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Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week

Mike McMillan - American International
Freshman, Forward, Sault Ste. Marie, ONT

McMillan broke a 1-1 tie with his goal with 7:35 left to lift AIC to a 2-1 win over Canisius in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. McMillan's goal was the fifth of the season and his first game-winning tally in his first year with the Yellow Jackets.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Jason Weeks - Canisius
Freshman, Forward, Seattle, Wash. 

Weeks scored the only goal for the Griffs. It was his 15th of the season and tied him for third on the Canisius single-season list.

Weekly Honor Roll
 

David Kasch, Canisius (Junior, Forward, Sault Ste. Marie, ONT) - Kasch had an assist for the Griffs and has now tallied a helper in three of the last four games and five of the last seven. Kasch was 17-for-25 on faceoffs in the game and had a 9-3 mark in the third period.

Andrew Loewen, Canisius (Freshman, Goaltender, Winnipeg, MAN) - Loewen stopped 26 of 28 shots in the game for the Golden Griffins. He had a 2.37 goals against average and .929 save percentage since the start of February.

Team Notes

American International: AIC improved to 2-3 in Atlantic Hockey Tournament play with its 2-1 win over Canisius in the first round Saturday ... both of the Yellow Jackets' wins in AHA tourney play have come on the road, as AIC bested Army at Tate Rink in a first round contest in 2004, the inaugural tournament ... American International finished the season series with Canisius 2-1 ... freshman Mike McMillan (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) registered his first career game-winning goal with Saturday night's gamewinner ... sophomore goalie Tom Fenton (Sarnia, Ontario) upped his career record against the Golden Griffins to 4-2-1 with Saturday night's win in which he stopped 28 shots...the 74 goals AIC has scored thus far this season are its most since 2002-03 when it notched 83 goals ... Jereme Tendler's (Viceroy, SK) 28 points this season are the most by an AIC player since Guillaume Caron had 31 in 2003-04...looking ahead to next weekend's quarterfinal opponent, Sacred Heart, AIC was 0-2 against them this season, with both games being completed by January 7...it will mark the third time the Yellow Jackets will face the tourney's top seed, as it played top-seeded Holy Cross both in 2004 and again last season.

Bentley: Bentley will face Army on Saturday in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals in West Point, N.Y. ... The Falcons and Black Knights will be meeting in the AHA quarterfinals for the second season in a row ... Last season, the Falcons won in double-overtime, taking a 4-3 victory in Watertown in the longest game in league history ... Army won this season's series between the two teams, 3-1, and the Black Knights swept the series at Tate Rink three weekends ago ... Sophomore Jeff Gumaer has 18 goals this season, one goal shy of the Falcons' Division I record set by current head coach Ryan Soderquist in 1999-00, the Falcons' first season at the Division I level ... The Falcons enter the playoffs after a wild 7-6 win over regular season champion RIT on Feb. 24 ... Bentley has lost its last 13 games on the road, with their last win away from Ryan Skating Arena coming on Nov. 17, a 3-2 overtime win at RIT.

Canisius: The Canisius College hockey team saw its season come to an end in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs with a 2-1 loss to American International at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Jason Weeks (Seattle, Wash.) tallied the only goal for the Griffs. It was his 15th of the season and tied the freshman for third on the team's single-season goals list. He had the most goals by a Canisius player since Rob Martin had 15 in 2001-02. Andrew Loewen (Winnipeg, Manitoba) made 26 saves in the game. He finished the season with the fourth-most minutes played, fifth-most starts, third-most saves and fourth-best save percentage in the past nine seasons for a Canisius goaltender. In his last eight starts of the season, Loewen had a 2.37 goals against average to go with a .929 save percentage and 3-4-1 record. Josh Heidinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) ended the season with the third-most points by a Golden Griffin at the Division I level. Carl Hudson had the second-most points by a Canisius defenseman. He is one of four defensemen, and only freshman, with double-digit totals in goals and assists. Hudson and Chris Forsman (Powell River, B.C.) had the two-best goal totals by a Canisius defenseman. Michael Cohen had 20-plus points in all four of his seasons with the Blue and Gold. Captain Billy Irish-Baker set the program mark for most consecutive games played by a Griff at the Division I level at 115 games. As a team, the Griffs had 39 power-play goals on the season, the most in the last nine seasons.

Connecticut: University of Connecticut freshman goaltender Beau Erickson was named the College Sports Television/Hockey Commissioners' Association National College Hockey Rookie of the Month for February after helping lead the Huskies to a 6-1-1 overall record during that span. Erickson and the Huskies return to the ice Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m. to host Mercyhurst in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals. Saturday's game will be the first Atlantic Hockey Tournament game ever held at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum.

Mercyhurst: The Lakers will play a road quarterfinal conference playoff game for the second time since joining Division I in 1999-2000. Six of the games were played at home and one was played at Army when the entire playoffs were held at Tate Arena. The Lakers are 7-0 in quarterfinal contests over the years. Mercyhurst and Connecticut have met three times in the conference playoffs with the Lakers holding a 2-1 advantage. UConn defeated Mercyhurst 2-0 at home March 16, 2000, in the MAAC Hockey League semifinals. Mercyhurst returned the favor 5-0 in the MAAC semis at Holy Cross March 14, 2002, and then defeated the Huskies 7-4 in Erie in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals March 12, 2005. Senior forward Scott Champagne was chosen as an alternate for the Frozen Four Skills Challenge to be held in St. Louis in early April.

Sacred Heart: For the first time in school history, Sacred Heart is the top seed in the postseason. Sacred Heart has lost in the quarterfinals the last two years after reaching the inaugural AHA championship game in 2004. The Pioneers will host American International in the quarterfinals Saturday night at the Milford Ice Pavilion. SHU won both meetings with the Yellow Jackets this season, both coming in Springfield. The Pioneers are unbeaten in the last six meetings with AIC, posting a 5-0-1 record in the last two seasons. The Pioneers are unbeaten in the last nine meetings (8-0-1) with AIC in Milford, dating back to the 1999-2000 season. Sacred Heart has lost in the quarterfinals the last two years after reaching the inaugural AHA championship game in 2004. Face-off Saturday night is 7:00 pm with coverage on WICC 600 AM.