The 2023–24 American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey season was the 76th season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level and 21st in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Yellow Jackets represented American International College, played their home games at MassMutual Center and were coached by Eric Lang in his eighth season.
Season
While many of the team's key skaters were returning this season, the Yellow Jackets had a quandary in goal. Senior Alexandros Aslanadis had shown flashes of good goaltending over the previous two seasons but had yet to serve as the primary netminder. Conversely, freshman Nils Wallström entered the program with a solid résumé in the Swedish junior leagues and NAHL but he had yet to face the collegiate level of competition. Coach Lang decided to throw Wallström into the deep end at the beginning of the season, with the first-year netminder facing down Massachusetts and defending national champions, Quinnipiac. Wallström survived for two games before his inexperience got the better of him and he was pulled in the second match with the Bobcats. Wallström was able to retain the net as his play stabilized and he soon established himself as AIC's best option in goal.
The forward unit was a slightly more cohesive group at the start but it was the defense that allowed American International to overcome its early rough patch. From the start of November, the defenders, led by Brian Kramer, gave their young netminder the time needed to grow accustomed to the college game and held off the opposing attack. Over a 14-game span the team allowed more than 30 shots on goal just once and routinely kept their foes at or near the 20-shot mark. The stellar play on defense helped the team put together a six-game winning streak and put them within a game of 1st-place in the conference by Christmas.
After returning form the break, AIC stumbled through the first few weeks of January and the team began to slide down the standings. After a week off, their inconsistent offense could only manage a split with Robert Morris but then the injury bug began to bite the team. John Lundy was injured in the first match with the Colonials while Alfred Lindberg and Alexander Malinowski were both lost a week later. One week on, Brian Kramer was felled and the team suddenly found itself without four of its top seven scorers.[1] While the various ailments were feared to be season-ending, Lundy and Kramer managed to get back into the lineup by the start of the postseason.
In the wake of the injuries, the team had to rely more heavily on Wallström and Aslanidis. The two played their best games of the season and helped AIC get points in each of the final five games; however, it was not quite enough to keep the team in the top four and ensure a home stand in the conference quarterfinals. AIC did manage to hold onto a bye so they would not risk getting knocked out in the first round and it gave their injured players time to heal.
American International opened their postseason with probably the most difficult position as they had to travel to Colorado to take on Air Force. Fortunately for the Yellow Jackets, they had already made a trip and at least knew what to expect with the altitude. The team was largely outplayed in the first game but Wallström continued his inspired play and allowed just a single goal. Air Force broke through at the beginning of the second game and built a 2-goal lead in the first period. AIC stormed back with 20 shots in the second; however, none of them managed to find the back of the net. It was not until the start of the third when they finally broke through but their harrying attack subsided a bit as the Falcons pulled back into a defensive shell. As time wound down, Wallström was pulled for an extra attacker and Lundy managed to tie the game with his 14th of the season. Sensing that AIC had used up too much energy to tie the game, Air Force went on the attack in overtime and put up 15 shots in 12 minutes. After a turnover at their own blueline, AIC got on an odd-man rush and Nico Somerville ended the game on a laser that bounced in off of the crossbar.[2]
The mild upset set up a meeting with Holy Cross in the semifinals. AIC opened the scoring on the power play but were unable to follow through on their next three opportunities. Instead, the Crusaders scored three times in the second half of the first to take a commanding lead. A second goal from the Yellow Jackets cut the lead to one but they were unable to get the tying marker. A pair of empty-net goals at the end of the match put the game out of reach but did not change the fact that the two were evenly matched throughout. in the second game, with their season on the line, Wallström became the hero, stopping all 32 shots, including 17 in the third, to earn his second shutout of the season. He was nearly able to pull of the same feat in the deciding third game, stopping 44 of 45 attempts and put AIC one win away from the NCAA tournament. Similar t the opening game with Holy Cross, the match with RIT was close for the first two periods. The two exchanged leads in the opening 20 minutes but a power play marker from the Tigers at the start of second went unanswered. As time progressed the Yellow Jackets remained down by a goal and were forced to pull Wallström. Unfortunately, the ploy failed and two empty-net goals followed in quick succession to end AIC's season.
