The NECHA league comprises four-year post secondary college and university teams separated into three conferences: Patriot, American, and Colonial. The Patriot and American conferences compete under Division II of the ACHA and the Colonial competes under Division III.
Each league conference consists of two divisions organized geographically by School location. Teams play a minimum of 10 league games during the regular season. Following the regular season, the NECHA league hosts their annual championship playoffs for each conference with invitations to the top teams in the regular season standings.
Associate and Probationary Members are recognized teams but are not full-members of the league and are not eligible for the NECHA Regular Season Championship, the NECHA League Playoffs, and do not vote on actions at official league meetings.
The New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference 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.
The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegiate ice hockey. The ACHA currently has three men's and two women's divisions and includes approximately 450 teams from across the United States and Canada. Most ACHA teams offer few athletic scholarships and typically receive far less university funding. The ACHA offers an opportunity for college hockey programs that struggle with large budgets and Title IX issues, as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) financial structure.
College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.
The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 51st season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 4 member teams in the Midwestern United States.
The Grand Valley State Lakers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Grand Valley State University, located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The GVSU Lakers compete at the NCAA Division II level and are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
College Hockey Mid-America (CHMA) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I ice hockey conference with teams in Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was formed in 2006 after members of the now defunct University Hockey League organized the league and moved from the ACHA's Division II to Division I.
The Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) is a collegiate hockey conference at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I level. The league was created in 2017 and is made up of eight teams located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
The Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League (TSCHL) is an ACHA Division II level ice hockey league. ACHA Division II level consists of players with previous Jr. A, AAA or Midget Major experience, along with high caliber high school experience. The level can range from varsity high school up to NCAA Division III skills, depending on the programs.
The Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association (MACH) was a college ice hockey league based in the Southeastern region of the United States. The conference was part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 and finished the 2022-2023 season with five teams from colleges and universities based in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The Super East Collegiate Hockey League(SECHL) is a collegiate club hockey league that plays at Division II of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) at Division II.
The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference for most of its sports since the 2022–23 academic year.
The United States ice hockey structure includes elements from traditional American scholastic high school and college athletics, affiliated and independent minor leagues, the unique "major junior" leagues, as well as other various amateur junior and youth hockey leagues. The hierarchy of the ice hockey league system forms a pyramid with many regional minor and development leagues making up the base of the pyramid and a linear progression through the professional minor leagues leading to the National Hockey League at the top of the pyramid.
The Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I level ice hockey league. The GLCHL is made up of nine schools, including one in Indiana, one in Illinois, and seven in Michigan.
The Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League (ECWHL) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Division 1 club level hockey-only college athletic conference for women's hockey teams. It is one of four ACHA Women's Division 1 conferences, along with the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League, and Women's Midwest College Hockey. Primarily, the league has been concentrated in New England and Upstate and Western New York, with eleven of its thirteen members over fourteen seasons based in those areas.
The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey, formerly known as the Penn State Icers, is a college ice hockey program that represents the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to the 2012–13 season the program was designated a club sport and competed at the ACHA Division I level. PSU was previously a member of the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL, although the team competed as an independent ACHA D-I member for the 2011–12 season before moving to the NCAA D-I level. They play at the Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania.
The TCNJ Lions are the athletic teams representing The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). They are a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and compete within Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) is a Division 1 collegiate ice hockey league in the ACHA, which is the highest non-varsity Club Level for college hockey. The ACHL is made up of ten teams from the Western United States.
The Lindenwood Lady Lions ice hockey team represents Lindenwood University located in St. Charles, Missouri. The Lady Lions currently participate in the NCAA Division I competition as a member of College Hockey America (CHA). The team played with no conference affiliation as an Independent program for its first season of NCAA competition. During the 2011–12 season, Lindenwood was accepted into College Hockey America (CHA) beginning in the 2012–2013 season. Prior to 2011 the university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), because the organization does not sponsor women's ice hockey, the program competed in the American Collegiate Hockey Association at the ACHA DI level.
The Colonial States College Hockey Conference (CSCHC) is a non-varsity club college ice hockey league based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The conference is part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 and is made up of teams from colleges and universities based in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
