WINTHROP, Mass. – The Atlantic Hockey Association has announced a plan to return to play. The league will officially drop the puck on the 2020-21 season during the weekend of November 13-14, 2020. The Niagara men's hockey team will reveal its full season schedule at a later date.
The Purple Eagles will play a 22-game conference schedule, plus an additional pair of games against scheduling partner Long Island University (LIU), a first-year program that is one of two independent Division I teams in the NCAA. Additionally, Niagara may schedule up to four more non-conference contests to reach a maximum of 28 regular season games.
One of the biggest changes coming this season will be the introduction of "pods" for scheduling purposes. Teams in the eastern and western pods will play the other teams within their pod five times apiece for a total of 20 games. Niagara will be housed in the western pod alongside Canisius, Mercyhurst, RIT, and Robert Morris. The eastern pod – which Niagara will not play in the regular season – will be made up of AIC, Army West Point, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart.
As a geographic outlier, Air Force will be a "floater," meaning they will not be put into a pod, but will play two games against each of the 10 teams in both pods. LIU will also be a floater for scheduling purposes, but games against the Sharks will not count in the AHA standings.
Another major change coming to the AHA this year will be how the standings and playoff seeds are determined. The league will now base positioning off of points percentage (points earned divided by possible points) rather than just points. The change helps ensure teams that may have games cancelled are not put at a disadvantage because of unequal playing opportunities. In addition, all 11 teams will make the conference tournament at season's end. The AHA's championship weekend will once again be held at the LECOM HarborCenter in downtown Buffalo.
During the offseason, the NCAA approved a shift from its traditional 5-on-5 overtime hockey with ties to 3-on-3 overtime hockey followed by a shootout. The AHA experimented with a similar format in 2019-20, with the Purple Eagles taking the bonus point in two of their four games that went beyond 65 minutes.
Jason Lammers enters his fourth season at the helm of the men's hockey program. Joining him on the bench will be two new faces: associate head coach
Mark Phalon, and assistant coach
John Lidgett. The Purple Eagles also return seven of their top 10 scorers from last season, including its leading goal-scorer
Jack Billings. Both of Niagara's top goalies from 2019-20,
Chad Veltri and
Brian Wilson, will also return this year. When the team takes the ice next month, they will do so sporting
all new gear from new outfitter Warrior.
Stay connected with Niagara Men's Hockey on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Niagara Athletics all year long on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and purpleeagles.com.
