As the profile of college hockey continues to grow, the American International Yellow Jackets have emerged as one of the programs on the rise to lead the charge. The days of finding cheap American International College hockey tickets are nearing an end. While only becoming a Division I program in the late 90s, the Yellow Jackets have quickly become the pre-eminent team in the Atlantic Hockey Conference. As the Yellow Jackets continue to move up the totem poll in college hockey, last-minute American International College hockey tickets are becoming increasingly popular, with hockey fans from all over the country recognizing that this is a team worth checking out.

Mr. Wright

For many years, American International College hockey toiled in obscurity at the Division II and Division III levels. Despite the occasional success, the Yellow Jackets were nothing special. But that started to change in 1984 when Gary Wright took over as the head coach. Wright would end up staying for more than three decades and transforming the program. While still a Division III program when Wright took over, the Yellow Jackets were an ECAC powerhouse by the start of the 90s. More importantly, by the end of the 90s, American International made the move to the Division I level, ultimately finding a home in the Atlantic Hockey Conference. While Wright may not have led the Yellow Jackets to the promised land, he surely created a foundation for his successor to do just that.

Flight to the Top

When Wright retired from coaching in 2016, he left American International with far more losses than wins. However, he kept the program afloat and built the right culture. When Eric Lang took over in 2016, it didn’t take him long to turn that great culture into on-ice success. Starting in 2019, Lang led the Yellow Jackets to four straight regular-season conference championships, not to mention conference tournament championships. Those championships took American International to the NCAA Tournament, leading to the first tournament win in program history in 2019. From there, the sky is the limit for the Yellow Jackets.