79-791: College Hockey America ( CHA ) was a college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participated in the NCAA 's Division I as a hockey -only conference. The conference's final membership featured six women's teams, with three in Pennsylvania ; two in New York , and one in Missouri . On April 30, 2024, CHA merged with the Atlantic Hockey Association to form Atlantic Hockey America in 2024–25. The CHA
158-523: A Division II national championship from 1978 to 1984 and also from 1993 to 1999. The 84 programs in Division III hockey are part of nine conferences: The Middle Atlantic Conference officially sponsors men's and women's ice hockey, but does not hold a conference tournament. Instead, in a relationship similar to that between the Ivy League and ECAC Hockey, all MAC hockey schools are members of
237-526: A class action was filed on behalf of a player who was declared ineligible after having played two exhibition games in the OHL when he was 16 years old. Men's U.S. college hockey is a feeder system to the National Hockey League . As of the 2010–11 season, 30 percent of NHL players (a total of 294) had U.S. college hockey experience prior to turning professional, an increase of 35 percent from
316-646: A tennis tournament in Niagara Falls, Ontario . They both had dabbled a bit in a sport called ice polo; in Ontario, they met members of the Victoria Hockey Club , who introduced them to their similar game of ice hockey , and invited the two to visit Montreal to learn about their version of the game. The next winter, during Christmas break 1894-1895, Chace (who had by then transferred to Yale University ) and Wrenn returned to Canada with
395-837: A 205-room Buffalo Marriott Harborcenter Hotel, as well as two hockey rinks that are the home of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres of the Ontario Junior Hockey League , the Canisius Golden Griffins of the NCAA , and the Erie Kats of the National Junior College Athletic Association . The rinks are also the Buffalo Sabres practice facility. The beginning concept for the building, specifically
474-774: A 3–3 tie, and games involving the Buffalo Jr. Sabres 16U and 18U teams. Annually, in November, the Buffalo Sabres Thunder, a special needs hockey team, hosts a tournament known as the Coach Michael Steffan Invitational Tournament (formerly named Buffalo Fall Festival) at The Rinks. In 2015, the NHL Scouting Combine was moved from Toronto to Harborcenter under a two-year pact. Buffalo also hosted
553-660: A charity event known as 11 Day Power Play , which set a world record for the longest continuous hockey game. It has since become an annual event at Harborcenter. The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were co-hosted by the KeyBank Rink and KeyBank Center. In September 2018, it was announced that the Atlantic Hockey Tournament , an NCAA Division I Men's ice hockey league tournament would be moving to Harborcenter from Rochester's Blue Cross Arena starting in 2019. The NHL Rookie Tournament
632-569: A complete range of sports medicine services to athletes and employees who use the facility. The development's two ice rinks, known collectively as The Rinks , is the home of the Canisius Golden Griffins , an NCAA Division I college hockey program in Buffalo, as well as the Buffalo Jr. Sabres with the Griffins and Junior Sabres playing in the larger rink 1 known as KeyBank Rink at Harborcenter with separate dedicated dressing rooms. Rink 1
711-709: A conference in 2018 and received NCAA recognition in 2019. There are 67 teams in Division III in eight conferences: As noted previously, the Middle Atlantic Conference sponsors women's ice hockey, but does not hold a conference tournament. All of its hockey members compete for the UCHC's automatic tournament berth, and the MAC champion is extrapolated from regular-season results of games between MAC members. LECOM Harborcenter LECOM Harborcenter
790-426: A faceoff as a left and right wing (or end) on the outside and a left and right center on the inside. The two point men and goaltender were typically arrayed in a line from center ice to the goal as cover point, point and goaltender. If viewed from above, the players would form a T. If a rover was used instead there would only be one center. The rover would line up either in a defensive or offensive position depending on
869-661: A flagship Tim Hortons that pays tribute to Tim Horton , the Buffalo Sabres, and the former Buffalo Memorial Auditorium . The restaurant opened on October 30, 2014. A Statue of Tim Horton was dedicated across the street the same day. The building also contains a pro shop. The building also has storefronts along Main Street known as The Shops at HarborCanter for smaller street front tenants which are expected to be leased out. The first store that opened in Harborcenter
SECTION 10
#1732765684820948-524: A group of college students from several universities. The cadre was one of the first American ice hockey teams and, after a 10-game tour of Canada, the students returned to their respective schools with the intent of founding collegiate ice hockey clubs. Yale , where Chace served as team captain and player-coach, was the first of the group to organize its team and in February 1896 the Bulldogs played
1027-464: A much larger student body and a resulting influx in cash, colleges were more able to afford to support an ice hockey team. By 1947, college ice hockey was still a regional sport, being localized in the northeast and northern Midwest (with a few exceptions) but despite the low number of teams playing, the NCAA finally instituted a national tournament. At the start the tournament invited two participants from
1106-484: A quick-serve restaurant and boutique operated by Kelly and Jessica Pegula . Clayton's, Fowler's and Red Siren all announced their departure from Harborcenter in September 2017, with employees citing slow sales and inconsistent traffic for their departure. In May 2015, it was announced that Advanced Care Physical Therapy would lease space inside Impact Sports Performance, located inside the Harborcenter. This provides
1185-466: A timeline. Robert Morris resumed National Collegiate play in 2023–24, returning to CHA after having dropped men's and women's hockey following the 2020–21 season. Both teams are now in the merged Atlantic Hockey America. The newest National Collegiate conference is the NEWHA, formed in 2017 as a scheduling alliance between the then-current National Collegiate independents . It formally organized as
1264-653: A varsity conference – the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) – and a club league – the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL). " University hockey " is the term used for hockey primarily played at four-year institutions ; that level of the sport is governed by U Sports . In fall of 1892, Malcolm Greene Chace , then a freshman at Brown University , and Robert Wrenn , of Harvard University , were participating in
1343-683: Is also home to the Erie Community College Kats 's of the NJCAA . The smaller rink 2 is known as New Wave Energy Rink under a separate naming rights deal. The Rinks are also the home to the Academy of Hockey and the Harborcenter Cup as well as serving as the Buffalo Sabres' practice facility. The rinks were opened on October 31, 2014 with the first of back to back games between Canisius and Ohio State which resulted in
1422-641: Is an American mixed-use development in Buffalo, New York , developed by Pegula Sports and Entertainment . The building occupies a full 1.7 acre city block formerly known as the Webster Block, directly across from and connected to the KeyBank Center and Canalside . The building is also near the southern terminus of the Canalside station . The development features retail and restaurant space,
1501-592: Is known as the Pairwise Rankings, which uses a number of ranking factors to create a scoring system for all NCAA Division I teams. In 2023–24, one school played its first season of Division I hockey, while another resumed D-I play after a two-season hiatus. Augustana University , a Division II school in South Dakota (and not to be confused with Augustana College , a Division III school in Illinois),
1580-515: Is launching a new varsity program as the newest member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association . Robert Morris , which had suspended its men's and women's hockey programs after the 2020–21 season due to COVID-19 impacts, reinstated both teams for 2023–24, with the men returning to their previous home of Atlantic Hockey . As of the upcoming 2024–25 season, the conferences are: The most recent change to
1659-527: Is owned by the Pegula's company Pegula Sports and Entertainment . The building contains indoor parking for 750 vehicles, and features two NHL regulation indoor ice rinks on the building's sixth floor, one with an 1,800-seat capacity and the other with a 150-seat capacity. IMPACT Sports Performance owned by the Pegulas operates Harborcenter's 5,000 square foot, high performance off-ice training facility located on
SECTION 20
#17327656848201738-592: The COVID-19 pandemic . Another game often cited as the "first game of intercollegiate ice hockey played in the United States" is a well-documented contest on January 19, 1898 at Franklin Park , Boston. Students from Brown took the train to Boston, where they commandeered a patch of a frozen pond in Franklin Park, asked pleasure skaters to give them room, and played students from Harvard. The details and outcome of
1817-665: The ECAC . The CHA Women's Division managed to remain at four teams between 2002 and 2008; although teams continued to come and go. In 2004, Findlay dropped its women's hockey program and was replaced by Quinnipiac University for one season. In 2005, the Bobcats removed its women's team and moved to another conference (ECAC). They were replaced by the Colonials women's ice hockey team of Robert Morris University. In 2008–09, Syracuse University started up its women's hockey program and joined
1896-584: The NHL Entry Draft in 2016. The NHL subsequently announced that it would continue to hold the combine in Buffalo through at least 2019. The 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships were held at Harborcenter. In January 2016, the venue hosted the inaugural National Women's Hockey League all-star game . In 2016, the CHA conference tournament in women's college hockey began to be hosted at Harborcenter. From June 22 to July 3, 2017, rink 1 hosted
1975-648: The Western Collegiate Hockey Association . These schools had announced in late 2019 that they would leave the WCHA after the 2020–21 season, and subsequently announced that they would operate as a new CCHA. In July 2020, the new CCHA added an eighth member in St. Thomas , a Twin Cities institution that made an unprecedented move from NCAA Division III directly to Division I. Augustana became
2054-526: The 2010–11 season. Bemidji State applied again to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for inclusion and was accepted, along with the University of Nebraska-Omaha of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association . Alabama-Huntsville applied to the CCHA following the announced departure of Nebraska-Omaha and was denied. As a result, Alabama-Huntsville began competing as an independent team beginning with
2133-785: The 2010–11 season. The CHA men's division dissolved in 2010. There were eight member schools in total during the eleven men's seasons. The conference began in the 1999–2000 season with seven teams, and ended in 2009–2010 with four. Tournament champions were awarded the Bob Peters Cup. Note: For the first time in conference history, the 2006 men's and women's tournaments were held at the same site: The Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Detroit, Michigan . The 2008 tournaments were also held jointly, at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, New York . ^A At-large invitee. College Hockey America
2212-461: The ECAC). The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference sponsored D-I men's hockey, but dropped the sport in 2003. The most recent additions to D-I men's ice hockey are the aforementioned Augustana and Robert Morris. The 2022–23 season saw Alaska Anchorage resume D-I play after a successful fundraising drive. In May 2021, Tennessee State University announced that it was conducting a feasibility study on
2291-557: The NCAA Eligibility Center, a process that examines a student-athlete's academic qualifications and amateur status. Players who have played in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) historically were considered to be professionals and therefore ineligible. In 2024 the NCAA changed its position and decided that CHL players were no longer ineligible as of the 2025–26 season. The decision was made after
2370-679: The NEWHA, having joined for administrative purposes a year earlier. Delaware will start National Collegiate play in the 2025–26 season. When announcing the addition of women's ice hockey, Delaware stated that it would join College Hockey America, but CHA had already announced its planned merger with the Atlantic Hockey Association. Delaware's future CHA membership accordingly transferred to Atlantic Hockey America. Also, as noted previously, Tennessee State has plans to add women's hockey, although it did not set
2449-691: The TSU athletic department. TSU plans to eventually upgrade its men's and women's teams to NCAA play. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award honors the top player in men's Division I hockey. The Mike Richter Award honors the top goaltender in Division I. The NCAA does not currently sponsor a championship in NCAA Division II , as there is only one conference that currently sponsors hockey, the Northeast-10 Conference . The NCAA conducted
College Hockey America - Misplaced Pages Continue
2528-410: The U.S.' entry played during the 1942–43 season but were mothballed afterwards. There were notable exceptions such as Yale and Dartmouth , who continued to play through the duration of the war, but many teams returned to the ice for an abbreviated 1945–46 season. One benefit to college hockey that resulted from the war was the G.I. Bill which helped returning servicemen pay for a college education. With
2607-484: The UCHC, and the MAC uses regular-season results of games between MAC members to extrapolate a MAC champion. MAC members compete for the UCHC's automatic NCAA tournament berth. The NCAA has conducted a Division III national championship since 1984. The current championship format is a 12-team (formerly 11-team), single-elimination bracket. There are 108 colleges and universities that sponsor women's ice hockey in two divisions: National Collegiate and Division III. As of
2686-517: The United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In Canada, the term " college hockey " refers to community college and small college ice hockey that currently consists of
2765-478: The WCHA prior to the program being discontinued after the WCHA men's conference folded. The 2011–12 academic year and season brought many changes to the CHA. Wayne State abruptly ended their women's hockey program, dropping conference membership to only four teams again for the 2011–12 season. The conference announced that Lindenwood University would officially join the CHA for the 2012–2013 season. Lindenwood, then in
2844-449: The armistice was signed. Colleges in the midwest began their own ice hockey programs. At the beginning these were typically restricted to upper-echelon universities like the University of Minnesota or the University of Michigan but some of the smaller schools got into the game as well. From the MIAC 's foundation in 1920, member schools have played ice hockey and were able to establish
2923-499: The autobid was granted. In the table below, all NCAA appearances prior to 2015 were at-large selections. The CHA was founded in 1999 with only a men's division. Three of the seven charter members, Alabama–Huntsville, Bemidji State, and Findlay, had recently moved up from Division II , while Air Force, Army, and Niagara were formerly independent. Wayne State was a charter member, and began sponsoring varsity hockey in 2000. Niagara went undefeated in conference play in 1999–2000, winning
3002-401: The building's 6th floor. The building also contains a classroom and RapidShot Hockey Training System. The development is one of the most expensive for any privately funded single building in the city of Buffalo history. The project is designed to achieve LEED certification, with a goal of LEED Silver. The building was pledged by Pegula and others involved upon obtaining the property to open at
3081-510: The conference tournament and gaining an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament . (The conference did not gain an automatic bid until the 2003 tournament.) Army spent only one season in the league before leaving for the MAAC . Findlay dropped its hockey programs following the 2003–2004 season, to be replaced by Robert Morris, which began play in 2004–2005. After Air Force left for Atlantic Hockey in 2006 and Wayne State dropped its program in 2008,
3160-476: The conference was left with only four teams. The CHA sought to add new programs to its men's league, hoping to draw interest from some of the top club teams in the country, including Kennesaw State University . However, these efforts came up short, with CHA and school personnel citing Title IX as a major hurdle in the negotiations. On January 29, 2009, Niagara University announced that it and Robert Morris University were moving to Atlantic Hockey beginning in
3239-473: The conference; bringing the total number of teams in the CHA Women's Division up to five. The CHA Men's Division folded after the 2009–2010 season, leaving the CHA as a women's-only conference. The fate of the four remaining CHA men's teams was as follows: Niagara and Robert Morris moved to Atlantic Hockey; Bemidji State joined the WCHA; and Alabama-Huntsville continued play as an independent before moving to
College Hockey America - Misplaced Pages Continue
3318-550: The dual ice rinks and parking garage combo came after Buffalo Sabres chief development officer Cliff Benson led a group of team officials to Washington, D.C. to view the Washington Capitals practice facility, the Kettler Capitals Iceplex . The complex, which is built on top of a parking garage, has seating for 1,200, a training center, proshop, and is home to many area teams. This trip helped
3397-416: The enthusiasm of the students. For at least the first 25 years of intercollegiate play the teams used a 7-on-7 format, a typical setup for turn of the century ice hockey. On a faceoff players were typically arranged as either four forwards , two point men and one goaltender or three forwards , one rover , two point men and one goaltender . In the four forward setup the players were arranged from
3476-467: The field for the team to use. As rinks continued to be built in areas near to the colleges, specifically the Boston Arena , New Haven Arena and Philadelphia Ice Palace , college teams had more and more ice rinks available to them and with most using artificial ice the teams were no longer dependent on weather conditions. Owing to the popularity of the game the first on-campus, purpose-built arena
3555-553: The first consistent lower-tier competition in college hockey. While college ice hockey flourished in the 1920s the Great Depression did have an impact on the game in the '30s. Most schools that had established programs made the effort to keep their teams going but some less-acclaimed teams like Pennsylvania or Columbia decided that ice hockey wasn't worth the cost. Some of the smaller schools like Rensselaer had no choice but to suspend their programs as they did not have
3634-421: The first two intercollegiate ice hockey games against Johns Hopkins University . While Johns Hopkins' program would cease for 90 years after 1898, Yale has served as a bedrock of college hockey ever since, playing continually including through the Great Depression and two world wars . Yale's 125-year continuous streak was broken for the 2020-21 season , when all Ivy League winter sports were cancelled due to
3713-659: The full Division I members are in the Football Bowl Subdivision . Seven of the FBS schools compete in the Big Ten Conference ; six are full conference members and the seventh is a single-sport member. The NCAA Division I Championship is a 16-team, single-elimination tournament, divided into four, 4-team regional tournaments. The winner of each regional advances to the Frozen Four to compete for
3792-470: The game were recorded in the following day's Boston Herald : Brown 6, Harvard 0. Within ten years all eight schools that would eventually comprise the Ivy League had played their first game as well as several other nearby teams. A lack of available ice was the primary concern for most schools as to whether they should start a program or continue supporting an existing team but that did not detract from
3871-462: The game with a winner decided but even after multiple overtimes ties did result. From the start college hockey teams were rarely in a place of surety. In the 10 years since Johns Hopkins University 's exit in 1898 at least a dozen teams were forced to cancel seasons or suspend their program entirely, including some of the more financially sound institutions like Cornell University and Brown University . The two main factors in this were interest from
3950-415: The goal of reinstating hockey was successful enough that RMU announced that December that it would reinstate both teams effective in 2023–24. RMU applied for readmission to CHA (as well as its previous men's hockey home of Atlantic Hockey ), and was officially reinstated to CHA on March 3, 2022. On June 6, 2023, it was announced that the CHA would be merging with the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA), with
4029-548: The group form their ideas. Originally just planned to be two hockey rinks on top of a parking garage, the hotel and restaurant concepts were later added to the plan by Terry Pegula's wife, Kim Pegula . Construction of the 20-story Harborcenter began in March 2013, the same month the Webster Block was purchased from the City of Buffalo for $ 2.2 million. The building was built by Mortenson Construction with ICON Venue Group serving as
SECTION 50
#17327656848204108-537: The ice on Beebe Lake until after World War II . The vast majority of teams ceased operating in 1917 after the United States entered World War I . This made sense as many of the students who would otherwise have been playing had instead joined the military. Because the war ended in November 1918 many of the teams returned to the ice for the 1918–19 season and, while the game continued to grow around New England , an interesting development happened shortly after
4187-455: The lineup of Division I men's hockey conferences was the creation of Atlantic Hockey America shortly after the 2023–24 season. It was formed by the merger of the men-only Atlantic Hockey Association and the women-only College Hockey America . The CCHA, the revival of a league that had operated from 1971 to 2013 before folding in the aftermath of major conference realignment , initially consisted of seven schools that had previously competed in
4266-419: The men-only Atlantic Hockey Association. The National Collegiate championship is an 8-team, single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion. The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is awarded annually by USA Hockey to the top player in women's Division I hockey. The most recent school to start National Collegiate play is Assumption , which begins varsity play in 2023–24 as the newest member of
4345-638: The move a "suspension"). The other remaining WCHA men's member was Alaska , representing the Fairbanks campus of the University of Alaska; it chose to continue play as a D-I independent. The Ivy League recognizes ice hockey champions for both sexes, but it does not sponsor the sport; it instead uses the results of regular-season ECAC Hockey matches involving two Ivy League schools to extrapolate an Ivy champion (all six Ivy League schools that sponsor varsity hockey do so for both men and women, and compete in
4424-401: The national championship. For many years, 5 teams earned automatic bids through winning conference tournament championships, while 11 earned at-large berths through a selection committee. With the addition of the Big Ten hockey conference for the 2013–14 season, the tournament now features 6 automatic qualifiers, and 10 at-large bids. The ranking system that is used to determine the at-large teams
4503-477: The need. The remaining five positions would be unchanged. By the 1921–22 season college hockey adopted the increasingly more common six–a–side format with the abandonment of the second center/rover position and the two point men being renamed as 'defensemen'. The change from point men to defensemen came as a result of an alignment change where instead of lining up one in front of the other, the two defensive players would play beside one another. The ice surfaces that
4582-427: The ninth member in 2023. As for the WCHA, it folded its men's division. Not only did the aforementioned group of seven schools leave to form the revived CCHA, but an eighth men's member, Alaska Anchorage , had announced it would drop hockey (plus two other sports) after the 2020–21 school year. Still another men's member, Alabama–Huntsville (UAH), had also filed papers to leave after the 2020–21 season, then dropped
4661-409: The player with the highest point total with respect to their being named a star of a game, and a Most Valuable Player in Tournament which was voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. All awards, with the exception of the Three-Star Player of the Year, were awarded every year of the conference's existence. College ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in
4740-478: The players played on were not of a uniform size. Rinks like the St. Nicholas Rink or Duquesne Gardens were few and far between and quite often teams would only be able to play on frozen ponds. Slightly more consistent were the length of games, however, there was no set game time. Most were played as two 20-minute halves but some games had 15- or 25-minute halves and others were one 40-minute period. Occasionally games were not able to be played entirely at one time so
4819-520: The possible addition of varsity men's and women's hockey teams. Should TSU add either team, it would become the first historically black university to field a varsity hockey team. The study was partially backed by the NHL and the Nashville Predators , located in TSU's home city . TSU announced in June 2023 that it would start a men's hockey program at club level in 2024–25, with women's hockey to be added at an indeterminate future time. While hockey will initially play at club level, it will be overseen by
SECTION 60
#17327656848204898-448: The previous 10 years. That percentage has been maintained the past three seasons, with a record 301 NHL players coming from college hockey in 2011–12. One hundred thirty-eight colleges and universities sponsor men's ice hockey in the NCAA's three divisions. NCAA Division I will have 64 ice hockey teams in the 2024–25 season. Of these schools, 20 are Division II or III athletic programs that "play up" to Division I in hockey, and 16 of
4977-403: The process of transitioning its athletic programs from the NAIA to the NCAA, had already been slated to play ten games against CHA opponents in its first season of NCAA competition as an independent program for the 2011–12 season. On March 19, 2012, Niagara announced it was dropping its women's ice hockey program effective immediately; as a result, the Rochester Institute of Technology team
5056-403: The project manager. The building's hockey rink portion topped out on June 25, 2014, as the last structural beam for the hotel was put into place. Building construction was completed on the whole building in August 2015. The rinks and restaurants opened on October 31 and November 6, 2014. The hotel opened on August 27, 2015. Harborcenter was financed by Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and
5135-503: The resources that a Harvard or Yale did. After the first half of the 1930s, however, the depression lessened and schools were able to found or restart their programs. The game continued to expand west with the addition of Gonzaga , USC , UCLA and others, however, none of the Pacific-coast teams would make it to the 1950s. As was the case during World War I , the majority of universities suspended their ice hockey teams during World War II . Most of teams that were active just prior to
5214-437: The sport entirely due to fallout from COVID-19, but soon reinstated the sport following a successful fundraising drive led by UAH hockey alumni. This reprieve proved temporary, as the school and its hockey supporters agreed that the continuation of the sport beyond 2020–21 would be contingent on finding a new conference home; when no conference move materialized, the hockey program was dropped again (although UAH officially called
5293-521: The student body and the lack of available or good ice. While the interest conundrum required a more nuanced solution, the ice troubles had a more tangible answer. Teams near to public skating rinks would be able to hold their games at venues where ice conditions could be ensured but at the start, with so few available, some programs came up with novel solutions. One such idea came from Harvard University who, after completing construction of their football stadium in 1904, decided to erect two open-air rinks on
5372-436: The teams would arrange to meet at a later date to finish the match. Overtime after a tie did not always occur, as ice times at public skating rinks were constrained, but even when teams were able to play extra frames the rules were somewhat flexible; because there were no lights illuminating the ponds, games could only be played while the sun was shining and in the winter months dusk came quickly. The teams would attempt to finish
5451-463: The time by September 2014 making it one of the faster projects in the area. On September 10, 2019, Pegula Sports and Entertainment reached a 10-year naming rights agreement for the building with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM). The building contains a 205-room Marriott hotel operated by Shaner Hotels, plus retail and restaurant space. A two floor 716 Food and Sport restaurant opened on October 31, 2014. Also, Harborcenter features
5530-399: The two conferences operating under one banner by 2024. Although the two conferences had their own governing boards and bylaws, they had a combined conference staff and a single commissioner from 2010 until their merger. The merged league was unveiled as Atlantic Hockey America on April 30, 2024. Conference affiliations reflect those at the time CHA's merger with the Atlantic Hockey Association
5609-622: The two first round series remained as before, but the semifinals and finals were held at the LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo, New York . Starting in 2017, the two first-round series were replaced by a pair of single games, allowing all five games of the six-team tournament to be played at the LECOM Harborcenter. Prior to the 2014–15 season, The CHA did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for its conference tournament champion. At that time, with membership having remained stable at six teams (Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Syracuse, Lindenwood, RIT, and Penn State) for two consecutive seasons,
5688-728: The two regions: east and west. The east region was loosely defined as any college east of the Pennsylvania - Ohio border with all other teams being lumped into the west region. The tournament was held at the Broadmoor World Arena for the first ten years. Partially due to a lack of competition, Michigan was invited to participate in each of the first ten tournaments and won six National Championships in that time. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has conducted national championships for men's ice hockey since 1948, and women's ice hockey since 2001. U.S. college hockey players must be deemed eligible for NCAA competition by
5767-483: The upcoming 2024–25 season, 44 teams compete in the National Collegiate division (commonly referred to as Division I). All of them play in one of five conferences: The WCHA remains in operation as a women's league despite the demise of the conference's men's side. As noted in the Division I men's section, Atlantic Hockey America was formed by the 2024 merger of the women-only College Hockey America and
5846-640: Was Red Siren, which is a women's specialty store. It features gifts, jewelry, leather and clothing not currently found in the Buffalo area. Red Siren opened in the Summer of 2015, around the time when the Mariott Harborcenter Hotel opened. Other stores include Modern Nostalgia, Fowler's Chocolates and Clayton's Toys & Gifts. It was announced in July 2016 that Modern Nostalgia would be leaving Harborcenter. They were replaced by Healthy Scratch,
5925-807: Was allowed to immediately join the CHA upon its move from D-III to D-I for the 2012–13 season. Penn State , which had announced it would upgrade its men's and women's hockey from club to NCAA Division I status for 2012, was accepted for admission to the CHA for the 2012–13 season. In sum, the CHA continued as a women's-only conference for the 2012–13 season and beyond with a total of six teams consisting of Mercyhurst (original member from 2002); Robert Morris (joined 2005); Syracuse (joined 2008) and new members Penn State, Lindenwood and RIT. Due to financial impacts related to COVID-19 , Robert Morris announced in May 2021 that it would drop its men's and women's hockey teams effective immediately. A subsequent fundraising drive with
6004-568: Was constructed by Princeton University in 1923. Most schools were content with buying ice time from local rink operators while others simply didn't want to fund the building of their own version of the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink . As the weather warmed in the 1930s and 40s many of these teams would be forced to decide whether they were willing to financially support their ice hockey programs or not. Army , for instance, had Smith Rink built in 1930 while Cornell struggled with
6083-425: Was finalized. CHA added one member after the merger was announced, but before it was finalized. This school's membership accordingly transferred to Atlantic Hockey America. Prior to 2013, the CHA tournament was hosted at a predetermined site. From 2013–2015, the two first-round series were each played at the home of the higher seed, with the semifinals and final held at the home of the number one seed. In 2016,
6162-527: Was founded as a men's-only league in the 1999–2000 season. The conference was formed by seven teams, three of which were Division I independent teams, another three moving up from Division II, after the NCAA stopped sanctioning Division II hockey in 1998, and one new varsity program (Wayne State). The newly formed women's division of the CHA began play in the 2002–03 season with four teams. Findlay, Mercyhurst and Wayne State were former Great Lakes Women's Hockey Association members, while Niagara played previously in
6241-458: Was not awarded an automatic bid until 2003. At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each CHA team voted which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference teams: first team, second team and rookie team. Additionally they voted to award 4 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. The CHA also awarded an 'Easton Three-Star Player of the Year', given to
#819180