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.
50-760: The East Coast Collegiate Hockey Association ( ECCHA ) was an ACHA college ice hockey conference in the Southeast region of the United States. The ECCHA was created in August of 2001 as Blue Ridge Hockey Conference or BRHC by eight collegiate hockey programs in Virginia and North Carolina. It was originally created as an ACHA Division III spin-off of the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL), which competed at
100-652: A Policies and Procedures Manual to provide the policy foundation for the organization as it works to fulfill its purpose. These documents are reviewed yearly at the ACHA's annual meeting. The ACHA's policies cover team and player eligibility, rules of play, ranking procedures, national tournament procedures, and other administrative issues, although the ACHA parallels the NCAA Division III with most eligibility requirements, recruitment processes, gameplay rules, etc. The league holds its annual meeting in conjunction with
150-499: A nationwide search, Russ Slagle was selected by the ACHA's Board of Directors and appointed to fill the vacant staff position of ACHA National Tournament Director, and A.J. Boldan was placed in the role of National Tournament Manager-Broadcast Operations/Executive Producer in conjunction with the ACHA opting to engineer its own National Tournament broadcasts on a newly launched YouTube channel "ACHA National Championships". The ACHA includes both Men's and Women's Divisions. The Men's side
200-417: A state. Four months after Congress approved the legislation for the campus land in 1915, a cornerstone for the college was laid by Territorial Delegate James Wickersham on a bluff overlooking the lower Chena River valley. The ridge, which the indigenous Athabaskan people called Troth Yeddha' , soon became known as College Hill. Charles E. Bunnell was appointed the university's chief executive and served
250-922: Is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity." In addition to the Fairbanks Troth Yeddha' campus, UAF encompasses six rural and urban campuses: Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham ; Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue ; the Fairbanks-based Interior Alaska Campus, which serves the state's rural Interior; Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel ; Northwest Campus in Nome ; and the UAF Community and Technical College , with headquarters in downtown Fairbanks. UAF
300-695: Is a public land- , sea- , and space-grant research university in College, Alaska , a suburb of Fairbanks . It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system . UAF was established in 1917 and opened for classes in 1922. Originally named the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines , it became the University of Alaska in 1935. Fairbanks-based programs became the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975. UAF
350-494: Is a pool play format with the winners of each pool advancing to the semifinals. The semifinal match-ups are the winner of Pool A vs. Pool C and Pool B vs. Pool D. Conferences ACHA Men's Division 3 consists of approximately 140 teams in nine conferences and Independents. These teams are also divided into four Regions (Atlantic, North, Pacific and South). A total of 16 teams qualify for the National Tournament in
400-407: Is also the home of UAF eCampus, which offers fully online programs. In fall 2017, UAF enrolled 8,720 students. Of those students, 58% were female and 41% were male; 87.8% were undergraduates, and 12.2% were graduate students. As of May 2018, 1,352 students had graduated during the immediately preceding summer, fall, and spring semesters. The University of Alaska Fairbanks was established in 1917 as
450-546: Is made up of three Divisions: 1, 2, and 3. Division 3 was the last to be established in 1999. Each division has its own distinguishing set of guidelines which are explained below. The Women's side has two divisions. Division 1 began in 2000 and Division 2 is the most recent addition to the ACHA with its inception in 2006. Despite most teams' non-varsity status, the caliber of ACHA play can be quite high, especially in Division 1. Many large universities that do not sponsor hockey at
500-419: Is offered year-round. All halls are smoke-free, as is the entire campus. Each hall has a kitchen, laundry facility, exterior door hall access system and maintenance services. The halls vary from each other slightly to suit different preferences of the student population. Additional housing locations on campus are available to graduates, families, employees and nontraditional students. The Associated Students of
550-473: The Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines , but its origins lie in the creation of a federal agricultural experiment station in Fairbanks in 1906. The station set the tone for the strongly research-oriented university that developed later. In the spring of 1915, the U.S. Congress approved legislation that reserved about 2,250 acres of land for a campus around the research station. It also allowed
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#1732792956047600-648: The Alaska Native Language Center , Alaska Sea Grant , the University of Alaska Museum of the North, UAF Cooperative Extension Service , and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. The University of Alaska Foundation also publishes books. Serial publications include: The student newspaper is titled The Sun Star , formed after the merger of The Polar Star , an independent student paper, and The Northern Sun ,
650-532: The COVID-19 pandemic . Number shown is the team's final regular season ranking/seeding. 37 teams have appeared in the ACHA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2007, the first year for Women's Division 2. The results for all years are shown in this table below, other than missing data for the third-place games from 2007 and 2009. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in
700-707: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference , while the women's swim team is a member of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference (PCSC), and the men's and women's Nordic skiing teams are members of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA). The men's basketball team, women's basketball team, and women's volleyball team play home games in the 1,622-seat Patty Center. Due to its isolation from
750-596: The Lower 48 and the lack of a dome to protect against the harsh elements, Alaska does not have a football program, as is true for all three branches of the University of Alaska. Since the UAF athletics program was operating at a financial deficit, a new student fee was initiated in 2008. This fee charges UAF students $ 10 per credit hour they are enrolled in, up to a maximum of $ 120 per semester. The fee grants students free admission to select UAF athletic events. In fiscal year 2010,
800-516: The NCAA varsity level have become powerhouses, such as Ohio University , Adrian College , and Lindenwood University . Additionally, several universities that do sponsor NCAA varsity hockey teams also field ACHA-affiliated teams. Of all non-varsity sports activities, the ACHA-affiliated hockey teams generally garner the most attention at their universities, such as Missouri State where it is
850-613: The NCAA Division I level in hockey as an Independent . The Nanooks play home games at the 4,500-seat Carlson Center , located in downtown Fairbanks. The Alaska Nanooks also have a Division II rifle team which has won 11 NCAA National Rifle Championships (1994, 1999–2004, 2006–2008, 2023). The rifle team is a member of the Patriot Rifle Conference . The men's and women's basketball, cross country running, and women's volleyball teams are Division II members of
900-550: The 2017 ACHA National Championship Tournament Festival held in Columbus, Ohio, in partnership with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets . Then ACHA Executive Director Michael Walley assumed the role of Tournament Director for the inaugural tournament, Andy Storz was placed in the role of National Tournament Manager-Game Day Hockey Operations/P.A. Announcer/Anthem Soloist, while Fasthockey.com handled broadcasting. In July 2017, after undergoing
950-567: The 2019–20 season, with all but independent Wisconsin playing in one of the four WD1 conferences. Eight teams qualify for the national tournament each season: automatic bids are awarded to the playoff champions of the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association , the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League and Women's Midwest College Hockey , with the remainder of the field filled out by the highest-placing teams from
1000-727: The ACHA had a total of 179 teams registered with 33 teams in Division I, 100 teams in Division II, 18 teams in Division III, and 20 teams in the Women's Division. By the 2002–2003 season that number raised to over 250 teams, with Division III adding over 80 teams alone. By the 2003–2004 season the number raised to 278 teams: 40 teams in D-I, 124 teams in D-II, 87 teams in D-III, and 27 teams in
1050-429: The ACHA was the 1991–1992 season. The goal of the organization was to create an impartial governing body to monitor national tournaments, player eligibility, and general oversight. Over the years the ACHA quickly grew to over 150 teams in three men's divisions. A Women's Division was added in 2000 with a second Women's division being added for the 2006–2007 season. By the 2001–2002 season, marking their 10th anniversary,
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#17327929560471100-582: The Division II level. The original intent of the BRHC was to house newer and/or less organized programs until they demonstrated enough success to be promoted to the ACCHL. However, after a few years, the BRHC separated from the ACCHL and became its own stand-alone league. The BRHC has advanced four of its members to the ACHA National Tournament since 2003. As of the summer of 2017, the BRHC
1150-639: The Fairbanks campus from November 1955 to February 1956. While the convention progressed, the building became known as Constitution Hall , where the 55 delegates drafted the legal foundation of the 49th state. The campus' old library and gymnasium was renamed Signers' Hall after the Alaska Constitution was signed there in February 1956. UAF has nine academic schools and colleges: There are 190 different degree and certificate programs available in more than 120 disciplines. The UAF Honors College
1200-419: The National Tournament, four from each region. Each month of the season a ranking of the top 15 teams in region is released. After the final ranking in February the top two seeds from each region earn an automatic berth into Nationals. Seeds 3–10 compete in their respective single-elimination Regional Tournaments, with the two teams who win both of their games also earning a Nationals berth. The National Tournament
1250-765: The Northeast Region (13 teams), the Southeast Region (19 teams), or the West Region (19 teams). At the end of the year, the top four teams from each region in the final edition of a monthly computer ranking are invited to the ACHA National Tournament. The WD2 tournament differs from WD1 in that teams are divided into four pools and play a round robin, with the pool winners advancing to the semifinals. Northeast Region Conference Southeast Region Conferences West Region Conference Players are selected from only ACHA Men's D1 to represent USA Hockey in
1300-486: The United States. Colonial Division Atlantic Division- North Region Atlantic Division- South Region The championship tournament is held every year on the third weekend of February. In 2015 it was held at Chilled Ponds in Chesapeake, Virginia. American Collegiate Hockey Association The interest in college hockey has grown as the game of hockey has grown in the United States. But as aggressively as
1350-629: The University of Alaska Fairbanks ( ASUAF ) is the representative group for students attending UAF. Fairbanks, CTC, and eCampus student pay $ 53 per credit in Consolidated Fees, students at rural campuses pay $ 21 per credit; ASUAF receives 2.2% of Consolidated Fee revenue. ASUAF holds general elections each semester. As per the ASUAF Constitution, there is a president, a vice president and no more than 16 senators, all of whom must be in good academic standing (2.0+ CGPA). Senators,
1400-628: The Winter World University Games, an IIHF and FISU event. ACHA Men's D2 and D3 division created the Select Teams to offer opportunities for the other Men division's to experience International hockey and they are ACHA events. The Division 2 & Division 3 Selects Teams alternate going over to Europe each year during the Holiday Break to play European teams. The players are chosen from a round robin tournament in
1450-497: The Women's Division. By the summer of 2007 ACHA membership had reached 360 teams (M1-54, M2-190, M3-139, W1-32, W2-8), that cover 48 of the 50 states. During the summer of 2009 the University of Alaska Fairbanks established a Women's Division II team becoming the 49th state in the ACHA. Hawaii is currently the only state without an ACHA team. Every year since 2003, the Men's Division I Showcase has been an event that features some of
1500-761: The annual convention of the American Hockey Coaches Association , in the month of April in Naples, Florida . The ACHA was established on April 20, 1991. Fifteen charter members met during the Chicago Showcase in Skokie, Illinois at the North Shore Hilton. These member teams had been playing college hockey for many years but wished to legitimize its play by standardizing some of its procedures. The members that created
1550-501: The appointment of Chancellor Howard A. Cutler in 1975, the University of Alaska became the University of Alaska Fairbanks . It was, and still is, the primary research unit of the statewide university system. The two other primary UA institutions are the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. The Alaska Constitutional Convention was held in the freshly constructed Student Union Building on
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1600-417: The collegiate level. The ACHA emphasizes academic performance, institutional sanction, eligibility criteria, and standards of play and opportunities for national competition, and the ACHA promotes all aspects of collegiate hockey stressing the personal development of individual athletes as well as national recognition for member organizations. In order to do this, the ACHA has developed organizational by-laws and
1650-447: The contest, with former graphic-design intern Tom Eykemans designing the new version of the logo (as shown above). 37 teams have appeared in the ACHA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2001 (the first year that the ACHA sponsored a women's division). The results for all years are shown in this table below. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament: † Tournament canceled due to
1700-399: The department was able to meet financial obligations without additional year-end funding for the first time. The department has increased scholarships for women by 95% since 2005, and was recognized by The Chronicle of Higher Education for Title IX compliance in an article titled "Turnaround Stories." There are several book publishers at UAF, including the University of Alaska Press ,
1750-694: The federal government to give the college land that had been surveyed and unclaimed in the Tanana Valley ; the proceeds from the sale and development were supposed to help fund the operation of the college. However, because most of the land in Tanana Valley remained unsurveyed for years, the college only received 12,000 acres. In 1929, Congress attempted to remedy the situation by granting the college an additional 100,000 acres anywhere in Alaska, but those rights were extinguished in 1959 when Alaska became
1800-402: The last of a series of weekly computer rankings. At nationals, the eight teams are paired off by ranking (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.) for a best-of-three first round, with the winners of those series advancing to the semifinals. Conferences ACHA Women's Division 2 includes 51 teams for the 2019–20 season, with a majority standing as a member of one of four conferences. All teams are sorted into
1850-399: The organization were Tom Keegan (ACHA), Al Murdoch (Iowa State), Joe Battista (Penn State), Jim Gilmore (Ohio), Ernie Ferrari (Stanford), Howard Jenks (California), Jeff Aikens (North Dakota State), Don Spencer (West Virginia), Jim Barry (Navy), Scott Fuller (Navy), Leo Golembiewski (Arizona), Ron Starr (DePaul), Cary Adams (PCHA), Jim Warden (PCHA) and Jack White (UCLA). The inaugural year of
1900-571: The pre-season in informal exhibition games. Nine conferences and Independent teams compete annually for the Murdoch Cup, which is awarded to the Men's ACHA Division 1 National Champion. Twenty teams compete in the National Tournament. These top-twenty teams are ranked/selected by way of computer rankings, and as determined by auto-berths from the seven regular-season Conference champions. At Nationals, teams ranked 1–12 all receive first-round byes, with teams ranked 13–20 matching up 20 vs 13 (etc.), for
1950-526: The president and the vice president have terms of one full academic year. University of Alaska Fairbanks sports teams are the Alaska Nanooks , with the word Nanook derived from the Inupiaq word for "polar bear." Though often known as UAF within the state, the university prefers to be called simply "Alaska" for athletics purposes. The school colors are blue and gold. The Alaska Nanooks compete at
2000-673: The respective tournament: † Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Number shown is the team's final regular season ranking/seeding. The Zoë M. Harris Award is given to the player of the year in each ACHA women's division. Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) Boston Pride ( PHF ), 2017–18 Buffalo Beauts ( PHF ), 2015–16 Brampton Thunder ( CWHL ), 2016–17 Toronto Furies ( CWHL ), 2017–18 SK Gorny ( Russian Women's Hockey League ) 2018–present [REDACTED] Media related to American Collegiate Hockey Association at Wikimedia Commons University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks ( UAF or Alaska )
2050-480: The rights to play in the second-round in pre-determined bracket slots. Since 2012, two teams (Penn State and Arizona State) have moved from ACHA to NCAA Division I. A third, Lindenwood moved up in 2022. Conferences ACHA Men's Division 2 is currently the largest division in the ACHA, it includes approximately 200 teams in 12 conferences and Independents. These teams are divided into four Regions (Central, Northeast, Southeast and West). A total of 16 teams qualify for
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2100-409: The same manner as Division 2. The National Tournament has also been conducted in the same manner as Division 2 since 2010. Before that it was single elimination and every team played four games. The one exception is the semifinals match-ups. The winner of Pool A plays the winner of Pool B and the winner of Pool C plays the winner of Pool D. Conferences ACHA Women's Division 1 includes 25 teams for
2150-440: The sport has grown at the grass-roots level, the number of NCAA programs has not expanded as rapidly to meet the demand as these youth players reach college and look to extend their hockey-playing experience. This is why the ACHA level was created. The ACHA's primary mission is to support the growth of two-year and four-year collegiate hockey programs nationwide. The ACHA identifies standards that serve to unite and regulate teams at
2200-632: The spring usually in Pennsylvania. The tournament pits each conference's elite players against each other. The original ACHA logo was created by Dave Kammerdeiner of the West Virginia University Art Department under the direction of Don Spencer for a cost of $ 50. In August 2003, the ACHA held an official contest to design a new logo, with the winning school receiving free registration for the 2003–2004 season. The University of Washington 's Husky Hockey team won
2250-572: The third-largest spectator sport. The same can be said for the Arizona and University of Georgia who draw the third-largest fan base behind football and basketball. All ACHA teams are members of USA Hockey and the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). ACHA Men's Division 1 comprises 72 teams as of the 2023–2024 season. Some of these teams also compete against NCAA Hockey D1 and D3 Schools throughout
2300-487: The top teams in the ACHA. ACHA partners with Fasthockey.com to broadcast many of the league's games. In 2017, the ACHA adopted a new hosting format for holding the annual National Championship Tournament for all Men's & Women's Divisions. Then ACHA Executive Director Michael Walley championed an idea to hold all of the ACHA's National Championship Tournaments in one major U.S. city, in partnership with that city's National Hockey League (NHL) team. The inaugural year saw
2350-513: The university for 28 years. Classes began at the new institution on September 18, 1922. It offered 16 different courses to a student body of six (at a ratio of one faculty member per student) on opening day. In 1923, the first commencement produced one graduate, John Sexton Shanly . In 1935, the Alaska Legislature passed a bill that officially changed the name of the college to the University of Alaska . When William R. Wood became
2400-446: The university's president in 1960, he divided the academic departments of the university into six select colleges: Arts and Letters; Behavioral Sciences and Education; Biological Sciences and Renewable Resources; Business, Economics, and Government; Earth Sciences and Mineral Industry; and Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering. From that point on, both the university's student population and research mission grew tremendously. With
2450-646: Was created in 1983 and provides additional opportunities for students to prepare for professional school admission. Students complete core curriculum courses for their degrees in the Honors Program, maintain at least a 3.25 grade-point average in all courses, and complete a thesis project. UAF is Alaska's primary research university, conducting more than 90% of UA system research. Research activities are organized into several institutes and centers, some of which are listed: UAF has several student residence halls on both lower and middle Fairbanks campus. Housing
2500-564: Was restructured to form the East Coast Collegiate Hockey Association with the intent to improve the quality of its brand of ACHA Division III hockey in the mid-Atlantic and Southern region. The league transitioned back into the ACCHL for the start of the 2019-2020 season. The last year as BRHC , in 2017, conference's membership had tripled since 2007, making it the largest collegiate hockey conference in
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