New England Hockey Conference (formerly the ECAC East) is a college

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

which operates in the northeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It participates in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division III as a

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

-only conference. __TOC__

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.

Splintering

In 2022,

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its cam ...

announced that they would join

Commonwealth Coast Conference The Conference of New England (CNE), formerly known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division ...

as a full-member starting in 2024-25 and sponsor both men's ice hockey and women's ice hockey. 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. This gave the

Little East Conference 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. History Chro ...

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. 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. 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. The bleeding continued when, in April and May, Hobart, Skidmore and William Smith announced their move to the SUNYAC, while Albertus Magus (who had yet to play a game in the NEHC) and Elmira both announced that they would be leaving to join the UCHC, all in 2025. Salem State also announced that they will leave in 2025 to join their primary conference ( MASCAC) and will also start to sponsor women's ice hockey the same year. With just one school remaining for the start of the 2025–26 season, the future of the NEHC is in doubt.

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 14 member schools; the men's and women's divisions each have eleven members. (as of March 2025) Note: schools in red are planning to leave after the 2024-25 season

Former members

† (as of March 2025)

Membership timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 AlignBars = late Colors = id:men value:rgb(0.6,0.6,1) legend:men id:women value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) legend:women id:both value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.8) legend:both id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:Mer color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1989 text: Merrimack (men, 1984-89) bar:WSU color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1989 text: Westfield State (men, 1984-89) bar:AIC color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1998 text: American International (men, 1984–98) bar:UCt color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1998 text:

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

(men, 1984–98) bar:CHC color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1998 text: Holy Cross (men, 1984–98) bar:CHC color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2017 text:(women 1999–2017) bar:Col color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1999 text: Colby (men, 1984–99) bar:Bow color:both from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1999 text: Bowdoin (men, 1984–99) (women, 1984–2001) bar:Bow color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text: bar:Mid color:both from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1999 text: Middlebury (men, 1984–99) (women, 1984–2001) bar:Mid color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 text: bar:Wil color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/1994 text: Williams (men, 1984–99) bar:Wil color:both from:06/01/1994 till:06/01/1999 text:(women, 1994–2001) 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 The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) formerly known as North Adams State College (NASC) is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is part of the stat ...

(men, 1984–2003) bar:RIT color:women from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2007 text:

RIT RIT is a common abbreviated name for Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, USA. RIT or rit may also refer to: Business * Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques, the former name of what is now GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in Bel ...

(women, 1984–2007) bar:MIT color:women from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2009 text:

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

(women, 1984–2009) bar:Sal color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2009 text: Salem State (men, 1984–2009) bar:Sal color:women from:06/01/2018 till:06/01/2025 text:(women, 2018–2025) bar:StA color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2004 text: Saint Anselm (men, 1984–2017) bar:StA color:both from:06/01/2004 till:06/01/2017 text:(both, 2004–2017) bar:Bab color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2025 text: Babson (men, 1984–2025) bar:NEC color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2002 text: New England College (men, 1984–2025) bar:NEC color:both from:06/01/2002 till:06/01/2025 text: (women, 2002–2025) bar:UMB color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2003 text: Massachusetts–Boston (men, 1984–2025) bar:UMB color:both from:06/01/2003 till:06/01/2025 text: (women, 2003–2025) bar:Now color:men from:06/01/1984 till:06/01/2007 text:

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

(men, 1984–2025) bar:Now color:both from:06/01/2007 till:06/01/2025 text:(women, 2007–2025) bar:CTC color:men from:06/01/1991 till:06/01/1997 text:

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only women's colle ...

(men, 1991–99) (women, 1997–2001) 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 The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

(men, 1991–99) bar:Tri color:both from:06/01/1998 till:06/01/1999 text:(women, 1998–2001) 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 (men, 1992–99) (women, 1995–2001) 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 Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

(men, 1992–99) (women, 1996–2001) 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 (men, 1995–99) (women, 1996–2001) 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 (men, 1995–2025) (women, 1998–2025) bar:USM color:both from:06/01/1998 till:06/01/2025 text: bar:RPI color:women from:06/01/1995 till:06/01/2005 text: RPI (women 1995–2005) bar:Ski color:men from:06/01/1998 till:06/01/2025 text:

Skidmore Skidmore may refer to: Places United States * Skidmore, Kansas * Skidmore, Maryland * Skidmore, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Skidmore, Missouri, a city * Skidmore, Texas * Skidmore, West Virginia * Skidmore Fountain, a public fountai ...

(men 1998–2025) bar:Uni color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2003 text: Union (women 1999–2003) bar:Man color:women from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2017 text: Manvattanville (women 1999–2017) bar:StM color:both from:06/01/2001 till:06/01/2017 text: Saint Michael's (both, 2001–2017) bar:Cas color:both from:06/01/2004 till:06/01/2025 text: Castleton/-Vermont State Castleton (both, 2004–2025) bar:Nic color:women from:06/01/2008 till:06/01/2017 text: Nichols (women 2008–2017) bar:UNE color:both from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2016 text:

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

(men, 2009–16) (women, 2009–18) bar:UNE color:women from:06/01/2016 till:06/01/2018 text: bar:FPU color:women from:06/01/2014 till:06/01/2017 text:

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

(women, 2014–17) bar:SRU color:women from:06/01/2015 till:06/01/2018 text: Salve Regina (women, 2015–18) bar:SRU color:both from:06/01/2024 till:end text: (both, 2024–present) bar:PSU color:women from:06/01/2015 till:06/01/2025 text: Plymouth State (women, 2015–2025) bar:Hob color:men from:06/01/2017 till:06/01/2025 text:

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

(men, 2017–2025) bar:JWU color:both from:06/01/2018 till:06/01/2024 text: Johnson & Wales (both, 2018–2024) bar:Suf color:both from:06/01/2018 till:10/01/2021 text:

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

(both, 2018–2021) bar:Elm color:both from:06/01/2021 till:06/01/2025 text: Elmira (both, 2021–2025) bar:WSC color:women from:06/01/2021 till:06/01/2025 text: William Smith (women, 2021–2025) bar:AMC color:both from:06/01/2024 till:06/01/2025 text:

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...

(both, 2024–2025) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1985

References

External links

Men's official web siteWomen's official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:New england hockey conference NCAA Division III ice hockey conferences Ice hockey in New England