American International Yellow Jackets Men's Ice Hockey

The American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college ice hockey program that represents American International College (AIC) and are members of Atlantic Hockey America. They had previously been Division I when as such had the privilege of playing at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the end of the 2024–25 season they moved to Division II.

History

AIC began its varsity program in 1948, playing a modest schedule for the first dozen years, building the program under William Turner before he handed it off to Joe Bucholz. In 1961, the Yellow Jackets joined with 27 other eastern schools (mostly in New England) to form ECAC Hockey. AIC finished near the bottom for three seasons and in 1964 it was decided that the conference was too unwieldy to continue and was split into two divisions. The Yellow Jackets joined the lower division, becoming a founding member of ECAC 2.

AIC had some success when Turner returned to take over, winning the conference tournament in 1969, but dipped slightly after his retirement in 1970. When Paul Thornton took over in 1974, AIC saw a resurgence, and by the late 1970s, it had returned to the ECAC 2 Tournament, but after his departure in 1978, the program slumped once more.

In 1984, the Division II ice hockey level collapsed and sent almost all teams at that level down to Division III. AIC followed along, and when ECAC 2 split, the Yellow Jackets stayed with the eastern side, joining the new ECAC East. In all that upheaval, it was not lost that AIC had gotten its sixth head coach since 1970, but they were finally able to find someone willing to stick around in Gary Wright.

Wright's time with AIC began successfully, with the team earning its first 20-win season in his fourth year. The following season, 1989, saw the Yellow Jackets pace the ECAC East with 20 wins and set a program record with 24 wins overall. Still, they faltered in the conference tournament and failed to make the D-III National championship. The following year, they won the ECAC East title, their first conference championship in 21 years. However, they were left out of the National Tournament due to a relatively poor overall record (only eight teams made the tournament, and the league champions did not receive an automatic berth). AIC continued to play well in the mid-90s, but in 1995, the program declined sharply, dropping from 14 to 4 wins, and remained in the ECAC East cellar for the rest of its time there.

In 1998, the MAAC began sponsoring an ice hockey conference, and AIC joined as an affiliate member, returning to the top tier of college hockey. In their first year back the Yellow Jackets posted a decent record, finishing 5th in the 8-team field but bowed out in the first round of the conference playoffs. After that brief glimpse of success, however, AIC fell to the bottom of the conference and remained there for almost the next 20 years. Even with several new teams joining the conference and the division's reworking into the Atlantic Hockey Association, AIC could finish no better than 9th from 2000 through 2017, with the lone exception coming in 2006 when Atlantic Hockey had only 8 league members.

AIC lost 20 games for 13 consecutive seasons and 18 out of 19 years after 1999. Gary Wright eventually retired in 2016, being the longest-tenured coach at the time of his retirement.

A new era at AIC began in 2016 with Eric Lang as the new head coach. After a poor but familiar first season, AIC posted its best record since 1993 with 15 wins, finishing 8th in Atlantic Hockey and winning its first conference tournament round in over a decade. The following year, AIC won its first-ever conference championship and, after winning its first conference tournament at the Division I level, made its first appearance in an NCAA Championship. As the lowest-seeded team, AIC played against #1 St. Cloud State and, despite being outshot 34-13 in the game, won the game 2-1. They would fall to Denver 3-0 in the next round of the tournament.

AIC again won the Atlantic Hockey championship in 2020; however, before the team played its first postseason game, the NCAA canceled all remaining contests and tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIC qualified for the NCAA tournament again in 2021 and 2022.

Shortly after the end of the 2023–24 season, Atlantic Hockey merged with the women-only College Hockey America to form the new Atlantic Hockey America, with all members of both predecessor conferences becoming charter members of the merged league.

In November 2024, the school announced the hockey program would be going back to Division II due to budgetary issues and enrollment. They will join the Northeast-10 Conference with Post, Franklin Pierce, Assumption, Saint Anselm, Saint Michaels, and Southern New Hampshire. As part of the move, the team will also forgo further use of the MassMutual Center beyond the 2024-25 season. On April 7, 2025, former head coach Eric Lang left for RPI.

Season-by-season results

Roster

As of July 29, 2024.

All-time coaching records

As of The end of the 2024–25 season

Awards and honors

NCAA

Individual awards

Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award
* Jared Pike (2020)

All-Americans

AHCA First Team All-Americans

*2020–21: Brennan Kapcheck, D

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

*2018–19: Blake Christensen, F

MAAC

Individual awards

; Coach of the Year
* Gary Wright: 1999

All–Conference

First Team

* 2000–01: Aaron Arnett, D

Second Team

* 1998–99: Chance Thede, G; Mike Sowa, F

Rookie Team

* 2000–01: Guillaume Caron, F; Trent Ulmer, F

Atlantic Hockey

Individual awards

Player of the Year
* Brennan Kapcheck: 2021
* Chris Theodore: 2022

Rookie of the Year
* Brennan Kapcheck: 2018

Best Defenseman
* Brennan Kapcheck: 2021
* Zak Galambos: 2022
* Brian Kramer: 2024

Best Defensive Forward
* Chris Dodero: 2021
* Jake Stella: 2022

Individual Sportsmanship Award
* Justin Cole: 2021

Regular Season Scoring Trophy
* Blake Christensen: 2019

Regular Season Goaltending Award
* Zackarias Skog: 2020
* Jake Kucharski: 2022
* Jarrett Fiske: 2023

Team Sportsmanship Award
* 2014, 2015, 2016

Coach of the Year
* Eric Lang: 2019, 2020, 2022

Most Valuable Player in Tournament
* Zackarias Skog: 2019
* Justin Cole: 2021
* Blake Bennett: 2022

All–Conference

First Team

* 2003–04: Guillaume Caron, F
* 2004–05: Frank Novello, G
* 2018–19: Brennan Kapcheck, D; Blake Christensen, F
* 2019–20: Zackarias Skog, G; Brennan Kapcheck, D; Blake Christensen, F
* 2020–21: Brennan Kapcheck, D; Tobias Fladeby, F
* 2021–22: Zak Galambos, D; Chris Theodore, F
* 2022–23: Blake Bennett, F
* 2023–24: Brian Kramer, D

Second Team

* 2012–13: Ben Meisner, G; Adam Pleskach, F
* 2019–20: Patrik Demel, D
* 2020–21: Stefano Durante, G; Elijah Barriga, F; Chris Dodero, F
* 2021–22: Jake Stella, F
* 2022–23: Jarrett Fiske, G; Brian Kramer, D

Third Team

* 2006–07: Jeremr Tendler, F
* 2007–08: Jeremr Tendler, F
* 2011–12: Adam Pleskach, F
* 2012–13: Jeff Ceccacci, D
* 2013–14: Jon Puksar, F
* 2017–18: Jānis Jaks, D
* 2019–20: Martin Mellberg, F; Hugo Reinhardt, F
* 2021–22: Jake Kucharski, G
* 2022–23: Jordan Biro, F

Rookie Team

* 2009–10: Adam Pleskach, F
* 2012–13: Chris Porter, F
* 2013–14: David Norris, F
* 2017–18: Stefano Durante, G; Brennan Kapcheck, D
* 2020–21: Nico Somerville, D; Aaron Grounds, F; Eric Otto, F
* 2021–22: Luis Lindner, D
* 2023–24: Nils Wallström, G

Statistical leaders

Source:

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average''

Minimum 30 games played

Statistics current through the start of the 2021–22 season.

Yellow Jackets in the NHL

As of July 1, 2024.

WHA

One player was a member of the WHA.

Source:

Olympians

This is a list of American International College alumni who played on an Olympic team.

See also

* American International Yellow Jackets

References

External links

*

{{Massachusetts Sports

College ice hockey teams in Massachusetts
NCAA Division II men's ice hockey teams
1948 establishments in Massachusetts
Ice hockey clubs established in 1948