As the 2021 Atlantic Hockey conference tournament approaches, seedings, matchups, and storylines are unfolding with an urgency after the sudden cancellation a year ago.

American International claimed its third consecutive Atlantic Hockey regular-season title and was the conference’s sole National Tournament representative in 2019.

“[I am] extremely proud of our program becoming the first AHA team ever to win three straight league championships. Especially coming off a year where we graduated almost 700 points from our senior class last year,” AIC coach Eric Lang told FloHockey. “We have spoken since day one, the team that can ride the emotional roller coaster of playing hockey in a pandemic would be set up for success. Our guys have been tremendously responsible away from the rink as well as treating every game we play this season with a Game 7 mentality.”

AIC holds an 11-1 conference record with two points and three games in hand on second-place Army West Point (10-4-1).

“I think anytime somebody has the chance to be a head coach at their alma mater, they just have an unbelievable passion for the program. Getting to know him as a person, as a hockey guy, I’m not surprised to see that he has done what he’s done,” Army coach Brian Riley said of his former assistant in Lang.

With strong seasons at AIC, Army, and Robert Morris, Atlantic Hockey has several teams with true contention for the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Atlantic Hockey has four teams in a favorable position among the Pairwise Rankings that place odds on a bid to the national tournament, based on record, schedule strength, and overall play.

Ranked at No. 16 nationally, AIC leads those programs with the No. 8 Pairwise Ranking. Sticking with Pairwise projections, No. 14 Canisius, No. 18 Robert Morris, No. 19 Army, and No. 24 RIT all hold remaining potential for the 16-team 2021 NCAA Tournament.

It would be the first time since the 2007-08 season — Niagara (at-large bid) and Air Force (AHA Tournament champion) — that the conference would send multiple teams to the national stage.

While Atlantic Hockey has only seen one program reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 11 seasons, excluding the canceled 2020 tournament, the lone reps have fought hard.

The sole AHA representative has won its opening game in each of the past three tournaments (AIC in 2019; Air Force in 2017 and 2018), knocking off the No. 1 overall seed in both 2019 and 2018.

“I think [the NCAA Tournament] would be an unbelievable opportunity for anybody from our league. Our league has come a long way over the years and you look at the team that has come out of our league has had some success in that first round,” Riley said.

The points-percentage standings for the 2020-21 reformat continue to shake out and details of the also reformatted conference tournament have been released, which notably transitions the first-round to a single-elimination game.

We've announced changes to the 2021 Tournament. All rounds will be played on campus and we will remain in pods until championship weekend to help mitigate COVID-19 exposure.

Full story below 👇https://t.co/oTuE7oM4Sc

— Atlantic Hockey (@Atlantic_Hockey) February 19, 2021

“To get the bye was really, really important to us” Riley said of his Black Knights. “To stay out of that first round where it’s a one-and-done, anything can happen.”

In an unprecedented year of restrictions, reformats, postponements, and constant changes, it feels like this is truly a year where anything can happen. 

Don’t miss any Atlantic Hockey action; catch all remaining regular-season games and every 2021 Atlantic Hockey playoff game live, right here on FloHockey.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @Jacob_Messing.