American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey

AIC began its varsity program in 1948, playing a modest schedule for the first dozen years of its existence, 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.[3] 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.[4]

American International had some success when Turner returned to take over, winning the conference tournament in 1969,[5] but dipped slightly after his retirement in 1970. When Paul Thornton took over in 1974 AIC saw a resurgence and by the late 1970s 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 the American International had gotten its sixth head coach since 1970 but they were finally able to find someone willing to stick around in Gary Wright.[6]

Wright's time with AIC began fairly successfully with the team earning its first 20-win season in his fourth year. The next season, 1989, saw the Yellow Jackets pace the ECAC East with 20 wins and set a program record with 24 wins overall but they faltered in the conference tournament and failed to make the D-III National championship. The next year the team was able to regain some of their success by winning the ECAC East title, their first conference championship in 21 years, but they were left out of the National Tournament due to a relatively poor overall record (only eight teams made the tournament and 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.[7] 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 Atlantic Hockey 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 made the conference tournament every years because Atlantic Hockey structured its conference tournament to include every team, but even then the Yellow Jackets could only twice win the 9 vs 8 play-in game and lost every other round it participated in. AIC lost 20 games for 13 consecutive seasons and 18 out of 19 years after 1999 but through it all Gary Wright stayed on to hold the program together. He eventually retired in 2016, being the longest-tenured coach at the time of his retirement and held the record for the most career losses with a single program, but his legacy with AIC went beyond wins and losses.[8]

American International playing an outdoor game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in 2011

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 match. The Yellow Jackets season ended after losing the next game but they had already produced the best season in the history of program by a mile.

AIC again won the Atlantic Hockey championship in 2020, however, before the team played its first postseason game the NCAA cancelled all remaining contests and tournaments due to the coronavirus pandemic.[9][10]

[11]

As of September 15, 2022.[12]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Alexandros Aslanadis	Junior	G	6' 5" (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-01-20	Moorestown, New Jersey	Western Michigan (NCHC)	—
2		Nico Somerville	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-04-08	Nanaimo, British Columbia	Penticton (BCHL)	—
3		Jake Rosenbaum	Graduate	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1997-03-28	Trabuco, California	Minnesota Duluth (NCHC)	—
4		Brett Callahan	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-10-16	Westmont, Illinois	Jersey (NCDC)	—
5		Alexander Tertyshny	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-01-03	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Northeast (NAHL)	—
6		Matt Rickard	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-07-28	Coventry, Rhode Island	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
7		Brian Kramer	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-07-20	Wexford, Pennsylvania	Robert Morris (AHA)	—
8		Luis Lindner	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2001-05-16	Spittal an der Drau, Austria	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
9		Blake Bennett	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1998-07-01	Grand Island, New York	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
10		Dustin Manz	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1999-09-21	Vanderbilt, Michigan	Lake Superior State (CCHA)	—
11		Julius Janhonen	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-03-05	Espoo, Finland	HIFK U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)	—
12		Eric Otto	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-07-19	Burnsville, Minnesota	Chicago (USHL)	—
13		Grayson Dietrich	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-12-18	Calgary, Alberta	Drumheller (AJHL)	—
14		Nicholas Cardelli	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-06-06	Oak Brook, Illinois	Bemidji State (CCHA)	—
15		Casper Söderling	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-06-02	Stockholm, Sweden	Nacka J20 (J20 Regional)	—
16		Reggie Millette	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-04-10	Jacksonville, Florida	Austin (NAHL)	—
17		Oscar Geschwind	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-02-24	Hällefors, Sweden	Northern Michigan (CCHA)	—
19		Jordan Biro	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2000-08-10	Sherwood Park, Alberta	Colorado College (NCHC)	—
20		Hunter McCurdy	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2001-08-09	Mokena, Illinois	Danbury (NAHL)	—
22		Timofei Khokhlachev	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2001-11-06	Moscow, Russia	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
23		Aaron Grounds	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-12-24	Jamestown, North Dakota	Fargo (USHL)	—
24		Zach Purcell	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-06-13	Parker, Colorado	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
25		Alexander Malinowski	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-02-07	Linköping, Sweden	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—
26		Jake Sacratini	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2001-05-19	Pincourt, Quebec	Notre Dame (SJHL)	—
27		Josh Barnes	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-09-27	Cornwall, Ontario	Des Moines (USHL)	—
28		Andrew Amousse	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2001-07-16	Laval, Quebec	Victoria (BCHL)	—
29		Darwin Lakoduk	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-01-28	Edmonton, Alberta	Penticton (BCHL)	—
30		Troy Kobryn	Graduate	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-02-14	Hillsborough, New Jersey	Merrimack (HEA)	—
33		Jarrett Fiske	Senior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-05-28	Erie, Pennsylvania	Kemptville (CCHL)	—
34		Brennan Boynton	Sophomore	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-08-01	Champlin, Minnesota	Minnesota (Big Ten)	—
37		Evan Stella	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-05-11	Karlstad, Sweden	Dubuque (USHL)	—
44		Austen Long	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1998-02-15	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Omaha (USHL)	—
55		Brett Rylance	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	2001-08-03	Edmonton, Alberta	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
61		Casey McDonald	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-05-10	Plenty, Saskatchewan	Penticton (BCHL)	—

As of April 1, 2023

Source:[14]

As of July 1, 2022.

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

Name	Position	American International Tenure	Team	Year	Finish
Jānis Jaks	Defenseman	2016–2020	Latvia	2022	11th

• American International Yellow Jackets

• Official website