ABOUT THE NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY CONFERENCE
The New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) prides itself on being one of the premiere playing conferences for NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Hockey in the country.
The league and its members are committed to promoting the sport of hockey, recognizing the student-athletes, and promoting fair play and sportsmanship while maintaining a high level of competition.
The conference boasts a unique geographic footprint and utilizes a travel partner scheduling model which allows for meaningful conference competition across the northeast. The ability to travel to desirable cities, hockey towns and rinks makes for a high-quality student-athlete experience for our teams. Scheduling contests on the weekend also allows our student-athletes to focus in the classroom during the week and commit themselves to contests on the weekends.
The history of the NEHC dates back to 1966 and has seen several membership changes over the 50+ years of its history. The conference formally changed its name to the New England Hockey Conference at the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
Current members of the conference include; Babson College, Castleton University, Elmira College, Hobart College, Johnson & Wales University, University of Massachusetts Boston, New England College, Norwich University, Plymouth State University, Salem State University, Skidmore College, University of Southern Maine, and William Smith College.
The NEHC Men’s Division has been fortunate to find unprecedented success and access during the NCAA postseason since the inception of Pairwise, sending three (3) programs to the NCAA postseason in three consecutive years (2022, 2020 and 2019).
The Women’s Divisional winners have also seen national postseason success in recent years, most notably the Norwich women’s run to win the National Championship in 2018 and Elmira College’s streak to the national semifinals in 2022.
Since 2012, the conference has seen five (5) student-athletes recognized as the Men’s or Women’s National Player of the Year. Norwich’s Julie Fortier and Amanda Conway earned the Laura Hurd Award in 2012 and 2020 respectively. The Sid Watson Award has been presented to Babson’s Jamie Murray (2016), University of Massachusetts Boston’s Colin Larkin (2018) and Norwich’s Tom Aubrun (2020).
NEHC Coaches have also been recognized on the national stage with eight nods for National Coach of the Year dating back to 2010. Norwich women’s coach Mark Bolding has received the honor four times (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018). Retired Norwich Men’s Coach Mike McShane earned the distinction twice during that timeframe (2010, 2017) with Norwich’s current Coach Cam Ellsworth earing the nod in 2020. University of Massachusetts Boston’s Peter Belisle earned the distinction in 2016.
The conference has also seen several student-athletes honored for their performances on the ice, in the classroom and in the community. Three individuals have earned nominations for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in recent years with Babson’s Jamie Murray earning the distinction in 2016 and UMass Boston teammates Jake Adkins and Andy Walker being nominated in both 2021 and 2022.
The NEHC saw five student-athletes earn American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-American honors following the 2022 season. Ryan Black (Norwich), Devon Becker (Norwich), Eliza Beaudin (Elmira) Jenny Heath (Elmira) and Leonie-Louise Kuehberger (Elmira) all earned the distinction.
In addition, the league saw six student-athletes recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as 2022 Academic All-District At-Large Honorees with four moving on to earn 2022 Academic All-American accolades.
- Andrew Albano, Norwich: Academic All-American and All-District
- Austin Rook, Skidmore: Academic All-American and All-District
- Eliza Beaudin, Elmira: Academic All-American and All-District
- Ann-Frederique Guay, Norwich: Academic All-American and All-District
- Ryan Black, Babson: Academic All-District
- Alexa Berg, Norwich: Academic All-District
The conference has also seen consistent leadership from their Commissioner, Katie Boldvich, since the 2013-14 season. Under her leadership the conference has grown into a regional and national power through membership realignment that focuses on bringing together likeminded institutions with a commitment to their men’s and women’s ice hockey programs. The conference has also seen administrative change as well, shifting to an incorporated body and earning 501c (3) tax-exempt status as an organization.
Boldvich has also served on both the Women’s and Men’s National Committee and is the only individual to earn the honor of serving as Chair of both Committees, chairing the Women from 2016-18 and currently serving as Chair of the Men’s Committee.
The league continues to evolve and has its sights set on continued success.
