto helped turn around a program at Division-III Salve Regina that won one game the year prior to his arrival, setting a school record for wins in a season (17) in 2015-16 and leading the team to its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2016-17. Nicholson spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the NAHL's Amarillo Bulls and previously was the associate head coach at Atlantic Hockey foe Robert Morris.
Niagara returns seven of its top 10 scorers from a season ago, led up front by senior
Stanislav Dzakhov, sophomore
Kris Spriggs, and junior
Johnny Curran. Curran (1+3) and
Sam Rennaker (2+2) led the Purple Eagles in playoff scoring with four points apiece in five games last spring. Dzakhov and Spriggs each recorded two goals and one assist in the playoff run that included a three-game upset of two-time defending conference champion RIT in the first round. Niagara adds four freshmen up front in
Eric Cooley,
Nic Mucci,
Justin Kendall, and
Zach Mills.
On the blue line, seniors
Keegan Harper and
Larry Smith provide the veteran presence along with junior
Niko Kovachis and fourth-year transfer
James Roll.
Noah Delmas looks to build upon a freshman campaign in which he ranked third on the Purple Eagles in scoring with 15 points, all assists, in 35 games played. Roll will be joined in this season's new class of Purple Eagles defensemen by freshmen
Chris Harpur,
Sam Fuss, and
Jack Zielinski.
In goal, juniors
Joe O'Brien and
Guillaume Therien will be joined by 6-4 freshman
Brian Wilson and junior college transfer
David Krejcik. O'Brien and Therien accounted for 48 percent of Niagara's minutes played in goal last season, combining for 602 saves.
The defending AHC champion Air Force Falcons were voted first in the coaches' poll, receiving eight of 11 first-place votes and 97 votes overall. Air Force also starts 2017-18 as a nationally-ranked team, sitting at No. 17 in the preseason USCHO poll. Robert Morris (two) and Canisius (one) received the other first place votes, with the Colonials ranked second overall at 87 points. Army West Point (76) and RIT (70) sit third, and fourth, respectively, with Canisius rounding out the top five at 65 points. Holy Cross (58 points), Mercyhurst (52), Bentley (38), AIC (27), and Sacred Heart (20), rank sixth through tenth with the Purple Eagles in 11th with 15 points.
On Saturday, Sept. 30, Niagara will play the first game of the 2017-18 college hockey regular season at Colgate, facing off against the Raiders at 4 p.m. The Purple Eagles' season debut at Dwyer Arena comes on Alumni Weekend, as Niagara and Robert Morris play at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6. For ticket information, please contact the Niagara Ticket Office at (716) 286-TIXX (8499),
tickets@purpleeagles.com or visit
www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets.
Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter
@NUPurpleEagles and follow Purple Eagles hockey on
Twitter and
Instagram. Check in with the Purple Eagles on
Facebook.com/PurpleEagles and on Instagram
@NUPurpleEagles.
| Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| Air Force (8) |
97 |
| Robert Morris (2) |
87 |
| Army West Point |
76 |
| Rochester Inst. of Technology |
70 |
| Canisius (1) |
65 |
| Holy Cross |
58 |
| Mercyhurst |
52 |
| Bentley |
38 |
| American International |
27 |
| Sacred Heart |
20 |
| Niagara |
15 |
