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Colonial Hockey Conference

The Colonial Hockey Conference was a NCAA Division III women's hockey conference founded for the 2015-16 NCAA season.  The conference was originally to be named the ECAC North Atlantic Conference under an affiliation with the ECAC. The conference ended with the end of the 2019-20 season as it morphed into the Commonwealth Coast Conference's women's conference as the CCC will have enough all-sports women's teams to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament, with the addtion of three programs over the next few seasons, which carried over from the CHC.

The conference was based out of Marshfield, Massachusetts.

On July 5, 2016 the conference announced that the Nichols Bison will be joining the league for the 2017-18 season.  The team had been part of the New England Hockey Conference.

In September 2016, Daniel Webster College as a whole and not just the athletic program announced it would cease to exist at the end of the school year, as the Nashua, New Hampshire based school was owned and operated by I.T.T. Technical Institute, who filed for bankruptcy protection after the United States government cracked down on the school.  The property was purchased by Southern New Hampshire University.   The school has begun the process of being combined into the SNHU community through a teach-out agreement and the school will cease to exist over the following year.  Due to a lack of players the women's team was unable to complete a roster to be able to play for the season and was forced to cancel what would be its second and final season as the school ceased to exist at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

On January 25, 2017 it was announced that the Johnson and Wales Wildcats and the Salem State Vikings would be leaving the conference for the New England Hockey Conference for the 2018-19 season.

On January 26, 2018 it was announced that the Salve Regina Seahawks and the University of New England Nor'Easters would be joining the conference from the New England Hockey Conference.

The Canton Kangaroos left the conference after the 2017-18 season for the Northeast Women's Hockey League.

The Morrisville Mustangs left the conference for the Northeast Women's Hockey League for the 2019-20 season.

Transformation to Commonwealth Coast Conference[]

On October 4, 2019 the Commonwealth Coast Conference, which is an all-sports NCAA Division III Conference, announced it would be starting to sponsor women's hockey. It will assume operations of the Colonial Hockey Conference. As part of the announcement it was announce that the Suffolk Rams would be joining the conference for 2020-21 and that Western New England Golden Bears would be starting a women's team for 2020-21. This will make six of the seven members of the CHC also being full members of the CCC with the Becker Hawks being an associate member of the conference for both men's and women's hockey. With having seven members the conference will retain its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[1]

Final League members[]

Team Location Arena Tenure
Becker Hawks Worcester, Massachusetts New England Sports Center 2015-2020
Endicott Gulls Beverly, Massachusetts Raymond J Bourque Arena 2015-2020
Nichols Bison Dudley, Massachusetts Levy Rink 2017-2020
Salve Regina Seahawks Newport, Rhode Island St. George's School Ice Rink 2018-2020
University of New England Nor'Easters Biddeford, Maine Harold Alfond Forum 2018-2020

Former Members[]

Team Location Arena Joined Exited Subsequent Conference
Canton Kangaroos Canton, New York SUNY Canton Athletic and Recreation Center 2015 2019 Northeast Women's Hockey League
Daniel Webster Eagles Nashua, New Hampshire Conway Arena 2015 2016 Program cancelled with school closing after 2016-17 academic year and lack of players for 2016-17 season
Johnson and Wales Wildcats Providence, Rhode Island Dennis M. Lynch Arena 2015 2018 New England Hockey Conference
Morrisville Mustangs Morrisville, New York Morrisville Iceplex| 2015 2020 Northeast Women's Hockey League
Salem State Vikings Salem, Massachusetts Rockett Arena 2015 2018 New England Hockey Conference
Stevenson Mustangs Owings Mills, Maryland Reisterstown Sportsplex 2015 2017 United Collegiate Hockey Conference & Middle Atlantic Conference

Conference Seasons[]

Season Regular Season Champion Conference Tourmament Champion NCAA Tournament Teams
2015-16 Stevenson Mustangs Stevenson Mustangs none (No automatic bid conference's first season)
2016-17 Endicott Gulls Morrisville Mustangs none (No automatic bid conference's second season)
2017-18 Morrisville Mustangs Morrisville Mustangs Morrisville Mustangs (L, Quarterfinals)
2018-19 Endicott Gulls Endicott Gulls Endicott Gulls (L, First Round)
2019-20 Endicott Gulls Endicott Gulls Endicott Gulls (tournament cancelled before play)

Links[]

league website: colonialhockey.com

References[]

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