Inside Atlantic Hockey

Justin Cole, fresh off being named the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Most Outstanding Player, joins Bernie this week as he and his Yellow Jacket teammates gear up to play #1 North Dakota in the NCAA Tournament.

Jason Lammers' Niagara team battled their way through a three-game series against top-seeded Robert Morris to advance to the AHA Tournament semifinals. Next up for the Purple Eagles are top overall seed AIC in Springfield.

Brian Riley's Black Knights haven't lost a game since the beginning of January and carry the nation's longest unbeaten streak into championship week. They're coming off a hard-fought quarterfinal series against Sacred Heart, with the series-clinching game going to three overtimes before Army netted the game-winner.

Derek Schooley's Colonials won the West Pod Regular Season Championship and enter the AHA Tournament looking to keep their streak of final four appearances alive. He joins Bernie to talk about his team's preparation and what he's looking forward to as they get on the ice this weekend.

After winning the East Pod Regular Season Championship and securing the #1 overall seed in the AHA Tournament, Eric Lang joins Bernie to talk about how he's kept the team fresh during their six-week hiatus and what it will be like to step on the ice for competition in the playoffs.

Associate Commissioner Steffan Waters joins Bernie this week as Atlantic Hockey enters the postseason. He talks with Bernie about the road the league took on to get here, the sacrifices each team made to play hockey in 2020-21, and what is in store for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament over the next few weeks!

Marc Johnstone had a big week for Sacred Heart, helping lock the Pioneers into the 3rd seed in the Eastern Pod heading into the playoffs. The senior didn't expect a year like this, but he explains to Bernie how SHU has gotten through it with the postseason nearing.

Air Force had been on an extended break due to COVID pauses by both them and their opponents, but they returned to the ice and secured a big sweep of Canisius on home ice in their final games of the regular season. Max Harper is an elder statesman on a young Air Force team, but his play has helped them to 3 wins in a row and some momentum heading into the postseason.

Colin Bilek has absolutely broken out during his junior year and Army is rolling along with him. He joins Bernie to talk about the rigors of dealing with COVID not only as an athlete but as a cadet at West Point.

Canisius has started and stopped as often as any team in Atlantic Hockey this year, but that hasn't derailed the Golden Griffins during the 2020-21 season. Coach Trevor Large has kept Canisius ready to play through their extended pauses and are now in position to secure 1st place in the West.

Josh Benson, coming off a very strong weekend between the pipes, joins Inside Atlantic Hockey after being named AHA Goalie of the Week. Benson has been a mainstay in the net for Sacred Heart but now he talks with Bernie about the challenges of this season and what he expects down the stretch.

Sacred Heart head coach CJ Marottolo joins the show for the first time this season in what has been a very unusual season for him and his Pioneers. Sacred Heart has faced multiple COVID pauses during the season, but they've laced up the skates whenever they can and have started playing their best hockey when it matters most.

Bentley captain Charlie Marchand joins Bernie to talk Falcon hockey, the unusual situation of having over 5 weeks off due to COVID right in the middle of the season, and what he expects for Bentley during the closing stretch of the season.

Head Coach of the Atlantic Hockey-leading AIC Yellow Jackets, Eric Lang, joins Bernie on this week's Inside Atlantic Hockey coach segment. Eric and Bernie talk about how the team has handled COVID restrictions, the sacrifices they've made to get to this point of the season, and how the focus has helped spur their success this season.

Mercyhurst defenseman Joe Maziarz joins Bernie on Inside Atlantic Hockey this week. Mercyhurst has come on strong lately and Joe was at the center of their success in two wins over No. 17 Robert Morris last week. He talks with Bernie about how his approach has changed due to COVID-19 restrictions and his play so far this year.

Bentley returned to the ice after a 5-week pause as the Falcons dealt with COVID-19, but much to the excitement of Head Coach Ryan Soderquist, Bentley came out with a strong performance Tuesday night. He talks about dealing with the pause and how he thinks his team is finding their identity as, while they're just 6 games into the season, is nearing the end stages before the tournament.

Mason Krueger has been a fixture in the Army lineup, playing in his 100th game against LIU last week. The senior is used to unpredictability in his cadet life, but COVID-19 has brought that to another level. He talks with Bernie about his experience in an odd season.

Crusader Head Coach David Berard joins Bernie to talk all things Holy Cross hockey. His team has been together for a few years now and been through quite a few ups and downs, so much so that Coach Berard believes it helped prepare them for the unpredictability of the season.

Robert Morris owns the second-longest winning streak in the nation currently and one of the reasons behind it is veteran leaders and performers like Nick Prkusic. Nick joins Bernie (apologies for Bernie calling him Nathan) to discuss that and more on this week's episode.

The Mercyhurst Lakers are young, with only two seniors, but Coach Rick Gotkin sees his freshmen and sophomores maturing and coming together entering the home stretch of the season. He joins Bernie to discuss the season so far and what he thinks his Lakers can do moving forward.

Canisius goaltender Matt Ladd talks with Bernie as our second half of the season gets underway. It's been a challenging year facing the pandemic for Canisius but Ladd and his teammates have stayed focused and currently sit 3-1-0 in league play, thanks in part to his net-minding ability.

Niagara head coach Jason Lammers joins Bernie to bring Inside Atlantic Hockey into the New Year! The duo talks about the first half of the season, some of the challenges the pandemic has presented, and what he expects his Purple Eagles to get done down the stretch.

Jack Billings, now a senior for Niagara, joins the show to talk with Bernie about his slightly unorthodox journey to Division I hockey and why the move to the Purple Eagles has been such a perfect fit.

The always entertaining Head Coach of the Air Force Falcons, Frank Serratore, talks with Bernie about the first half of his team's season, how they've balanced cadet life with hockey and COVID restrictions, and what he's looking forward to in the second half.

Making his first starts for Mercyhurst, goaltender Hank Johnson put on a show, stopping nearly 90 shots in a split with #18 Bowling Green. Johnson joins Bernie to talk about his performance and his transition as one of the elder statesmen of the young Lakers.

Coach Brian Riley earned his 200th win on the bench of the Black Knights last weekend and now joins Bernie to talk about the milestone, his family nearing 1000 career wins at Army, and some more about how his squad is shaping up this year.

Friend of the program, and now senior goaltender for back-to-back defending regular season champion AIC, joins Bernie to talk about his first two starts of the 2020-21 season. Stefano battled back from an injury suffered two seasons ago to be part of a strong goaltending tandem, but now the job is his and evidenced by his first two games, he is ready to make his last season his best.

Coach Wilson and his RIT Tigers have been on an emotional roller coaster for the last few weeks, but after getting their program reinstated for the 2020-21 season, the Tigers hit the ice last week and took down #9 Clarkson in a great win to open the season.

Derek Schooley's Colonials kicked-off the 2020-21 season with a two-game sweep over Alabama-Huntsville. Robert Morris had a difficult road to get here, but they're looking forward to taking advantage of the season in front of them.

The long-awaited return of college hockey is upon us. Commissioner DeGregorio sits down to chat with Bernie about the road back and what it took to get us on the ice in 2020-21!

Brendan Hamblet had a big week for Bentley as his 4 goals helped Bentley sweep a home-and-home with Holy Cross and secure home ice in the first round of the AHA Tournament. The Falcons open their march to Buffalo this weekend against Canisius at Bentley Arena. Take a listen to Brendan's interview with Bernie as he talks about the close to the season and what the postseason can bring his Bentley team.

Daniel Mantenuto has experienced just about everything the Atlantic Hockey playoffs have to offer during his time at Robert Morris. This year, the Colonials are playing on the first weekend of the tournament, but they're home where they've had much success in the playoffs. Mantenuto talks with Bernie about the new season the playoffs present and the opportunity that lies ahead of the Colonials.

Blake Christensen comes back to Inside Atlantic Hockey as a senior now for the newly-crowned back-to-back Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Champions, AIC Yellow Jackets. He chats with Bernie about AIC's early-season struggles in the face of high expectations following last year's NCAA run. Blake also talks about the surreal turnaround from his freshman year to senior year and how a Ping Pong Tournament following a loss to Providence sparked an 11-game winning streak.

Marshall Bowery, a junior at the Air Force Academy, is our guest this week as he sits down to chat with Bernie before the final weekend of the season. Bowery had the game-winning goal in Saturday's win for Air Force, locking Air Force into at least home ice in the first round of the AHA Tournament. He chats about that, the parity in Atlantic Hockey, and his journey to the Academy with Bernie this week!

Army senior and assistant captain Dominic Franco joins the show for the first time in his career. Franco, at 6'5", has been a steady and physical force for the Black Knights since the moment he stepped on campus. He's enjoying one of his better seasons and so too is Army, who are looking to lock up home ice in the AHA Quarterfinals, something they did two years ago, by facing the two teams ahead of them in the standings.

It's been a trying year for the Mercyhurst Lakers, but the season hasn't changed the focus of long-time head coach Rick Gotkin one bit. His Lakers are young and still finding their way in Atlantic Hockey and while the team started well, their youth has shown as they've lost a number of close games in the second half. Rick joined Bernie to talk about the season and how the playoffs represent an opportunity at a new year.

Chris Harpur, the reigning Defensive Player of the Week, joins Bernie after Niagara's big sweep of Mercyhurst. The Purple Eagles are in the middle of a handful of teams vying for playoff positioning and thanks, in part, to Harpur's individual performance on the back-end last week, Niagara currently has home ice in the first round.

Shawn Cameron had a great weekend as RIT went to Robert Morris and earned 4-of-6 points in a key road series. He talks with Bernie about the series and how he feels the Tigers are hitting their stride with the Atlantic Hockey Tournament on the horizon.

Matt Hoover was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month for January and was the driving force behind Canisius' second-half surge. The Golden Griffins are 5-3-3 since the semester break and are within striking distance of a home series in the AHA Playoffs.

Kevin Darrar recently saw his six-game goal streak come to an end but not before he helped lead his Crusaders to a 4-1-1 record in those six games. The senior joined Bernie to talk about his recent run, the Crusaders' success in the second half, and what lies ahead.

Sacred Heart may have just had the best week in program history and Head Coach CJ Marottolo joins Bernie to talk all about it. First, the school announced plans to build a $60 million on-campus arena, then his team went out and beat in-state rivals Yale and Quinnipiac en route to winning the inaugural Connecticut Ice Festival.

An injury forced AIC goaltender Stefano Durante to redshirt last season, but he has returned to the ice far improved and is currently backstopping the Yellow Jackets as they march towards the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Stefano joins Bernie to talk about his road back and how his time on the sideline made him a better goalie.

On this episode of Inside Atlantic Hockey, Bernie is joined by Air Force senior captain Brady Tomlak. Tomlak's Falcons earned a rare two-game sweep last week and picked-up 6 crucial conference points in the process. He talks about a shifting mindset of being more aggressive and no Saturday let-downs as Air Force tries to replicate past teams and have strong second halves as they march towards the playoffs.

Brendon Michaelian joins the show for the second year in a row to chat with our host Bernie Corbett. This year, the two discussed Robert Morris' odd three-game week against Mercyhurst in which the Colonials picked-up 6 important conference points, how that will springboard Robert Morris towards the playoffs, and how the sophomore defenseman has been able to thrive in his second year even with greater responsibility during games.

The Army-Air Force hockey rivalry is special. This year's series saw the Army Black Knights get to sing last as they posted a win and a tie over the Falcons. Michael Wilson, a senior captain for Army, was at the center of it all. He joins Bernie to talk about the rivalry weekend, his performance on the ice, and Army hockey moving forward.

Getting your first win in your first start and against the #13 team in the country is certainly something that RIT goaltender Kolby Matthews needed to talk with Bernie about in this week's episode. Kolby also talks about how he's been adapting to the college game and what makes it different than juniors where he had great success.

Atlantic Hockey's Player of the Week Neil Robinson joins Bernie to talk about Holy Cross' sweep of Mercyhurst and his hat trick performance.

Third-year head coach of Niagara, Jason Lammers, joins the show to talk about his team's performance on the road against a top-10 Penn State team, his philosophy regarding scheduling, and how he anticipates the challenging 2019-20 schedule benefitting the Purple Eagles down the stretch.

Nick Hutchison brought 2019 to a close with one of the best weekend's of his career. Fresh off his six-point effort, Nick joins Bernie to talk about the Griffs' sweep of Holy Cross and how it can vault Canisius into a strong second half of the season.

Happy New Year! We're back with the first coach's segment of 2020 as Bentley Head Coach Ryan Soderquist joins Bernie to talk everything hockey. Ryan and Bernie dive into Bentley's season so far, which currently has the Falcons on the rise after an up-and-down first two months of the season.

Jason Cotton, the leading goal scorer for one of the nation's hottest teams in Sacred Heart, joins Bernie in this week's show. He talks the Pioneers' win streak, their championship aspirations, and how their mindset hasn't wavered over the last couple of years through highs and lows.