RIT senior goalie Jared DeMichiel is one of the best in the nation and leads the Tigers into this weekend’s Atlantic Hockey championship weekend at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. The Tigers had a record-setting year in Atlantic Hockey, establishing new marks for a team in league wins and total points.

DeMichiel, from Avon, Conn., had five shutouts on the year with a .919 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against average, posting a 23-9-1 record and was a First Team All-Atlantic Hockey selection. He was also featured in INCH’s Tweet of the Week earlier this year. You can follow him @demike3316.

Jared DeMichiel

Joe Gladziszewski: Your team is very solid in all aspects. Is balance a big word for you guys?

Jared DeMichiel: I would say we have the six most underrated defensemen in the nation. Dan Ringwald gets a lot of press but it seems people really don’t know how good he is. Chris Tanev is a freshman and he’s a part of our top D pairing. Great freshman, very knowledgeable, wants to get better, works hard. The same can be said for the rest of our D corps. With the forwards we have a good mix of young guys and older guys. There’s good leadership there with the likes of Andrew Favot and Stevan Matic but you’ve got guys like Cameron Burt, a sophomore, stepping up. This is probably the best team that’s been here in my four years. A couple years ago we had some great players in Simon Lambert and Matt Smith but this is our best team. We play as a team, we’re vocal in the locker room, we’re vocal on the ice. We all care about each other, it’s a good brotherhood here.

INCH: Your team set some records in Atlantic Hockey. Start of the year, out of the league it was a rough start, but what was it like as the season progressed? Setting new bars, getting to first place, setting a record for points, was that a challenge?

JD: It wasn’t the start we wanted, we played some good teams early. We lost a couple of one-goal games that we should have won, and if we play those teams over again it might be a different story, you never know. We got a couple of wins here early going against UConn, Army, kind of rolled from there. I think once we got a few wins we got greedy. You don’t like losing, you want to keep winning and keep going from there. We got into first and I think still teams didn’t respect us as much as maybe they should have and it kept pushing us. Personally, I wanted to break the (team) wins record and have as many points. Dan Ringwald also brought that up in one of the practices that we had a chance to break the most points in a season. This is our last year and we want to make the best of it. We just want to win and play the best we can play.

INCH: Now you’re in a situation where every time you play it could be it. I imagine that it can’t be too hard to get motivated. Is it fun to get in this atmosphere?

JD: This is what you play the game for. Last year was tough for me, I broke my wrist right before the semifinal game, still played, if I’m 100 percent I think our team goes a little bit farther and I kind of take the blame for that loss last year. This is what you play the game for, it’s fun, you live for this. I feel like a kid out there, I don’t care how old I am. It’s just fun every time you step out on the ice. Maybe it means more, but it’s just fun. That’s why you play the game, to play in the playoffs.

INCH: How about the beginning of the season, the early game you had at Blue Cross Arena in front of a lot of fans against Colgate.

JD: We play well at Blue Cross, but we just can’t get over the hump. We need to do that next week, get over the hump. I thought we outplayed Colgate, outshot them. Their goalie played great that game. He stood on his head, made some sick saves. We should have won that game, but we can’t be saying shoulda, coulda, woulda this weekend. We’ve got to get it done. A lot of people talk, maybe we’re snakebit at Blue Cross, but we just need to get the job done.

INCH: What are your thoughts on Sacred Heart, Canisius and Air Force?

JD: All three of the teams that you mentioned have great offenses. Sacred Heart has Nick Johnson, a great goal scorer. Same thing with Canisius and (Cory) Conacher, even (Vincent) Scarsella and (Josh) Heidinger, they have (Carl) Hudson on the point who is also a great offensive defenseman. Air Force, you have to tip your cap to them, they’ve made the NCAA Tournament the last two years. Jacques Lamoureux is a great player, Andrew Volkening between the pipes. All three teams, if we face them it’s going to be a battle. We’re definitely looking forward to it and looking forward to the challenge.

INCH: What does the Cameron Burt, Mike Janda, and Stevan Matic line do for your team?

JD: Burt plays with a lot of energy, you can tell the fans love him here. He’s really good with puck possession, moving the puck, cycling down low. I think he frustrates teams because they can’t get the puck off of his stick and then they do something and he pulls some moves, makes a pass back door. He creates a lot of space for his linemates. Matic brings some grit to that line. He’s not afraid to hit people and he understands his role, he’s a good two-way player. He knows that if he blocks shots in the defensive zone he might get a chance in the offensive zone. Mike Janda has a great shot, really underrated shot, really underrated player. Sean Murphy, who is normally on that line, is out injured. We miss him, he also brings a nice mix of grit and skill. It’s definitely a really good line. Burt’s line and (Andrew) Favot’s line, we build off of those.

INCH: You said earlier that this is the best team you’ve been on in four years, how about your overall experience at RIT?

JD: It’s great, there’s not too much more that I could ask for. My freshman year, first year in Atlantic Hockey and nobody would’ve picked us to win it. My sophomore year I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to, but it’s my own fault because I didn’t play that well. Last year was a great experience, and this year is the icing on the cake. I’m 24 years old and this is the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey. There’s a great coaching staff, great rink, great education. It’s kind of ironic that we have so many great fans here and not too many people know about us. I’m definitely happy with my choice.