College ice hockey

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The Northeastern Huskies, a Hockey East member team, take on the Massachusetts Minutemen at Matthews Arena in Boston, Massachusetts

College hockey is ice hockey played between colleges with their teams composed of enrolled students. College hockey is played in Canada and the United States, though leagues outside of North America exist.

In Canada, college hockey refers to community college and small college ice hockey (not university level) that operates under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA). It consists of two conferences, being the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) and the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA).[1]

In the United States, college hockey refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities with the competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Contents

[edit] NCAA

Bowling Green vs. Michigan hockey game
A map of all NCAA Division I men's hockey teams.
A map of all NCAA Division I women's hockey teams.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has conducted national championships for men's ice hockey since 1948, and women's ice hockey since 2001.

U.S. college hockey players must be deemed eligible for NCAA competition by the NCAA Eligibility Center, a process that examines a student-athlete's academic qualifications and amateur status. Players who have participated in the Canadian Hockey League or any other professional hockey league are considered ineligible.

Men's U.S. college hockey is a feeder system to the National Hockey League. As of the 2010–11 season, 30 percent of NHL players (a total of 294) had U.S. college hockey experience prior to turning professional, an increase of 35 percent from the previous 10 years.[2]

[edit] Men

One hundred thirty-eight colleges and universities sponsor men’s ice hockey in the NCAA’s three divisions.[3]

[edit] Division I

The NCAA's top level has 59 teams. Twenty-one schools are Division II or III athletic programs that "play up" to Division I in hockey. The NCAA Division I Championship is a 16-team, single-elimination tournament, divided into four, 4-team regional tournaments. The winner of each regional advances to the Frozen Four to compete for the national championship. Five teams earn automatic bids through winning conference tournament championships, while 11 earn at-large berths through a selection committee.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award honors the top player in men's Division I hockey.

Fifty-seven programs play in five conferences, with two programs (Alabama-Huntsville and Penn State) playing as independents. The conferences are:

The 2013–14 season will be the first played under a significant realignment of conferences. The CCHA will disband, one new conference will form, and one all-sports conference will add men's ice hockey as an official league sport:

[edit] Division II

The NCAA does not sponsor a championship in Division II, as there are only six programs, all of which are members of the Northeast Ten Conference. The NCAA conducted a Division II national championship from 1978–1984 and 1993–99.

[edit] Division III

There are 72 programs in Division III hockey in 10 conferences.

The NCAA has conducted a Division III national championship since 1984. The current championship format is an 11-team, single-elimination bracket.

[edit] Women

Eighty-six colleges and universities sponsor women's ice hockey in two divisions: National Collegiate and Division III.

[edit] National Collegiate

There are 34 teams in the National Collegiate division (commonly referred to as Division I). Thirty-four teams play in four conferences, with one team playing as an independent.

The National Collegiate championship is an 8-team, single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion.

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is awarded annually by USA Hockey to the top player in women’s Division I hockey.

[edit] Division III

There are 49 teams in Division III, plus three other programs from Divisions I and II, in five conferences:

The Division III championship is an 8-team, single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion.

[edit] CIS

[icon] This section requires expansion. (February 2011)

University hockey teams in Canada compete in leagues as part of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the national governing body for Canadian university athletics (in Canadian English, the term "college" is reserved for schools that would be called "junior", "community", or "technical" colleges in the U.S.). The CIS sponsors both men's and women's hockey. Like in the United States, teams compete in athletic conferences based on geographical locations of the schools. Unlike the NCAA the CIS does not award players with athletic scholarships, resulting in a lack of divisional separation such as found between NCAA divisions. Individual conferences hold postseason tournaments, followed by the round-robin CIS Championship tournament in late March.[4]

[edit] ACHA

Lindenwood University vs. University of Illinois

The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is the sanctioning body for non-NCAA club ice hockey in the United States. The organization provides structure, regulations and promotes the quality of collegiate ice hockey. Teams separated into three men's and two women's divisions with over 300 teams from across the United States.

[edit] NAIH

The National Association of Intercollegiate Hockey (NAIH) was established in 2011 as an alternative to the ACHA.[5] The organization is made up of 11 non-ACHA and non-NCAA ice hockey teams located in the Northeastern United States. After the initial 11-team 2011–12 season, the NAIH hopes to expand in the United States and Canada.[5]

[edit] National Junior College Athletic Association

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) sponsors men's ice hockey at the NJCAA division I level. 10 schools play hockey as members of the NJCAA, many also play against and are members of the ACHA.

NJCAA schools that field Men's Ice Hockey:

[edit] Outdoor games in the 21st century

A record 104,173 fans watch Michigan vs Michigan State at The Big Chill at the Big House

[edit] Men's

  • Cold War – October 6, 2001 Michigan vs Michigan State (Spartan Stadium)
  • Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic February 11, 2006, Ohio State vs Wisconsin (Lambeau Field)
  • Frozen Fenway 2010 Boston University vs Boston College and Northeastern University v New Hampshire(Fenway Park)
  • Frozen Fenway 2012 Northeastern University vs Boston College
  • Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic February 6, 2010 Michigan vs Wisconsin (Camp Randall Stadium)
  • The Big Chill at the Big House – December 11, 2010 held at Michigan Stadium set the hockey attendance record when 104,173 fans watched Michigan defeat Michigan State 5–0.[6]
  • Frozen Diamond Classic – January 15, 2012 Michigan defeated Ohio State University 4–1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH.[7]

[edit] Women's

  • January 8, 2010 Northeastern vs New Hampshire Fenway Park
  • Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic February 6, 2010 Bemidji State vs Wisconsin Camp Randall Stadium

[edit] Longest-running annual international rivalry

A rivalry between the United States Military Academy (Army) Black Knights and the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins resulted in an annual West Point Weekend hockey game.[8] The series was first played in 1923, and was claimed to be the longest-running annual international sporting event in the world.[9] Army and RMC played continuously from 1949 until 2007, when scheduling conflicts forced the academies to abandon the scheduled game.[10] The series will resume in 2011–12 and continue for the next two seasons at least.[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.rauzulusstreet.com/hockey/college/canadian.htm
  2. ^ http://collegehockeyinc.com/view/ncaa/news/news_25488
  3. ^ NCAA Winter Sports
  4. ^ http://cis.infinityprosports.com/2004/index.php?page=schedule&season_id=2008&sport_name=mhockey&playoffs=1
  5. ^ a b "New Room Press Release". NAIH. August 16, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011. 
  6. ^ Staff (December 12, 2010). "Record crowd watches hockey game". Associated Press. Retrieved December 13, 2010. 
  7. ^ http://annarbor.com/sports/michigan-hockey-team-wins-frozen-diamond-faceoff-sweeps-buckeyes/
  8. ^ "Army-RMC Rivalry". Go Army Sports.com. Retrieved January 1, 2009. 
  9. ^ Crowly, R, and Guinzburg, T: "West Point: Two Centuries of Honor and Tradition" (ISBN 0-446-53018-2), page 234. Warner Books, 2002.
  10. ^ http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2006/02/08_top10.php
  11. ^ http://www.goarmysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48075&SPID=4588&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205156136&DB_OEM_ID=11100

[edit] External links
NCAA
Division I sports
and championships
Division II
Division III
NAIA
Sports and
championships
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