Similar to its regional counterparts in ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, the 2020-21 Atlantic Hockey season was delayed for over a month and didn't feature as many games as usual.
When things finally got underway, the 10-team conference was split into a pair of regions, East and West, to limit travel and potential exposure to COVID-19. The two groups of teams only played one another during the regular season, with a limited number of non-conference games mixed in.
The separation of regions continued through the conference tournament semifinals. In the end, three-time defending regular season champion American International defeated Canisius to earn the conference's lone bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Yellow Jackets were knocked out by North Dakota in the first round of the national bracket.
With conference play on track to return to normal for 2021-22, New England Hockey Journal previews each of the 10 AHA teams to see how they are preparing for the new campaign, which kicks off Saturday, Oct. 2.
This article appeared in the print edition of the September/October 2021 New England Hockey Journal magazine.
