2006 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey tournament

2006 Atlantic Hockey Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 11–18, 2006
Teams	8
Finals site	Hart Center Worcester, Massachusetts
Champions	Holy Cross (2nd title)
Winning coach	Paul Pearl (2nd title)
MVP	James Sixsmith (Holy Cross)
Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2005 2007 →

The 2006 AHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 3rd Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 11 and March 18, 2006. Opening round games were played at home team campus sites, while the semifinals and championship games were played at the Holy Cross home venue: Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. By winning the tournament, Holy Cross received the Atlantic Hockey Association's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. This was the final year in which the AHA championship game was played at a non-neutral site.

Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. All games in the tournament are single-elimination. In the quarterfinals, the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds play to determine who advances to the semifinals. of the four remaining teams, the highest and lowest remaining ranked teams play each other with the other two teams facing one another to determine the championship participants. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2005–06 Atlantic Hockey standings
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#14 Holy Cross†*	28	19	7	2	40	98	65		39	27	10	2	130	95
Mercyhurst	28	19	8	1	39	119	87		36	22	13	1	150	118
Sacred Heart	28	18	8	2	38	92	55		35	21	12	2	116	82
Bentley	28	11	12	5	27	75	82		37	15	17	5	94	117
Army	28	10	12	6	26	64	67		36	12	18	6	80	94
Connecticut	28	9	18	1	19	79	106		36	11	23	2	97	136
Canisius	28	8	18	2	18	68	87		35	10	23	2	87	114
American International	28	6	17	5	17	64	110		32	6	21	5	69	129
Championship: Holy Cross † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 Poll

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the Quarterfinals

	Quarterfinals March 11					Semifinals March 17					Championship March 18
	1	Holy Cross	3
	8	American International	1
						1	Holy Cross	4
						6	Connecticut	1
	3	Sacred Heart	1
	6	Connecticut	4
											1	Holy Cross	5
											4	Bentley	2
	4	Bentley	4**
	5	Army	3
						4	Bentley	3**
						2	Mercyhurst	2
	2	Mercyhurst	7
	7	Canisius	2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Quarterfinals

(1) Holy Cross vs. (8) American International

March 11	Holy Cross		3 – 1		American International	Hart Recreation Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			13:53 - Ryan Robin
Blair Bartlett - 19:12		Second period			No scoring
Matt Burke - GW - 00:50 Jon Landry - 14:11		Third period			No scoring
Tony Quesada ( 20 saves / 21 shots )		Goalie stats			Tom Fenton ( 39 saves / 42 shots )

(2) Mercyhurst vs. (7) Canisius

March 11	Mercyhurst		7 – 2		Canisius	Mercyhurst Ice Center	Recap
Jamie Hunt - PP - 02:58		First period			PP - 09:20 - Tommy Flikeid
Dave Borrelli - PP - 09:57 Chris Trafford - GW - 15:56		Second period			10:10 - Tommy Flikeid
Ryan Toomey - SH - 00:47 Kyle Gourgon - 02:43 Ryan Toomey - PP - 11:48 Dave Borrelli - EN SH - 17:38		Third period			No scoring
Tyler Small ( 29 saves / 31 shots )		Goalie stats			Dan Griffin ( 38 saves / 44 shots )

(3) Sacred Heart vs. (6) Connecticut

March 11	Connecticut		4 – 1		Sacred Heart	Milford Ice Pavilion	Recap
Matt Scherer - 05:12 Matt Scherer - GW PP - 13:46		First period			18:38 - Peter Ferraro
Scott McDougall - 05:12		Second period			No scoring
Matt Scherer - EN - 18:54		Third period			No scoring
Brad Smith ( 52 saves / 53 shots )		Goalie stats			Jason Smith ( 16 saves / 19 shots )

(4) Bentley vs. (5) Army

March 11	Bentley		4 – 3	2OT	Army	John A. Ryan Arena	Recap
Marc Zwicky - 15:26		First period			No scoring
No Scoring		Second period			09:01 - Luke Flicek 19:18 - Chris Bilec
Dain Prewitt - 01:31 Dain Prewitt - SH - 18:38		Third period			03:48 - Luke Flicek
Brett Murphy - GW - 14:30		Second overtime period			No scoring
Ray Jean ( 35 saves / 38 shots )		Goalie stats			Brad Roberts ( 51 saves / 55 shots )

Semifinals

(1) Holy Cross vs. (6) Connecticut

March 17	Holy Cross		4 – 1		Connecticut	Hart Recreation Center	Recap
Tyler McGregor - 03:20		First period			19:47 - Chris Uber
James Sixsmith - GW SH - 05:24 James Sixsmith - PP - 06:59		Second period			No scoring
Pierre Napert-Frenette - 13:31		Third period			No scoring
Tony Quesada ( 37 saves / 38 shots )		Goalie stats			Brad Smith ( 25 saves / 29 shots )

(2) Mercyhurst vs. (4) Bentley

March 17	Bentley		3 – 2	2OT	Mercyhurst	Hart Recreation Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No Scoring		Second period			16:55 - Jamie Hunt
Jaye Judd - PP - 02:55 Marc Zwicky - 07:53		Third period			15:37 - Scott Champagne
Jaye Judd - GW - 00:58		Second overtime period			No scoring
Ray Jean ( 37 saves / 39 shots )		Goalie stats			Tyler Small ( 53 saves / 56 shots )

Championship

(1) Holy Cross vs. (4) Bentley

March 18	Holy Cross		5 – 2		Bentley	Hart Recreation Center	Recap
Tyler McGregor - PP - 12:14 James Sixsmith - PP - 16:33		First period			12:45 - Dain Prewitt
Pierre Napert-Frenette - GW PP - 02:07 Jon Landry - PP - 12:31 Sean Nappo - 18:41		Second period			12:45 - Jeff Gumaer
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Tony Quesada ( 30 saves / 32 shots )		Goalie stats			Ray Jean ( 21 saves / 26 shots ) / Geordan Murphy ( 5 saves / 5 shots )

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

• G: Tony Quesada (Holy Cross)
• D: Jaye Judd (Bentley)
• D: Jamie Hunt (Mercyhurst)
• F: Tom Dickhudt (Bentley)
• F: Pierre Napert-Frenette (Holy Cross)
• F: James Sixsmith (Holy Cross)

MVP

• James Sixsmith (Holy Cross)