Not everyone involved in Atlantic Hockey is a fan of the conference’s new overtime protocol, which now involves a 3-on-3 extra period and a shootout on top of a standard 5-on-5 overtime period.
Army head coach Brian Riley counts himself as one of those naysayers.
That being said, Riley admitted the new system worked in his team’s favor recently.
Trailing 3-2 against rival Air Force on Jan. 10 at Tate Rink, the Black Knights’ Eric Butte scored in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. After both the 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 periods ended without goals, Army earned a bonus point via the shootout. Kevin Dineen’s goal in the shootout’s ninth round gave the Black Knights the edge over the Falcons in a wild game officially recorded as a draw.
“When (Butte) scored that goal, it felt like the roof was going to come off the building,” Riley said. “It gave us momentum. I’ve been in a lot of games with Air Force, but that’s probably the most exciting game that we’ve had.”
Under the new overtime system, if no winner is determined after the extra 5-on-5 period, both teams earn one conference point for the tie. However, a team can earn an extra point either by scoring in the 3-on-3 period or winning the shootout. Atlantic Hockey implemented this model for this season after a similar one was adopted by the NCHC, WCHA and Big 10.
The new overtime model will play a big factor in determining who finishes at the top of the conference.
The team that’s benefited most from the new conference overtime protocol this year has been Air Force, as the fifth-place Falcons have earned three bonus points. In the previous points format, Air Force would currently sit behind RIT in sixth place. Four teams -- Sacred Heart, American International, Bentley and Mercyhurst -- have yet to record a bonus point.
Riley, now in his 16th season as head coach of the Black Knights, acknowledges that there are pros and cons to the updated format.
“I’m kind of a traditionalist,” Riley said. “I think the 5-on-5 overtime is exciting. I’m not a big believer in teams getting points on 3-on-3 or shootouts. But saying that, I’m sure everybody who was in the building probably thought it was the most exciting thing ever.
“It worked out for us the other night, but again, I’m kind of old-school.”
By defeating Air Force 5-2 the following night, Army earned five points on the weekend, helping the team keeping pace with conference-leading Sacred Heart. With the Pioneers and Black Knights separated by a couple of points, and third-place AIC trailing by nine, the race for the regular-season AHA title is shaping up to be a two-horse one.
Of course, Riley would prefer to get three points from the win than two from a shootout.
“Every weekend you want to try and come up with something,” Riley said. “To come out with five of six points, that was huge. I thought it was great that we accomplished what we did, we got the points, but now we’ve got to get ready for the other teams in this league. Everybody can beat anybody on any given night. We've got to get back to work.”
More Atlantic Hockey updates:
• The AHA prides itself on parity, making the race for the regular-season title this winter a surprise. Sacred Heart and Army have a stranglehold on the top two seeds for the conference tournament with more than a month to go. In the previous five years, only five Atlantic teams totaled at least 40 conference points, with no team surpassing 42. The Pioneers (39 points) and the Black Knights (37) will both likely surpass that 42-point mark, as each team has 10 AHA games remaining. That weekend series at Tate Rink in late February may determine who wins the regular-season championship.
• Army’s Kevin Dineen has recorded just two points this season, but he came up clutch for the Black Knights in that shootout win over Air Force. Coach Brian Riley said the junior kept waiting for his chance to help his team in the shootout, and it paid off. “Every time I would pick somebody, he was kind of looking over his shoulder at me like, ‘Coach, let me go,’” Riley said. “After we missed eight times, I said, ‘All right, Kev, here you go.’ When he scored that goal, it was quite an ending.”
• RIT earned a nice win last weekend, defeating No. 11 UMass-Lowell 3-2 on Jan. 11 at the Gene Polisseni Center. Freshman goaltender Kolby Matthews stopped 26 of 28 shots to guide the Tigers to victory. It was RIT’s first win since defeating Mercyhurst on Dec. 7.
• They’ve been overshadowed by Sacred Heart and Army, but the AIC Yellow Jackets are quietly having another nice season under Eric Lang. After a slow start, AIC is tied for third in the conference standings with 28 points, and has won four of its last six AHA games. The Yellow Jackets have some catching up to do if they want to repeat as conference champions, but with 13 Atlantic Hockey games left, there’s still time to make a run. Up next for Lang’s squad is a weekend series with rival Bentley.
