Men's Hockey Women's Hockey

Men's Ice Hockey Nate Ewell

Player Development Fuels AHA Teams’ Success

Building Champions is Presented by JLG Architects

While college coaches hit the recruiting trail relentlessly looking for fresh talent, and fans love to watch for the next phenoms to hit the ice each new season, the truth in college hockey is that it’s rarely a game decided by newcomers.

Of the point-per-game players across Atlantic Hockey America as of this writing, both men and women, only two of 24 are freshmen. That’s just 8%, a far cry from the 26% of players in the conference who are rookies.

The not-so-secret to success for college teams lies not in the new faces they bring to campus, but rather how much improvement their players make once they get there.

That’s why AHA programs invest so much time, resources and effort in player development. It’s the teams whose players have elevated their games the most over time who wind up on top at the end of the season. 

Rosters filled with juniors and seniors not only have experience, but they have also accumulated more time at practice, in the weight room and studying film – all elements that contribute to their success.

Consider Penn State’s women’s program, which won the league title in 2026 and made the school’s first Frozen Four appearance. It had seniors named the AHA’s Forward, Defenseman and Goaltender of the Year, all of whom took significant strides in their games over the course of their four seasons.

On the men’s side, Bentley won its first AHA regular season championship in 2025-26 with upperclassmen as four of its top five scorers. 

While newcomers certainly contribute to any championship team’s success – just look at first-years Danica Maynard for last year’s Penn State team, or Lukas Swedin in goal for Bentley – it’s no coincidence that coaches often say these players are no longer considered freshmen come playoff time. With a season’s worth of improvement, on and off the ice, they are often much different players than when they suited up for the first time in the fall.

The best coaches in the game see their reputations in player development as key to sustaining their success – and attracting that next group of players who want to get better.

“I think we have a great track record of improving players,” said Mercyhurst head coach Mike Sisti, who has won more championships than any AHA coach. “Certainly we’ve gotten some phenoms like Meghan Agosta and many others along the way who we’re thankful for and are just amazing people, amazing players. But we’ve also really helped players improve. They come here, they play right away so they get thrown into the fire. We play a great schedule, so they play the best of the best and I think they gain confidence from that. 

“You come here, you’re going to learn the game well, you’re going to be challenged but you’re going to improve, and I think players want to do that.”

Those principles, while consistent from team to team throughout the AHA, evolve for each program, even year to year.

“This is really about us giving the greatest experience you can give to the players on your team every year – and that’s a new challenge every single year,” said Matt Thomas, second-year men’s head coach at RIT. “That’s what we want to do here. We want players to reach their goals. We want to make sure we are giving our guys all the tools they need to be successful tomorrow, and more importantly as they continue in their hockey journey.”
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That track record of player development is a big reason why NCAA hockey has emerged – on both the men’s and women’s sides of the game – as the premier path to playing in the top professional leagues in the world.

In the 2026 NHL Draft, 110 selections were either playing or committed to play college hockey, the highest percentage ever. On the women’s side, nearly 90% of PWHL draft picks in 2026 came from the college ranks.

The elements that contribute to that development blend together like a complex recipe, and typically require unique amounts of each ingredient for every player. But all feature some combination of:
  • Practice
  • Strength and conditioning 
  • Video review
  • Elite competition

Like the ingredients, the results will vary for every player – not all will reach the PWHL or NHL, of course, but each has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

“We work every day to love our guys,” said Jason Lammers, now in his tenth season as the head coach at Niagara. “We are going to coach them hard, but we are going to love them harder. We are going to give them every resource they could need to improve and develop as a person, as a student and as an athlete.”

A look at the league’s top players shows the impact of that growth. At Holy Cross, junior Matt Kursonis has a point in all seven games he has played this year; as a freshman, he only had a point in one of his first eight games. Jessica MacKinnon is a third-year collegian at Robert Morris who head coach Logan Bittle consistently credits as the hardest worker he has ever coached. After recording one point in 15 games as a freshman at Clarkson, MacKinnon has averaged a point per game for the Colonials. 

It starts in practice, and the AHA schedules that typically feature two games against the same team each week allow teams to take the ice four times per week to prepare, both individually and as a group. 

Off the ice, players have the time for strength and conditioning workouts, world-class facilities where they can do so, and full-time staff to lead those efforts. Video staff creates clips that allow every player to study their game, while nutritionists help teams fuel properly.

“We always say you get out of RMU what you put into it; that’s the best part,” Bittle said. “We always specifically leave extra time before or after practice for skill work. Jess [MacKinnon] is out there every single day. Our strength and conditioning staff does an excellent job of working with our players as well, not only for getting stronger but also rehab and things like that. Our assistant coaches are always willing to work individually with players as well.”

Being surrounded by other elite players – both on their own roster and as opponents around the league – helps push AHA players to be their best. During practice and in the weight room, teammates push each other, while on the weekends they get the chance to show off the improvements they have made. 

That holds true on both the men’s and women’s side, night in and night out.

“We’ve got great balance in the league. We have great players,” said RIT’s Thomas. “You have great goaltending. You almost wish there was a night you could point to and say, ‘yeah, he’s struggling.’ That doesn’t happen in our league. The coaching, the effort, the quality of play – you’ve got to bring your best effort and your best level of execution if you want to win hockey games.”

Great balance, great players – and they just get better every day. 

Building Champions is Presented by JLG Architects