| Ice hockey in Vermont | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Vermont | |
| Country | United States |
| Governing body | USA Hockey [1] |
| National team(s) | Men's national team Women's national team |
| First played | 1909 |
Club competitions | |
Vermont has a long history with ice hockey in the United States. Despite the state's sparse population, its location in New England placed Vermont in the middle of ice hockey circles, particularly at the college level.
The close proximity to Canada afforded Vermont with a very close view of ice hockey as far back as the 19th century. Several local clubs were arranged but nothing formal occurred until 1909. One of those amateur teams was put together by a group of students at Norwich University. After garnering some interest from the student body, the school gave its blessing to the program and the first sanctioned team in Vermont hit the ice the following year. Unfortunately, a lack of facilities left the Cadets scrambling to find available ice and eventually forced the program to be suspended in 1913. [2] After World War I, ice hockey returned to the state when Middlebury began its men's program. They were joined that season by Saint Michael's which, aside from cutting down on travel costs, provided each with a local rival. With an increasing number of rinks in the state, Norwich was able to secure a home venue and return in 1925. That same year, the state's flagship university, Vermont also hit the ice, giving the state a solid foundation with the sport. However, after the Great Depression the cost of business became too much. During the 1930s, Norwich, Vermont and Saint Michael's were each forced to suspend operations. Only Middlebury was able to carry on through the difficulties. [3]
Eventually the financial situation improved and Norwich returned to the ice by the end of the 30s. Just as the others were considering revivals of their own, World War II broke out and all programs were mothballed in the early 40s. Once the war had ended, Middlebury and Norwich restarted in short order with Saint Michael's making an abortive attempt in the 50s. The Catamounts, however, did not get back onto the ice until the 1960s. Despite the long wait, the team was very successful in its return, winning three league championships over a 5-year span. Vermont promoted its program to the top division in 1974 and has remained there ever since, albeit with less success. [4] In the meantime, Middlebury flited with a championship in the late 1970s, however, because the school was a member of NESCAC, they were forbidden from playing in national tournaments. Despite that barrier, ice hockey in Vermont was flourishing in the late 70s and eventually the granite state became a foursome once more when Saint Michael's was able to bring its team back in 1982.
In the mid-90s, the NESCAC changed its rules and finally allowed its member school to participate in national tournaments. [5] Within a year, Middlebury won its first championship and proceeded to win the next four as well. The Panthers became the first team in college hockey history to win five consecutive championships. Spurred on by their long-time rival, Norwich was able to win its first championship in 2000, ending Middlebury's run. In the first decade of the 21st century, five additional Division III national titles were won by Middlebury and Norwich, making the state the center of D-III ice hockey.
The success of the men's programs led to increased interest from other quarters. Middlebury was the first Division II or III college to found a women's team, playing its inaugural season in 1981. The other Vermont schools were slower on the uptake but by 2006 each of them was sporting a women's program as well. With so much college hockey going on in the state, eventually the sport spilled over into different branches. Vermont high schools had long sported varsity programs but the state did not receive its first formal junior team until 2000. [6] The Green Mountain Glades were members of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, a Tier III league, and survived for over a decade before relocating to Maine. Two years after their departure, a second low-level junior team arrived. The Vermont Lumberjacks continued to call the state home, as of 2023, and have been relatively successful on the ice.
In terms of professional hockey, Vermont has seen very little interest. With the state's most populous city being Burlington at just north of 44,000 residents (ranked 870th in the nation in 2020), Vermont just doesn't have enough people to support a pro team. To date, only one attempt was made and it proved to be rather disastrous; the Vermont Wild played during the fall of 2011. At the start the team performed about as well as could be expected for an expansion team but their attendance figures were woeful. Playing out of the 1,000-seat Green Mountain Arena, the Wild only could get about 1/4 of the venue filled. [7] The showing was so dismal that the team only played 10 of their scheduled 53 games before folding. [8]
| Team | City | League | Years Active | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont Wild | Morrisville | FHL | 2011 | Defunct |
| Team | City | Gender | Division | League | Arena | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwich Cadets | Northfield | Men's | NCAA Division III | NEHC | Kreitzberg Arena | 1909 |
| Women's | NCAA Division III | NEHC | Kreitzberg Arena | 2006 | ||
| Middlebury Panthers | Middlebury | Men's | NCAA Division III | NESCAC | Kenyon Arena | 1922 |
| Women's | NCAA Division III | NESCAC | Kenyon Arena | 1981 | ||
| Saint Michael's Purple Knights | Colchester | Men's | NCAA Division II | NE10 | C. Douglas Cairns Arena | 1922 |
| Women's | NCAA Division I | NEWHA | C. Douglas Cairns Arena | 2000 | ||
| Vermont Catamounts | Burlington | Men's | NCAA Division I | Hockey East | Gutterson Fieldhouse | 1925 |
| Women's | NCAA Division I | Hockey East | Gutterson Fieldhouse | 1998 |
| Team | City | League | Arena | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont Lumberjacks | Burlington | EHL | Leddy Arena | 2014 |
| Team | City | League | Years Active | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Mountain Glades | Williston | EJHL | 2000–2012 | Defunct |
Active Active (out of state)
Vermont has a very high level of engagement with ice hockey. In 2022, 0.663% of the population was registered with USA Hockey, or about 1 in every 150 people. [9] That was good enough for 4th in the nation, ahead of traditional hotbeds like Massachusetts and Michigan. With the state's low overall population that only translates to approximately 4,000 people, however, that hasn't stopped several Vermont natives from making a name in the sport.
† relocated from elsewhere.
The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective liberal arts institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The eleven institutions are Amherst College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, Connecticut College, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.
New England Hockey Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference.
The Middlebury Panthers are the 31 varsity teams of Middlebury College that compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The Panthers lead the NESCAC in total number of national championships, having won 42 team titles since the conference lifted its ban on NCAA play in 1994. Middlebury enjoys national success in soccer, cross country running, field hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey, skiing, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse, and fields 31 varsity NCAA teams and several competitive club teams including a sailing team (MCSC), a crew team, a water polo team, an ultimate frisbee team, and a rugby team. Since 2000, Middlebury's varsity squads have won 84 NESCAC titles. Currently, 28% of students participate in varsity sports.
Bill Beaney Jr. is a retired college men's ice hockey coach. He has coached hockey teams in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, and was the head coach at Middlebury from 1986 until 2015. He led the Middlebury hockey team to eight Division III championships from 1995 to 2006 and ranks 13th all-time among college men's ice hockey coaches with 601 wins.
The Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program represents the University of Vermont. The Catamounts compete in Hockey East. Their first year of varsity women's hockey was in 1998–99. The Catamounts were in the ECAC at the Division III level of competition. In 2001–02, the Catamounts moved up to Division I. For the 2005–06 season, the Catamounts moved to Hockey East.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine. The Polar Bears compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Bowdoin College currently fields teams in fourteen men's sports and sixteen women's sports. The polar bear team name was selected to honor Robert Peary of the class of 1877 who lead the first expedition that reached the North Pole.
The Trinity College Bantams are the varsity and club athletic teams of Trinity College, a selective liberal arts college located in Hartford, Connecticut. Trinity's varsity teams compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. The College offers 27 varsity teams, plus club sports, intramural sports.
The NCAA Division III women's ice hockey is a college ice hockey competition governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as part of the NCAA Division III. Sixty-seven teams competed in NCAA Division III women's hockey across eight conferences in the 2023–24 season.
The Bates Bobcats are the athletic teams of Bates College largely based in Lewiston, Maine and the surrounding areas. The college's official mascot has been the bobcat since 1924, and maintains garnet as its official color. The school sponsors 32 varsity sports, most of which compete in the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The school's men's and women's ski teams and men's and women's squash teams compete in Division I. Bates has rivalries with Princeton in Squash and Dartmouth in Skiing and selected hockey bouts. The college also competes with its Maine rivals Bowdoin and Colby in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB). This is one of the oldest football rivalries in the United States. This consortium is a series of historically highly competitive football games ending in the championship game between the three schools. Bates has won this championship at total of twelve times including 2014, 2015, and in 2016 beat Bowdoin 24–7 after their 21–19 abroad victory over Colby. Bates is currently the holder of the winning streak, and has the record for biggest victory in the athletic conference with a 51–0 shutout of Colby College. The three colleges also contest the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Chase Regatta. The college is the all-time leader of the Chase Regatta with a total of 14 composite wins, followed by Colby's 5 wins, concluded with Bowdoin's 2 wins.
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Amanda Pelkey is an American professional ice hockey forward for PWHL Boston of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She previously played in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Metropolitan Riveters. She won the Isobel Cup in 2016 with the Boston Pride and was previously affiliated with the Calgary section of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). Her college ice hockey career was played with the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East conference of the NCAA Division I.
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