Arcadia’s Ryan Heickert’s Take on Recruiting

Most high-school hockey players envision playing at a higher level after graduation. But what does it take to get there?

Arcadia head coach Ryan Heickert has some thought on the subject.

In his first season behind the bench Heickert has the Knights in contention for a Middle Atlantic Conference playoff spot heading into their regular-season finale at Stevenson on Friday. A win would qualify them for postseason play for the second time in the program’s four-year history. The first was in 2023 when Arcadia was part of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Heickert himself played for an NCAA Division III national championship team at Neumann University and was an assistant coach at his alma mater before spending three years as the head coach at Bryn Athyn College.

Earning a spot on an NCAA roster is a major accomplishment for a hockey player. At the start of the 2024-25 season there 60 NCAA Division I men’s hockey teams, seven at Division II and 81 at Division III.

(By comparison, there are 352 NCAA men’s basketball programs in Division I and nine more in the process of transitioning to that level.)

By any measure, those players skating for an NCAA team, whatever the level, are part of an elite group.

“The level of plyaer that’s playing Division III hockey I very high,” Heickert says. “Just by sheer numbers. And the amount of kids playing D-III that get an opportunity to play some level of pro hockey is very good.”

Heickert shared his thoughts about the recruiting process and how he evaluates prospects, with Hockey Happenings.

“We watch them play,” he said. “We get to talk to them, we talk to coaches, talk to advisors and try to find the right character person first; that’s really important for us.

“And the education piece is very important. I don’t want to be chasing around students, begging them to go to class and worrying about GPAs.”

Heickert is quick to point out that the caliber of play in junior and Division III hockey has improved substantially from his playing days. He was asked what sets a player apart on the ice.

“Skating ability and a level of [competitiveness]really stands out for me if we’re talking about on- ice stuff,” he said.

All these kids are so skilled and can shoot a puck. All that stuff is all beyond what it was when I played D-III hockey.”

Regardless of how skilled a player may be however, stepping up to the NCAA level requires making a series of adjustment, notably in the area of ice time. A player who might have been playing on the number-one line and/or the power play at another level might be on the fourth line or killing penalties at the start of his collegiate career. The ability to make that sort of transition is critical to a player’s development.

“It’s huge,” Heickert said. “And I don’t think anyone is batting a thousand when it comes to recruiting. We do our best. I try to have a real open and honest conversation with anyone I’m talking to about recruiting. I had a conversation with a young man {recently} and I asked him, ‘What are your factors when you’re looking at schools?’”

“One of the things was how much he’s going to play. And I had to remind him I’m not recruiting someone I think I going to sit in the stands but I can’t guarantee ice time That has to be earned.”

The fact that most players play junior hockey before going on to college make the transition process unique.

“I think people forget what it’s like to step in,” Heickert said. “It’s a big jump and they forget that. And they forget that {a college team} is a team full of kids that played in the junior league they’re playing in currently but are now three years older than they are with three more years of experience at a higher level.

I think it can be a mental struggle. But I think it’s having conversations and letting them know ‘The expectation as a freshman is to play every game. That should be the goal. Just get in the lineup. Find a role. And then, build from there.”

Heickert Approaching Arcadia Debut

The Arcadia University men’s hockey program has begun a new chapter in its history with the debut of a new head coach.

Ryan Heickert will be behind the bench when the Knights open the 2024-25 season at Western New England in Springfield, Mass. on November 1 as part of the Western New England Showcase.

Heickert takes over at Arcadia after three seasons as the head coach at Bryn Athyn College. The Oshawa, Ontario native played college hockey at what was then Neumann College (now Neumann University) and played for a national championship team in 2009.

He spent three years as an assistant coach at his alma mater before stepping away from on-ice duties but continued to serve as Neumann’s strength and conditioning coach.

Heickert spoke to what made the Arcadia position appealing.

“Being on the Philly area is great,” he said. “This is where I’ve been since I played at Neumann. Not having to relocate and have the opportunity to coach [at the NCAA level].

“And secondly is it being a newer program that is still trying to I think establish an identity and get its footing in in Division III hockey and the ability to step in and be a part of that is exciting.”

Heickert takes over the Arcadia program as it begins its fourth season. It’s the first season the Middle Atlantic Conference will have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As part of that transition, Arcadia has ended its affiliation with the United Collegiate Hockey Conference.

“It’s fantastic,” Heickert said of the new alignment. “Having an opportunity to step into a conference with an automatic qualifier and then getting back into the MAC and competing against some of the other schools that the other sports on campus are. And then travel-wise, it’s just fantastic regularly competing against so many local teams. It’s great.

Heickert spoke to how his years at Neumann as a player and coach shaped his own coaching philosophy.

“They were a team that hadn’t had much success,” he recalls. “I had some great coaches there and some great teammates, and I think what we want to shape here is the culture and I think they have thing going in the right direction.

“We have a lot of great guys on this team and I think what we can do is create an identity and a culture through hard work, teamwork, connecting with our community, connecting with the school, connecting with each other and building something that way.

The Knights have compiled a record of 18-51-7 through their first three seasons.

Heickert says his recruiting efforts will emphasize finding players that fit the program as people as well as hockey players.

It’s a lot of getting the road,” he said. “Watching video, watching how guys play but then outside of that talking with their coaches talking with their GMs getting to know how they interact with their teammates and then getting to know them. Making sure they’re going to fit what we want and fit that culture.”

• Arcadia’s first seven games are on the road. The Knights’ home opener is set for November 21 against Stevenson.

The MAC Will Have a New Look This Season

The Middle Atlantic Conference is taking a big step forward this winter as it embarks on its first season with automatic bids to the NCAA Division Three men’s and women’s hockey tournaments.

With the addition of the Misericordia University men and the Hood University women to the conference lineup, the MAC now includes six men’s and six women’s teams, the minimum number for automatic qualifier (AQ) status as of this year (the previous minimum had been seven teams.

In addition, Neumann University and Wilkes University will be aligned with the MAC as associate members for both sports.

The men’s alignment will include Alvernia, Arcadia, Kings, Lebanon Valley, Misericordia, Neumann, Stevenson, and Wilkes.

The women’s alignment will feature Alvernia, Arcadia, Hood, King’s, Lebanon Valley, Stevenson. Neumann, and Wilkes

“I think it’s an important step forward,” said MAC Executive Director Megan Morrison. “We don’t have that many sports around the conference that we aren’t able to provide a home for in terms of the regular season and postseason and access to the [NCAA tournament].

Hockey was one of those where a number of our institutions had to play in a single-sport conference.

“Not only to grow the sport of hockey but to have our schools have hockey under MAC umbrella, which has a little bit wider-recognized than a single-sport conference, we certainly thought it was the right move.”

The conference will play a triple-round-robin schedule (21 conference games) followed by playoff semifinals and finals.

“This certainly allows them to have a little bit less in travel expense,” Morrison said. “Nobody loved a triple round robin but I think it’s a great place for us to start. And with everyone being so conscious on campus of expense it’s a win in that way too.”

Morrison says the realignment of the conference offers some recruiting advantages
“We’re still a young conference when it comes to hockey,” she said, “and programs that have hockey, but now, having access to the NCAA championships probably provides them with a better chance of winning a conference championship and going to the NCAA than potentially where our schools were playing previously (in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference). So, that’ certainly an upside.”

Morrison notes that some of the freshman hockey players enrolling at MAC schools will be entering college after playing junior hockey and thus will be older than the typical college freshman. She says the older first-year students offer a unique viewpoint,

“Oftentimes, institutions tell us that older students bring a different perspective,” she said, “more experience to campuses, which is a good thing.”

The conference first sponsored ice hockey during the 2017-18 season. Morrison, who assumed her post in July of 2020, says achieving AQ status was something conference administrators had been looking forward to.

“It certainly was I think in the back of the minds of all of our schools that have started hockey over the last several years,” she said. And probably in the back of their minds when they started hockey and knew they were going to have to play in another conference.

“but the one of the benefits of being a large conference is to come together, and schools can say ‘We’re thinking about ice hockey’ and other schools can plan that way and that can be something a whole conference moves towards.

This is one example where that did happen including that early vision, certainly long before my time, came to fruition.”

MAC to Receive Automatic Bids in NCAA D-III Men’s, Women’s Ice Hockey

A new era is at hand in the Middle Atlantic Conference. The MAC will have Automatic Qualifier status for the NCAA Division III men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments beginning with the upcoming 2024-25 season.

The MAC has sponsored men’s and women’s ice hockey as a championship sport since 2017-18, but the conference was not eligible for an NCAA championship automatic berth with fewer than six institutions sponsoring the sports. In 2024-25, with the addition of Misericordia men’s ice hockey and Hood women’s ice hockey, under NCAA legislation, the MAC will be immediately eligible for automatic berths in the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Championships.

Men’s ice hockey programs operating under the MAC banner include Alvernia, Arcadia, King’s, Lebanon Valley, Misericordia and Stevenson. The women’s alignment will include Alvernia, Arcadia, Hood, King’s, Lebanon Valley, and Stevenson.

MAC Executive Director Megan Morrison calls the move a step forward.

“This is the next logical step in the growth of ice hockey in the Middle Atlantic region,” she said. “The UCHC has been a good home for MAC institutions sponsoring ice hockey and we hope to continue that partnership through mutual scheduling arrangements to support the growth of the sport even further.”
The teams will play a triple-round robin schedule with the top four teams qualifying for the single-elimination conference playoffs.

The schools that previously were affiliated with the United Collegiate Hockey Conference have ended that affiliation.

The Middle Atlantic Conference contributed to this post.

Realignment Coming to MAC Hockey

Some changes are coming to NCAA Division III ice hickey; specifically changes that will impact the schools in the Middle Atlantic Conference. With addition of the Misericordia men’s and Hood women’s programs, the MAC will include six mens’ and womens’ teams beginning with the 2024-25 season and will meet the criteria for automatic bids to the NCAA mens’ and womens’ tournaments.

The MAC schools presently skating in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference will leave the UCHC following this coming season.“This is the next logical step in the growth of ice hockey in the Middle Atlantic region,” said MAC executive director Megan Morrison in a statement. “The UCHC has been a good home for MAC institutions sponsoring ice hockey and we hope to continue that partnership through mutual scheduling arrangements to support the growth of the sport even further.”

MAC men’s hockey will include Alvernia, Arcadia, King’s, Lebanon Valley, Misericordia, and Stevenson while Alvernia, Arcadia, Hood, King’s, Lebanon Valley, and Stevenson will compete in women’s hockey.

Information in this report was furnished by https://www.uscho.com/