Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey Conference
AHC
Established	1997 (as MAAC Hockey) 2003 (as Atlantic Hockey)
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Members	11
Sports fielded	Men's ice hockey
Region	Northeastern United States and Colorado
Former names	MAAC (1997-2003)
Headquarters	Winthrop, Massachusetts
Commissioner	Robert M. DeGregorio, Jr. (since 2003)
Website	http://www.atlantichockeyonline.com/
Locations

The Atlantic Hockey Conference (AHC) is a NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other college athletic conferences, Atlantic Hockey has no women's division, though it shares some organizational and administrative roles (and three universities) with the women's-only College Hockey America.

It was formed in 1997 and began play in the 1998-1999 season as the hockey division of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Within three years, it was granted an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, in 2003, Iona and Fairfield dropped hockey, leaving Canisius as the only full MAAC member that sponsored hockey. This proved somewhat problematic for MAAC Hockey, since conference bylaws only allowed full members to vote. On June 30, 2003, MAAC Hockey broke off from the MAAC and reorganized as Atlantic Hockey.^[1]

Membership

Current

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Affiliation	Undergraduate Enrollment	Joined	Women's Conference	Primary Conference	Colors
United States Air Force Academy	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Falcons	1954	Public/Federal	4,400	2006	N/A	Mountain West
American International College	Springfield, Massachusetts	Yellow Jackets	1885	Private/Non-sectarian	1,700	1998	N/A	Northeast Ten (D-II)
United States Military Academy	West Point, New York	Black Knights	1802	Public/Federal	4,400	2000	N/A	Patriot League
Bentley University	Waltham, Massachusetts	Falcons	1917	Private/Non-sectarian	3,958	1999	N/A	Northeast Ten (D-II)
Canisius College	Buffalo, New York	Golden Griffins	1870	Private/Catholic	3,490	1998	N/A	MAAC
College of the Holy Cross	Worcester, Massachusetts	Crusaders	1843	Private/Catholic	2,897	1998	HEA	Patriot League
Mercyhurst University	Erie, Pennsylvania	Lakers	1926	Private/Catholic	4,055	1999	CHA	PSAC (D-II)
Niagara University[2]	Lewiston, New York	Purple Eagles	1856	Private/Catholic	3,853	2010	N/A [n 1]	MAAC
Robert Morris University	Moon Township, Pennsylvania	Colonials	1921	Private/Non-sectarian	5,000	2010	CHA	NEC
Rochester Institute of Technology	Henrietta, New York	Tigers	1829	Private/Non-sectarian	16,842	2006	CHA	Liberty League (D-III)
Sacred Heart University	Fairfield, Connecticut	Pioneers	1963	Private/Catholic	3,500	1998	D-I Independent	NEC

Locations of Atlantic Hockey Conference current member locations.

1. ↑ Niagara's women's team was in College Hockey America before the university dropped the program in 2012.

Timeline

List of Championship Games

From 1999 to 2003, the conference tournament was operated by the MAAC. From 2007 to 2018, the tournament was held at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. Starting in 2019, the tournament will be held at HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York.

National tournament history

* – at-large selection.

Conference arenas

Awards

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each Atlantic Hockey team vote which players they choose to be on the three or four All-Conference Teams:^[3] first team, second team and rookie team (third team beginning in 2007). Additionally they vote to award 7 of the 9 individual trophies to an eligible player and 1 team award at the same time. Atlantic Hockey also awards a regular season scoring title that is not voted on as well as a Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, which is voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. All individual and team awards have been awarded since Atlantic Hockey's inaugural season in 2003-04.^[4]

References

External links

• Atlantic Hockey Online