This is the 2017-18 United Collegiate Hockey Conference men's season. This is the conference's first season.
Automatic Tournament Bid Request[]
The conference had requested a waiver on the NCAA policy of a two year wait on the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for new conferences by including the first year of the conference as the former ECAC West Conference. At the June 19-20, 2017 meeting the NCAA Division III Championships Committee did not approve a request from the United Collegiate Hockey Conference to waive the first year of the two-year waiting period to receive automatic qualification. The committee was not comfortable with giving a year of credit to a conference that was not yet active (the conference will be active in 2017-18) and whose members were previously part of a conference that was not eligible for automatic qualification.
Membership Changes[]
The conference was announced on October 4, 2016. The conference announced the inclusion of the following ten men's and women's teams Chatham Cougars, Elmira Soaring Eagles, Hobart Statesmen, King's College Kings, Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, Manhattanville Valiants, Neumann Knights, Stevenson Mustangs, Utica Pioneers, William Smith Herons. The conference will also include the Nazareth Golden Flyers men's team. The men's and women's Wilkes University Colonels will be also added to the conference playing an abbreviated schedule in 2017-18 and a full schedule in 2018-19.
However, the Middle Atlantic Conferences announced on October 13, 2016 that they would start to sponsor men's and women's ice hockey also starting with the 2017-18 season. The following teams were announced as being members King's College Kings, Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, Manhattanville Valiants, Stevenson Mustangs, and the Wilkes University Colonels which would appear to eliminate five programs from the conference. However, the MAC is using the same format that the Ivy League uses to determine its' champion as they use the ECAC conference games to determine their champion.
Wilkes University announced on November 9, 2016 that they were delaying the start of play for the men's hockey team until 2018-19 due to the head coach they had hired (Michael Young) deciding to remain as the head coach of the Westfield State Owls. the school felt it would be in the best interest to delay the start to have time to hire a new head coach and give them a full recruiting cycle to develop a roster for the 2018-19 season.
In January of 2017 the Hobart Statesmen would be announced as withdrawing from the UCHC and joining the New England Hockey Conference for the 2017-18 season.
On April 13, 2017 Nazareth University announced the addition of women's ice hockey for the 2018-19 season.
Membership[]
Future Members[]
| Team | Centre | Arena | Notes |
| Wilkes University Colonels | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | Toyota SportsPlex | joining for 2018-19 season |
Announced but later withdrew[]
| Team | Centre | Arena | Notes |
| Hobart Statesmen | Geneva, New York | Geneva Recreation Complex Skating Rink | Join New England Hockey Conference |
Standings[]
| United Collegiate Hockey Conference | Overall Record | ||||||||||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica Pioneers | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 79 | 34 | 24 | 27 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 133 | 55 |
| Stevenson Mustangs | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 50 | 30 | 22 | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 78 | 71 |
| Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 64 | 47 | 22 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 80 | 81 |
| Manhattanville Valiants | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 67 | 44 | 20 | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 93 | 68 |
| Elmira Soaring Eagles | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 57 | 45 | 19 | 28 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 94 | 85 |
| Neumann Knights | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 54 | 52 | 18 | 27 | 10 | 15 | 2 | 78 | 100 |
| Nazareth Golden Flyers | 16 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 46 | 41 | 15 | 25 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 66 | 69 |
| Chatham Cougars | 16 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 83 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 36 | 125 |
| Kings College Monarchs | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 30 | 91 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 47 | 134 |
Conference Tournament[]
The top six teams qualify for the single elimination tournament with the 3rd and 4th seeds hosting the 6th and 5th seeds respectively in the quarterfinals. The 1st seed hosts the lower seeded quarterfinal winner and the 2nd seed hosts the higher seeded quarterfinal winner in the semifinal. The semifinal winners meet for the conference championship.
Quarterfinals[]
- Neumann Knights defeated Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen 3-1
- Elmira Soaring Eagles defeated Manhattanville Valiants 4-3
Semifinals[]
- Utica Pioneers defeated Neumann Knights 5-2
- Elmira Soaring Eagles defeated Stevenson Mustangs 5-3
Final[]
Utica Pioneers defeated Elmira Soaring Eagles 8-3
2018 UCHC Men's champions Utica Pioneers