History of Atlantic Hockey

The founding members of Atlantic Hockey were formerly played hockey as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. In 2003 core MAAC members Iona and Fairfield decided to end their hockey programs, leaving Canisius as the only full MAAC member playing hockey. This led to problems with the hockey schools in their attempts to get legislation approved by the MAAC, whose rules only allowed full members to vote on legislation. On June 30, 2003 the decision was made by the nine remaining schools to break with the MAAC and form a new hockey conference, the Atlantic Hockey Association, which assumed the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament formerly held by the MAAC. Holy Cross won that bid in the conference's inaugural season.

Quinnipiac announced in 2004 that it would leave Atlantic Hockey at the conclusion of the 2004-05 season, opting to play in the ECACHL when a vacancy opened up with Vermont's departure. Late in 2004 RIT decided to elevate its hockey program to Division 1 and joined Atlantic Hockey, starting with the 2006-07 season. Air Force then announced its move to Atlantic Hockey during the 2005-06 season, joining the league with RIT in 2006-07.