Division III UCHC to Debut in 2017-18

A new NCAA Division III men's and women’s hockey league will arise starting with the 2017-18 season, in the form of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference.

According to USCHO.com, the UCHC roster will include the men’s and women’s teams from Chatham, Elmira, Hobart, King’s, Lebanon Valley, Manhattanville, Neumann, Stevenson and Utica. It will also feature the Nazareth men’s team, while the Wilkes men’s and women’s teams will join the conference full-time in 2018-19.

“We are pleased to announce the formation of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference,” said Nazareth College president Daan Braveman at d3hockey.com. “We have a tremendous grouping of academic and athletic institutions, and this will be will an exciting time for our student-athletes and member institutions.”

Chuck Mitrano, current commissioner of the Empire 8 Conference, will serve as the UCHC’s inaugural commissioner, as reported in the Utica Observer-Dispatch.

The UCHC announcement sounds the death knell for the eight-school ECAC West men's conference, of which Elmira, Hobart, Lebanon Valley, Manhattanville, Nazareth, Neumann and Utica are currently all members. Elmira, Neumann and Utica are also members of the nine-school ECAC West women's league.