Men's Hockey | 9/21/2010 10:30:32 AM

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team was picked to finish first in the 2010-11 Atlantic Hockey Association pre-season poll, as voted on by the conference's coaches, and announced at the conference's annual media day held at Blue Cross Arena on Tuesday.

RIT, the defending Atlantic Hockey Champion, is the top pick in the preseason poll, while Mercyhurst is second and Air Force third.

The Tigers collected eight (8) first place votes en route to 118 total points. RIT, which made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament as a Division I program, enjoyed a magical run to the Frozen Four after defeating Denver and New Hampshire to win the NCAA East Regional. The Tigers set AHA single season records for most wins (22) and points (45), winning the league title by 10 points. RIT rolled through its competition in the AHA Tournament, sweeping Connecticut in the quarterfinals, 4-3 and 4-1, Canisius in the semifinal, 4-0, and Sacred Heart in the championship game, 6-1. The Tigers finished 28-12-1 last season.

RIT returns 17 players from last season's squad, including 2010 All-AHA second team selection Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario/) and Cameron Burt (Detroit, MI/), a third-team choice. Burt was named the Atlantic Hockey Tournament MVP, and earned All-Tournament Team honors, along with returning forward Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario/). Brenner was also an AHA All-Rookie Team selection in 2009.

"We're excited for a new year and know we have to prove ourselves all over again," said RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson, the 2010 Spencer Penrose Award winner as Division I coach of the year.  "We know we will have a target on our back, but also appreciate the respect our program has received from the coaches in our league to be preseason favorite."

Mercyhurst, who finished fourth in Atlantic Hockey last season, was chosen to finish second, garnering 101 points with two first place votes. Air Force, who won three consecutive league championships from 2007-09 and placed third in the league standings last season, was chosen to finish third, with 98 points.

Robert Morris and Niagara join the AHA for the 2010-11 season, and both were picked to finish fourth, with 82 points apiece. Robert Morris did receive two first place votes. Both teams played in College Hockey America last season.

Canisius (63), 2010 Atlantic Hockey runner-up Sacred Heart (61), and Holy Cross (60) were picked to finish sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. RIT defeated Canisius and Sacred Heart in the AHA playoffs last season.

Army (48), Bentley (47), Connecticut (21), and American International (11) garnered the final four spots in the AHA preseason poll.

RIT is in the Western pod and will play Mercyhurst, Air Force, Robert Morris, Niagara, and Canisius three times apiece this season. The Tigers were play two games each against Eastern pod teams Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Army, Bentley, Connecticut, and Sacred Heart.

"We obviously have a very difficult league schedule, playing the top-five teams (in the preseason poll) three times each," said Wilson.  "Teams are so tightly bunched in this league, and anyone can win on any given night, so we will have to be ready to go right from the start."

First round action in the AHA playoffs will kick off on Saturday, March 5, as the No. 3 seed in each pod will host the No. 6 team and No. 4 team will host No. 5 in a single game to advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals will take place on the Friday, March 11-Sunday, March 13 and feature four match-ups (teams will be re-seeded by regular season record and top-four seeds will host) in a best two-out-of-three format. The four winners will then travel to the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester, with the highest remaining seed facing the lowest remaining seed in the first semifinal, with the other two remaining seeds facing off in the second semifinal on Friday, March 18. The two semifinal winners will then face-off in the Championship game on Saturday, March 19 with the NCAA automatic berth on the line.

RIT opens the season with an exhibition contest against Wilfrid Laurier University of Canada on Sunday, October 2 at 3:05 p.m. The Tigers open the regular season on Friday, October 8 against St. Cloud State at the Mutual of Omaha Stampede hosted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The Tigers play their first home game on Saturday, October 16, as they host UMass Lowell at Blue Cross Arena for Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend at 7:05 p.m.

RIT's first conference action will take place on Friday, October 29, when RIT hosts Robert Morris at 7:05 p.m. in its Ritter Arena opener.

"RIT did an outstanding job representing our league, and our programs in not only the NCAA East Regional, but the Frozen Four," said AHA Commisioner Bob DeGregorio.  "We had a great last year, and are looking forward to even a better year from our teams this season."

This is the second time RIT will enter a season as the AHA preseason favorite, having received the honor in 2007-08.  Last season, RIT was chosen to finish third in conference play.

The Atlantic Hockey Association arose on June 30, 2003, to found a new Division-I men's ice hockey conference. The league is comprised of 12 members: Air Force, American International, Army, Bentley, Canisius, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Niagara, Robert Morris, RIT, Sacred Heart University.

2010-11 Atlantic Hockey Association Preseason Coaches Poll
1. RIT (8) - 118
2. Mercyhurst (2) - 101
3. Air Force - 98
4t. Robert Morris (2) - 82
4t. Niagara - 82
6. Canisius - 63
7. Sacred Heart - 61
8. Holy Cross - 60
9. Army - 48
10. Bentley - 47
11. Connecticut - 21
12. American International - 11
(First Place votes)