Members
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Locations of member teams
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Around Boston
Membership timeline
| Founded | 1936 |
|---|---|
| Ceased | 1954 |
| Sports fielded | |
| No. of teams | 8 to 11 |
| Region | Northeastern United States |
The New England Intercollegiate Hockey League is a defunct NCAA Division I ice hockey-only conference. The league was an early attempt by second-tier programs to form a conference and stabilize their schedules during the Great Depression. The champion of the league received the Donald Sands Memorial Trophy. [1]
While the upper echelon of college hockey teams had been creating formal leagues for decades, many of the 'lesser' schools were frozen out of these conferences. In the mid-30's, several teams in New England decided to band together and form their own aggregation, the New England Intercollegiate Hockey League. [2] Originally, The league was made up by eight members, however, there were few requirements with regards to participation. All games between league members were counted in the standings, however, teams were not required to play against all of their conference opponents. This loose policy led to an unbalanced schedule and the teams with the superior records not necessarily being the best.
The league continued unaltered until World War II forced several members to suspend operations. In 1942, Hew Hampshire, Colby and Bowdoin were replaced by Tufts and Norwich. The following year, the league was suspended due to most other programs stopping for the duration of the war. The league returned in 1946, once college hockey resumed in full. A year later, the league held its first postseason and became the first unofficial conference to hold a postseason game in over 40 years. In 1949, Boston College became the first league member to win a National Championship.
Unfortunately, despite the successes of some members, the league itself was not in a good position. Because members weren't required to play one another, the better programs could ignore the lower clubs, creating an effective class system within the conference. Additionally, upon the creation of the Tri-State League in 1950, the NEIHL was one of three conferences in the northeast and not the best of the bunch. The conference continued during the early years of the 1950s but, after Boston College didn't bother attending the conference tournament in 1952, the postseason was abandoned. In its place, BC, BU and Northeastern joined with Harvard to found the Beanpot the following year. Largely superfluous by then, the league fizzled and was formally dissolved in 1954.
While the conference's demise was unfortunate, most of the league members would eventually join to help form ECAC Hockey in 1961, a 28-team super-conference. [3] Tufts suspended its program from 1960 to 1986 while Fort Devens State closed its doors in 1949.
| Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. |
| Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. |
| Year | Champion | Record | Tournament Champion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936–37 | Boston College | 5–1–1 | — | [4] |
| 1937–38 | Boston University | 5–1–2 | — | [5] |
| 1938–39 | Boston University | 6–0–0 | — | [5] |
| 1939–40 | Boston College | 10–0–0 | — | [6] |
| 1940–41 | Boston College | 8–0–0 | — | [7] |
| 1941–42 | Boston College | 8–0–0 | — | [8] |
| 1942–43 | Northeastern* | 7–2–0 | — | [9] |
| 1946–47 | Boston University | 11–0–1 | — | [5] |
| 1947–48 | Boston University | 12–1–0 | Boston College | [5] |
| 1948–49 | Boston College | 9–0–0 | Boston College | [5] |
| 1949–50 | Boston University | 8–1–0 | Boston University | [5] |
| 1950–51 | Boston College | 6–1–0 | Boston University | [5] |
| 1951–52 | Boston College | 7–2–0 | Boston University^ | [5] |
| 1952–53 | Boston College | 5–2–1 | — | |
| 1953–54 | Boston College | 6–0–0 | — |
* Boston College defeated Northeastern twice during the season and finished with an undefeated record in league play, however, because the Eagles only played 4 games due to issues from the war, they were ruled to have not played sufficient games to qualify for the championship.
^ Rather than a conference tournament, the NEIHL held an invitational tournament that included non-conference teams.
ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United States. This relationship ended in 2004; however, the ECAC abbreviation was retained in the name of the hockey conference. ECAC Hockey is the only ice hockey conference with identical memberships in both its women's and men's divisions. Cornell has won the most ECAC men's hockey championships with 12, followed by Harvard at 11. Quinnipiac, which joined the league in 2005, already has 7 regular season championships. ECAC Hockey teams have won 10 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championships, most recently in 2023.
The Beanpots is an annual men's and women's ice hockey tournament among the four major US college hockey teams of the Boston, Massachusetts area. The men's tournament is usually held during the first two Mondays in February at TD Garden and the women's tournament rotates hosts between the four schools. The four teams are the Boston University Terriers, Boston College Eagles, Harvard University Crimson, and Northeastern University Huskies. The men's tournament has been held annually since the 1952–53 season and has been held at its current location since 1996, except for 2021 when it was cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Northeastern is the current men's Beanpot champion, having won the 2023 tournament. The women's tournament began in 1979, and Northeastern is the 2023 champion.
The Boston University Terriers are the ten men's and fourteen women's varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. Boston University's team nickname is the Terriers, and the official mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. The school colors are Scarlet and White. The mascot is named Rhett after Rhett Butler from Gone With the Wind, because "no one loves Scarlet more than Rhett."
The Green Line Rivalry, also known as the B-Line Rivalry, the Battle of Boston and Battle of Commonwealth Avenue, is the name for the sports rivalry between Boston College and Boston University. The rivalry is named after the Green Line, a light rail line that runs along Commonwealth Avenue and links the two schools as part of the MBTA, Boston's public transit system. The two campuses lie less than five miles apart.
College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.
The Boston University Terriers men’s ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents Boston University. They played their first game in 1918 and have won five national championships, while making 22 appearances in the Frozen Four.
John "Snooks" Kelley was an American ice hockey coach. Kelley was coach of the Boston College Eagles ice hockey team for 36 years. Kelley won the 1949 NCAA ice hockey title and was the first coach to win 500 games in the NCAA. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1974
The Boston College Eagles are a NCAA Division I college ice hockey program that represent Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The team has competed in Hockey East since 1984, having previously played in the ECAC. The Eagles have won five national championships, the most recent coming in 2012. Home games have been played at Kelley Rink at Conte Forum, named after coach John "Snooks" Kelley, since 1988, having previously played at McHugh Forum. The Eagles are coached by former Eagles and NHL defenseman Greg Brown, who recently took over the reins after the retirement of Jerry York.
The Harvard Crimson women's ice hockey team represents Harvard University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's hockey. Harvard competes as a member of the ECAC Conference and plays its home games at the Bright Hockey Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Princeton Tigers women's ice hockey team represents Princeton University in the ECAC Hockey conference in the NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. They play at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. In the 2019-2020 season, they won their first ECAC championship, defeating #1 ranked Cornell by a score of 3-2 in overtime.
The 2010–11 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season began in October, ending with the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game in March, 2011. The Frozen Four was hosted by Mercyhurst College at Louis J. Tullio Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania.
The 1948–49 Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey team represented the Boston College in intercollegiate college ice hockey during the 1948–49 NCAA men's ice hockey season. The head coach was John "Snooks" Kelley and the team captain was Bernie Burke. The team won the 1949 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. The team's leading scorer was Jack Mulhern, who finished second in the NCAA in both goals (34) and points (65)
ECAC 2 was an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's College Division. The league was created as a way to fairly divide the upper- and lower-class programs that had been members of ECAC Hockey. In 1984 the conference was split in two, creating ECAC East and ECAC West as completely independent leagues.
The 1970–71 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey team represented Boston University in college ice hockey. In its 9th year under head coach Jack Kelley the team compiled a 28–2–1 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the seventh time. The Terriers defeated Minnesota 4–2 in the championship game at the Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse, New York to win the national championship.
The 1977–78 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey team represented Boston University in college ice hockey. In its 5th year under head coach Jack Parker the team compiled a 30–2–0 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive season and thirteenth all-time. The Terriers defeated Boston College 5–3 in the championship game at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island to win their third national championship.
The 2019–20 Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey team represented Boston College in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The team was coached by Jerry York, '67, his twenty-sixth season behind the bench at Boston College. The Eagles played their home games at Kelley Rink on the campus of Boston College, competing in Hockey East.
The 2021–22 Boston University Terriers Men's ice hockey season was the 100th season of play for the program. They represented Boston University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 38th season in the Hockey East conference. The Terriers were coached by Albie O'Connell, in his fourth season, and played their home games at Agganis Arena.
The 2020–21 ECAC Hockey men's ice hockey season was the 60th season of play for ECAC Hockey and took place during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular was delayed until on November 22, 2020 and conclude on March 6, 2021.
The 2022–23 Harvard Crimson Men's ice hockey season was the 122nd season of play for the program and 61st in ECAC Hockey. The Crimson represented Harvard University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by Ted Donato in his 18th season, and played their home games at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
The 2022–23 Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey season was the 101st season of play for the program and the 39th in the Hockey East conference. The Eagles represented Boston College in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, playing their home games at Kelley Rink. They were coached by Greg Brown in his 1st season, after taking over for longtime head coach Jerry York who retired after 50 years behind an NCAA bench, 28 of which were for the Eagles.