New England Hockey Conference


New England Hockey Conference 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.

History

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.

Standings

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.

NEHC Tournaments

Current members

There are 12 member schools; the men's division has ten members, while the women's division has nine members.
InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedEnrollmentNicknamePrimary ConferenceColors
Babson CollegeWellesley, Massachusetts191919841,800BeaversNEWMAC
Castleton UniversityCastleton, Vermont178720041,800SpartansLittle East Conference
Hobart CollegeGeneva, New York182220172,337StatesmenLiberty League
Johnson & Wales UniversityProvidence, Rhode Island1914201816,095WildcatsGreat Northeast Athletic Conference
University of Massachusetts BostonDorchester, Massachusetts1964198410,600BeaconsLittle East Conference
New England CollegeHenniker, New Hampshire194619841,460PilgrimsNew England Collegiate Conference
Norwich UniversityNorthfield, Vermont181919842,000CadetsGreat Northeast Athletic Conference
Plymouth State UniversityPlymouth, New Hampshire187120154,192PanthersLittle East Conference
Salem State UniversitySalem, Massachusetts185420187,664VikingsMassachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference
Skidmore CollegeSaratoga Springs, New York190319982,500ThoroughbredsLiberty League
Suffolk UniversityBoston, Massachusetts190620187,560RamsGreat Northeast Athletic Conference
University of Southern MaineGorham, Maine1878199510,974HuskiesLittle East Conference

Former members

†

Membership timeline


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bar:AIC color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1998 text:American International
bar:UCt color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1998 text:Connecticut
bar:CHC color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1998 text:Holy Cross
bar:CHC color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2017 text:
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bar:Wil color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:MLA color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2003 text:Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
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bar:MIT color:women from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2009 text:MIT
bar:Sal color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2009 text:Salem State
bar:Sal color:women from:06/01/2018 till:end text:
bar:StA color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2004 text:Saint Anselm
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bar:UMB color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2003 text:Massachusetts–Boston
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bar:Now color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2007 text:Norwich
bar:Now color:both from:06/01/2007 till:end text:
bar:CTC color:men from:06/01/1991 till:06/01/1997 text:Connecticut College
bar:CTC color:both from:06/01/1997 till:06/01/1999 text:
bar:CTC color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Tri color:men from:06/01/1991 till:06/01/1998 text:Trinity
bar:Tri color:both from:06/01/1998 till:06/01/1999 text:
bar:Tri color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Amh color:men from:06/01/1992 till:06/01/1995 text:Amherst
bar:Amh color:both from:06/01/1995 till:06/01/1999 text:
bar:Amh color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Ham color:men from:06/01/1992 till:06/01/1996 text:Hamilton
bar:Ham color:both from:06/01/1996 till:06/01/1999 text:
bar:Ham color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:Wes color:men from:06/01/1995 till:06/01/1996 text:Wesleyan
bar:Wes color:both from:06/01/1996 till:06/01/1999 text:
bar:Wes color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text:
bar:USM color:men from:06/01/1995 till:06/01/1998 text:Southern Maine
bar:USM color:both from:06/01/1998 till:end text:
bar:RPI color:women from:06/01/1995 till:06/01/2005 text:RPI
bar:Ski color:men from:06/01/1998 till:end text:Skidmore
bar:Uni color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2003 text:Union
bar:Man color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2017 text:Manvattanville
bar:StM color:both from:06/01/2001 till:06/01/2017 text:Saint Michael's
bar:Cas color:both from:06/01/2004 till:end text:Castleton
bar:Nic color:women from:06/01/2008 till:06/01/2017 text:Nichols
bar:UNE color:both from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2016 text:New England
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bar:SRU color:women from:06/01/2015 till:06/01/2018 text:Salve Regina
bar:PSU color:women from:06/01/2015 till:end text:Plymouth State
bar:Hob color:men from:06/01/2017 till:end text:Hobart
bar:JWU color:both from:06/01/2018 till:end text:Johnson & Wales
bar:Suf color:both from:06/01/2018 till:end text:Suffolk
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