The Canisius College Golden Griffins remain atop the Atlantic Hockey standings this week, tied with the Holy Cross Crusaders for the conference lead with 24 points. Nipping right at their heels: Niagara, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris, who are all within two wins of first place.

Meanwhile, 10th place Sacred Heart came out of this past week with a pair of wins, while Mercyhurst won twice and tied once. The second game of the Sacred Heart / Air Force series was postponed due to the government shutdown.

Here are the Atlantic Hockey standings, as of January 23:

1. Canisius
2. Holy Cross
3. Niagara
4. Mercyhurst
5. Robert Morris
6. AIC
7. Army
8. RIT
9. Air Force
10. Sacred Heart
11. Bentley

The Calendar Year

Just over three weeks into 2018, some Atlantic Hockey teams are finding success much easier than others.

The Bentley Falcons are having… well, some trouble. Through eight games, they’ve yet to win in the month of January. After tying Northeastern, they fell in the rematch, then dropped one to Sacred Heart. A tie with Army was followed by three straight losses vs. Army, Sacred Heart and Robert Morris. Their last game, on January 20, was a tie with the Colonials.

Meanwhile, through four games, Army has yet to lose in 2018. They tied their first two games of the year before winning both of the last two, shutting out their opponents. A 4-0 win over the Falcons was followed by a 5-0 win over the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.

Lakers on a Roll

Mercyhurst is having itself a good run here, going undefeated in five straight. After back-to-back 3-2 wins over Niagara, they beat RIT 6-3 and AIC 3-1. This past Saturday, AIC and Mercyhurst tied 4-4.

This has helped push the Lakers up in the conference standings, with just about a month remaining in the Atlantic Hockey regular season. They’re set to face Army this coming weekend.

Following their 2-0 win over Canisius Saturday, RIT head coach Wayne Wilson said that he believes the teams that have a hot streak/strong finish to the season will be the ones to watch when playoff time comes around. That could certainly be the case, and if the Lakers keep up this play, they’ll certainly be one of the teams to watch.

Hobey Baker Voting Now Open

The initial round of voting for the Hobey Baker is now open, and Atlantic Hockey is well-represented.

Here are the players nominated from Atlantic Hockey:

• Niagara: Derian Plouffe, Noah Delmas
• Mercyhurst: Jack Riley
• AIC: Brennan Kapcheck
• Canisius: Dylan McLaughlin
• RIT: Myles Powell
• Bentley: Kyle Schmidt
• Robert Morris: Brady Ferguson
• Holy Cross: Scott Pooley

Vote here.

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018 - 11:29 am | Atlantic Hockey, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings