Army hockey sophomore Max Itagaki named preseason all-star, Black Knights tabbed seventh
This may be the youngest Army hockey team that coach Brian Riley has ever fielded but he does have an all-star in his lineup.
Sophomore forward Max Itagaki was named the Atlantic Hockey rookie of the year for 2022-23 and made the six-player preseason all-star squad for 2023-24.
“I always tell people,’’ Riley said, “you can be big and play small, or you can be small and play big – in stature he’s small but he plays big, and I think the other coaches would agree.’’
The 5-foot-7, 155-pound Itagaki established the Atlantic Hockey rookie record with 29 assists, leading the conference in helpers. He also had four goals and his 33 points ranked fifth in overall scoring.
“He's just got a vision that I haven’t seen with anybody that I’ve had the opportunity to coach,’’ Riley said. “If you play on a line with him, you need to be ready to get the puck because even when you don't think he can do it, he does it.
“We're excited to have him back. We're glad that he's on our team and I'm excited to see what type of year that that he has,’’ Riley added.
Army was selected seventh out of 11 teams in the preseason coaches’ poll. The top six are regular-season champion RIT, Sacred Heart, second-place finisher American International, playoff finalist Holy Cross, playoff champion Canisius and Niagara. The bottom four are Air Force, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris and Bentley.
Army lost seven seniors from last year’s team, returning just four seniors and seven juniors. Riley says the nine sophomores and 12 freshmen may make Army the youngest team in the nation.
“If we were to play tomorrow, we'd probably have 14 or 15 of them in the lineup,’’ he said. “No doubt in my eyes, that’s a talented group in both the freshman and sophomore class. The more experience these guys get, we’ll kind of reap the rewards from that, I believe, down the road.’’
Last season, Army finished 14-19-4, bowing in three games in a quarterfinal series at Canisius. The Black Knights were 12-12-2 in league play, finishing fifth.
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army's Max Itagaki named Atlantic Hockey preseason all star
