Hockey East

The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.^[1]

Hockey East Association

Association	NCAA
Founded	1984
Commissioner	Steve Metcalf
Sports fielded	Ice hockey men's: 11 teams women's: 10 teams
Division	Division I
No. of teams	12
Headquarters	Amesbury, Massachusetts
Region	New England
Official website	http://www.hockeyeastonline.com
Locations

Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for men's hockey when most of its current members split from what is today known as ECAC Hockey, after disagreements with the Ivy League members.^[2] The women's league, the WHEA, began play in 2002.^[3][4]

On October 5, 2011, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish (an ACC member outside football) announced they would be joining Hockey East as the conference's first non-New England school in 2013 after the CCHA folded.^[5] On March 22, 2016, Notre Dame subsequently announced their men's hockey team would leave Hockey East for the Big Ten Conference at the start of the 2017–2018 season.^[6] The University of Connecticut (UConn) and Hockey East jointly announced on June 21, 2012, that UConn's men's team, then in Atlantic Hockey, would join the school's women's team in Hockey East in 2014.^[7] On October 24, 2013, Merrimack College, already a member of the Hockey East men's league, announced that it would upgrade its women's team from club level to full varsity status effective in 2015 and join the Hockey East women's league.^[8]

On May 2, 2017, the College of the Holy Cross announced that it would join Hockey East for women's hockey only starting in 2018–19.^[9]

Members

There are currently 12 member schools, with 11 participating in the men's division and 10 in the women's division.^[10][11]

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Endowment	Primary Conference	Nickname	Colors
Boston College	Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	1863	Private/Catholic (Jesuit)	14,640	$3,827,000,000	ACC	Eagles
Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	1839	Private/Non-sectarian (formerly Methodist)	31,766	$3,401,000,000	Patriot League	Terriers
University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	Public	32,669	$799,000,000	Big East	Huskies
College of the Holy Cross	Worcester, Massachusetts	1843	Private/Catholic (Jesuit)	2,787	$1,043,000,000	Patriot League	Crusaders (women) ^[a]
University of Maine	Orono, Maine	1865	Public	11,222	$444,900,000	America East	Black Bears
University of Massachusetts Amherst	Amherst, Massachusetts	1863		27,269	$494,000,000	Atlantic 10	Minutemen (men) ^[b]
University of Massachusetts Lowell	Lowell, Massachusetts	1894		18,369	$139,000,000	America East	River Hawks (men) ^[c]
Merrimack College	North Andover, Massachusetts	1947	Private/Catholic (Augustinian)	5,418	$53,601,816	NEC	Warriors
University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	1866	Public	14,761	$401,000,000	America East	Wildcats
Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	1898	Private/Non-sectarian	20,749	$1,446,000,000	CAA	Huskies
Providence College	Providence, Rhode Island	1917	Private/Catholic (Dominican)	4,816	$234,200,000	Big East	Friars
University of Vermont	Burlington, Vermont	1791	Public	11,999	$761,000,000	America East	Catamounts

1. Men play in Atlantic Hockey
2. UMass does not have a women's team at the varsity level.
3. UMass Lowell does not have a women's team at the varsity level.

Former members

Institution	Location	Nickname	Joined	Left	Conference left for	Current conference	Colors
University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame, Indiana	Fighting Irish (Men)	2013	2017	Big Ten (affiliate)

Membership timeline

  Men     Women     Both  

Conference records

Men's

Team's records against current conference opponents. (As of the end of the 2020–21 season.)

School	Boston College			Boston University			Connecticut			Maine			Massachusetts			Massachusetts Lowell			Merrimack			New Hampshire			Northeastern			Providence			Vermont			Total
	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	W	L	T	Win%
Boston College				128	136	20	13	3	2	71	51	9	68	17	4	69	45	10	75	23	7	77	66	16	171	55	16	121	53	14	49	16	7	842	465	105	.633
Boston University	136	128	20				10	6	2	68	55	14	65	14	7	78	34	11	92	22	8	113	52	21	167	64	11	111	59	19	53	24	10	893	458	123	.648
Connecticut	3	13	2	6	10	2				8	6	4	15	40	4	11	27	3	8	27	5	11	16	1	5	12	0	4	13	3	24	8	1	95	172	25	.368
Maine	51	71	9	55	68	14	6	8	4				57	25	10	81	46	5	72	22	10	70	56	12	58	53	19	67	58	7	29	29	8	546	436	98	.551
Massachusetts	17	68	4	14	65	7	40	15	4	25	57	10				32	49	7	46	43	8	27	91	12	34	56	10	31	48	8	30	44	8	302	537	78	.372
Massachusetts Lowell	45	69	10	34	78	11	27	11	3	46	81	5	49	32	7				81	41	12	45	65	18	63	51	10	49	62	11	35	17	8	474	507	95	.485
Merrimack	23	75	7	22	92	8	27	8	5	22	72	10	43	46	8	41	81	12				28	80	12	43	63	12	35	91	12	18	19	8	302	627	94	.341
New Hampshire	66	77	16	52	113	21	16	11	1	56	70	12	91	27	12	65	45	18	80	28	12				98	71	17	91	65	16	82	27	10	696	534	135	.559
Northeastern	55	171	16	64	167	11	12	5	0	53	58	19	56	34	10	51	63	10	63	43	12	71	98	17				56	90	20	30	34	8	511	763	123	.410
Providence	53	121	14	59	111	19	13	4	3	58	67	7	48	31	8	62	49	11	91	35	12	65	91	16	90	56	20				28	28	11	567	593	121	.490
Vermont	16	49	7	24	53	10	8	24	1	29	29	8	44	30	8	17	35	8	19	18	8	27	82	10	34	30	8	28	28	11				246	378	79	.406

Note: Northeastern defeated Boston University in the 2021 Beanpot championship in double overtime. However, due to NCAA rules about non-postseason games, the match is officially recorded as a tie.

Massachusetts records a loss against Providence on February 9, 1931. The game was actually played against Brown at Providence, Rhode Island.

Champions

Men's

Main article: List of Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament champions

The Hockey East Championship Game has been held in Boston since 1987, first at the Boston Garden and now the TD Garden,^[12] since 1996.^[13] The first two were held in Providence, Rhode Island at the Providence Civic Center (now the Dunkin' Donuts Center).

The final game and the semifinal games are held on consecutive nights in mid-March at the Garden. The quarterfinal round takes place the previous weekend. The top eight teams in the league advance to the quarterfinal round: the quarterfinal round series are 2-out-of-3 series with all games played at the higher seed's rink. There have been two cases where the #8 seed won on the #1 team's ice.^[14]

Women's

Main article: List of Hockey East Women's Ice Hockey Tournament champions

The Hockey East Championship was held in Boston from its inception in 2003 until 2007. The event was held at Northeastern's Matthews Arena in 2003 and 2004 before moving to BU's Walter Brown Arena in 2005. The tournament returned to Matthews Arena in 2006, was held at UNH's Whittemore Center in 2007, and at UConn's Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in 2008. The tournament went back to UNH in 2009, Providence in 2010, and the last campus to host was Boston University in 2011. The tournament moved to Hyannis, Massachusetts in 2012, and Lawler Arena on the Merrimack College campus in North Andover, Massachusetts in 2016.

Rivalries

Boston College, Boston University, and Northeastern all take part in the annual Beanpot tournament with Harvard of ECAC Hockey.

The previously existing rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, the Holy War on Ice, became a conference matchup with Notre Dame's arrival in Hockey East. The two are rivals in other sports as well, as both are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference for most sports (though Notre Dame's football team remains independent, they play BC in that sport on a regular basis). Maine also has a rivalry with New Hampshire, often called "The Border War". Providence and UConn also have a rivalry which spills over from the basketball court.

Rivalry Name	Trophy	Meetings	Began	Last
Boston University–Maine men's ice hockey rivalry	—	135	1979	2019
Green Line Rivalry	—	282	1918	2020
Holy War on Ice	Lefty Smith – John "Snooks" Kelley Memorial Trophy	46	1969	2019
Maine–New Hampshire men's ice hockey rivalry	—	135	1979	2019

Conference arenas

 

Hockey East membership beginning in 2017–18.
Holy Cross (in green) joined the women's league in 2018–2019.

School	Hockey Arena	Capacity	Opened
Boston College	Silvio O. Conte Forum	7,884	1988
Boston University	Agganis Arena (men) Walter Brown Arena (women)	6,224 3,806	2005 1971
Connecticut	Toscano Family Ice Forum	2,600	2023
Holy Cross	Hart Center	1,600	1975
Maine	Alfond Arena	5,641	1977
Massachusetts	Mullins Center	8,329	1993
Massachusetts Lowell	Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell	6,496	1998
Merrimack	J. Thom Lawler Arena	2,549	1972
New Hampshire	Whittemore Center Arena	6,501	1995
Northeastern	Matthews Arena	4,666	1910
Providence	Schneider Arena	3,030	1973
Vermont	Gutterson Fieldhouse	4,003	1963

Awards

Men's

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each Hockey East team vote which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference Teams:^[15] first team, second team and rookie team (except for 1985–86 when no rookie team was selected). Additionally they vote to award up to 6 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. Hockey East also awards a Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player and names a tournament all-star team, which are voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. Four of these awards have been bestowed every year that Hockey East has been in operation.^[16] In addition, the Scoring Champion and Goaltending Champions are named based solely on statistics the players made during the season.

All-Conference Teams Award Inaugural Year First Team 1984–85 Second Team 1984–85 Third Team 2016–17 Rookie Team 1984–85 All-Tournament Team 1985

Individual awards Award Inaugural Year Player of the Year 1984–85 Rookie of the Year 1984–85 Bob Kullen Coach of the Year Award 1984–85 Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award 1991–92 Best Defensive Forward 1996–97 Best Defensive Defenseman 1998–99 Three-Stars Award 2000–01 Goaltending Champion 1984–85 Scoring Champion 1984–85 William Flynn Tournament Most Valuable Player 1985

Team Awards Award Inaugural Year Lamoriello Trophy 1988 Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award 1991–92

Women's

The award for the top HEA player each year is the Cammi Granato Award, awarded since 2009. The NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Player of the year, the Patty Kazmaier Award, has been won by HEA players Brooke Whitney (Northeastern) in 2002, Alexandra Carpenter (Boston College) in 2015, Kendall Coyne (Northeastern) in 2016, Daryl Watts (Boston College) in 2018, and Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) in 2021.

Television rights

Since the 2019–2020 season, Hockey East games have aired regionally on NESN and are available in the rest of the United States and in Canada on Paramount+ and SportsLive.^[17][18][19]

Games previously aired nationally on NBCSN through the 2016 Hockey East Championship game,^[20][21] and on American Sports Network prior to the service's closure.^[22]

On April 6, 2022, Hockey East reached a six-year media rights agreement with ESPN and ESPN+ that will bring games to ESPN's television and streaming platforms;^[23]

• 300 games per season with all contests available on ESPN+.
• 3 games per season that will air on ESPNU.

References

1. "BU nabs spot in Hockey East semis; Maine next – ESPN Boston". ESPN. March 15, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
2. He Could Go All the Way, U.S. College Hockey Online
3. "Maine news, sports, politics and obituaries — Bangor Daily News". Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
4. Hockey East News, Schedule, Scores, Statistics, Video – NESN.com
5. The Associated Press
6. Connelly, Jim (March 22, 2016). "Sources: Notre Dame leaving Hockey East for Big Ten in 2017". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
7. "UConn Men's Hockey to Join Hockey East in 2014–2015" (Press release). Hockey East. June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
8. (Press release). Merrimack College Athletics. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
9. Horgan, Candace (2017-05-02). . USCHO.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-10. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
10. Standings :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online Archived 2012-09-18 at archive.today
11. Standings :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online Archived 2012-09-14 at archive.today
12. New England Hockey Journal: Hockey East playoff bracket set
13. Eagles bear down in OT, win Hockey East title – The Boston Globe
14. He Could Go All the Way :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online
15. . The Maine Campus. 2012-03-15. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
16. "Hockey East Awards". College hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
17. "Hockey East and CBS Interactive Announce Multi-Year Partnership" (PDF). Hockey East. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
18. "Hockey East and NESN Announce Multi-Year Partnership". Hockey East. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
19. "2019-2020 Hockey East Association Men's And Women's Game Schedule: Watch Live On CBS All Access". CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
20. "NBCSN and Hockey East Sign Multi-Year Extension" (PDF). Hockey East. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
21. "NBCSN to Televise Hockey East Championship Weekend" (PDF). Hockey East. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
22. "Hockey East League Television Package Announced" (PDF). Hockey East. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
23. "HOCKEY EAST ANNOUNCES SIX-YEAR MEDIA RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH ESPN AND ESPN+". Hockey East. Retrieved April 6, 2022.

External links

• Hockey East home page