2021–22 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season

AIC entered the season looking to continue its run as the Atlantic Hockey champion but didn't get off to a good start. While due in part to the difficulty of their schedule, the Yellow Jackets began with just 3 wins in their first 13 games. While they got solid, if unspectacular, goaltending from both grad transfer Alec Calvaruso and nominal starter Jake Kucharski, American International was let down by its offense. In just 4 of those 13 games, the team managed to score more than 2 goals.

In late-November, the offense finally got going and the team went on an extended winning streak as a result. AIC won 11 consecutive games, including a defeat of Connecticut, who ended the season in the top-20. The run shot the Yellow Jackets to the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings, where they remained for the rest of the year. While their winning streak nearly put them into the poll themselves, AIC came back down to earth a bit at the end of the regular season. With their 4th-consecutive Atlantic Hockey title in hand, AIC still had to win the conference tournament in order to make the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to the start of their postseason, AIC got some unwelcome news when Kucharski went down with an undisclosed injury. Despite missing the conference goaltending champion, American International had a capable backup in Calvaruso and he showed up during the playoffs. Calvaruso won all four games for the Yellow Jackets, posting a 2.00 goals against average. It was, however, Blake Bennett who was the story for AIC; the junior forward scored recorded 10 points during their run, including a hat-trick in the semifinal against Mercyhurst, and was named Tournament MVP.

American International made its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA championship but, as is typical for Atlantic Hockey, they did so against the #1 seed once again. The team faced Michigan, who boasted one of, if not the, most talent-laden teams in NCAA history. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, possessed only one NHL-drafted player and he (Kucharski) was still out due to injury. Early on it appeared that the Wolverines would just roll over AIC when they scored twice in the first 5 minutes of the game. The Yellow Jackets fought back, however, and demonstrated that they weren't to be taken lightly. American International ended up outshooting Michigan 32-31 in the game and scored three goals, but it wasn't enough. Even with the loss, the credible performance showed that AIC could compete with the elite college hockey programs.

As of August 23, 2021.[1]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Jake Kucharski	Sophomore (RS)	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1999-09-25	Erie, Pennsylvania	Providence (HEA)	CAR, 197th overall 2018
2		Nico Somerville	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-04-08	Nanaimo, British Columbia	Penticton (BCHL)	—
4		Brett Callahan	Junior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1998-10-16	Westmont, Illinois	Jersey (NCDC)	—
5		Alex Tertyshny	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-01-03	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Northeast (NAHL)	—
6		Matt Rickard	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1999-07-28	Coventry, Rhode Island	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
7		Brian Kramer	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2000-07-20	Wexford, Pennsylvania	Robert Morris (AHA)	—
8		Luis Lindner	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-16	Spittal an der Drau, Austria	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
9		Blake Bennett	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-07-01	Grand Island, New York	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
10		Brian Rigali	Graduate	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-03-08	Green Oaks, Illinois	UConn (HEA)	—
11		Julius Janhonen	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-03-05	Espoo, Finland	HIFK U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)	—
12		Eric Otto	Junior (RS)	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-07-19	Burnsville, Minnesota	Chicago (USHL)	—
13		Santeri Hartikainen	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-01-05	Helsinki, Finland	Robert Morris (AHA)	—
16		Reggie Millette	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-04-10	Jacksonville, Florida	Austin (NAHL)	—
17		Zak Galambos	Junior (RS)	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-04-04	Walnut Creek, California	Minnesota State (WCHA)	—
18		Michal Stinil	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-03-21	East Burke, Vermont	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
19		Elijiah Barriga (A)	Senior (RS)	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1996-05-16	West Covina, California	UNLV (ACHA)	—
20		Chris Van Os-Shaw	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-05-20	Regina, Saskatchewan	Minnesota State (WCHA)	—
21		Justin Cole	Graduate	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1996-05-01	Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
22		Parker Revering (C)	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-01-11	Alexandria, Minnesota	Brookings (NAHL)	—
23		Aaron Grounds	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-12-24	Jamestown, North Dakota	Fargo (USHL)	—
25		Luka Maver (A)	Graduate	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-10-25	Ljubljana, Slovenia	Lincoln (USHL)	—
26		Chris Theodore	Senior	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-10-15	Beaconsfield, Quebec	Cornwall (CCHL)	—
27		Hunter Johannes	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1998-07-24	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	Jamestown (NAHL)	—
28		Jake Stella (A)	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-11-14	Karlstad, Sweden	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
29		Darwin Lakoduk	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	157 lb (71 kg)	2000-01-28	Edmonton, Alberta	Penticton (BCHL)	—
30		Alec Calvaruso	Graduate	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-07-09	Livonia, Michigan	Rensselaer (ECAC)	—
33		Jarrett Fiske	Junior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-05-28	Erie, Pennsylvania	Kemptville (CCHL)	—
34		Ryan McInchak	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-02-28	Trenton, Michigan	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
37		Evan Stella	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-05-11	Karlstad, Sweden	Dubuque (USHL)	—
39		Justin Young	Graduate	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1997-12-23	Leduc, Alberta	Alaska (WCHA)	—
44		Austen Long	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-02-15	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Omaha (USHL)	—
55		Chris Dodero (A)	Graduate	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	1996-06-08	West Chicago, Illinois	Janesville (NAHL)	—

[3]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[4]