• Final Sat, February 04
    4 Holy Cross
    0 at American Int'l
    BX | BX
    Final - OT Sat, February 04
    3 Bentley
    3 at Sacred Heart
    BX | BX | BX | LS | A
    Final Sat, February 04
    1 Robert Morris
    2 at Canisius
    BX
    Final Sat, February 04
    3 Mercyhurst
    2 at Niagara
    BX
    Final Sat, February 04
    1 Royal Military College
    9 at Army
    BX
  • Final Sat, February 04
    2 RIT
    4 at Air Force
    BX

ATLANTIC HOCKEY HISTORY
A new chapter in the history of college hockey was ushered into existence when the Atlantic Hockey Association was created on June 30, 2003, by nine charter members. The sixth Division-I men’s ice hockey conference arose when the founding members - American International, Bentley, Canisius, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and the United States Military Academy (Army) - required an organization that represented their specific needs. The group of nine broke away from their former conference affiliation, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), and formed a conference specific to the sport of ice hockey. 

Quinnipiac after a two-year stay in Atlantic Hockey announced on August 24, 2004 that the Bobcats would be leaving and joining the ECAC Hockey League. Four months later the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) announced their hockey program will be making the jump to Division I and will join Atlantic Hockey starting in the 2006-07 season. At the end of the 2004-05 season the Air Force Academy will also be joining Atlantic Hockey making the move from the College Hockey America conference, announcing its move on April 12, 2005. With the addition of RIT and Air Force beginning with the 2006-07 season the league increase its membership to ten (10) teams. 

Last season, saw Quinnipiac earned its first Atlantic Hockey Association Regular Season crown, but fell in the title game to Mercyhurst, as the Lakers earned the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Mercyhurst drew top-seeded Boston College and nearly upsetting the Eagles in the First Round of the East Regional. 

The inaugural season for Atlantic Hockey showed that the conference has a bright future on the horizon. Robert DeGregorio, a former commissioner of Hockey East, was named the conference’s first commissioner and held an integral role in the development of the league as play between the nine squads began in the Fall of 2003. As the season unfolded, the fledgling conference made its mark in college hockey with victories over non-conference opponents, such as Ohio State and Western Michigan (CCHA), Rensselaer (ECAC), Merrimack (Hockey East) and Wayne State (CHA), along with an exciting chase to claim the first-ever regular season title. Holy Cross secured the league’s first regular season title, and followed up the feat by capturing the tournament championship, sending the Crusaders to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s, along with the league’s, history. 

Success in the classroom is as important as success on the ice among the member institutions of Atlantic Hockey as 106 student-athletes were named to the 2004-05 All-Academic squad led by Sacred Heart’s 18 student-athletes topping the league. A total of 88 student-athletes were named to the 2003-04 Atlantic Hockey All-Academic squad in recognition of their outstanding scholastic achievement. Atlantic Hockey athletes have also contributed their time off the ice to numerous charitable organizations as a way of saying thanks to their many supporters. 

Currently, Atlantic Hockey spans a total of four states in the Northeast, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the banks of the Great Lakes. Members reside in Connecticut (University of Connecticut, Sacred Heart), Massachusetts (American International, Bentley, Holy Cross), New York (Army, Canisius), and Pennsylvania (Mercyhurst). Starting in 2006, the Air Force Academy (Colorado) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) (New York) will begin play in Atlantic Hockey.