 | |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Commissioner | Katie Boldvich |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division III |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Headquarters | Marshfield, Massachusetts |
| Region | New York and New England |
| Official website | http://www.nehockeyconference.com/ |
| Locations | |
 | |
New England Hockey Conference (formerly the ECAC East) 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. [1]
The New England Hockey Conference began as ECAC East in 1984 when ECAC 2 was split in two and both new conferences dropped down to Division III. The conference was fairly stable for the first decade but began to grow in the mid 1990s. In 1998 four teams left to become Division I programs in the new MAAC conference. A year later, nine more teams split off to join their primary athletic conference, NESCAC, followed by the women's programs in 2001. Membership numbers held steady over the succeeding 15 years, though several teams came and went. In 2015 the conference rebranded itself as the New England Hockey Conference, but no internal changes occurred. Two years later 6 women's and 2 men's programs left to join a variety of conferences, dropping league membership to 11 schools, the lowest number in conference history.
In the summer of 2023, Keene State announced that they would begin sponsoring men's and women's ice hockey starting with the 2024–25 season. [2] This gave the Little East Conference six member schools that supported men's ice hockey, the minimum number required for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Shortly afterwards, the Little East announced that they would begin sponsoring men's ice hockey as a sport and begin play in the 2025-26 season. [3] In early 2024 New England College was accepted by the Little East as an affiliate ice hockey member, enabling the conference to also support women's hockey. [4] Less than a month later, two more NEHC teams announced that they would be joining the Little East as affiliate members and both Babson and Norwich would be leaving in 2025. [5] The bleeding continued when, in May, Albertus Magus (who had yet to play a game in the NEHC) and Elmira both announced that they would be leaving to 2025 to join the UCHC. [6] With just 5 schools remaining for the start of the 2025–26 season, the future of the NEHC is in doubt.
From the time it formally split from ECAC 2 until 1992 all games played between members of ECAC East and ECAC West counted for conference standings. In 1992, after the ECAC West split into two conferences, ECAC East only counted games within their conference for the standings, but because a formal schedule was not yet in place all games between members were still counted. For the 1993–94 season ECAC East had its first official conference schedule with all 18 teams playing each other once. Teams could schedule additional inter-conference games but only one would count in the standings. In 1999, when 9 teams left to form the ice hockey division of the NESCAC, the two conferences continued to count games between one another in their respective standings. This arrangement continued even after the addition of more programs.
There are 12 member schools; the men's division has ten members, while the women's division has nine members. (as of November 2018)
Note: schools in red are planning to leave after the 2024-25 season
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joining | Enrollment | Nickname | Primary Conference | Former Ice Hockey Conference | Colors | (M) | (W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albertus Magnus College | New Haven, Connecticut | 1925 | 2024-25 [7] | 1,961 | Falcons | Great Northeast Athletic Conference | Independent |  | | |
| Salve Regina University | Newport, Rhode Island | 1934 | 2024-25 [8] | 2,600 | Seahawks | New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference | Commonwealth Coast Conference | | |
† (as of November 2018)
Men Women Both
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate and nicer facilities and a few more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Little East Conference (LEC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. The member institutions are located in all six states of New England.
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 following is a list of NCAA women's collegiate ice hockey teams, and conferences they compete in, that compete for berths in the annual NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament. The championship has existed since the 2000–2001 season and conferences include the university teams of Divisions I and II of the NCAA.
Michael C. Vollmin is an American-Swiss professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing with Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). He previously played with SC Langenthal of the Swiss League (SL).
The United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) is a college athletic conference which operates in Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania in the eastern United States. It participates in NCAA Division III as a hockey-only conference.
The 1992–93 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began in October 1992 and concluded on March 27 of the following year. This was the 20th season of Division III college ice hockey.
The 1993–94 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began in October 1993 and concluded on March 19 of the following year. This was the 21st season of Division III college ice hockey.
The 1999–2000 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began on October 22, 1999 and concluded on March 18 of the following year. This was the 27th season of Division III college ice hockey.
The 2017–18 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began on October 21, 2017, and concluded on March 24, 2018. This was the 45th season of Division III college ice hockey.
NCAA Division III independent schools are teams that compete in NCAA ice hockey but are not members of a conference. There are also several current and former schools that previously competed as Division III independents.
