| ECAC Northeast NCAA Division III Conference | |
 | |
| Founded: | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Number of teams: | 9 |
| Commissioner: | Rudy Keeling |
| Defending champions (men): | Salve Regina Seahawks |
| Website: | http://www.ecacsports.com/d3hockey/northeast/index |
ECAC Northeast was a league in NCAA Men's Division III. The conference indirectly dates back to 1961 when the ECAC started sponsoring men's ice hockey. It was split into Division I and II in 1964 and was further split in 1971 to include Division III. The league was generically known as ECAC Division III from 1971 to 1985, ECAC North and ECAC South from 1985 to 1998 and ECAC Central was added from 1992 to 1998. The conference took the ECAC Northeast name for the 1998-99 season with many teams joining from the three leagues when many programs either joined one of the new Division I conferences or the school discontinued the men's ice hockey program.
The conference was renamed the Commonwealth Coast Conference for the 2016-17 season along with the addition of the University of New England Nor'Easters who will join from the New England Hockey Conference. The CCC is an all-sport conference which already is the all-sport home to Curry, Endicott, Nichols, Salve Regina, University of New England, Wentworth, and Western New England. With the University of New England establishing its program there is now seven teams playing D-III men's hockey and that would qualify the new conference for an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The other three schools are "staying" with the conference under its' "new name". The CCC was first established in 1984 as an all-sport NCAA Divison III conference.
Final Membership[]
As of 2015-16, only three of the schools in the ECAC Northeast have women's varsity teams; Salve Regina, Endicott, and Nichols, all of which are in the New England Hockey Conference, the conference does not sponsor women's ice hockey.
The Endicott Gulls men's program was added to the conference for the 2015-16 season as both the men's and women's programs were elevated to varsity status to coincide with the opening of the Raymond J Bourque Arena on campus. The women's program joined the Colonial Hockey Conference for the 2015-16 season.
The Becker Hawks began play in 2006.
The Fitchburg State Falcons, Framingham State Rams, Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs, Plymouth State Panthers, Westfield State Owls, and Worcester State Lancers left the ECAC Northeast when their all-sports conference, MASCAC, re-started sponsoring hockey in 2009 after previously sponsoring it from 1971 to 2002.
The Assumption Greyhounds, Franklin Pierce Ravens, Southern NH Penmen, and Stonehill Skyhawks were Division II teams playing Division III schedules in the Conference. None of these teams were eligible for the ECAC Northeast playoffs or the Division III tournament. Those four teams also played in the Division II Northeast Ten conference, which holds its own post-season tournament. There is no Division II national tournament. The teams left the conference in 2009.
Conference Seasons[]
Conference Tournament Champions[]
See: ECAC Northeast Tournament
(tournament champions for predecessor leagues for retention purposes)
- 1972 Worcester State Lancers
- 1973 Worcester State Lancers
- 1974 Worcester State Lancers
- 1975 Bryant Bulldogs
- 1976 Amherst Lord Jeffs
- 1977 Worcester State Lancers
- 1978 Westfield State Owls
- 1979 Framingham State Rams
- 1980 Bentley Falcons
- 1981 Bentley Falcons
- 1982 Mass-Boston Beacons
- 1983 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1984 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1985 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1986 North: Curry Colonels
South: Trinity Bantams - 1987 Trinity Bantams
- 1988 Trinity Bantams
- 1989 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1990 Fitchburg State Falcons
- 1991 Trinity Bantams
- 1992 Amherst Lord Jeffs
- 1993 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1994 Fitchburg State Falcons
- 1995 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1996 Fitchburg State Falcons
- 1997 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
- 1998 Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs