Currently, Atlantic Hockey spans a total of five states, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Members reside in Colorado (Air Force), Connecticut (Sacred Heart), Massachusetts (American International, Bentley, Holy Cross), New York (Army, Canisius, Niagara, RIT), and Pennsylvania (Mercyhurst).

The conference’s nine original members – AIC, Army, Bentley, Canisius, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart – conceived the concept of a standalone ice hockey conference when it became apparent they needed an organization that represented specific hockey needs.

Together, the teams broke away from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Association (MAAC) and started anew, creating the Atlantic Hockey Association on June 30, 2003. They installed Robert M. DeGregorio, Jr., former Commissioner of Hockey East and Director of Athletics at Merrimack College, as commissioner of the new league.

In August of 2004, Quinnipiac announced that the 2004-05 season would be their last in Atlantic Hockey as they were leaving to join ECAC Hockey. Four months later, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) announced that their men’s hockey program would be elevating to Division I status from Division III and would be joining Atlantic Hockey in 2006-07. Air Force also accepted an invitation to join Atlantic Hockey in 2006-07, bringing membership up to 10 institutions.

Membership again grew in 2010-11 to 12 schools, with Robert Morris and Niagara joining Atlantic Hockey. The AHA remained a 12-team league until the end of the 2013-14 season when UConn left for Hockey East, bringing Atlantic Hockey to 11 teams. The league would stay at 11 teams until Robert Morris University announced it was eliminating its program following the 2020-21 to set the AHA membership at 10 programs for the 2022-21 campaign.

The stay at 10 was short-lived however as RMU reinstated its program and was readmitted to the AHA on April 15, 2022. The Colonials will return to play in the league in 2023-24.

National Stage

Holy Cross earned the conference’s first NCAA bid in 2004 and two years later scored Atlantic Hockey’s first tournament win, taking down No. 2 overall seed Minnesota in the West Region Semifinals in Grand Forks, N.D.

In 2009, Air Force played the role of giant-killer, scoring a 2-0 win over No. 4 overall seed Michigan at the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn.

In 2010, RIT became the first Atlantic Hockey team to skate into the Frozen Four, scoring wins over Denver and New Hampshire at the East Regional in Albany, N.Y., to send the Tigers to that season’s event at Ford Field.

In recent seasons, RIT (2015), Air Force (2017 & 2018), and AIC (2019) have advanced to regional finals in search of another Frozen Four appearance for the conference.

Off-Ice Excellence

Since its inception, Atlantic Hockey has placed as much emphasis on off-ice achievements as they have on-ice accolades. A record number 209 student-athletes were named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team in 2015-16, with 2016-17 nearly matching that with 207. In addition, Atlantic Hockey’s student-athletes have put in countless hours in their respective communities, leaving lasting legacies that far exceed their abilities on the ice.

Nine players have garnered College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America status, the most recent being RIT’s Adam Brubacher (2018-19, 2019-20), Kyle Haak (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19) and Dylan Abood (2017-18) from Air Force and Max French from Bentley (2016-17).

Five student-athletes have won the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award – Army’s Chase Podsiad (2007-08), Air Force’s Michael Phillipich (2008-09) and Dylan Abood (2017-18), Holy Cross’ Matt Vidal and American International’s Jared Pike (2019-20). The Hines Award is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Player judged to best exemplify the qualities of sportsmanship, intelligence and work ethic.

Two AHA student-athletes have won the Hockey Humanitarian Award – Jeffrey Reppucci of Holy Cross (2014) and Chris Dylewski of Air Force (2016).

All-America Honors 

On the ice, Atlantic Hockey has seen 16 players earn 17 American Hockey Coaches Association All-America honors. Eric Ehn of Air Force was the league’s first All-American, being named a Second Team All-American in 2006-07. He was then followed by fellow Falcons Jacques Lamoureux (2008-09) and Tim Kirby (2011-12), Army goaltenders Josh Kassal (2009-10) and Trevin Kozlowski (2020-21) and forward Colin Bilek (2020-21, 2021-22), Sacred Heart forward Nick Johnson (2009-10), forward Jason Cotton (2019-20) and defenseman Mike Lee (2019-20), Niagara forward Paul Zanette (2010-11), RIT forwards Matt Garbowsky (2014-15) and Will Calverley (2020-21), Canisius goaltender Charles Williams (2016-17), AIC forward Blake Christensen (2018-19) and defenseman Brennan Kapcheck (2020-21), and Mercyhurst defenseman Joseph Duszak (2018-19).

Canisius’ Charles Williams and AIC’s Brennan Kapcheck are Atlantic Hockey’s first two First-Team All-Americans. In 2021-22 Army’s Colin Bilek became the AHA’s first two-time All-American when he was recognized by the AHCA for the second consecutive season.

Beyond Atlantic Hockey

Several Atlantic Hockey alums have reached the NHL. Former RIT defenseman and 2009-10 Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year, Calgary’s Chris Tanev is the longest-tenured alumnus, having completed his 12th season in the league in 2021-22.

Also this season, Tanev and former Sacred Heart star Justin Danforth of the Columbus Blue Jackets were recognized as nominees from the NHL’s Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is presented annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.

Mercyhurst’s Jamie Hunt became the first Atlantic Hockey player to skate in the NHL when he took the ice with the Washington Capitals during the 2006-07 season.

Atlantic Hockey alumni continue to thrive in the AHL, ECHL, and internationally, including on the Olympic stage. Former Mercyhurst goalie Ryan Zapolski was the starting goaltender for Team USA during the 2018 Winter Olympics while former AIC defenseman Janis Jaks made his Olympic debut with Latvia at the 2022 Beijing Games.